29 April 2012

The Nightstand (April 29)

The Nightstand


Since Mitt Romney has now all but sewn up the GOP nomination, this will be a particularly Mormon-heavy edition of The Nightstand.  A couple of days ago, I wrote on a friend's Facebook wall that I thought, in the final analysis, we will be able to look back on this year or eighteen-month period as a real flowering of writing about Mormons, by both Mormons and non-Mormons alike.  This is notwithstanding all the nonsense that will get published alongside it.

Democrats Have Bigger Anti-Mormon Problem than GOP Has (Peter Beinart, The Daily Beast)-- Yes, the thesis of this article is about as good as that disaster of a headline.  Responded to by Joanna Brooks here and expanded on by Paul Waldman here.

Go West, Young Religion: Mormonism on Exhibit (Edward Rothstein, NYT)-- Note to Peter Beinart: This is how you write a headline.

On Mormon Secularization and Politics (Patrick Mason, Peculiar People)

How Apple Sidesteps Billions in Taxes (Charles Duhigg and David Kocieniewski, NYT)

Homophobic? Maybe You're Gay (Richard and William Ryan, NYT)

A Europe Tired of Cutbacks Has Few Alternatives (Jack Ewing and Liz Alderman, NYT)-- Glad to see France flirting with the possibility of a big bank-hating socialist for president.  Austerity has been a disastrous policy in Europe, so why not try something else?

The Economic Impact of Raising Taxes on High-Income Households (Jared Bernstein, On the Economy)-- I point to Bernstein's post, but really what you want to see is the study he is discussing (link in the article).

Bullying the Nuns (Garry Wills, NY Review of Books)

Vive la Mere (Ann Crittenden, The American Prospect)

The Politics of Sight (David Sirota, In These Times)

"It All Turns on Affection" (Wendell E. Berry, National Endowment for the Humanities Lecture)-- Even though it casts the primary benefactor of my alma mater in a pretty terrible light, I think this is an excellent analysis of contemporary alienation-- from our land, our peers, and ourselves.

The Romneys' Mexican History (Hector Tobar, Smithsonian)

Bad Douthat (Mark Silk, Religion News Service)-- Really good take-down of Douthat's latest.  One of the best openings to a review I have ever seen.

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