(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
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Courting the Women’s Vote
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?
My Big Fat Greek Economic Crisis
Have you ever been to Greece? If you have, then you know what has happened to that deeply historic, incredibly beautiful and once vibrant country is heartbreaking. And that its ills are self inflicted. The economic crisis in Greece has caused a devolution that is shocking by Western standards. Some 25 percent of all Greek companies have gone out of business since 2009, half … [Read more...] about My Big Fat Greek Economic Crisis
Egyptians Refuse to Accept What America Would Reject (Amal al-Oumma, Egypt)
In the United States there is a general sense that Egypt is now moving out of America's orbit - but very little conception of what specifically is driving that process. This article by columnist Dr. Mahmud Madi of Egypt's Amal al-Oumma newspaper outlines the major issues driving Egyptian resentment, starting with operations of U.S.-run non-governmental organizations in Egypt … [Read more...] about Egyptians Refuse to Accept What America Would Reject (Amal al-Oumma, Egypt)
A Fearful GOP
WASHINGTON -- Republicans haven't quite thrown away what they see as a winnable presidential election, at least not yet. But they're trying their best. In GOP circles, there is more than a whiff of panic in the air. Unemployment is still painfully high, Americans remain dissatisfied with the country's direction, even the most favorable polls show President Obama's … [Read more...] about A Fearful GOP
Not Narrow Minded
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Not Narrow Minded
Romney Surrogate Trump Rips Into Santorum
Millionaire/billionaire (choose which one you think is accurate) Donald Trump accepted an offer from former Massachusetts Mitt Romney to in effect be a surrogate for him and in his new role Trump ripped into chief anti-Romney candidate former Senator Rick Santorum. And he did it in characteristic Trump style: blunt peppery: Donald Trump demonstrated Monday that he has no … [Read more...] about Romney Surrogate Trump Rips Into Santorum
Obama Sends Republicans the Budget they Deserve (Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany)
Complain as they might, have U.S. Republicans themselves brought on the 'political' budget President Obama submitted for fiscal year 2013? For Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung, columnist Nikolaus Piper asserts that while the ideas in the president's 'reasonable' budget are correct, Republicans were never going to pass them - and that 'given the Republicans who want to be … [Read more...] about Obama Sends Republicans the Budget they Deserve (Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany)
Why a Republican Political Savior and a Brokered Convention Is Unlikely to Happen
A lot of the buzz now is about the possibility of a brokered Republican convention -- the emergence of some kind of a new conservative political savior that'll jump into the race and save the party from the often bumbling and unloved former Massachsetts Gov. Mitt Romney or the current anti-Romney favorite, former Senator Rick Santorum. Santorum has already got some GOPers … [Read more...] about Why a Republican Political Savior and a Brokered Convention Is Unlikely to Happen
Should The Federal Government Support Institutions That Serve Non-Kosher Food?
The surging candidacy of Rick Santorum has done wonders in reshaping American politics. We are now able to look away from peripheral issues such recession, the disintegrating situation in Middle East, the unwinding of the European Union and its euro-based economics, and finally focus on the really important stuff — theology, and a president's adherence to biblical … [Read more...] about Should The Federal Government Support Institutions That Serve Non-Kosher Food?
For Chinese in U.S., Jeremy Lin Ignites ‘New American Dream’ (China Daily, People’s Republic of China)
It seems everyone appreciates the meteoric emergence of Jeremy Lin as an NBA superstar. But as far as Beijing's news masters are concerned, Lin is nearly a miracle worker. In this editorial from the state-run China Daily, the young Taiwanese American is credited for, among other things, improving China's image, helping to change 'stereotypes and prejudice regarding … [Read more...] about For Chinese in U.S., Jeremy Lin Ignites ‘New American Dream’ (China Daily, People’s Republic of China)