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Michael Kinsley
Michael Kinsley was named editorial and opinion editor of the Los Angeles Times in June 2004. Kinsley is responsible for The Times' daily editorial and letters page, the Commentary (op-ed) page and the Sunday Opinion section.
Most recently Kinsley was a columnist for Slate.com and the Washington Post, and a contributing writer for Time magazine. In 1995 he founded Slate, the online magazine published by Microsoft, and was its editor for six years. For two decades he was associated with The New Republic, as its editor and as author of its "TRB From Washington" column. He was editor-in-chief of Harper's, editor of the American Survey department at The Economist, and managing editor of The Washington Monthly. He co-hosted CNN's "Crossfire" for six years, and also moderated William F. Buckley's "Firing Line" debates.
Kinsley has written regular columns for The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal and the Times of London. His writing also has appeared in The New Yorker, The Reader's Digest, Condé Nast Traveler and Vanity Fair, among other publications.
He earned a B.A. degree from Harvard College in 1972, attended Oxford University and graduated from Harvard Law School with a J.D. degree in 1977.
Michael Kinsley
Social Security Fictions
March 18, 2005
Two of the most laughably overvalued words in Washington are "studies show" (right up there with "sources say"). In academia, a study is an occasion for thinking and discussion. In politics, a study means you can stop thinking and cut off discussion.
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The Meathead Proposition
February 13, 2005
Try to forgive my obsession, but here is another proof that President Bush's designs for Social Security cannot work. This one's not mine. I first heard it from the actor/director and liberal activist, Rob Reiner. Like the argument I have been hawking (see latimes.com/proof), this one doesn't merely suggest that Bush is making bad policy, it demonstrates with near-mathematical certainty that the idea he endorses cannot work. Period.
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Privatization's Empty Hype
December 26, 2004
As I wrote last week, I'm convinced that Social Security privatization is not merely a bad idea but a certain failure, and I offered a logical proof, challenging supporters to find the flaw or give up.
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Let's Face It, Blogs Are Better
December 19, 2004
If you're going to peddle opinions for a living, self-assurance is essential. If you don't have it, you need to bluff. People don't want to read a lot of "Oh dear, this is so terribly complicated, I just can't make up my poor little mind…. " Many's the pundit who has retired on full disability after developing a tragic tendency to see both sides of the issue.
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