The following is definitely in the “man bites dog” department. Deroy Murdock, a writer at the conservative National Review, wrote an op-ed calling for the retirement of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” regarding gay Americans serving in the military. Murdock notes the irony of the Army lowering its standards to allow convicted thieves, child molesters and murderers, while axing several linguists who happen to be gay. Murdock notes that times have changed,...

In a post this morning, blogger Alan Stewart Carl, discusses his backing off of supporting John McCain. He writes: …outside of certain issues of morality, I am not a man of absolutes. Which is why I’ve drifted away from McCain – he has acted too much like a man of absolutes, not just convinced of his own understandings of the world but also too willing to simplify complex matters in order to win votes. Obama has appeared more flexible but I don’t yet know if that is crafty political...

In a recent post, Donklephant’s Alan Stewart Carl’s correctly takes down the McCain campaign for their latest ad which blames Senator Obama for high gas prices. I don’t have a problem with going after McCain for an ad that was grossly unfair. What piqued my interest was his last point: Increasing domestic drilling is definitely an issue we need to debate and McCain used to be a guy you could trust to talk about such matters seriously. Now he sounds like any other politician looking...

In the Blogosphere, issues tend to come and go. People tend to react to something rather quickly and move on. Now I am a little late on commenting on the whole New Yorker cartoon with Barak Obama in somekind of Muslim-type dress, giving a fist bump to his wife Michelle who is dressed up as a modern-day Angela Davis, with a flag burning in the fireplace and a picture of Osama bin Laden. We all know how the resulting debate, so I won’t bore you with that- I just want to share my view.

Ross Douthat has a worthy analysis of Phil Gramm’s unwise words today about our nation being a “nation of whiners” when it come to the current economic outlook. Douthat notes that Republicans tend to be economic optimists, while Democrats tend to be economic pessimists. Too much of either and you have problems. That was the problem with Gramm’s comments today. In some case, the GOP has focused too much on the positive without seeing there are some major factors affecting...

I’ve been trying to read Reclaiming Conservatism, by former Congressman Mickey Edwards. It has been a difficult read. It’s not because it is hard to read. What has bothered me so far is page after page of Edwards’ rants against the Bush Administration and the feckless Republican Congress that let the President get away with so much. After a while it gets a bit tedious. It’s not that I am a fan of President Bush or the GOP Congress of 2000-06, it’s just that it gets...

Sorry, but I had to use a version of that Simpsons quote (and I basically copied it from a writer). Piggybacking on yesterday’s post, I found this article by Reihan Salam about the doomed McCain Presidency. It’s not as much his problem, but it is the problem of the GOP not being able to notice that the times they are a-changing. As I said yesterday, the nation is moving towards a new liberal era as the conservative era ends. He notes that Britain is in its own liberal (or more precisely,...

John McCain can’t get a break. In 2000, he ran up against the Bush machine that slimed him and ran his campaign off the rails. Eight years later, he is now makes it to the top spot as the GOP nominee and has to run against someone that seems to be more popular than Jesus. While I support John McCain, there is a sense that this is a losing battle. He is a good man stuck with a party in disarray and a movement that was run off the rails by the same man he faced in 2000. Allan Lichtman has a...

I stumbled across this Associated Press article in today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune about how black conservatives are considering voting for Obama, because he is the first serious black candidate for the White House. Now, I understand their feelings as a black man. I don’t want to vote for someone just because they share the same skin color that I do, and there is a lot I disagree with in Obama’s plans for governing this country. There are a lot of Obama’s policy positions...

In an earlier post, Michael Stickings comments on comments. He talks about some bigoted comments left on the McCain website, and while he doesn’t say this reflects on McCain, he say the website is an outlet for “straight-talking bigotry.” Earlier in the day, there were reports of a person who left a note on the Barak Obama website that talked about how the Jewish Lobby works. The offensive comments have since been removed, but that didn’t stop Rick Moran from wondering what...

The New York Times is reporting that an adviser close to GOP nominee John McCain says the Senator now supports warrantless wiretapping, which would signal a shift to the expansive view of the presidency championed by President Bush. Here is what the article says: In a letter posted online by National Review this week, the adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, said Mr. McCain believed that the Constitution gave Mr. Bush the power to authorize the National Security Agency to monitor Americans’ international...

Note, this post is just the facts. I’m not making any editorial comments. The McCain campaign invited several bloggers to take part in a conference call with the presumptive Republican nominee Senator John McCain. Here are some of the highlights: First, Senator McCain congratulated Senator Hillary Clinton saying she “inspired women all over America.” He also congratulated Senator Barack Obama and then invited the Illinois Senator and presumptive nominee to 10 town hall meetings...

Like my blogmate, Patrick Eadburn, I have not been a fan of Barak Obama. But, speaking not as John McCain supporter or a Republican, tonight, June 3, 2008 is moment in American history. Whatever one thinks of the Senator from Illinois, he has broken a barrier that did not ever seem possible. Tonight we saw a major party claim an African American as its presumptive presidential nominee. Mind you, as I heard on the radio tonight, it was only 1964 when the Democrats were dealing with Fanny Lou Hamer...

I’ve started looking for a new car and I’ve decided to pick the Toyota Prius. No, I’m not trading in my SUV; I am getting it for a few reasons. First, my partner Daniel purchased a Smart Four Two so, we need a car that can haul stuff efficiently and my current high-mileage Jetta Turbo Diesel ain’t cutting it. The Prius has good cargo and passenger room (another deficit on the Jetta) and good gas mileage to boot. Having a fuel-efficient car appeals to my green sensibilities...

Now that a few days has passed over the uproar of President Bush’s remarks where he implicitly slammed Barak Obama on negotiating with some of America’s less than savory neighbors, I think it’s time for me to weigh in. Michael Tomansky of the Guardian has a good piece up on how Obama has been able to blunt criticism from the Republicans on foreign policy. The gist is that Obama is going to present a very different vision of American foreign policy that is centered on diplomacy...

Several years ago, I took part in a workshop after church. The members of the congregation were gathered and watch a video about race and American society. We were then asked to talk about our experience with race. Now, I was the only African American in the room and most of the people there were in their 60s and 70s. Most talked about how they had good relations with Blacks and had many friendships. However, one person who was middle aged, said that things for African Americans and other persons...

I need to start this post off by saying that it will not even appear to be biased. I favor John McCain and will probably vote for him come fall. I say this, because I want to respond to Jill Miller Zimon’s post where she interviews Cliff Schecter on his book on John McCain. There has been a familiar theme about how McCain has become a tool of the far right and is not the same man that he was in 2000. While I do agree he has made some changes that I have not liked, I think that some of...

CNN reports that President Bush is the least popular president in modern history. A liberal acquaintance is gleeful believing that this proves the president is the worst ever. My belief is that while the President won’t be in my top ten, I think one might want to allow the historians to determine this and not the fleeting opinions of moment. That said, this President won’t be remembered favorably by most Americans. President Bush’s unfavorability has had major consequences for...

In response to Pete Abel’s post this morning concerning Senator Obama, I wrote the following response: While I wouldn’t say it as brash as RickMoran did, I have to agree somewhat with his statements. It does seem a bit elitist to say that Obama is being brought down by “simple-minded” folks. For one thing, it’s too early to say his campaign is toast. Politics can change and he still could turn this whole Wright affair around. Also, you seem to be implying when you...

Michael Crowley of the New Republic, has a good article about Senator Obama and his Iraq policy. You will want to read the whole thing, but in short he says that while Obama is talking about getting out of Iraq, it might be more likely to see a reduced presence in Iraq. I think that no matter who gets into the Oval Office in 2009, Iraq is not going to be easy to deal with and will probably go against what the bases of the political parties want. There has been a lot of talk that either Hillary...

Just a couple of interesting articles: John B. Judis thinks that Obama’s “new-politics” is looking more like the old McGovern coalition and that might spell trouble in November. Salon’s Walter Shapiro has an article that Obama is having trouble closing the deal with Democrats. On the Republican side. You’d think John McCain would be doing rather well with Hillary and Obama fighting each other. You’d think wrong. Jonathan Cohn thinks Democrats need to chill about...

Alan Stewart Carl reminded me of something: upscale voters vote against their economic interests all the time, but for some reason Democrats don’t seem to get out of whack about that.

I have always had a scene from the 1992 movie Sneakers in my brain. In the scene, Robert Redford has been captured by his former friend and fellow computer hacker, played by Ben Kingsley. Kingsley has a plan that will wreak havoc on the financial system. At some point Ben Kingsley’s character notes that while the reality might be different, the general public would see the perception of catastrophe as reality and continue the work that he started and end up destroying the financial system. Perception...

There has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth among so-called conservatives because the selection of John McCain as the GOP nominee. Many have said that he isn’t a true conservative (never mind that his American Conservative Union score says otherwise). Jonathan Rauch writes in the Atlantic that the problem isn’t that the Arizona Senator isn’t conservative enough, it’s that his “conservative” detractors aren’t really conservatives. Using McCain’s...

The conventional wisdom has been that Obama would be able to beat John McCain in November and that many independents and moderates would break for Obama. Many Republicans and centrists has been stirred by Obama’s healing rhetoric which is a breath of fresh air to many of us that are tired of eight years of partisan actions. Many Democrats like Obama more than Senator Hillary Clinton, who is viewed as too cynical. Many people think that Obama will beat John McCain to become the first African...