I saw the alert on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/245567439667089408 Really? This close to November, the House of Representatives is going to vote to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act (FAA) to 2017? For those not following this issue intimately, the 2008 law, which sunsets on December 31, retroactively legalized … [Read more...] about FISA vote illustrates Congressional sausage-making process
GOP and God (Cartoon)
LEGAL NOTICE ON CARTOON: This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Reproduction elsewhere without licensing is strictly prohibited. See great cartoons by all the top political cartoonists at http://cagle.com. To license this cartoon for your own site, visit http://politicalcartoons.com … [Read more...] about GOP and God (Cartoon)
9/11+11=?
When the planes hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, I told someone, "This is the worst day of my life." I didn't know then what I meant, but it felt as if the crust of the earth had suddenly cracked and we could never again feel safe going about our daily lives. Over time, that feeling has receded, but the world has not been the same. What we lost that day eleven years … [Read more...] about 9/11+11=?
Do We Really Like Bill Clinton All That Much?
There's something just a little uneasy-making about Bill Clinton's return. True, he may be pulling Obama's chestnuts out of the fire. But there remain, about Bill Clinton, some things that make some of us wish that the ex-president would (for once!) get the job done and then haul his fat-free vegan ego out of the spotlight. Twelve years after leaving the White … [Read more...] about Do We Really Like Bill Clinton All That Much?
Men’s Rights “Hate Speech”
The following poster is being placed prominently in multiple cities in Canada, starting in Vancouver but also elsewhere. Similar posters with similar messages are beginning to appear in Seattle and other parts of the United States, as well as Australia and the UK. In every place so far that they've gone up, they've faced ridicule, mocking, and, worst of all, received regular … [Read more...] about Men’s Rights “Hate Speech”
Redefining September 11th
Today marks the 11th anniversary of what surely has to be the most shocking events of my own life, a day where thousands of our fellow citizens died and a day where the world, quite literally, changed forever. Every year when this day comes around there is a pressure on those of us who write for blogs like these to mark the date with a commentary, with observations of some … [Read more...] about Redefining September 11th
Paul Ryan Crosses Party Lines to Back Rahm Emanuel on Teachers’ Strike, Didn’t Extend Same Courtesy to President Obama
Mitt Romney's running mate Paul Ryan crossed party lines this morning to voice his support, saying "we stand with Mayor Rahm Emanuel," in the fight against the striking teachers' union. Um, he chose the wrong time to cross party lines. How many opportunities has he had in Congress to show his willingness to reach across the aisle and work with President Obama? Well, like Rahm … [Read more...] about Paul Ryan Crosses Party Lines to Back Rahm Emanuel on Teachers’ Strike, Didn’t Extend Same Courtesy to President Obama
Mounting Evidence on 9/11 that Bush Administration Blew It
WASHINGTON - There's a reason Barack Obama bests Mitt Romney on foreign policy by double digits, and it begins with the presidency of George W. Bush. The evidence is easy to tick off, which Mitt Romney added to this summer in a foreign policy trip that allowed him to become John Kerry's punchline at the Democratic National Convention. The video above is old, condensed, too, … [Read more...] about Mounting Evidence on 9/11 that Bush Administration Blew It
About Chicago Teachers’ Salaries
I was listening to a debate the other night on one of those knock-'em-down-politics TV shows, and the subject of the Chicago's teacher's strike came up. The conservative battler said the salaries of these teachers is $70,000 a year (which I don't know is true or not but I'll take as right for this piece), and that a heck of a lot of folks these days would love to have such a … [Read more...] about About Chicago Teachers’ Salaries
9-11 2012: Time to Call A Spade A Spade
The NYT printed this in part: "On Sept. 11, 2001, suicide hijackers crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center in New York, causing the 110-story twin towers to collapse. Another hijacked airliner hit the Pentagon and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania." Just an editorial rewrite and additions in honor of the 125 souls lost at the Pentagon, in addition to … [Read more...] about 9-11 2012: Time to Call A Spade A Spade
Growing Backlash Over Indian Cartoonist Arrest (Guest Voice)
Growing backlash over Indian cartoonist arrest (via AFP) India's government faced a mounting domestic and international backlash Tuesday over the arrest of a cartoonist on sedition charges as critics accused it of using colonial era laws to crush dissent. The arrest at the weekend of Aseem Trivedi, a freelance cartoonist and anti-corruption campaigner, … [Read more...] about Growing Backlash Over Indian Cartoonist Arrest (Guest Voice)
On This Day…
Anniversaries are important to us. Some anniversaries are happy ones, some are sad, but we always have that need to think back, to reminisce, to remember. Every day the New York Times has a very small “section” called “On this Day” where, with a single click, one can browse “important events in history” and view the Times’ featured front-page on a particular date. For … [Read more...] about On This Day…
Romney’s Health Care Dither
WASHINGTON -- I'm trying to figure out just where Mitt Romney stands on health care reform. Obviously, so is Mitt Romney. In an interview broadcast Sunday on "Meet the Press," I thought I heard Romney say he liked some aspects of President Obama's Affordable Care Act and would keep those provisions in place. Impossible, right? Romney's position all year has been that if … [Read more...] about Romney’s Health Care Dither
Chicago Teachers Strike: Is Rahm Emanuel’s Test a Challenge for Obama? (Guest Voice)
Chicago teachers strike: Is Rahm Emanuel's test a challenge for Obama? (via The Christian Science Monitor) Some 400,000 Chicago public schoolchildren stayed home from school Monday, the result of a surprise teacher’s strike that is seen as the first significant political test for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel that could also impact President Obama's reelection … [Read more...] about Chicago Teachers Strike: Is Rahm Emanuel’s Test a Challenge for Obama? (Guest Voice)
We’ll Never Forget 9/11
We'll never forget 9/11, its victims and its many heroes and heroines. Never. NEVER. … [Read more...] about We’ll Never Forget 9/11
11 Years After The 9/11 Attacks, The Greatest Cover-Up In U.S. History Still Holds
(Portions of this article were originally published in September 2011) Eleven years after the 9/11 catastrophe, the Bush administration cover-up of why the terrorist attacks were carried out despite the White House, CIA and FBI being repeatedly warned of them still holds. Not only has the final word not come out about this malfeasance of enormous and arguably criminal … [Read more...] about 11 Years After The 9/11 Attacks, The Greatest Cover-Up In U.S. History Still Holds
Rest For A While: The Great Raptor
The snowy owl ( and all owls) endangered, were shot down for target practice, killed only for their feathers to be plopped into huge vases in hotel foyers, along with those of pheasants, and jungle parrots... all killed for their feathers. How much more beautiful are those feathers when the living birds are robed in them. How much more beautiful when those feathers quiver, … [Read more...] about Rest For A While: The Great Raptor
Before We had The Vote or an Environmental or Forestry Policy
This photo is about the westward ho! pioneers (settlers, military, gold seekers, and more) of the late 19th and early 20th century who slaughtered the buffalo nearly to extinction, shooting them from railroad cars, from horseback, whilst on foot... leaving the meat to rot, taking the skulls, piling them as monuments memorializing the humans' excesses, rages, acts beneath even … [Read more...] about Before We had The Vote or an Environmental or Forestry Policy
I’m Thinking About Committing Voter Fraud – I Dare You to Stop Me
I haven’t posted on TMV for almost a month. I did not watch either Political Convention but I was forced to see Uncle Bill’s address since my spouse had it turned on while I was in the same room reading a book and I was too lazy to get up and go to another room. I have no interest in commenting on the pointless, diversionary, and manipulated election process that remains in … [Read more...] about I’m Thinking About Committing Voter Fraud – I Dare You to Stop Me
The Republican (FOX) Echo Chamber
The neo-cons can't believe that a majority of Americans don't share their vision of American Hegemony. The Republican party in general and the Romney supporters have the same echo chamber problem - they simply can't believe Obama could win in November. I think this is a result of FOX news, talk radio and the right wing blogosphere. The most recent example is this memo from … [Read more...] about The Republican (FOX) Echo Chamber