Our Thinking

Blog Posts By: Christopher L. Matthews

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Posted 02/22/10

Having watched Bill Clinton’s presidency from the vantage point of a Republican on Capitol Hill, I became used to a smart administration that could turn on a dime to reflect changing political realities.  If the direction the President was going didn’t work or he was roundly criticized for a decision, a different tack was adopted.  More often than not, it seemed that the President consistently got the upper hand on the loyal opposition and maintained high approval ratings for most of his eight years.  

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Filibuster
Posted 02/19/10

Chaos Theory and the United States Senate

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Game Changer
Posted 01/20/10

“Game changer” is a term that is thrown around without much care in DC.  The Massachusetts Senate race, especially when combined with the November gubernatorial results, is one of those few instances where the name applies.

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McChrystal and Obama – Perception is Reality or Perception Reflects Reality?
Posted 10/06/09

It is not a little disturbing to me that I am referencing Richard Cohen twice in one week, but it’s only fair to note that his column (Does Obama Have the Backbone?) crystallized a serious problem.  Much of the recent Beltway chatter has been devoted to a public division between the president and his hand-picked commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal.  We know that in politics, perception is often reality.  The more alarming issue is whether, in this case, perception merely reflects reality.

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Chicago gets a “no thank you,” Rahm Emanuel to roundup usual suspects
Posted 10/02/09

Finally, Barack Obama knows how I feel.  The International Olympic Committee gave Chicago the equivalent of my Harvard rejection letter.  According to the Chicago Tribune, “The IOC had lauded Chicago's plan, which focused on clustering Olympic venues in parkland along the stunning Lake Michigan shore. From the athletic and technical perspective, the bid won very high marks.”  Apparently, not high enough to make it past the first round.

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Raising the Stakes
Posted 07/07/09

President Obama’s first year in office will be marked by the greatest expenditure of lobbying dollars by the highest number of lobbyists in the history of the world.  I’m willing to wager on that prediction – and I’ll give you odds.

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Adjusting for the Irrational
Posted 04/15/09

Josef Stalin reportedly noted that "one death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic."  As a man who was responsible for dozens of such "statistics," Stalin knew of which he spoke.

According to studies by University of Oregon researcher Paul Slovic and reported by the Washington Post, people show more willingness to help individuals or small numbers of victims more readily than they will help large numbers.

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The Great Equalizer
Posted 04/02/09

There are a lot of claims on the term “The Great Equalizer.” Some have called it death, Samuel Colt, education, or the mid-80s show with that British guy.  I prefer to bestow the moniker on ‘irony.’

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Delusional Immodesty
Posted 04/02/09

“Saving the New York Times now ranks with saving Darfur as a high-minded cause." -- NYT Executive Editor Bill Keller.

Really quite extraordinary, or one might say ‘OMG.’ I’d be LOL if it wasn’t SSINF.  We talk here a lot about the demise of traditional media.  It’s nice to have someone remind us that it’s not all bad.

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