I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t see this one coming. Apparently some of the Powers That Be are getting on board with the POTUS and looking down the line toward the future of the automotive industry in terms of cutting down the carbon emissions and boosting the fuel usage standards. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers provides the details. Washington, DC – On Tuesday, May 19, automakers will join with President Obama, federal agencies, governors and environmental leaders to...

The cat is not only out of the bag, but well into the next county by now. Originally exposed by thejoshuablog at TPM Cafe, it was obvious that Maureen Dowd, in her Sunday column, lifted some of Josh Marshall’s prose from Talking Points Memo. To her credit, and that of her taskmasters at the Gray Lady, she quickly owned up to the “error” and issued a correction in the online version of the column. But what sort of an apology did we get? New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, in an...

David Weigel at the Washington Independent takes a look back in anguish at the day Larry Johnson’s few remaining shreds of credibility died. It was one year ago, on May 16, 2008, when Larry claimed definitive knowledge of a video tape of first lady Michelle Obama ranting about white people and yelling “whitey.” This explosive video, we were assured, was about to be released to the public, thereby sinking any chances Barack Obama had of seizing the Democratic nomination from Hillary...

The subject of my Pajama’s Media column this week deals with how Sir Isaac Newton would craft his basic laws if he had chosen to study politics rather than mathematics. Here’s number three: ON matters of warfare in the political arena, when seeking equal footing for the battle, each issue-based action must be balanced by an equal and opposite reaction. Do all political issues elicit an “equal and opposite” reaction from potential opponents? Or do traditionally “social...

Just a quick hit on this one, since I’m technically on blogging hiatus for a week or two. I’ve watched the Nancy Pelosi, “The CIA Lied to Me” story unfold for some time now, and one thing has become clear. The Speaker has been caught red-handed in a “pants on fire” situation and no amount of spin in the world is going to change this. Accusing the CIA of lying took what was arguably just a garden variety case of political mendacity and turned it into a national...

With all of the brouhaha over the first 100 days of the Obama administration, some sympathy should be shown for the paltry amount of fanfare given for Michael Steele’s 100 day anniversary of leading the GOP. Thanks to the folks at Think Progress, there is a tidy video compilation available which can bring you up to date. Enjoy.

There is some huffing and puffing going on out in Oklahoma this month, where Republicans in the legislature have decided to issue a slap in the face to their Democratic Party oppressors by raising the specter of state sovereignty and the tenth amendment. HCR 1028, which, if passed, would be sent to Democratic President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress, would not jeopardize federal funds but would tell Congress to “get back into their proper constitutional role.” The resolution...

We’ve been around this particular block too many times for me to get my hopes up, but the Washington Times is claiming a scoop, saying that President Obama may be ready to bring discussions of the secret everyone already knows to light. President Obama’s efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons threaten to expose and derail a 40-year-old secret U.S. agreement to shield Israel’s nuclear weapons from international scrutiny, former and current U.S. and Israeli officials and nuclear...

A lot of you out there have finally and officially lost your minds. I can’t help you any more. I know that now, and I’m just going to have to accept it. Strangely enough, I had to learn this lesson at the alter of Carrie Prejean, first runner up in this year’s Ms. USA pageant. During her failed bid for the crown, the bejeweled baton and the flowers (or whatever it is they get at these things) she grabbed her fifteen minutes of fame by answering a question from Perez Hilton on gay...

What do the two have in common? Nothing yet, but if we lose any more Republicans up here, they’ll both be in the extinction club. This is the subject of my latest (and wildly popular) column at Pajamas Media. Feel the love!

No matter how old or young you may be, how many times have you remarked to a friend or just made a mental note to yourself, “Say… that looks interesting. I’ll have to get back to that.” I find this happens with things in a wide variety of categories, but mostly entertainment or casual study. There are television series, books, movies, plays and travel destinations which I just know I would enjoy, but I don’t seem to make time for them. Life keeps getting in the way...

I’ve spent more than enough virtual ink wistfully laying out my dreams of ideal Supreme Court nominees, and I’ve reached the acceptance stage in the grief progression. There are no signs that our presidents are going to start ignoring partisan considerations and litmus tests. There was never any chance that George W. Bush was going to nominate a liberal – or even a moderate – to the Supreme Court, and there is zero chance that Barack Obama will nominate a moderate or a conservative....

As one of the regularly appearing authors at Pajamas Media, as well as here at The Moderate Voice, I am frequently called upon to employ the humor and satire tags, covering my occasional efforts to bring a smile to your faces during tough times in he political arena. But few, if any, of my efforts at comedy have been as funny as an entry this week from John Hawkins. “The Right Needs to Play as Dirty as the Left.” Too often today, liberals are using below-the-belt tactics against conservatives...

In case any of you were still laboring under the belief that anyone from AIPAC could ever be convicted of anything in the United States of America, consider yourselves to have been fully disabused of this notion.

Patrick Edaburn already wrote a very insightful article on yesterday’s passage of yet more “hate crime legislation” in the House of Representatives, this time invoking the name of Matthew Shepard. While the people who abducted and murdered Shepard were certainly monsters of the most hateful sort, their biggest crime may not be the assault on Shepard’s person, but the damage they wind up doing to our legal system. Matters are not helped when members of Congress run off at the...

Our alert staff already tipped you off to the breaking Arlen Specter story today, (see Holly and Patrick for details) but I have a few more brief thoughts to add. Pennsylvania is a perfect microcosm of what I’ve seen going on in my former party for some time now. The land of Rocky is a swing state which has been swinging in precisely the wrong direction for the GOP for several cycles now. To see how this illustrates the future of the GOP – at least in its current story arc – we...

While our last effort was unfortunately scrubbed due to a scheduling conflict, today on Movie Addict Headquarters, (4 pm Eastern Time) we will finally be conducting our live interview with that legend of stage and screen, Cloris Leachman. In addition to reminiscing over her fantastic career, we’ll be taking a look at Cloris’ recently released autobiography, Cloris. If you’d like to join us with your own questions or memories from Ms. Leachman’s career, stop by today and join...

For an interesting look at one of the front-line warriors in the abortion wars, be sure to stop by the L.A. Times for their profile of culture warrior, Lila Rose. (For disclosure’s sake, I’ve had the chance to sit in on a number of interviews between the subject in question and Ed Morrissey during his daily talk show.) While you can find out much more from the linked article and her own web site, the short version runs thusly: Ms. Rose is an anti-abortion crusader who looks much younger...

Joe Windish has already been covering this for you, but I wanted to share a few thoughts on the looming prospect of an influenza pandemic. Reports are already reaching us this morning that eleven people have died in Mexico, but people are recovering from the disease at a few locations in the United States, specifically in New York City. Why? Are we some sort of super-species? Does the swine flu have too much class and good taste to go around killing Americans, choosing instead to focus its efforts...

Word is coming out of Albany that Jim Tedisco, facing a growing deficit in the results of the March 31 special election – may concede defeat to political neophyte Scott Murphy today. A finish line could be in sight in the race for the 20th Congressional District. With the numbers not looking good for Republican Jim Tedisco, sources tell Capital News 9 that Tedisco could concede to Democrat Scott Murphy as soon as Friday afternoon. There are roughly 1,000 paper ballots left to open and Murphy’s...

This morning, on Mid Stream Radio, Cindy and I will be talking to Roger Simmermaker, the author of How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism. We’ll talk about the difficulties Americans face in finding “Made in the USA” type products on the shelves and the impact of government policy on prices, product quality, wages and unions. Tune in at the link above for our interview, or call in to (646) 595-3963 with your own questions and comments. See you on the radio.

I have recently heard plenty of harebrained attacks on President Obama, ranging from the inane to the clearly ginned up, and I’ve done my best to call out the perpetrators. But when he screws the pooch, as every administration inevitably does, we also need to call him out on it. That’s why I find myself reading the New York Times today and wondering what the heck is going on in the West Wing these days. Obama Won’t Bar Inquiry, or Penalty, on Interrogations WASHINGTON — President...

This morning I find myself taking one side of a dueling columnist battle at Pajamas Media, with my article on Why Megan McCain is Right. This is poised against Kim Priestap’s piece on Why Megan McCain is Wrong. On the surface it may seem difficult to defend the opinions of a 24 year old when it comes to an issue as weighty as the future of a major political party and the establishment of an ancient political ideology such as conservatism. There’s certainly an element of that attitude...

Since so many other people are already piling on to the party, I won’t spend too much time wondering why Jane Harmon was allegedly caught chatting up an Israeli spy, likely an associate of AIPAC. The question of the day for TMV readers is the following: what do all of these posts have in common? Harmon Recorded Making Deal With Israeli Agents Harman caught on wiretap bargaining for intervention in espionage case Dem Harman Caught On Tape Making Deals For Committee Chairmanship Well, they have...

In a move sure to swell his already legendary popularity among the GOP’s Christian Conservative base, Rick Moran of Right Wing Nuthouse takes up his pen this weekend to make the case for why conservatives need to reject their opposition to gay marriage. A number of specific points are raised, which make the entire essay worth a read, but an interesting baseline is set with the following: There is no delegitimizing love be it between a man and a woman or two members of the same sex. The same...