The horrible death of Bill Sparkman in backwoods Kentucky has brought out the usual collection of vultures, ghouls and opportunists. Even though everyone admits that details remain sketchy and investigating officials are (rightly) keeping some pertinent facts close to the vest, the piling on started almost immediately. We’ve had some of it right here at TMV, but you don’t have to look far to find more… and more… and more who are careful to couch their assertions with “maybes”...

One of the negative effects of changes in national security policy during the Bush administration was the advent of “indefinite detention” as a way of handling potentially dangerous terrorists. (Or, in some cases, people who were picked up for being in the wrong place at the wrong time with a name having too many vowels in it.) Out on the campaign trail last year, one of the things I liked about candidate Obama was his seemingly unflinching loyalty to the rule of law and the basic belief...

Yesterday I took some friendly fire from readers for my dubious response to President Obama’s claims to George Stephanopoulos that charging people money if they don’t have health insurance was not a tax increase. George broke out the dictionary definition of “tax,” which the President blew off. In other areas, people like Steve Benen crowed about how Obama had “schooled” George on what “tax” means. Rather than looking at Merriam-Webster, Stephanopoulos...

And the winner comes to us from the New York Times. Belatedly, Egypt Spots Flaws in Wiping Out Pigs.

As part of his weekend press junket around the dial, President Obama stopped by This Week with George Stephanopoulos. George has, in the past, been somewhat shy at times about questioning Democrats too harshly. (To put it kindly.) But today, he did himself proud when he tried to pin down the President on the effect of taxing millions of middle class Americans by imposing a government mandate on them to purchase health insurance or else sticking them with a penalty. STEPHANOPOULOS: …during...

I caught some flack from my conservative friends last week when I agreed with President Obama on the decision to shelve the star wars missile defense boondoggle in Eastern Europe. While anyone could rightly question my bona fides on such issues, they may want to pay a little more attention when no less a personage than Secretary of Defense Robert Gates weighs in on the subject. Last week, President Obama — on my recommendation and with the advice of his national-security team and the unanimous...

And for you non-US readers, I’m talking about real football. Not soccer. Well, it’s Sunday and it’s September, so we’re off to the races in week two of the NFL’s 2009 big dance. My New York Jets (currently undefeated *cough cough*) will be taking on the always dangerous New England Patriots, and the Giants travel to Dallas to meet the Cowboys. I’m picking them both to win, though my friend Ed has already jinxed the Jets by picking them as well. His Steelers are...

I’ve been munching popcorn out here in the Empire State and watching next year’s gubernatorial race shape up for some time now. It’s been very entertaining in an electoral off year, with Governor David Paterson’s approval ratings cycling somewhere between dismal and “they’re just not that into you.” (He just ticked off a lot more Democrats by suspending fiscal support of ACORN.) The names and faces shift from week to week and rumors abound, but the same questions...

On Tuesday evening this week, in Ohio, Rommel Broom was led to the lethal injection chamber for the 1984 abduction, rape, torture and murder of a 14 year old girl. Two hours later, Broom walked out under his own power after technicians were unable to insert an I.V. properly into a vein. This is stirring up another controversy over whether or not the state can attempt to put Broom down twice. I take a look at this case, along with some other famous botched executions over the ages, in my column this...

So much of our regularly scheduled show yesterday was eaten up by ACORN and the shelving of the missile defense shield, that Cindy and I will be broadcasting a bonus edition of Mid Stream Radio at 10 AM eastern this morning, primarily to discuss the Baucus compromise and the latest revelations to pop up in the news. Feel free to join in the chat with your own thoughts or call in at (646) 595-3963. If you wish to chat, be sure to register for a free BTR user account beforehand if you’ve not...

I very nearly didn’t write this column, given some of the recent partisan acrimony over web voices who would never utter a word regarding the Obama administration being wrong about anything or acknowledge that a Republican could ever have a good idea, but I refuse to play that game. While there has been precious little to praise the President over on the domestic front, when he does something right I like to point it out. (Similar to when I praised him for his positions on taxing U.S. corporations’...

The House of Representatives may not be able to do much these days to draw praise from this corner of the room, currently having a joint approval rating somewhere in the range of fifteen points below Dick Cheney, but let the record show they can pass something. I mean, they’re turning the health care debacle into a national tragedy right before our eyes, and can’t seem to pass a single piece of paper that doesn’t drive the national debt beyond Carl Sagan type numbers. But today...

Our friend Ed Morrissey has today jumped on the bandwagon of Republicans who have decided that President Obama’s penchant for appointing “czars” such as Van Jones, who recently moved into new digs under the Obama bus, is a bad thing. Describing them as a “proliferation of unaccountable commissars in government,” Ed sees this as a dangerous trend. It’s well past time for the Republicans to demand answers on the massive expansion of “czars” in the government. A proper...

In case you missed it, (and judging by the early overnights at TV By the Numbers, plenty of you did) Jay Leno premiered last night for his experiment in moving late night television into prime time. The Washington Post gave the square jawed funnyman a fairly charitable review, soothing fears on the part of some viewers that “the new Jay” would be terrible. It was, they note, the same old Jay Leno. Leno’s funny, but in the safest way. He’s adheres to the center of the exact...

I don’t know how much time would have to go by before this became obvious, but following the anniversary of 9/11 it’s not only a good time to remember the fallen and our losses of that day, but to continue to try to understand why it was that we were attacked. It’s hard to defeat your enemy unless you know them and have a grip on what motivates them. While it draws not only argument, but outrage, from many of my Republican friends, I’ve been saying for years now that one of...

Following the last round of speeches, we have found out one thing… President Obama has claimed the Max Baucus compromise health care bill as his own. So you can call it the Baucus Plan or the Obama Plan or the compromise, or whatever you like. But this is, at least for now, Obama’s plan. While we still don’t have a full copy of what the Finance Committee is cooking, some of the details have been released to the press, and it includes some eye-opening factoids. As usual, the largest...

One Right wing blogger raised a bit of a stir earlier this week with his “interesting” explanation of why so many Jews are “liberal” when, if they had the brains God gave a goat, they should be hard core, conservative Republicans. Here’s one Jewish lady who was shocked to find out how unintelligent she must be and how Republicans are the real philo-semitic party. (Don’t feel bad. I had to go look it up too.) Exit question: How many religious, ethnic and social...

This morning, Mid Stream Radio will be back on the air picking through the aftermath of Obama’s health care speech. Cindy and I will be joined by Rick Moran, of Right Wing Nuthouse, to replay a few of the highlights and lowlights and see what it all means. You can listen live at the show’s web site, join in our comments section (if you have done your free registration at the BTR home page) or call in with your own questions and comments at (646) 595-3963. See you on the radio!

There is a new consortium of media entities who propose to replace the venerable Nielsen ratings with a new, high tech viewership tracking service. There’s no question that Nielsen’s numbers are fraught with problems. College students living away from home between the ages of 18 to 24 remain virtually uncounted. Minorities in urban areas are consistently over-represented, and the sweeps period ratings still rely on the truthfulness of viewers filling out paper diaries. But should we let...

Tonight, the President of the United States takes to the air again at 8 PM eastern to explain to us why, if we like our doctors, we’ll get to keep our doctors under a public plan, even if our insurance providers who provide coverage through our employers go out of business. Never shirking from my duty here at TMV, I will be joining Rick Moran and Ed Morrissey for live coverage of the event. You will be able to join in a live chat, submit your own questions and comments, or just follow along...

As part of my summer reading feast, I recently finished the biogrophy of ubiquitous television host, Tom Bergeron, called “I’m Hosting as Fast as I Can!” If you watch any television at all, there’s a fair chance that you’re already familiar with Tom. He is the host of the very highly rated “Dancing With the Stars” as well as the long running ABC hit, America’s Funniest Videos. He’s also done stints as the host of Hollywood Squares and Good Morning...

… not to go back to the moon. Moon Cat has already rendered the effort meaningless.

Consider this my first (and last) column on the entire Van Jones kerfuffle. Given how the story ended, somebody messed up on this one big time, and the only available suspect is the President himself. There are two possible ways that this was bungled, and we’ll look at them both in a moment. But first, let’s look at the list of “charges” against Jones by Obama administration critics. He’s a communist He was part of S.T.O.R.M. He’s a Mumia Supporter He’s...

Actually, the title for this column should have been, “In Defense of Obama,” but I finally rejected that for two primary flaws. First, regular readers here might have had some sort of disastrous coronary event seeing such a title with my byline attached. Second, the defense I offer will seem something less than enthusiastic enough for the Obama faithful. But, if nothing else, I assure you that it is earnest. I spent part of my summer re-reading Orson Scott Card’s series on Ender’s...

There may well be no stranger figure to arise from the election of 2008 than Levi Johnston. One minute he was just another high school jock, bragging to his buddies about how he was “getting some” from the Governor’s daughter. The next he was a soon to be father with a soon to be Mother-in-law who was running for vice president and quickly becoming one of the most divisive figures in the nation. It’s bad enough having put your main squeeze in a family way, but on top of that...