For nearly 2,000 years and starting again today, Christians spiritually begin their 40-day Lenten celebrations to prepare themselves for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ during the Easter Triduum. Ashes placed on the foreheads of believers constitute an ancient symbol reminding the faithful of their human mortality (from dust to dust). It is also the visual cue to … [Read more...] about THOUGHTS ON ASH WEDNESDAY
**UPDATED** GOP Today: Bob McDonnell’s State Rape, Baptizing the Dead, and Santorum’s Satan Squeal
**updated below** WASHINGTON - Religious conservatives, their right-wing supporters and Republican allies have finally overstepped and what played out last week was proof. The Susan G. Komen catastrophe, starring right-wing ideologue Karen Handel, now seems like foreshadowing. Gov. Chris Christie represents what's left of the small, sane segment of Republican Party … [Read more...] about **UPDATED** GOP Today: Bob McDonnell’s State Rape, Baptizing the Dead, and Santorum’s Satan Squeal
Sorry: Glenn Beck is NOT a Catholic
The question here isn't whether Glenn Beck is a delusional idiot. The real question is WHO at the Washington Post decided that this hogswallop was worthy of publication in any serious newspaper? Why we are all Catholics now By Glenn Beck Photo: Beck meets the newly elevated Cardinal Timothy Dolan in the Vatican. I am a proud member of the Church of Jesus Christ of … [Read more...] about Sorry: Glenn Beck is NOT a Catholic
Eliot Spitzer For Legalized Marijuana
On Friday night's "Real Time with Bill Maher," said Spitzer: To spend prosecutorial resources on pot is ridiculous...I'd be in favor of legalized pot. Legalizing pot is the right way to go. Recently I heard a story that some odious nation is spying on its citizens. This story from the valentine's edition of This American Life popped to mind: Last year at three high schools … [Read more...] about Eliot Spitzer For Legalized Marijuana
Further Down The Road With The Republican Presidential Clown Car
Is there any connection between Rick Santorum slipping into second place behind Mitt Romney in some Michigan pre-primary polls and the video of a speech he gave in 2008 saying that Satan is systematically destroying America that has now gone viral? One can only hope so, but the more likely case is that as they have with other presidential candidates, Santorum becomes less … [Read more...] about Further Down The Road With The Republican Presidential Clown Car
President Theologian
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about President Theologian
That Hard Right Turn Is Why Dewey Will Not Be Defeating Truman in 2012
This column is being reposted because some readers could not leave comments. You have to go all the way back to 1948 to find an instance where a political party's strategy is predicated on a president being so weak that the voters can pretty much be ignored. That's what the Republicans did in 1948 only to see Harry Truman get re-elected and that's what they have been doing … [Read more...] about That Hard Right Turn Is Why Dewey Will Not Be Defeating Truman in 2012
A Look At The Bipolar Electorate
We've heard talk over the last few campaigns about how the US electorate seems to be a bit bipolar, swinging from one extreme to the other. But a chart I came across on wikipedia really seems to demonstrate just how wild the swings have been. In the 2006 election we saw the Democrats go from controlling 47% of the lower houses to 61% (a 14 point swing) and from 49% to 57% … [Read more...] about A Look At The Bipolar Electorate
Insanity in a Sweater Vest
Twice I have seen America on the brink of losing the boundaries of political reason that have kept us stable and free for well over two centuries—-during the McCarthy uproar of the 1950s and in the Nixon era leading to the resignation of a lawless president before he could be impeached. Rick Santorum is no McCarthy or Nixon (yet) but he has the same wild disregard for truth … [Read more...] about Insanity in a Sweater Vest
Book Review: Charyn’s ‘Johnny One-Eye’: A Rum Tale Of The American Revolution
(Republished on the occasion of the great man's 280th birthday) There has been a tsunami of books about George Washington in recent years, but none has captured a man whose birthday we once celebrated today with such wit and charm than Johnny One-Eye: A Tale of the American Revolution. No matter that Jerome Charyn's account of Manhattan Island during the … [Read more...] about Book Review: Charyn’s ‘Johnny One-Eye’: A Rum Tale Of The American Revolution
Suggested Theme Song for Rick Santorum’s Presidential Campaign
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum made some comments some years about Satin's threat to America. The comments were run today on The Drudge Report, so GOPers can't dismiss it as a hit job by the "liberal media" (which is actually a media that does not exist as you know if you worked in the media). Santorum later refused to disavow his past comments. Meanwhile, Rush … [Read more...] about Suggested Theme Song for Rick Santorum’s Presidential Campaign
Quote of the Day: Run Says Santorum “Not Conservative…Reactionary”
Our political Quote of the Day comes from the Washington Post's oonservative Republican blogger Jennifer Rubin, who looks at rising anti-Romney conservative Rick Santorum's medley of statements that go far beyond what any major conservative candidate on the national stage has advocated (and that includes the late Barry Goldwater): Republicans may win an election fighting … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: Run Says Santorum “Not Conservative…Reactionary”
Courting the Women’s Vote
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Euro Debt Could Still Land a Painful Punch
President Barack Obama’s reelection prospects may have improved slightly because the US economy is showing an uptick but the Greek debt crisis could still land a painful punch across the Atlantic in the late summer, hurting both Obama and American jobs. Tuesday morning, European finance ministers reached a complex deal to provide a 130 billion euro bailout for Greece to … [Read more...] about Euro Debt Could Still Land a Painful Punch
America’s Next Great Poet — The TV Show
Why isn't poetry of all kinds the premier medium of entertainment and criticism in this country? The answer is simple. It isn't being properly promoted. It doesn't have its own "American Idol," "Voice," "So You Think You Can Dance" kind of exposure. It should. The format here has already been well mapped. You start with a panel of judges sitting in some over-the-top studio … [Read more...] about America’s Next Great Poet — The TV Show
Super PACs and Wealthy Donors Thumb Their Noses at Democracy
An article in Forbes, highlighted today by Politico http://onforb.es/zjYrNj, reveals the lengths that some affluent donors are willing to go to support candidates aligned with their interests. It reported that Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire gambling and hotel magnate, was considering donating $100 million to Newt Gingrich or another Republican to defeat Obama and four more … [Read more...] about Super PACs and Wealthy Donors Thumb Their Noses at Democracy
The Internet Changes the Nature of Knowledge
Dave Weinberger has a new book out, Too Big to Know: Rethinking Knowledge Now That the Facts Aren't the Facts, Experts Are Everywhere, and the Smartest Person in the Room Is the Room. He discussed it last week on On The Media: [T]he system of knowledge that we had developed for ourselves is, in many ways, a system of stopping points because the medium of that knowledge was … [Read more...] about The Internet Changes the Nature of Knowledge
Romney Retakes Lead in Michigan Poll
Some good news for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: he is now leading again in MIchigan, the state where he spent most of his childhoold and where his father was governor. If Romney loses there it will a huge blow to him and probably spark an abandon ship on the part of at least some establishment Republicans. But a Mitchell/Rosetta Stone Poll now has him at 32%, two … [Read more...] about Romney Retakes Lead in Michigan Poll
Downton Abbey, Past and Future
Mary and Matthew are finally engaged, Sybil has had an off-screen baby, but Bates is in prison. The sublime soap opera leaves us bereft for a year, with only deconstruction of the past and surmise for the future as consolation after taking us through World War I and the Spanish flu to the 1920s. It’s a sign of Downton Abbey’s hold on our imaginations that the critical … [Read more...] about Downton Abbey, Past and Future
What’s the Real Rate of Inflation?
The following is completely anecdotal, which means it is useless as intelligent analysis. I make no claim to understanding the theory or practice of figuring the inflation rate any more than I can "understand" the Holy Trinity or Quantum Mechanics. But something is horribly wrong with the "official" inflation numbers. They are meaningless to anyone who has to live in the … [Read more...] about What’s the Real Rate of Inflation?