Maureen Dowd offers a Planet of the Apes scenario for 2084 America, while Gail Collins goes the other way in a Frankenstein revival with Ted Cruz as you-know-what. All well and good for reason-strapped observers, but future and past parodies can’t match what the Shutdown is doing now. In South Dakota at Mt. Rushmore, those huge stone heads of Presidents past are averting … [Read more...] about Hidden Players in DC Doomsday Liar’s Poker
The Tea Party Gets Encouragement in the Media
It's not just fringe politicians and Tea Party backed politicians who try to push the idea that not raising the debt ceiling is a harmless thing to do. Two different writers on Forbes, Richard Finger and Jeffrey Dorfman, are both pushing that meme. Dorfman sort of gives away the game of why he's so happy with the idea. Holding Medicare spending to about its fiscal year … [Read more...] about The Tea Party Gets Encouragement in the Media
The foreign toll of America’s political civil war
Whatever else happens, the political civil war between the Congress and President Barack Obama has already damaged US foreign policy and fuelled doubts that American democracy is an appropriate model for others. Some in the US may see as legitimate democratic process the maneuver by an extremist parliamentary minority to force an ignominious default upon the world’s … [Read more...] about The foreign toll of America’s political civil war
New Poll: Republicans Lose Ground vs. Obama in the Shutdown Blame Game (UPDATED)
A new new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds the opposite of what Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz and some conservatives are saying: Republicans are NOT winning the argument on a government shutdown but are losing ground. And they're losing it on several fronts. The Republicans in Congress have lost ground against Barack Obama in blame over the government shutdown, with … [Read more...] about New Poll: Republicans Lose Ground vs. Obama in the Shutdown Blame Game (UPDATED)
Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, a class act!
I am a Vietnam War era veteran. Although I never served in S.E. Asia I knew many who did and lost both relatives and friends in that misbegotten war. To those of us in the United States it was a battle between Communism and Democracy/Capitalism. That was not what it was about to the Vietnamese however. It was always about throwing off the yoke of colonialism - first the … [Read more...] about Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap, a class act!
Tea Party Splash-back? Upset donors balk at giving to Republican Party
The Tea Party, the House dominated Tea Party, and the influence of talk show hosts in the Republican party is facing a splash back. There are most assuredly Republicans who don't feel you must be a "RINO" if you feel the Republican House-engineered government shutdown is no problem, or that the danger of a debt default is exaggerated or merely figment of the (not really) … [Read more...] about Tea Party Splash-back? Upset donors balk at giving to Republican Party
A SANE SOLUTION TO SOLVE THE INSANITY
The unfolding Washington DC disaster involving a Federal shutdown, a potential debt limit breach, and endless posturing by everyone involved over pointless issues, is just another event in the rather rapid decline and fall of the American Empire. Our nation’s criminal oligarchy has so corrupted most elected officials at the Federal and state levels to institute a generally … [Read more...] about A SANE SOLUTION TO SOLVE THE INSANITY
Quote of the Day: Tea Party Republican says U.S. default would HELP world markets
Our political Quote of the Day says it all about the truly sad, tragic decline of the Republican Party as a party with serious thinkers who weighed both sides and then came to a decision which could be tinged with ideology, but it was a decision based on facts. It's from freshman House Republican Ted Yoho (FL) and we'll give you part of the item on Talking Points Memo that … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: Tea Party Republican says U.S. default would HELP world markets
The Tea Party’s last stand
WASHINGTON-- If the nation is lucky, this October will mark the beginning of the end of the tea party. It is suffering from extreme miscalculation and a foolish misreading of its opponents' intentions. This, in turn, has created a moment of enlightenment, an opening to see things that were once missed. Many Republicans, of course, saw the disaster coming in … [Read more...] about The Tea Party’s last stand
Running Scared
It's clear now that Republicans are trying to upend the constitution by nullifying both an election and a Supreme Court ruling. Joshua Holland writes that, to understand what is behind their quest, you have to understand the Republican base -- which is composed of three distinct segments: Democracy Corps – a Democratic-leaning polling firm – released a study this … [Read more...] about Running Scared
China says ‘clock is ticking’ on US debt ceiling
China says 'clock is ticking' on US debt ceiling (via AFP) A senior Chinese official voiced concern over a looming deadline for raising the US debt ceiling Monday, saying the "clock is ticking" to avoid a default that could seriously harm China's economic interests. "As the world's largest economy and the issuer… … [Read more...] about China says ‘clock is ticking’ on US debt ceiling
Supreme Court Opens Today
Today marks the opening of the 2013-2014 US Supreme Court session. Over the coming weeks I will be writing about some of the major cases to come before the Justices this term but today I thought I'd offer a brief primer on how the Court works as well as offer a quick list of some upcoming cases. The Supreme Court annual session opens on 1st Monday in October and … [Read more...] about Supreme Court Opens Today
Why Did a Woman Die in the DC Car Crash?
A 34-year-old woman suffering from post-partum depression was killed in Washington last week, leaving behind a child, bottles of medication and a human mystery. If I were still editing a magazine, I would have a reporter spend the next few weeks finding out all about Miriam Carey, what brought her to that televised car chase and what her life and death can tell us about … [Read more...] about Why Did a Woman Die in the DC Car Crash?
Can Obama Make Emergency Executive Order to Bypass Congress?
I wonder. If the President can bypass Congress's vote, and instead, ok the budget as an emergency measure germane to the health, welfare, safety and security of US citizens, ok the debt ceiling as an emergency measure germane to the health, welfare, safety and security of US citizens, ok the health care carry through as an emergency measure germane to the health, welfare, … [Read more...] about Can Obama Make Emergency Executive Order to Bypass Congress?
Let’s Not Kid Ourselves: GOP Extremists Have Engineered A Bloodless Coup
Having twice failed to defeat Barack Obama and having repeatedly failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the president's signature achievement and the most sweeping social reform since LBJ's Great Society initiatives in the 1960s, the extreme right wing of the Republican Party has engineered a bloodless coup in which a comparatively small handful of hateful zealots have shut … [Read more...] about Let’s Not Kid Ourselves: GOP Extremists Have Engineered A Bloodless Coup
About That Rebranding Thing…
TPM shows how hard the California Republicans are working on it. … [Read more...] about About That Rebranding Thing…
Campaign Funds With No Limits?
Am I imagining it or is that basically what George Will is supporting? … [Read more...] about Campaign Funds With No Limits?
To Understand the Shutdown You Have to Grasp the Mindset of the GOP Base (Guest Voice)
To Understand the Shutdown You Have to Grasp the Mindset of the GOP Base (via Moyers & Company) It’s widely understood that the government has been shut down by a relatively small number of Republican lawmakers who represent deeply red districts. They’re insulated from public opinion at large. They don’t fear a general election loss to a… … [Read more...] about To Understand the Shutdown You Have to Grasp the Mindset of the GOP Base (Guest Voice)
GOP Suicide Mission Continues as Sen. Ted Cruz Seeks to Tie Obamacare to Debt Ceiling
Sen. Ted Cruz is on a mission to hold another loaded gun to the heads of Americans. Realizing that the government shutdown he engineered to defund Obamacare is imploding, he now wants to tie it to the debt ceiling, The Hill reports. Um, House Speaker John Boehner also wussed out again, deferring to the wingnuts in his party and threatening to default. He maintains that unless … [Read more...] about GOP Suicide Mission Continues as Sen. Ted Cruz Seeks to Tie Obamacare to Debt Ceiling
The New Confederacy Rears its ‘Head’
The New Confederacy? Gee. It is tedious and counterproductive to make some silly bray like, "I told you so," or "try to catch up," at this point. I have been telling you for, literally, years about the resurgent confederacy, the Neoconfederate roots of the Tea Party, the Libertarian/Rebel connections, the roots of home schooling in the "Lost Cause" etc. etc. etc. So, let … [Read more...] about The New Confederacy Rears its ‘Head’