The Underrated Piper Chapman

Jenji Kohan, the creator of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, has spoken in interviews about how main character Piper Chapman is in some senses a “Trojan horse.”

“You're not going to go into a network and sell a show on really fascinating tales of black women, and Latina women, and old women and criminals,” Kohan told Terry Gross on Fresh Air. “But if you take this white girl, this sort of fish out of water, and you follow her in, you can then expand your world and tell all of those other stories.”

(minor spoilers below)

The Premature Victory Brigade

Like most political observers, I was shocked by the news last night that Majority Leader Eric Cantor had lost the Republican primary for his Virginia 7th district house seat to David Brat, a complete unkown. It was an extremely unexpected result and immediately resulted in jockeying on Capitol Hill to replace Cantor in the Republican leadership.

There are many others far more well versed in conservative circles and right-wing politics who can explain the dynamics that led to his defeat and what the fallout will be.

What I do want to talk about is the strange way that Democrats are interpreting and overreacting to this, as they typically do to instances of Republican infighting.

Not Ready for Hillary

More than eighteen months before the Iowa caucuses, the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination seems to be all but a foregone conclusion. 

Hillary Clinton is widely considered to be the de facto nominee, though she has not yet said she will run. Almost all of the early polls show her ahead by staggering margins and key figures within the Democratic Party are already publicly supporting her. While this is purely anecdotal, “Ready for Hillary” bumper stickers (advertising the Super PAC preemptively launched to support her candidacy) seem increasingly ubiquitous.

Bullet Points: Mad Men -- "Waterloo"

Disconnected, spoilery thoughts on the Mad Men mid-season 7 finale...