The short answer: “No” The somewhat longer answer: “Well, at least not yet.” It’s true that our citizens are not dropping dead in the streets of disease and starvation. Nor have Skynet’s robots begun ravaging the landscape. Much to the consternation of many Republicans, President Obama has stubbornly refused to declare America a Muslim Nation and set fire to the Constitution on the East lawn. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be concerned, though. This...

Yes, my friends, good news comes in many forms. This weekend, it’s a reminder that you can still redirect your hard earned dollars away from workaday concerns like bills, vacation or retirement and into the coffers of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Just head on over to the Alaska Fund Trust (AFT) and let the love flow! And what, you may ask, will this money be going for? Her reelection as governor? A 2012 run at the White House? No, I’m sorry… nothing quite so pedestrian as that....

A scene from somewhere in my imaginary world: “Good news!” said Madge, my hypothetical business unit manager. “You’re getting a raise!” “Really? That’s great!” I hypothetically responded in the precise fashion that I always react when somebody tells me I’m getting some money. “Yep,” she answered. “An extra two thousand per year. Just sign these forms and we’ll get it all processed.” “Yes indeed!” I beamed,...

All through the endless election of ‘08, I was annoyed by the Republican habit of scritching, sniffing and scratching around Reverend Jeremiah Wright in their efforts to find a cudgel to wield against Barack Obama. The results at the ballot box were a testament to the lack of traction that line of attack bought for them, but I always disliked the argument on principle. It’s a sad fact that there are still divides which stretch between various identity groups in our country, be they along...

I thought it would never happen again. Hell’s Bells… I *PRAYED* it would never happen again. But the Obama administration has done what I thought was impossible. Some time ago I quit smoking cigarettes. It’s a terrible habit. It was shortening my life. It was driving away my friends. It smells bad. It’s just awful. But as of 3 pm this afternoon, I have news for you, President Obama. I’ll give up all of the money I was spending on green veggies, victory gardens, compact...

The media is lighting up like a pin ball machine on tilt (hat tip: Memeorandum) over the “coup” in the New York State Senate yesterday, but residents of the Empire State who follow the news are probably not very surprised. The chief characters involved in this passion play are well known, and some beat reporters from the Big Apple declared this to be a likely scenario before the last election, even naming the participants. The move to take the Democrats out of their newly minted senate...

After investing the better part of a quarter billion dollars into the effort, Will Ferrell’s new film, Land of the Lost, opened to sparsely populated theaters and sneering critics, netting less than twenty million over its first weekend. Everyone has a flop once in a while, but this makes about four in a row for the star of Anchorman which were either limp at the box office or flat out flops. Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly seems to agree. Anyone who’s honest with themselves...

Word on the street is that the President is pushing for healthcare reform in a big way, and draft legislation is being circulated. I don’t have much hope that this is going to be enacted in any sort of frugal, sensible fashion, but I agree that there is room for improvement in the system if it’s handled intelligently. Unfortunately, we may not be off to a smashing start, as Ed Morrissey notes at Hot Air. The title:Quality Affordable Health Care for All Americans. And the first thing past...

Hat tip to Max Boot. Here’s Harlan Ellison in a very memorable rant about why you should pay writers if you want them to write something for you.

Back on Memorial Day we talked about one of the more famous allied operations during World War 2 which took place during the relief of Bastogne in France. Today marks the anniversary of the end of another major engagement, this one in Italy. Known as Operation Shingle, later combined with Operation Diadem, it was first envisioned by Winston Churchill and somewhat reluctantly embraced by the Americans as a way to break into the Italian mainland and drive the Germans out of Rome and back to the north....

Here’s an interesting topic for us to kick around. Today, during the second half of The Ed Morrissey Show, Ed will be interviewing Dr. Sally Satel of the American Enterprise Institute and they will discuss the ethics and potential of “a compensation system for live kidney donors.” Yep… you read that correctly. We’re talking about allowing people to legally sell their kidneys to those in need of a transplant. You can tune in at the link (and do a quick, free registration...

I was pointed to this story from Minnesota Majority by Hot Air and Yid with Lid. Normally one only finds stories of miraculous resurrection either in Easter services or the South Side of Chicago, but apparently the phenomenon has spread to the frozen wastelands of Minnesota. Today, Minnesota Majority announced the discovery of individuals who were deceased prior to November 4, 2008, yet have voter history records on the secretary of state’s files that indicate they voted in the 2008 General Election. Minnesota...

I watched the entirety of President Obama’s speech this morning, and I have to say I was impressed. I was a critic of our nation’s foreign policy under the Bush administration for nearly the entire two terms and I’ve been waiting to see a more even handed, neutral approach to matters in that part of the world, as well as a clear definition of our wars and America’s attitude toward the religion of Islam. Today, while not completely to my tastes, we got most of that. The speech...

While my conservative friends continue to rail against the idea, it does indeed feel like we’re seeing a re-run of the same bad movie we watched during the 90s. Why is it that whenever a Democrat is in the White House it seems like the crazies come out of the woodwork? This is the subject of my column at Pajamas Media this week, and I invite you to read and comment. In addition, though, I’ll share one item which doesn’t appear in the column. Our family had some personal experience...

This is one subject which, even more than its important value in analyzing our cultural and political shift, should remind the readers of TMV exactly how much your authors here lay it all on the line for you. We provide live reporting of breaking events when possible, varied analysis from the full spectrum of opinions, and as with today’s column, we risk exposing ourselves to all manner of hazards and report back here so you won’t have to. In keeping with this tradition, last night I...

The news this past week has simply been too dark and depressing for words, so this morning let us take a moment out for something lighter. I’m not only a film buff when it comes to the big studio offerings from Hollywood (both past and present) but I’ve also developed an affinity for independent films. (or “indies”) That’s why I’m very much looking forward to the month of June when, every Tuesday at 4 pm eastern time, I will be joining author and film critic Betty...

The President may have described it as keeping a campaign promise, but should he have taken the First Lady out for dinner and a show on Broadway in the Big Apple last night? Or is this one promise that needed to be broken and just hope that Michelle would still vote for him in 2012 anyway? The president and first lady jetted to a date in New York late Saturday afternoon, aides and media in tow. After dining a little more than two hours at Blue Hill, a West Village restaurant touted by New York magazine...

I believe that I’ve let enough time slip by for everyone to digest the story, but now I’ll need to ask for some help here. The readers of this site provide a more diverse set of opinions than virtually any other political blog I visit, so perhaps this is the only place where a cogent explanation might be found. And please keep in mind that I pose this question coming from a position of having repeatedly said that Judge Sotomayor meets all the qualifications for a spot on the Supreme Court,...

As Holly already pointed out, President Obama will go before the nation this morning and officially nominate Sonia Sotomayor from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, to the United States Supreme Court. Assuming she is seated, this would make Justice Sotomayor the first Hispanic justice and only the third woman to take one of these seats. It looks to me as if Obama has taken a quite predictable path and is openly laying a bear trap in front of the Republican Party which they may not be able to...

If you plan on taking a moment at 3 pm local time today to reflect on the veterans who have sacrificed for our nation, you probably already know of some service members who have fought to protect our country. But in case you don’t, or if you would like another one, I’ll provide you with a brief story of a hero… my father, Roger. He’s been dead for more than a quarter of a century now, but on Memorial Day it’s worth taking a moment to recall him. In 1943, Roger was going...

I think I’ve found the book I’ll be picking up for my summer vacation to the mountains. Let’s start with an introductory handshake from this NY Times article based on the upcoming book. When we praise people who do work that is straightforwardly useful, the praise often betrays an assumption that they had no other options. We idealize them as the salt of the earth and emphasize the sacrifice for others their work may entail. Such sacrifice does indeed occur — the hazards faced...

For some interesting weekend / holiday reading, I would direct you to this editorial from Tallahassee, Florida, which debates the merits of having the RNC throw its backing so quickly to Charlie Crist in his upcoming bid for a Senate seat. We can dispense with my opinion on the subject fairly quickly here: I think primary races are always good. Sometimes it can be difficult to man up and stick to that policy, such as during last year’s Democratic presidential primary. Yes, it was too much of...

I’m glad I wasn’t the only one, because I’d begun to worry that the 2 to 3 Knob Creek to Folgers breakfast mixture was taking an early toll on me. Apparently it was not just my imagination, and as Steve Benen points out, Liz Cheney has been on virtually every television channel in the nation twenty-four hours per day for the last two weeks. I know that I personally caught her on CNN, Fox, ABC and MSNBC myself. And, as Benen points out, her visit to Morning Joe amounted to more than...

I wasn’t expecting it until the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012, so you can imagine my surprise when all hope was lost on Memorial Day weekend of 2009. At first I thought that all hope was lost because of a horrible experience in telemarketing gone wrong with The Queen and Her Family. In a post titled, simply enough, “Phone Sex” we learn of a young, teenage telemarketer who called the Queen’s home, obviously from a prepared list of target donors, and found herself unable...

As we head into a holiday weekend, I gird my loins for an online debate over the place of moderates like Colin Powell in the GOP. This takes place starting this morning, as my latest column at Pajamas Media is paired up head-to-head with Melissa Clouthier’s explanation of why the former Secretary of State should be ridden out of town on a rail. The short version should be that the Rockefeller Republicans of the Northeast would like a word with Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh and the “real”...