I’ve given President Barack Obama a long leash in his efforts at governing and now must concede his biggest mistake in changing how Washington works is his staff’s petty feud with Fox News. This running story has legs and they must be chopped off at the knees. This dog must sit, lie down, whacked on the behind with a rolled newspaper and attend obedience school. The latest bark from the White House...

The TV screen today looks like the vision of a demented performance artist. You can click from images of wildly cheering crowds in a Manhattan canyon celebrating what 25 young man did on a baseball field to talking heads and replays of a massacre of other young people in Texas and then suddenly to an Orlando, Florida office building for the familiar confusion in the first moments after another shooting spree. This...

A spoof bound to be considered a satirical classic (but not by Rush, Sean, Glenn or those who love Rush, Sean and Glenn): The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c

There is seemingly no rest. No tragedy where people can put politics aside, even for a minute. I mean, REALLY…

Milan prosecutor Armando Spataro has done something no one else has: He has obtained the first convictions involving the CIA practice of ‘rendition.’ For those interested in reading the Italian coverage of yesterday’s first ever convictions for the U.S. government’s practice of ‘renditioning,’ this is the write-thru from the Corriere Della Sera, which includes a number of...

The money line from Mr. Brooks’ column today: Independents are herds of cats who find out what they think through a meandering process of discovery. While that’s probably not fair to say about all independent voters, it’s a shockingly accurate description of the independent voter writing this post. Of course, despite my decision to headline the “meandering cats” part of Brooks’...

Alan Rosenblatt is helping us determine just how many and which bloggers have gone from blogging to winning elected office, but as of yesterday, it appeared that I might be the only female political blogger in the country to have done that so far.  I have a hard time believing that, but if it’s true – wow.  Especially since the last thing I did was run “as a blogger.”  Great war stories...

In 1960, President Eisenhower warned us of the growing influence and power of the Military Industrial Complex. He was right and we ignored him. Today our country has the world’s largest total annual Military Budget of over $650 billion, additional defense-related spending of over $350 billion, more than 1.5 million people serving in its Armed Forces in over 100 countries around the globe, and is currently...

Have most of the “old” media and the new media (including some here at The Moderate Voice) gotten it wrong? Did Tuesday’s elections, in fact. show that the GOP is now on a more moderate path than many would believe if they listen to Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, or watch cable political shows or read many conservative blogs on the Internet? Time Magazine’s Ramesh Ponnuru makes a good case...

John Cole, The Scranton Times-Tribune This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

“An Uncommon Love,” sung by Carole King and K.D. Lang

Pro-regime demonstrators lampoon President Obama at the site of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran on the 30th anniversary of the storming of the facility. Continuing with our coverage of the 30th anniversary of the storming of the American Embassy in Tehran, this editorial from the state-run Web site of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting responds to the question of why it occurred. Laying out it’s position...

There have been multiple shooting attacks at Fort Hood according to MSNBC, KCEN-TV and KTVT-TV. At least 7 people are dead and 30+ are wounded. One shooter is in custody and 1-2 more are being sought. FBI is on the way. Both the shooters and victims are believed to be military rather than civilians, at least the shooters were wearing military fatigues. 4:30 pm EST: More shots just reported according to MSNBC-TV. 4:40...

Eric Zimmermann reports that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is distancing himself from the Feds’ stimulus plan: “I didn’t endorse it.” Um … I think you did.

Earlier, Joe linked to RNC Chair Michael Steele’s ominous warning to GOP Members of Congress who might be thinking about “going rogue” against the party line. Meanwhile, in Palm Beach, Fla., the County Democratic Party organization has practiced its own brand of purging someone who bucks the preferred party line. Granted, the latter case hardly compares to the former, although it starts to...

In the annals of sexual politics and odd couples, none could ever match the possibilities of mating Maureen Dowd and Rush Limbaugh, a power pairing that would have made Mary Matalin and James Carville look like America’s Sweethearts. The image comes to mind from Dowd’s column yesterday, recounting a four-hour dinner at Manhattan’s 21 Club back when she was “a reportette” and El...

This says it all, doesn’t it?

Washington voted for domestic partnerships, but Maine, a similarly blue state (despite having two Republican senators), voted against same-sex marriage. There is no denying that the vote in Maine is a setback for gay rights. Simply put, the anti-gay forces of the right mobilize well, as they showed in California last year, playing to lingering bigotry and fear, and they did again here. Furthermore, there was...

“V” for Vilification: Liberal Paradise, Obama Nightmare by Rick Moran Want to piss off the left? Everybody watch every single episode of the new ABC mini-series “V.” Drive the ratings through the roof. Make the show the hottest cultural happening since Seinfeld. Copy the hairstyles. Ape the fashion. Start bidding up the action dolls on Ebay. And most especially, actually...

“When our party is united, whether you run in a Northern state or a Southern state, our party can win,” said the House Republican whip, Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia. “But when you are divided, you can lose a seat that has been in the Republican column for quite a long time.” The Virginia GOP, at least, seems to have gotten the message.

For those around the country who somehow thought that they understood the politics of New York’s 23 district (or, “The North Country” as we call it) and feel they had a grasp on how “awful” a choice Dede Scozzafava was, they should read this editorial from the local paper. Here’s one of the key portions, explaining just how she wound up as the nominee from what I fully admit...

I didn’t vote on Tuesday in Phoenix, Arizona, my residence for almost the past 4 years though I voted in the National Elections last year. I was pleased to see that the local school funding and bond issues all passed with comfortable margins across the metro area. Had I voted, my other choice would have been for a city council position wherein I did not know either candidate. ARIZONA Heavily Democratic...

I had planned to publish a more detailed review of the elections but I ended up spending two hours in the dental chair today getting a filling replaced. I’ve got one more filling to go plus a deep cleaning so I was pretty distracted today getting ahead on work. As a result  I’ll post my more technical analysis this weekend, for those who are geeky enough to enjoy. However in the meantime I thought...

Two of the 53 American Embassy workers being held hostage with the approval of the Iranian regime, after the facility was stormed on November 4, 1979. Thirty years ago today, the American Embassy in Tehran was stormed by followers of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. It is a day that the current regime commemorates every year as a celebration of victory over what the leaders of the country like to call...

While Americans tuned into the political gyrations of a handful of elections yesterday and political operatives pontificating what it all means today, it remains dwarfed by what happened in Afghanistan. Five British soldiers embedded with locals were shot and killed by an Afghan policeman with whom they were mentoring at a security outpost in Helmand Province. The embedded NATO troops were carrying out a key...