Egyptian people in prayer on bridge today; On the right armored policemen, on the left: The people. High school students on way home 1963 USA

It turns out that the Tea Party’s anti-government goddess, Ayn Rand, was feeding at the public trough while she was condemning the trough and those who fed from it. A heavy smoker who refused to believe that smoking causes cancer brings to mind those today who are equally certain there is no such thing as global warming. Unfortunately, Miss Rand was a fatal victim of lung cancer. However, it was revealed...

As we watch the growing protests in the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and other Egyptian cities the question we have to ask is what direction the protests will take and where Egypt is headed in the coming years. I think we all would agree that any sort of Western-style democracy is not likely in the near future. Egypt literally has thousands of years of history with little or no experience with democracy, so...

I believe that Tom DeLay is a sleazebag. Tom Campbell believes that Tom DeLay “is not a bad man.” But hey, I am a nobody and Campbell is a famous Texas lawyer who was general counsel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the George H.W. Bush administration. However, what a nobody and what a famous lawyer think of Tom DeLay—whether he is a sleazebag or “not a bad man”—has...

As Joe Gandelman reported earlier, the popular revolt in Tunisia against that country’s corrupt and brutal leadership is credited with inspiring similar uprisings in other countries in the region, including Egypt, where the government headed for the last 30 years by Hosni Mubarak just took the unprecedented step of shutting off almost all Internet connection within the country.

UPDATE: I’ve been watching CNN & MSNBC. The entire country is now under a curfew which no-one seems to be observing. Protests are not just in Cairo but also in Alexandria, Suez and several provinces. Reportedly the Muslim Brotherhood joined today’s protests. A Cairo police station is under attack and the police are using live ammo. Lots of stuff is on fire. The military has not cracked down...

MSNBC: CAIRO — Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei was under house arrest Friday, Egyptian security officials said, after Cairo became a scene of violent chaos with tens of thousands of anti-government protesters clashing with police. The demonstrations were a major escalation in the ongoing rallies against President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. One of the country’s leading pro-democracy advocates,...

Authorship is the issue as the President is accused of State of the Union plagiarism, a McCain aide is unmasked for writing an anonymous novel about 2012, and Republican economists boycott a news conference on publication of their own 576-page volume about the financial meltdown. “Some on Wall Street and Washington with a stake in the status quo,” the chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission,...

Aislin, The Montreal Gazette This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

OK, we already know that Sarah Palin is a moron.  But she just continues to reinforce the reality. Now what she fails to mention is that, if it were not for federal dollars, Richland, Washington would be a wide spot in the road, if that.  Richland, Washington exists because of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation – without that, Richland, Washington and Sarah’s spudnut shop would not exist.  But we...

Former Vice President Dick Cheney — noticeably leaner but otherwise looking quite well, considering he underwent major heart surgery only six months ago — has been making the rounds once again after having been out of the spotlight for several months. While still criticizing the Obama administration, albeit with a weaker voice and without so much combativeness and brashness, Cheney seems to be more...

Yesterday I noted that the only thing a majority of Americans want to cut is foreign aid and made this observation: Even foreign aid is a problem – Israel gets the lion’s share.  I wonder how cutting that will go over. Well Rand Paul has told us what he thinks. Rand Paul: End foreign aid, including Israel U.S. Sen. Rand Paul wants to end all foreign assistance, including aid to Israel. Paul, a Republican...

Today marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp—a day that has been designated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. About three weeks ago I posted a link to an article about a letter written by a Jewish relative as he was being transported in a cattle train from the Netherlands to his death in Auschwitz. The article ended with the words: A letter...

Everyone wants to cut the budget and the Republicans are making it the center of their policy. As we have noted before there is a problem – the voters who want to cut the budget don’t actually want to cut anything.  Gallup’s most recent poll indicates that nothing has changed. The only thing a majority want to cut is Foreign Aid which makes up less than one percent of the budget.  Even more...

A letter to the editor in my hometown newspaper yesterday morning caught my attention. The letter: Time for updating In 1870, Otto Von Bismarck, chancellor of Germany, in a shrewd political move, decried that every German citizen age 65 or older would receive a lifelong pension. Longevity then was about age 55. Thus we have the origins of our eligibility for Social Security, Medicare, etc. Seems we need some...

The U. S. Supreme Court on Monday issued its opinion in Thompson v. NAS. While not a constitutional case, it could have ramifications across the nation in employment relations. The case focuses on some arcane issues of standing and civil procedure, but in the end confirms a right to sue that had previously been in dispute. Here are the underlying facts. Miriam Regalado and her fiancee, Eric Thompson, worked...

After the dramatic Tunisian uprising in the Middle East, violent unrest has broken out in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. Nowhere is the U.S. dilemma more urgent than in Egypt, writes Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center and a fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. “The January 14 popular revolt in Tunisia, the first ever to topple an...

I can describe President Obama’s State of the Union speech in three words. Just do it. I can describe Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan’s rebuttal in one word. Huh? And, Mr. President, what’s this 1960′s Sputnik moment? Nice try for the metaphoric oratory to goose our nation’s return to excellence. To my ears, the Soviet space shuttle orbit played second fiddle to Obama’s...

Sorry I haven’t been posting much recently but my heart isn’t in it. As I have said before what passes for politics in the United States is nothing but tribal warfare and has little to do with policy or law. I think an even better analogy might be sports. I haven’t been paying much attention to politics because I find basketball and football to be more entertaining and less violent. We...

As we move closer to the time for the State of The Union speech I am starting to wonder about whether it is really worth debating to discussing. Don’t get me wrong I understand that is something of a state occasion for us and that the President will propose an agenda. But at the same time we all already know pretty much what the agenda will be. I don’t mean any disrespect but it seems to me these...