The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has died at the age of 80 to 85 depending on what source you follow. Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz was successor to the current monarch King Abdullah who is himself in his late 80′s and in poor health. Sultan was part of a faction of the ruling family which had fought reforms promoted by Abdullah (minor as they may be by our standards). The expected successor as Crown Prince...

As I was getting ready to brag about our President’s national security and foreign policy accomplishments in the wake of Libya’s Moammar Qaddafi’s ouster and death, USA TODAY beat me to it. So let me take the easy way out and just summarize what they have to say today about how “Obama builds on national security record.” The article starts with what President Obama said in December 2009, when he...

I just witnessed the official premiere of Saving Aimee at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theater. First breath requires I honor the spectacular radiance of Saving Aimee’s lead, Carolee Carmello. Her portrayal of Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson is best categorized as anointed. It would be inappropriate to avoid religious imagery in relaying her gloriously captivating performance. Carmello anchors Saving...

As I read this: Thirteen Observations made by Lemony Snicket while watching Occupy Wall Street from a Discreet Distance It sounded familiar but I couldn’t figure out why.  It sounds a bit like Eastern philosophy but at the same time it sounds a bit like Ambrose Bierce.  But to be fare perhaps it’s unique – you decide. My favorites: 2. “Fortune” is a word for having a lot of money and...

WASHINGTON – Being glib, Herman Cain’s “Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan” comment is finally coming back to haunt him, as it should. In many polls, Cain is either in second place or leading. Considering what happened in Libya today, it matters if a person running to be commander in chief knows the world’s actors. We can all imagine if Barack Obama had said something like this...

I still hold the unpopular view that President Obama will win a second term in office. With the election being just over a year away, his daily Gallup poll number sitting just under 40% and the unemployment number still above 9%, I can understand why some may call me delusional. I hold this position because of two reasons, Obama himself and the field which is set out against him. Whether people like him or not,...

As reported here at TMV and several other sources, including the BBC, commanders for Libya’s transitional authorities say they have captured a wounded Col Qaddafi after claiming control of Sirte, Qaddafi’s birthplace. If true, this would come exactly two months after Libyan rebels captured the Libyan capital and overran Qaddafi’s fortified compound in Tripoli. In a post reporting on the Libyan rebels...

Tom Janssen, The Netherlands The political and financial turmoil continues in Greece. Bigtime. The context: yet another vote on a tough austerity plan. The political setting: the “mother of all strikes” before the vote. The Christian Science Monitor reports: Greece is today racked with protest and violent episodes in what is being called the “mother of all strikes,” ahead of another vote...

You need a highly developed sense of humor to follow the stock market these days. You need an even more developed taste for exotic fun to cope with pronouncements coming from the Fed and other official sources of financial and economic wisdom. At about this time most months, however, when inflation numbers and their interpretation are made public. even those of us well used to laughing through our tears are...

Syndicated radio show host Tom Joyner calls on blacks to support President Obama’s re-election based on “our blackness, pride & loyalty, and we should vote for him “because he’s a black man.” I won’t join other black influencers to call for black Americans to vote for President Obama because he is black. Casting one’s vote is a personal and private matter that should...

TMV will offer live blogging of tonight’s Republican 2012 Presidential nomination debate. Check back often.

Given the debates raised by Occupy Wall Street I thought I’d bring up this topic again, since it seems quite timely. The basis of my original post was a caller to a local talk show. He was the father of 5, the youngest in her 5th year of college, so you figure he’s around 60ish. He grew up as one of 12 children in a working class family, not abject poverty but very tight money wise. As teens he and...

WASHINGTON – A girl does not live by politics alone, well, at least not exclusively. So when music, entertainment and celebration collide, sometimes I just cannot help myself. That goes double when it includes the Hollywood Bowl (where I’ve been many times), the Clintons (including Chelsea) and a spectacular female singing star. Gaga — who also crooned a Marilyn Monroe-esque version of “Happy...

Democratic Party strategists are busily trying to figure out how they can tap into the enthusiasm and spreading popular appeal of the Occupy Wall Street movement. President Obama is recasting his own rhetoric to sound like he supports what these occupiers want, and he is even traveling around by bus as a sign that he is in tune with their Main Street populism. But none of this amounts to a hill of beans without...

It sounds like the FAA is trying to keep the definition of “flying” in the air close to its original meaning: Federal Aviation Administration officials are investigating a videotaped sex stunt performed by two skydivers in California. The FAA is concerned that the pre-jump sex may have created an unsafe situation by bumping or otherwise distracting the pilot. Skydiving instructor Alex Torres, who...

WASHINGTON – Republicans just don’t get it. Tea Party Republicans like Mr. Cain are the worst. They come up with snappy slogans that sell, but the bottom line always ends up hurting the people seduced to vote against their own interests by these right-wing charlatans. From ABC News: If you have a family of four with an income of just under $50,000, they could end up paying more under the Cain...

That Huffington Post headline was the lead for one of its many celebrity stories that I noticed this morning. I admit to perusing HuffPo a few times a week to give balance to my daily readings of various Internet news blogs. One savvy woman creatively used the free content from many talented writers to make herself a multi-millionaire – beyond what she had achieved through her earlier divorce proceedings....

While not exactly a wardrobe malfunction, Ron Paul’s right eyebrow appeared to droop during the Republican presidential debate on Tuesday night. What caption would you write for this photograph?

Herewith a sampling of posts from some of my favorite blogs and bloggers: Although much of his material is Philadelphia-centric, Will Bunch is among the top political bloggers anywhere. (And a good friend.) He writes at Attytood (which is how many native Philadelphians say “attitude”) that: The Occupy Wall Street movement might have died on the vine were it not for the short-sightedness (and I’m...

Among other things, Republicans today are the party of the delusional. It’s courtship with Christianists and then the Tea Party in the quest for short-term gains took it ever further to the right — and sometimes completely out of right field — while ignoring the larger reality that mainstream voters wouldn’t by these brands of extremism. But a funny thing is happening on the way to...

COMING IN NOVEMBER The e-book that tells the definitive story. WASHINGTON – Back in January 2010, I told readers I was working on a large project, so my presence would diminish from what it was during 2009. Well, this is it. Hillary’s presidential run is the foundation for this political tale, as is what she experienced during the primaries, including the media’s role in it. However, it’s...

The latest dust-up on the already tedious 2012 presidential campaign trail was triggered several days ago when a pastor and Rick Perry supporter told interviewers that Christians should refrain from voting for Mormon candidates like Mitt Romney (and presumably, Jon Huntsman too) for president because, he asserted, Mormonism is a cult. As a Christian pastor myself (Lutheran), I decided to address the two questions...

As has been apparent from previous posts (here and here), I support the Obama administration’s decision to take out American-born, terrorist-turned, traitor Anwar al-Awlaki before he could do any more harm to America and Americans. My opinion was reinforced when I read that al-Qaeda—the same gang of terrorists that massacred more than 3,000 innocent American men, women and children; the same organization...

WASHINGTON – From The Hill: Elizabeth Warren raised more than $3 million in a little more than six weeks to fund her Senate bid in Massachusetts — more than twice the figure pulled in by incumbent Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.). … Warren pulled in $3.15 million in total for the third quarter, with more than 11,000 people in Massachusetts pitching in, her campaign announced Monday. Brown raised $1.55...

During most of his presidency, Barack Obama has adopted a respectful attitude toward Republicans, seemingly hoping, against all reason and experience, that this would lead to bipartisan agreements about important issues. Toward one other group, however, Mr. Obama has been consistently and overtly disrespectful, disdainful, patronizing, and occasionally outright hostile — the progressive populist wing of his...