Yes! What a night for AARP! Two of its members, seventy-one year old John McCain, who as late as a few weeks ago, was written off as (politically) dead, and sixty-year old Hillary Clinton, who just yesterday was believed to be crushed to death under Omnibus Obama… have both emerged to win their respective parties’ primary in New Hampshire. On the Democratic side of the roster, Hillary edges out Obama around 39% to 37%, though CNN projects each will get 8 delegates, with Edwards out...

The results are in from the Iowa caucuses. On the Democratic side, it’s Obama (38%), Edwards (30%) and H. Clinton (29%), with Richardson and Biden in low single digits, and Dodd under 1% and withdrawing from the race. This was predicted as a close 3-way, and it was. It seems that, at least in lily-white Iowa, America’s First Black PresidentTM proved a liability for America’s First Woman PresidentTM, and may well help elect America’s actual first Black President (not to...

The 2004 election was a kind of prototype: candidates started realizing the relatively-young Internet’s potential for raising campaign funds — and to get votes. In Campaign 2008 candidates in both parties are nurturing weblogs (with conference calls to friendly sites), blog outreach activists (by hiring bloggers to pitch ideas and positions to other bloggers) and to raise funds (Rep. Ron Paul set a record). But will any of this truly make a REAL difference in the final vote count? Can...

[And so I continue my series of posts, as usual, cross-posted to the talking dog, where I interview, among others, lawyers for those men unfortunate enough to have become guests of the United States at its tropical resort/ maximum security prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The current interview subject, Prof. Martha Rayner of Fordham University Law School, is paradigmatic of much of our government's policy at GTMO. She represents five detainees (whom we are told by the Bush Administration are the...

[This is cross-posted at the talking dog. The interview below is with Angela Campbell, an attorney who has represented Guantanamo detainees. Interestingly, her clients have been “released” from Guantanamo, although one has left the frying pan of Guantanamo and gone into the fire of a maximum security prison facility under American control in Afghanistan; Ms. Campbell does not even know the whereabouts of her other three clients, who were released before she even had a chance to meet them....

[This is cross-posted to the talking dog. Regardless of one's political background or viewpoint, American detention policy and practice in the so-called "war on terror" is one of the biggest stories of our time. And yet, this story continues to receive far less media coverage than does trivial celebrity gossip. For my part, I continue to seek out relevant players who can knowledgably comment on this field, and am delighted that so many are willing to talk to me. A veritable treasure trove of...

[This is cross-posted to "the talking dog". Larry Sabato of "crystal ball" fame is frequently quoted here on TMV, and is widely regarded as one of the most quoted professors in America for his prowess at political prognostication. Larry recently wrote a book on proposals for changing our Constitution, and he was kind enough to answer my questions by e-mail, and as always, Joe is kind enough to let me post this interview here. Joe also gave me some helpful hints on some questions for Larry. Regardless...

[Hi, there! The blogger known as "the talking dog" here. I recently brought you an interview with the author of "the book" on Guantanamo-- a woefully under-covered story in the commercial media. Today, I bring you my interview with Randy Larsen, who quite literally wrote the book on homeland security, another ludicrously under-covered, though critical, topic. You may find a good deal of Mr. Larsen's discussion alarming (I did), some of it is eye-opening-- such as key new details on the possible...

[Joe was kind enough to suggest that, as he so frequently linked to my interviews, I might as well just post them right on TMV! Hi, there! My nom-de-bloggue is "the talking dog"; by vocation, I am a lawyer in New York City. By avocation, I write "the talking dog," a blog that has just celebrated its sixth anniversary. Joe has classified TTD as "left-leaning" on the TMV side-bar. Although Joe frequently acknowledges my "independence;" I was actually once considered "center-right," although quite...