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...

Now we have the answer to yesterday’s question. What does Nancy Pelosi plan to do about Charlie Rangel and his curiously poor memory when it comes to matters of finance? Not a whole lot. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will let Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) keep his chairmanship despite his failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets on federal disclosure forms, according to Democratic aides. The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s latest misstep has received...

Did you ever have a beloved pet disappear as a child and your parents told you that it had been sent off to live on a farm where it could chase rabbits, roll in the grass and play with the rest of the pets? And what the heck does that have to do with NASA and our space program? The answer is found in a strange but yet intriguing editorial in the New York Times by Lawrence M. Krauss. I’ve written here in the past regarding my opinion that unmanned space flight, at least for the time being, is...

Congress is coming back to “work” this week after their peaceful August sojourns and Nancy Pelosi has a tough decision waiting for her. How will she justify (assuming she does) allowing Congressman Charlie Rangel (D. NY) to continue on as Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means committee? For those who missed it, Rangel has been facing one instance after another of large sums of money and property which he has mysteriously failed to report on required congressional forms or pay...

Bill Bradley has an interesting, if not entirely realistic op-ed in the New York Times this week which seeks to address the virtues of bipartisan spirit in Congress. He does so by drawing parallels between the current health care debate and the landmark tax reform passed in the 80’s by Reagan and a divided Congress. It’s an admirable, if somewhat pie in the sky, nostalgic view. In 1986, before President Ronald Reagan, a Republican Senate and a Democratic House succeeded in passing landmark...

In case you missed it this morning, be sure to catch the video replay of the round table discussion on today’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos.(We’ll update with the video here as soon as they post it.) ABC jumps on the same broken bandwagon as MSNBC and several other outlets and, for reasons which escape most viewers, allows loudmouthed “pundit” Liz Cheney on the show. The results, as they have been on virtually every one of her appearances, are predictable. Liz is given...

Siena Research recently concluded their sweeping August poll of New Yorkers’ political leanings and the results contain some shocks and some yawns, as usual. Two things are obvious, though. First, having given total control executive and legislative power to the party of the Donkey, Empire State denizens are absolutely sick of the Democrats they elected. Second, they are still in no mood to replace most of those Democrats with Republicans. I have a breakdown of some of the more surprising results...

You may think you’ve got it bad, but at least you’re not part of the next generation of punk rock. Think about the low points of your life, then watch this video and just be glad you are who and where you are. (Warning: Some inappropriate language, so avoid if that would offend.) I’m Fat and Nobody Likes Me

In some ways, I had to suppress a bit of a nostalgic smile when I saw my friend Ed Morrissey at Hot Air picking off the scab of an old wound from the 2004 presidential campaign today. You see, Ed and I have been agreeing on so much lately when it comes to health care reform and dire economic news that people tend to forget that we used to fight tooth and claw, hammer and tong over many issues prior to the age of Obama. This time, though, Ed takes the bait of Bernard Goldberg who is attempting to...

Speaking as one who was a moderate, Northeastern member of the Republican party (generally referred to in abusive terms as a “RINO” by the party faithful) for many years, I find that I can definitely relate to the Blue Dog Democrats these days. It’s not easy when you decide to eschew the most radical, fringe ideas of your party and attempt to reach across the aisle and work with “the enemy.” That was hammered home again today when I read about Rep. Pete Stark, (D-Calif)...