If ever was there a watermark for just how low in the cesspool we’re mired, the latest iteration of “Atlas Shrugs, Part I” is surely it. Consider the bizarrely plastic “screengrab” that Faux Nooz™ used to illustrate a ‘borrowed’ Reuters story and a ‘borrowed’ blog story: This is Faux Nation’s plastic notion of an Audio-Animatronic® ‘screengrab’...

Let me warn you up front: I don’t pretend to have the answers here, and if the question is too disturbing, or you’d prefer to chase butterflies through greener pastures, well, I don’t blame you. But we DO have a problem and it DOES need a solution. Let me tell you a story about a little petty larceny — the larceny of memory, not of dollars. There was a man who served in the Civil War....

A tale for summer travelers and debt limit fulminators. Sometimes, things are not necessarily as they appear, and anger is often misdirected by misconception. Monument Valley Monument Valley National Park Once upon a time, my wife and I ventured in our Western travels to see Monument Valley, that place made legendary by a gazillion John Ford/John Wayne westerns as “THE ARCHETYPAL WEST,” so much...

While we’re debating what to cut and why, here’s a little bit of privatization that seems to have been overlooked in the ongoing gush of patriotism and the fact-checking of Founding Fathers and British warning riders and suchlike. Once upon a time, I went to Philadelphia, and I couldn’t sleep. I took a walk, and, blogging from the “guest” computer by the check-in desk in the wee hours of the...

What do you do with a busted Murdoch What do you do with a busted Murdoch What do you do with a busted Murdoch Earl-aye in the mor-nin? YouTube video here Astonishing as it is to believe, Rupert Murdoch’s organization finally managed to commit an act of sleaze so egregious that it even offended public morality. Ironic, that. You already know the tale: after a long, burgeoning scandal in England, the...

The only difference is that nobody’s shooting: the secessionism is the same. Just ask the citizens of Minnesota. The free “Right Wing Doonesbury” doesn’t even bother with humor on July 1. “When the just say ‘no’”??!? Paranoid marxo-nazi fantasies are “just”??? But forget the idiocy of an unfunny comic strip predicated on “attractive young adults”...

It’s the Friday before a three-day weekend. You know what THAT means.

Feted, n. 1. To celebrate or honor with a festival, a feast, or an elaborate entertainment. 2. To pay honor to. [French fête, from Old French feste; see feast.] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. There must have been a typo. You might remember this, from 2008 (Washington Post) [emphasis added]:

Today on PRI’s “The World,” I heard a heartening story. Somebody was listening, somewhere. And that’s a good thing. Here is my original post: 5 APRIL 2010 · 8:55 PM Lazy Pro-Animal Blogging – Oregon Edition Electric cars are coming to Oregon, and they’re trying to figure out where to site the charging stations. I had been waiting for the right time to make this observation, and...

by VALERIE BURCH Mohammed Uddin lived in New York City for 15 out of his 41 years. Back in Bangladesh, he wouldn’t be able to get the life-sustaining heart medication he takes daily for a rare form of severe hypertension called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. On the tarmac at Harrisburg International Airport on May 13, 2008, about to begin the arduous journey back to Bangladesh, his blood pressure soared...

We need to define our terms, here. [Note: there are a very few "bad" and uncomfortable words contained herein, and if such words cause you grief, please read no further. ~ HW] The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli, 1486 Allow me to make a very late addition to Ambrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary: Erotic, n.: MY sexual fantasies. Perversion, n.: YOUR sexual fantasies. Will the adults stand up?...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy WASHINGTON – This is not a Brett Favre situation or a John Ensign, David Vitter, Larry Craig, John Edwards, William Jefferson Clinton moment. But the amateur sleuth contest goes on, with no signs of abating yet, at least if you look at Memeorandum. It’s a Left versus Right battle, which leaves what matters out. By now you...

Christopher Costa/Patch.com WASHINGTON – Gov. Christie is pictured departing from his spanking brand-new AugustaWestland helicopter, which was reportedly purchased at a cost to taxpayers of $12.5 million. How he used it yesterday is the stuff of an amateur politician forgetting about perceptions in an era of austerity, which Gov. Christie helped to usher in as the champion of waste-busting. The dust swirling...

I was alerted to this story by a friend on Facebook. It is reprinted here by permission. Marie Hobson’s blog can be found here. This Column is Dedicated to The Spouses, “Those who Silently Serve.” Anything But Dependent is the title I chose for this weekly spouse column. I came up with this title because of the stereotype we are given. Our civilian counterparts have labeled us as dependent, needy,...

Guest post by Ali Ezzatyar Ali Ezzatyar is a journalist and American attorney practising in Paris, France. His beard is long and grey; he is reputed for living a rather simple life, but Israel’s prime minister recently called him the greatest threat to the world. He is the Supreme Leader of Iran. As attention remains focused on Abbottabad, Iran’s nuclear program continues nearby. Some are hoping...

By Mark Soifer In a quieter time, before World War II, we would chase the ice truck down Kerlin Street on steamy August afternoons. When the truck stopped for a delivery, the driver would let us grab the small pieces of ice that littered the soaked floor boards of his well- worn vehicle. That ice belonged to us. There was never a question about it. It was the Diamond Ice and Coal Company’s contribution to...

It is incomprehensible how the White House has screwed the pooch in the aftermath of their most spectacular success; the killing of Osama bin Laden. Incomprehensible because one would have to believe that they discussed the potential fallout from the attack, as well as how they might exploit any political advantage that came their way, before the attack took place. It’s a good bet they talked about what...

Guest post by Christopher Miller Chris Miller, a Truman National Security Project fellow, was a sergeant in the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division through two tours in Iraq, during which he earned a Purple Heart, and an adviser to the Iraqi Army. After returning to the U.S., he was involved with VoteVets.org and Operation Free, travelling the country as part of the Veterans for American Power Tour. He is...

Cherry Blossom Chopping Time In Washington ©2011 Kay Wood Click on the image to make the cartoon larger. This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

I missed writing my annual paean to the change of seasons this year. In the past, my blog sang the praises of the return of the robin, the blooming of the dogwood, the eternal hope engendered by opening day at Wrigley Field, and the quiet joy that feeling the warmth of the sun on my face after months of bitter cold brings to my fatalistic Irish soul. I just didn’t have it in me this year. I am restless,...