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readmeReadmePolicy made plain.1NA=1154&NC=9516&DI=4098&PS=58298&PI=7315ReadmefalsefalsespacernotembeddedreadmeNews Junkie SmackdownNews Junkie SmackdownThe first annual Slate News Junkie Smackdown podcast.Tim Egan0The first annual Slate News Junkie Smackdown podcast.After two days trading opinions, impressions, and mild criticisms online, Slate's team of news-consuming guinea pigs tries to hash things out in the recording studio. Tim Egan, Michael Kinsley, Michael Newman, Seth Stevenson, Sam How Verhovek, and Emily Yoffe talk about the difference between news on the Web and news in a newspaper.nonotruenonotochyperlinkno200972051903PMMondayJulJuly177/20/2009 9:19:03 PM6338370714300000002009724101638AMFridayJulJuly107/24/2009 2:16:38 PM633840273980000000readmeMcCain's Last MistakeMichael Kinsley1/123122/2202502/kinsleym.gif424211http://img.slate.com/mediafalse200972364008PMThursdayJulJuly187/23/2009 10:40:08 PM633839712081048461200972364008PMThursdayJulJuly187/23/2009 10:40:08 PM633839712081048461200972364008PMThursdayJulJuly187/23/2009 10:40:08 PM633839712081048461Pfalse2008101711636PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:36 PM6335984619600000002008101711636PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:36 PM633598461960000000falseUndivided government won't be as bad as he warned it would be.noMcCain's Last MistakeUndivided government won't be as bad as McCain warned it would be.noJohn McCain's last, desperate argument to the voters was the danger of undivided government. Give the Democrats the White House, both houses of Congress, maybe even a flibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and they will be unstoppable. And then God knows what they'll do.truenotochyperlinkno200811493126PMTuesdayNovNovember2111/5/2008 2:31:26 AM633614310860000000200811493126PMTuesdayNovNovember2111/5/2008 2:31:26 AM633614310860000000readmePoliticians Lie, Numbers Don'tMichael Kinsley1/123122/2202502/kinsleym.gif424211http://img.slate.com/mediafalse200972364009PMThursdayJulJuly187/23/2009 10:40:09 PM633839712090571374200972364009PMThursdayJulJuly187/23/2009 10:40:09 PM633839712090571374200972364009PMThursdayJulJuly187/23/2009 10:40:09 PM633839712090571374Pfalse2008101711636PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:36 PM6335984619600000002008101711636PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:36 PM633598461960000000falseAnd the numbers show that Democrats are better for the economy than Republicans.noPoliticians Lie, Numbers Don'tThe numbers don't lie: Democrats are better for the economy than Republicans.noIf you're wondering why a formerly honorable man like John McCain would build his presidential campaign around issues that are simultaneously beside-the-point, trivial, and dishonest (sex education for kindergartners, lipstick on pigs), the numbers presented here may help to solve that mystery. Since the conventions ended, McCain has mired the presidential race in dishonest trivia because he doesn't want it to focus on what voters say is the most important issue this year: the economy.truenotochyperlinkno200891614959PMTuesdaySepSeptember139/16/2008 5:49:59 PM633571697990000000200891614959PMTuesdaySepSeptember139/16/2008 5:49:59 PM633571697990000000readmeNo Experience NecessaryMichael Kinsley1/123122/2202502/kinsleym.gif424211http://img.slate.com/mediafalse200972364010PMThursdayJulJuly187/23/2009 10:40:10 PM633839712103657424200972364010PMThursdayJulJuly187/23/2009 10:40:10 PM633839712103657424200972364010PMThursdayJulJuly187/23/2009 10:40:10 PM633839712103657424Pfalse2008101711636PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:36 PM6335984619600000002008101711636PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:36 PM633598461960000000falseHow Sarah Palin made the GOP change its mind about presidential qualifications.noNo Experience NecessaryHow Sarah Palin made the GOP change its mind about presidential qualifications.noIn a famous example of ideological flexibility, the American Communist Party changed its mind completely about Adolf Hitler in 1939, when he signed a deal with Stalin. Previously, they hadn't cared for him much. Suddenly, he looked pretty good. Then two years later, when Hitler ratted on the deal and invaded the Soviet Union, the Communists changed their minds again. Both times, it took only days.truenotochyperlinkno2008831103600AMSundayAugAugust108/31/2008 2:36:00 PM6335577576000000002008831103600AMSundayAugAugust108/31/2008 2:36:00 PM633557757600000000readmeAl Franken's QuandaryMichael Kinsley1/123122/2202502/kinsleym.gif424211http://img.slate.com/mediafalse200972364010PMThursdayJulJuly187/23/2009 10:40:10 PM633839712101352762200972364010PMThursdayJulJuly187/23/2009 10:40:10 PM633839712101509014200972364010PMThursdayJulJuly187/23/2009 10:40:10 PM633839712101509014Pfalse2008101711636PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:36 PM6335984619600000002008101711636PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:36 PM633598461960000000falseThe Minnesota Senate candidate has been telling jokes for 30 years. How does he explain away the bad ones?noAl Franken's QuandaryAl Franken's campaign quandary: how to explain away his bad jokes.noAmericans say they want to be represented by "real people" and not by "professional politicians." But with their votes, they reward professionalism and drain the reality from politics. Real people haven't spent their lives plotting a political career, and therefore real people may have said things from time to time that an aspiring politician would not. Departures from the official script are called gaffes. This election year, the script has been more important than ever. Despite the Iraq war, despite the sinking economy, despite the price of gasoline, we have frittered away our politics in a round robin of gaffes, mock indignation, demands for apology, and more gaffes.truenotochyperlinkno200877115628AMMondayJulJuly117/7/2008 3:56:28 PM633510285880000000200877115628AMMondayJulJuly117/7/2008 3:56:28 PM633510285880000000200311442559PMTuesdayJanJanuary161/14/2003 9:25:59 PM631781583590000000200311442559PMTuesdayJanJanuary161/14/2003 9:25:59 PM631781583590000000falsetruetruetruetruetruetrue20011018111443PMThursdayOctOctober2310/19/2001 3:14:43 AM6313904368300000002001102523300PMThursdayOctOctober1410/25/2001 6:33:00 PM631396171800000000By xMichael KinsleyspacerKinsley, MichaelyeshyperlinkMichaelKinsley1/123122/2202502/kinsleym.gif424211http://img.slate.com/mediafalse200972513212PMSaturdayJulJuly137/25/2009 5:32:12 PM633841255324271316200972513212PMSaturdayJulJuly137/25/2009 5:32:12 PM633841255324271316200972513212PMSaturdayJulJuly137/25/2009 5:32:12 PM633841255324271316P false2008101711636PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:36 PM6335984619600000002008101711636PMFridayOctOctober1310/17/2008 5:16:36 PM633598461960000000false11Michael Kinsley is a columnist for the Washington Post and the founding editor of Slate. 105USA20011018111443PMThursdayOctOctober2310/19/2001 3:14:43 AM6313904368300000002001101874310PMThursdayOctOctober1910/18/2001 11:43:10 PM63139030990000000051_Staff Contract200972513212PMSaturdayJulJuly137/25/2009 5:32:12 PM63384125532411505917020011018111443PMThursdayOctOctober2310/19/2001 3:14:43 AM631390436830000000200692273845AMFridaySepSeptember79/22/2006 11:38:45 AM632945075250000000(920 words; posted Saturday, Feb. 15; to be composted Saturday, Feb. 22) A Journey of Self-Discovery This week's "The Gist" column ("Did She Know?") addresses the question of whether Secretary of State Madeleine Albright knew she was Jewish before the Washington Post reported it recently. Albright says she had no idea. Many people find that implausible. Nothing important turns on the question, but it is darned interesting nonetheless. (One Jewish Slate staffer, who does not know Albright personally, says, "She may not have known she was Jewish, but I knew she was Jewish.") The editor of this publication was fascinated by the Albright episode for a special reason. It caused him to think back over his own life, and he was suddenly dumbstruck by the realization that he might be Jewish. He can hardly be blamed, of course, for ignoring the clues. There was his circumcision. But he was only a few days old when it occurred, and he remembers very little about it--at least consciously. Furthermore, almost everyone did that back in those days. His bar mitzvah at age 13 he does remember clearly. And perhaps, with the benefit of hindsight, that should have tipped him off that he was not a Sunni Muslim as his parents had told him. (Or did he only imagine that his parents had told him that?) He recalls wondering vaguely why there was a rabbi at this ceremony, why it was conducted in Hebrew, and why it took place in a synagogue. But one's youth is full of wonders, not all of which can be fully pursued. Then there is the bizarre coincidence that all his relatives are Jewish, including his parents and his grandparents on both sides. Should this have alerted him to the possibility that he, too, might be Jewish? Not really. After all, many of his relatives drive Buicks, whereas he drives a Honda Accord. The regular celebration of Jewish holidays in his childhood home, the mystifying absence of a Christmas tree--all these, to his mature mind, demand an explanation. So, too, do the letters he has received over the years from Jewish charities, asking for contributions in support of worthy projects in America and Israel. Why, he used to wonder, were they singling him out? It must be, he concluded, some exaggerated notion of his ecumenical generosity. Isn't that the most logical theory? Finally, there is the easily forgotten fact that he himself has often claimed to be Jewish. Was this the clue he should have picked up on? Who, after all, would be in a better position to know the real story? But the editor, like most people, tells himself many things, not all of which are believable. And, as a busy man, he cannot be expected to listen to everything he has to say (any more than Madeleine Albright had time to read all those letters from family connections in Czechoslovakia). Now, thanks to the Albright episode, the editor is examining the evidence with fresh eyes. (Or is it fresh oys?) Naturally, though, he is not leaping to any hasty conclusions. Dromedary Date Continuing on a religious theme: Have you checked out our newest "Dialogue"? It concerns an issue first raised a couple of thousand years ago (by another fellow who thought he might be Jewish). Is it easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven? Actually, both participants in Slate's dialogue, as devout Christians, accept the accuracy of Jesus' assertion. (And both are political conservatives, to boot.) But they disagree about what he meant. Can e-mail solve a puzzle that two millenniums of nonelectronic communication could not? For some reason, Bill Gates has shown a special interest in the outcome of this "Dialogue." He instructed his butler, Higgins, "Let me know immediately as soon as they have the answer. I must know." Summoned, we explained to him that, although we hope for dialectical progress in these dialogues, we cannot guarantee that they will always lead to a definitive conclusion. "That's not good enough," he reprimanded us. "Suppose I let our folks at Excel put out a spreadsheet that only produced dialectical progress"--here, he began to mimic us cruelly--"toward the right numbers. Suppose the spell-checker in Word 97 didn't guarantee a definitive conclusion. Then where would we be? Computers are supposed to provide answers, not"--mincing--"dialectical progress." Then he brightened. "I've got an idea. Higgins, call me a camel." "Sir, you're a ..." We won't report what happened to Higgins, but a camel was ultimately procured, and the experiment was duly conducted. And we're here to testify that a camel, with sufficient inducement, actually can pass through the eye of a needle. Or at least that a loyal employee, with sufficient inducement, can be persuaded that he's seen almost anything. The Winter of Our New Contents, Continued Reactions (e-mailed to slate@msn.com) to our new home page and contents list have been mixed, as we expected. Some people like the minimal scrolling, some people feel it's too cramped. We're working to address one complaint: that the headlines of "Dispatches and Dialogues" are too small. (And remember that you can always adjust font sizes yourself on your browser.) We've also highlighted the new display options for contents: If you don't like the current design, you can opt for a straight list with today's new stuff on top, yesterday's next, and so on. Just click on the word "Date" right below the Slate logo. Or, for that matter, click on this button: --Michael Kinsley10Washington PostWashington PostW10Secretary of stateSecretary of stateS10CircumcisionCircumcisionC10SlateSlateS10Madeleine AlbrightAlbright, Madeleine People10Bill GatesGates, Bill People10EditorEditorE10ExperimentExperimentE10ConservativesConservativesC10JewishJewishJ10GrandparentsGrandparentsG0 1111false2310falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsetruefalsefalse242.0199721633000AMSundayFebFebruary32/16/1997 8:30:00 AM629916606000000000199721633000AMSundayFebFebruary32/16/1997 8:30:00 AM629916606000000000