We need to exercise T-Steel’s new and improved comment section, so I was wondering what all of our readers’ favorite and least favorite moments from the campaign trail were during the endless election of 2008. To add to the difficulty factor, let’s disqualify election night as your favorite if you supported Obama or your least favorite if you supported McCain, Barr or anyone else. That’s too easy. So what were the high and low points for you? For high points, though I didn’t...

There is no appearance President Obama can make which doesn’t become embroiled in controversy, or so it seems. Invited to give the commencement address this year at Arizona State, the esteemed institute of higher education apparently deemed his “body of work” insufficient to merit an honorary degree. Was this fair? Should we care? Should Obama care? This vital issue of pressing national importance is the subject of my column this week at Pajamas media. Hey, if the President is feeling...

The 2009 New York International Auto Show is in full swing now, running through April 19th in Manhattan. This turned out to be an excellent opportunity to continue our ongoing discussion of CAFE standards, environmentally friendly engineering and the future of the automotive industry in the United States. Before beginning we will need to offer up full disclosure. TMV was invited to the Auto Show as guests of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, who did not pay us any form of remuneration, but...

There is likely no better imaginable day than Easter to tell the Vatican that they can go pack sand. Caroline Kennedy, the long time Obama supporter and very nearly Senator from New York, was apparently suggested as our next ambassador to the Vatican, but the Holy See finds the choice unacceptable because of Kennedy’s stated position on abortion. Vatican sources told Il Giornale that their support for abortion disqualified Ms Kennedy and other Roman Catholics President Barack Obama had been...

We’re now into the fifth day of absentee ballot counting in the NY 20th Congressional District race between Jim Tedisco and Scott Murphy, but the end is still nowhere in sight. After the re-canvass left the election effectively in a tie, officials began opening up and counting the thousands of write-in votes which will decide the outcome. The news might be construed as hopeful for Murphy thus far. Murphy took the lead Friday morning after more than 1,400 of 6,700 absentee ballots were counted...

For some reason, during the transitional period following the last election and the first few salad days of the Obama administration, I foolishly believed that we were seeing some encouraging improvements in political discourse in the blogosphere. In a relatively short period of time, though, things have taken a turn. Check out the collection of comments at Memeorandum by some fairly prominent bloggers in response to President Obama’s recent trip overseas. “President Pantywaist?”...

This week, your faithful TMV reporter is in Manhattan to check out the 2009 New York International Auto Show and we’ll be talking to some folks involved in the auto industry about the future of Detroit, environmental concerns and progress on the fuel efficiency front and related topics so it can be reported back to you here first hand. (Aren’t we nice?) Shown to the left if one of the many concept cars on display during this show preview for the media. We’ll bring you some more...

Earlier, in his guest column, Don’t Blame The Republicans For Having Principles, Dalitso Njolinjo raised some interesting points about the difference between obstructionism and principle in the political arena. Upon reading one of his conclusions, though, I found myself a bit too cynical to get on board. “In the end, isn’t that what we want from our politicians, to have the steel spine and have the courage to stick with their beliefs and principles, especially if the wind is against...

With a tip of the hat to my good friend, The One True Tami, The Moderate Voice invites you to look back and remember what was probably the greatest breakthrough in zoological research of the last century. The number of people that we got with that one on April Fools Day in previous years still never ceases to amaze me.

A number of people, particularly conservative Republicans unhappy with the election of Barack Obama, may be so worried about the future security of the nation that they are considering leaving. It may prove useful to point out that there’s now one more good reason to move to Australia.

You may not be aware of it unless you follow the correct news sources, but America’s best days are behind her. We sit disgraced and dismissed by proper nations after our virtual submission to our betters by the President of the United States, who is apparently a clueless loser. Yes, my friends, worse has come to worst because Barack Obama bowed at the waist while meeting King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. (Should you wish to watch the downfall of America, you may do so on YouTube here.) Fortunately...

Methinks someone is smelling victory in the air. After all of the official canvassing was completed in the NY20 slugfest between Jim Tedisco and Scott Murphy,the race has ended in a dead tie. Apparently, Republican candidate Tedisco feels he has it in the bag, because he has stepped down from his position as New York State Assembly Minority Leader, no doubt in preparation for his role in the House of Representatives. Or was that really the reason? James N. Tedisco is so optimistic about winning the...

While some people were busy criticizing Governor Paterson’s comments about the shooting, (for the record, he actually said it was the greatest tragedy and senseless crime in the history of the city, not of the state, as Andrew Malcolm appropriately corrected in his column) more local news continues to filter in and some of it strikes close to home. It turns out that a relative of one of my colleagues is a teacher at the Civic Association and was scheduled to be teaching there on the day of...

I suppose we should have seen this one coming, but the tragedy here in Binghamton, New York has taken on a brief, international flair as FoxNews reports that the Taliban is claiming responsibility for the shooting. Since I’ve been covering the story for you right from the neighborhood, I suppose we’ll have to touch on this as part of our update. A Pakistani Taliban militant leader has claimed responsibility for the attack on a U.S. immigration center in New York state in which 13 people...

Should we pass a bill giving the President unfettered authority to shut down the internet during a crisis and access any and all data from anyone while allowing him sole discretion to determine what constitutes a crisis and when one occurs? What could possibly go wrong? Should President Obama have the power to shut down domestic Internet traffic during a state of emergency? Senators John Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) think so. On Wednesday they introduced a bill to establish...

SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES: Early reports about the mass shooting in Binghamton, New York turned out to be off base. The tragedy, which happened fairly near my home, did not involve multiple shooters, but rather one gunman named Jiverly Voong, a 42 year old local man of Vietnamese origin. There are approximately 13 people dead, some killed by execution style shots to the head, and an unknown number of additional wounded. No motive has been given, but local officials have scheduled a press conference...

As the re-canvass of votes continues in New York’s 20th congressional district, Politicker NY reports that errors are being found and corrected and they are all heading in one direction. Jim Tedisco now seems to hold a 12 vote lead over Democrat Scott Murphy, though Murphy was declared to hold a roughly sixty vote lead on election night. Now it’s Tedisco by 12! As voting machines are re-canvassed, Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco has picked up 37 votes, evaporating Democrat Scott...

For entry number 114 in my ongoing 2,000 part series of baseless and despicable attacks on Sarah Palin and her family, I draw your attention to the fallout from disgraced Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) receiving his get out of jail free card. The Anchorage Daily News fills in the blanks for us. Gov. Sarah Palin and the head of the Alaska Republican Party said Thursday that Sen. Mark Begich should give his Senate seat up to a special election now that prosecutors have abandoned their case against...

As I previously predicted, the withdrawal of the Libertarian candidate in New York’s 20th district special congressional election threw the race into a virtual dead heat. After all precincts finished reporting, Democrat Scott Murphy was listed as having a lead of 65 votes. Now we will await the opening and counting of the absentee ballots, which number far more than the current lead held by Murphy. After that will be the mandatory recount and the nearly mandatory lawsuits filed by whomever...

You may recall that last year Detroit came to Washington, hat in hand, looking for another bailout using taxpayer dollars. At that time, some of us questioned whether or not this was a good idea. GM had been on the skids financially for some time and their problems seemed more endemic than temporary. Might they not, we wondered, be better off going into bankruptcy and reorganizing as the airlines did during their dark days? (And you will note that there are still no long lines of people at airports...

How much is too much of a good thing? Everybody loved CSI when it first debuted and CBS ruled the airwaves with it for some time. However, by the time the franchise had expanded to three cities viewers were burning out on it. President Obama has been grabbing more television time than Uncle Milty during his salad days. This is the subject of my Pajamas Media column this week, as we ask whether or not the fans will keep tuning in indefinitely for the Prime Time Presidency.

This weekend finds us with another dose of stories which have recently made me despair of covering politics this year. Just to set the baseline here, I opposed Hillary Clinton’s bids for both our Senate seat here in New York and her presidential run. Also, I didn’t vote for Barack Obama. (Nor did I vote for John McCain.) But after his decisive victory in November I was somewhat heartened when some of the Right leaning bloggers I follow indicated that the level of political discourse might...

Another last minute twist has once again changed the landscape of this Tuesday’s race for the vacant New York 20th district congressional race. Following a series of challenges to ballot signatures, Libertarian Party candidate Eric Sundwall has dropped out of the race. “We are dismayed that the people of the 20th Congressional District will not have the opportunity to vote for Eric Sundwall due to a technicality that hinges on what town or city the voter or witness lives in as opposed...

Tis the season, and we’re not talking about Christmas. As Spring approaches and the air begins to warm, unstable air masses are marching across the nation and spawning tornadoes. There is currently a line of storms moving eastward across the southern portion of the nation, beginning in Mississippi and Alabama last night. This front will be moving into Florida and Georgia today. Even with all of the problems we face in the economy and international relations, now is a good time to remember how...

Last week President Obama made his first nomination to the appellate court. This came on the heels of news that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery for cancer and is now undergoing chemotherapy. Selections for the courts are definitely one area where presidents will never be able to please all the people all of the time, but are we even doing as well as we might in a deeply divided nation? Personally, I believe that we’re consistently bottom feeding in the pool of judicial...