Jim Bunning, The Last Great Obstructionist? The GOP Has Promised To Repeal Healthcare Reform; They Can't Do It Without Attacking The Filibuster
The 111th Congress can be summed up in two words: Jim Bunning. Over the course of the last week or so Senator Bunning has gone from a fairly low-profile Baseball great turned Senator to the veritable poster boy for the Republican obstructionist agenda.
In Defense of the Academic
Not too long ago Fox & Friends, a morning show on the Fox News Network, trumpeted a recent survey indicating that "a college degree is more likely to skew a person's political beliefs to the liberal side of the spectrum." Fox addressed the issue as a problem asking "how can we …
We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us: Or "So When Do We Start Torturing Teabagers?"
There are two types of questions in politics: those that are important because of the answer and those that are important because of the question.
Conservatism Is A Harsh Mistress
It was the irrepressible Robert Heinlein, one of Science Fiction's most celebrated authors, who popularized the distillation of the essence of economics down to a single nonsense word.
At The Turning of the Tide
The ever snarky Griper Blade's latest post is a headlined, amusingly, "Republican Principles are as Solid and Immutable as Jello." It, like Rachel Maddow's much-praised segment on GOP opposition to the stimulus bill, highlights the seeming political nihilism of the Republican P …
Iran's Biological Orbital Launch Demonstrates New Military Capabilities
The BBC is reporting that Iran has launched a rocket into Earth orbit with an "experimental capsule" containing "a rat, turtles and worms." The launch follows pronouncements earlier this week from Iranian President Ahmadinejad that the Islamic Republican would deliver a blow to …
Newsvine Live Discussion: Obama's First State Of The Union
How much has changed in a year. The Presidency of Barack Obama, inaugurated in a spectacle of hope and change has fallen on hard times.
Selling Out Democracy - SCOTUS Decision Turns US Elections Over To Corporate America
The Supreme Court has finally handed down the decision everyone knew was coming and no one much wanted to think about.
Make The Bastards Talk
It's all over but the counting in Massachusetts and by the look of things the Democrats can kiss their super-majority (such as it was) good-bye. The loss of Kennedy's old seat to the Republicans will put the GOP over the 40-vote bar necessary to maintain a filibuster.
Pat Robertson's Satanic Side
Pat Robertson, the virtual incarnation of the American Religious Right, isn't the sort of person that is often accused of ties to devil worshiping cults and the like.
Racial Profiling: Jim Crow's Jet Age
During a segment on Fox News, Lt. General Tom McInerney (retired) opined that If you are an 18 to 28-year-old Muslim man then you should be strip searched... if we don't do that, there's a very high probability we're going to lose an airliner.
A Wing and a Prayer – How The TSA's 'Security Theater' Failed NWA 253
"We were very lucky this time but we may not be so lucky next time, which is why our defenses must be strengthened." Joe Lieberman was half right when he issued a statement about the now infamous Christmas Crotch Bomber. America got lucky.
Republican Partisanship Has Poisoned the US Senate
The New York Times has a piece up today discussing the hyper-partisanship we've seen in the US Senate since the Democrats aquired their supposed super-majority in 2008.
Let Obama Be Obama - An Open Letter To the President of The United States
Mr President, You have, no doubt, a team of political consultants you've hand-picked to advise you on all manner of policy, message, and strategy issues. Respectfully, sir, you need a new staff.
Leaving Lieberman - Why The Democrats Are Better Off Without Joe Liberman
The political headline of the moment is that Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) will filibuster the most recent compromise-healthcare-reform legislation hammered out in the Senate.
Ars Gratia Artis - Saving Music From The Economy
The too-bright stage lights shimmer upon the polished surface of a grand piano behind Sonya Schumann as she stands at a podium in the recital room of the University of South Carolina's music school.
1 in 4 Opposed To Healthcare Reform Say It Doesn't Go Far Enough
A recent poll done by Ipsos/McClatchly shows that healthcare reform isn't terribly popular; the present bills before Congress have a -12 net popularity figure and the GOP has been capitalizing on that unpopularity.
The Folly of Universal Armament - Why More Guns Wouldn't Have Prevented Fort Hood
Jacob Sullum over at Reason Magazine has a new article up that rehashes most of the same worn out talking points that place the blame for mass shootings like those at Virginia Tech and Fort Hood at the feet of weapons bans and gun control advocates.
Twenty Years After The Wall Came Down: Rethinking The Myth of Unfettered Capitalism
It is said that societies that do not know history are doomed to repeat it. In some sense then it is fitting that today, November the 9th, will pass in relative obscurity for most Americans.
The Opportune Moment For The Public Option
If President Obama is waiting for the opportune moment to leap to the support of a public option, this is it.
Obama Should Honor The Peace Prize; He Should Give It Back
Earlier today the United States bombed the moon, sending a probe approximately the weight of a SUV rocketing into the lunar surface at twice the speed of a rifle bullet.
It's Judicial Activism Season Again (Or "The Importance of an Independent Judiciary")
Get ready for “Judicial Activism” season.
The Healthcare Conspiracy: Olympia Snowe, Max Baucus, and Selling Out The Public Option
At the "How To Take Back America" a panel on "How to understand Islam" offered this response to an audience member who asked if the panel would consider Presdient Obama a Christian or a Muslim: "Barack Obama should be called the first Muslim American President....
Lies, Liars, and Accountability: Fox News is Having A Bad Week
One would think that Fox News would be resting on its laurels this week.
Obama's Czars and the Bolsheviks at Fox News
Number of Czars in the George W. Bush Administration: 35. Number of Czars in the Obama Administration: 32. Number of stories on Fox News from 2000 - 2008 with the word "Czar": ~27,000 Number of stories on Fox News from 2008 - Present with the word "Czar": ~42,800
Chris Thomas