The administration is torn between two competing visions put forward by the foreign policy establishment in Washington of what the US should do and say about the crisis in Egypt, and as is typical, they have chosen to split the difference. This Washington Post editorial represents what might be termed the idealistic faction: The United States should be using all of its influence – including the...

Readers: This is an article by Jerry Remmers, our respected Columnist at The Moderate voice who, as you know is fighting a courageous battle for his life at present. He asked that we post this for him. Dr. E/ ed. Sarah Palin’s Explosively Toxic Verbal Bombs: First “Death Panels,” Then “Reload,” And Now, “Blood Libel” by Jerry Remmers, Columnist at The Moderate Voice As...

The ruling by Judge Henry E. Hudson that parts of Obamacare are unconstitutional has set off a wave of euphoria among opponents of the law who believe that the decision will make it impossible to implement the bulk of reforms contained in the bill. At issue was the coercive requirement that all Americans purchase health insurance. It appears to me that the judge zeroed in on what the individual mandate truly...

Call me a spoil sport but I’m afraid I have fallen hopelessly behind many other conservatives and Republicans in being sufficiently fearful of Muslims, gays, and Mexicans. For some reason, I just can’t summon the proper amount of outrage at Mexicans who are overrunning the country, Muslims who are trying to convert us, and gays who want to hug us… or something. It’s not that I haven’t...

Are you stuck trying to figure out what to get the loony liberal or crazy conservative on your Christmas gift list? Don’t you fret, now, because Santa Claus began his career as a political pundit and can recommend the perfect presents for those whose positions on the issues and view of the opposition may be a little “overripe.” Santa knows that being a moderate has its advantages, and being...

Hello there, Dr. E. here. Our commenters at TMV occasionally leave long and interesting comments that read like a good opinion piece in and of themselves. This is one by commenter Leonidas that offers a thoughtful viewpoint. Most of the news media seems to be losing their minds over Wikileaks without actually reading these essays by Leonidas An interesting read on [the matter of] Wikileaks [here]: “To radically...

While many of you may roll your eyes at the prospect of reading another article about Sarah Palin – pro or con – the issues she raises as a personality in the Republican party simply can’t be ignored, or saved for discussion when she announces her candidacy for the presidency sometime next spring. Make no mistake. Palin is already running for the office, testing her message in front of friendly...

Hi there, Dr. E. here, Some strongly question further erosion of our rights to privacy without the input or vote of the people by referendum. Many, regardless of political affiliation, libertarian, independent, Democrats, Republicans are enraged, especially those with children who are traveling this holiday. Here is a piece by New York City resident who travels much and minces no words. Disclosure: He is a...

One of the best short stories ever written – later made into a movie starring Danny Kaye – was The Secret Life of Walter Mitty which featured a mild mannered daydreamer who put himself into heroic situations in his fantasies. Thurber’s deft touch made the character into a tragic figure, but sympathetic as well, while revealing the fate of non-conformists in a conformist society. It appears...

“Yes We Can”? by Peter Gabel It’s now been two weeks since the midterm elections, and I’m noticing that many folks I know are depressed—not consciously about the elections, which have receded somewhat from view, but about various things in their lives. One is exhausted from all the pressures in her life, raising children, caring for parents, working too hard or too aimlessly; another is...

I am not generally given to positing conspiracies of any kind but the actions of the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) in their use of full body scanners and pat downs of airline passengers got me thinking. Sherlock Holmes said, “[W]hen all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Of course, in my youth, it was a neck and neck race for supremacy...

George W. Bush is asking the impossible of us: to consider his legacy without passion. In Decision Points, a plainly written tale of key moments during Bush’s presidency, we are offered an uncomplicated account of an uncomplicated man devoid of Oedipal issues with his father, a devout Christian who gave up alcohol when he realized it was starting to control his life, a loyal friend who hung on to advisers...

A Small Fraction of a Man Saturday 13 November 2010 by: William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed George W. Bush was all over my television this past week, all over the newspapers, and the feelings inspired by his sudden reappearance are almost beyond my capacity to describe. There was the story about his hearty approval of waterboarding. There was the story that had him contemplating dropping Dick Cheney...

Saving the Golden State Saving the Golden State by Michael Reagan The late psychic Edgar Cayce was famed for predicting that in the not-too-distant future the entire state of California would collapse into the Pacific Ocean and disappear beneath the sea. That may be a questionable forecast, but the collapse of the Golden State into a sea of debt is already upon us, and if we don’t act now to begin to reclaim...

There is no doubt that the Republican party is poised for a big night – some are even predicting an historic night – next Tuesday when America goes to the polls. But the seeds of GOP failure have already been sown during this campaign and it is extremely doubtful that Republicans can achieve any of their short term goals, much less change the culture of America to reflect their outdated views of...

Before the parade passes by Before it goes on, and only I’m left Before the parade passes by I’ve gotta get in step while there’s still time left I’m ready to move out in front Life without life has no reason or rhyme left With the rest of them With the best of them I wanna hold my head up high I need got a goal again I need got a drive again I wanna feel my heart coming alive again Before...

The Moderates’ Lament by Tina Dupuy The beginning of the end for the Tea Party faux revolution occurred this Sunday on ABC’s This Week. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell effectively tipped his hand when asked whether the Tea Party will help or hurt Republicans. “One thing we know about everybody who’s been active in this movement, we know none of them are going to go out and vote Democrat,”...

Wary of the Technology Aware by Tom Purcell My new cell phone calls people on its own. I know this because people I don’t know call me back, asking why I phoned. I tell them I didn’t phone them — my phone did. Which makes them sore. Unlike the first cell phone I had — it was big and heavy and all I could use it for was to phone other people, which I never did because it cost $400 a minute...

Guest post by Peter Henne Peter Henne is a Security Fellow with the Truman National Security Project and a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University. (This post originally appeared at The Huffington Post.) Observers and participants in the recent Park51 debate likely noticed some parallels to the 2005 Danish Muhammad cartoon controversy. Potent religious issues mixed with a clash between freedom of speech...

The Tea Party movement is a nebulous mass of citizenry, uncoordinated, not centrally directed, with no discernible “leadership,” and actually rejects the hierarchical organizational model for a fierce, unbridled independence. Your mama. If recent events in Delaware as well as the growing electoral involvement of the tea party movement tells us anything, it is that an identifiable tea party establishment...

You won’t want to miss tonight’s Rick Moran Show, one of the most popular conservative talk shows on Blog Talk Radio. Tonight, I welcome Rich Baehr of the American Thinker, political pro Jazz Shaw, and IDB’s Monica Showalter for a discussion on tea party politics and other hot topics making news. The show will air from 7:00 – 8:00 PM Central time. You can access the live stream here....

I didn’t think it possible to cheer up those gloomy Gus Democrats about their election chances in November but by God, leave it to the the true conservatives out there to accomplish the damn near impossible; they may guarantee Democrats remain in control of the senate next year. If Sharon Angle, Rand Paul, Christine O’Donnell (who may upset Mike Castle in Delaware and win the GOP senate primary),...

I have been writing for nearly two years about how conservatives have to be more pragmatic in deciding whom to support for office if they expect to bring conservative governance to Washington. A couple of weeks after the 2008 election, I wrote this: Republicans are about ready to fall into a couple of traps that losing parties apparently can’t avoid when the dust settles following a debacle such as they have...

What is the president of the United States, the Attorney General, our top military commander, and an icon of the right doing giving their opinion on the threat to burn a Koran by a storefront preacher with 50 followers that no one had ever heard of and who will likely be forgotten once the brouhaha has passed? As far as straight news value, this story ranks somewhere between an item on the pimply-faced high...

Tea party folk become outraged at just about anything that President Obama and the Democrats try to accomplish these days. I do too. Now it’s time to step up and defend America and our Constitution against a different foe; the preacher who is planning to burn Korans on September 11 of this year. As bad as Obama has been, there is nothing more destructive of the Constitution’s spirit and letter than...