It can happen. Miraculous resurrection can sometimes emerge from unspeakable tragedy. On Sept. 11, 2001 Lauren Manning, senior vice president and partner at Cantor Fitzgerald, an investment bank which had several floors of offices in the World Trade Center, was on her way to work and getting ready to enter the elevator at the North Tower when the 9/11 terrorist attack punched … [Read more...] about Book and Audio Book Review: Unmeasured Strength by Lauren Manning
Moving Obama to Europe
WASHINGTON -- This is what progress looks like for a president named Barack Hussein Obama. Not so long ago, many in conservative and Republican ranks were eager to paint him as an alien creature far removed from American life as most Americans understand it. A determined cadre insisted Obama was not even eligible to be president, claiming he was born outside the United … [Read more...] about Moving Obama to Europe
Remember Not to Pee
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Remember Not to Pee
South Carolina: Then There Were Five … (UPDATED)
UPDATE: As expected, Former Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. of Utah formally announced that he is ending his Republican presidential run “with a call for party unity, asking the five candidates he leaves on the field to end their negative ads and chastising President Obama for engaging in ‘class warfare.’” More from the New York Times: “This race has degenerated into … [Read more...] about South Carolina: Then There Were Five … (UPDATED)
Huntsman To Drop Out; Will Endorse Romney
Reports breaking this evening that Jon Huntsman will drop out of the 2012 Presidential race and endorse Mitt Romney for the nomination. I can't say I am surprised but I am disappointed that such a well qualified candidate could not proceed in the increasingly narrow Republican party. … [Read more...] about Huntsman To Drop Out; Will Endorse Romney
Is This Land Made for You and Me? (Guest Voice)
Is This Land Made for You and Me? by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship The traveling medicine show known as the race for the Republican presidential nomination has moved on from Iowa and New Hampshire, and all eyes are now on South Carolina. Well, not exactly all. At the moment, our eyes are fixed on some big news from the great state of Oklahoma, home of the legendary … [Read more...] about Is This Land Made for You and Me? (Guest Voice)
Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC Ad: Mitt The Ripper
From the Super PAC now headed by Jon Stewart, Attack In B Minor For Strings, "If corporations are people, then Mitt Romney is Mitt the Ripper." Watch: The ad is narrated by John Lithgow, who won an Emmy for his role as a family man serial killer in season 4 of Dexter. The note and press release from Jon Stewart, who took over Colbert's Americans For A Better Tomorrow, … [Read more...] about Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC Ad: Mitt The Ripper
"Europe" is a Dirty Word in the United States
Mitt Romney's Anti-European rhetoric is stronger than the Anti-American statements by leading German politicians in the last few election campaigns. Romney seems to assume that Republican voters are so stupid, uninformed and Anti-European that he can get their votes with scaremongering. His Europe bashing seems to be his response to the criticism of his "socialist" … [Read more...] about "Europe" is a Dirty Word in the United States
Mitt Romney and Al Gore: Separated at Birth?
...He claimed that he didn’t seek reelection as Massachusetts governor because “that would be about me” — as if running for president, which he did instead, was a gesture of sacrifice and altruism. Romney, the conservative writer Jonah Goldberg argued this week, has an “authentic inauthenticity problem.” And that is precisely why his struggle is so familiar. He is … [Read more...] about Mitt Romney and Al Gore: Separated at Birth?
The Dream That Came True
WASHINGTON -- He would be an elder statesman now, a lion in winter, an American hero perhaps impatient with the fuss being made over his birthday. At 83, he'd likely still have his wits and his voice. Surely, if he were able, he would continue to preach, and to pray -- and to dream. For the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., dreaming was not optional. It was a requirement of … [Read more...] about The Dream That Came True
L.A. Confidential For Real: The Bizarre & Twisted Tale of ‘Black Dahlia Avenger’
GEORGE HODEL AND ELIZABETH SHORT Sixty-five years ago today, a 22-year-old beauty by the name of Elizabeth Short was found brutally slain in a vacant lot at 39th and Norton streets in Los Angeles. Her body was cut in half at the waist with surgical precision, her face and breasts slit, and there was a large gash where her vulva should have been. She had been drained of … [Read more...] about L.A. Confidential For Real: The Bizarre & Twisted Tale of ‘Black Dahlia Avenger’
Mitt Romney as Evil Capitalist Ken Doll
WASHINGTON - Newt Gingrich is deservedly getting booed in South Carolina for his Super PACS' "The King of Bain." Meanwhile, South Carolina remains a state where political ethics and honesty got to die. The New York Times has a unintentionally humorous story about one of the towns targeted by Newt Gingrich's Super PAC, which depicts a place that didn't know they were so much … [Read more...] about Mitt Romney as Evil Capitalist Ken Doll
Bill Moyers On Sunday
Check your local PBS schedule*, fire-up your DVR. Bill Moyers is back with a new show, Moyers & Company. The series, produced by American Public Television, begins with three broadcasts focused on the intersection of politics and money. Moyers, who will "believe corporations are people when Texas executes one" (Stephen Colbert interview, 10 January), interviews Jacob … [Read more...] about Bill Moyers On Sunday
The Pee Lai Massacre in Bullet Points
Your news media at work: first, obtain the authentic photo of the actual story; THEN black out anything in the photo that would actually show anything; THEN slap your video logos and bumperstickers all over it. • You know what I'm talking about. • No army that ever marched didn't have douchebags like these. You know these guys. And so do I. They were the dumbasses who … [Read more...] about The Pee Lai Massacre in Bullet Points
“Downton Abbey” Obsessions
The PBS series is becoming the “West Wing” and “Sopranos” of the century’s second decade, mirroring Americans’ longing for escape from the Obama and Tea Party era as surely as its predecessors reflected a desire for a more human society, high and low, during George W. Bush’s time. As second season ratings soar, what is “Downton Abbey” telling us about ourselves? In … [Read more...] about “Downton Abbey” Obsessions
Poll: Romney Now Soaring with 21 Point Lead in South Carolina (Gingrich Backlash?)
This new poll out of South Carolina could be subtitled in two ways: #1 Romney Soars in South Carolina #2 Gingrich Self-Destructs in South Carolina The bottom line is that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had been doing well in South Carolina, and then seemed according to one poll within a few points of the presumptive front-runner, former Massachusetts Mitt Romney. But … [Read more...] about Poll: Romney Now Soaring with 21 Point Lead in South Carolina (Gingrich Backlash?)
Conservatives (Neo Liberals) as Teenagers
Krugman reports that neo liberal technocrat Frau Merkel gave her response to the S&P downgrades in Europe. German chancellor Angela Merkel has called on eurozone governments speedily to implement tough new fiscal rules after Standard & Poor’s downgraded the credit ratings of France and Austria and seven other second-tier sovereigns. More austerity - exactly a reason … [Read more...] about Conservatives (Neo Liberals) as Teenagers
Quote of the day: The ungrateful middle class
From an excellent piece in The New Yorker on the rising economy in Brazil: [Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff] has to keep revving the engine of prosperity for ordinary Brazilians, and make sure people know who's responsible for it... ...In the United States, during the second half of the twentieth century, this kind of political apparatus fell victim to its own … [Read more...] about Quote of the day: The ungrateful middle class
Poll: Romney Keeps Small Lead in South Carolina
Is South Carolina a tossup or isn't it? My betting is: it is NOT and that, in the end, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will win and then win big in Florida -- where a recent poll shows him with a whopping lead. On the other hand, the question is the trending on polling. And this poll suggests it is close in South Carolina, indeed: As the GOP races settles into South … [Read more...] about Poll: Romney Keeps Small Lead in South Carolina
150 Social Conservative Activists Settle on Supporting Santorum In Stop Romney Move
Seeing the likely nomination of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 150 conservative activists gathered in Texas have decided to give their support to former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in an effort to halt what now seems to be in the political cards: the splitting of social conservatives' votes among several candidates which would allow Romney to sail his way to … [Read more...] about 150 Social Conservative Activists Settle on Supporting Santorum In Stop Romney Move