If you're interested, I'm live-blogging tonight's results from Florida (just as I did for Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina) over at my place. (And just for some fun I've got some Rush for you as well. "Big Money," of course.) We all knew who was going to win, and it may very well be that we're witnessing the beginning of the end of this mostly embarrassing race for … [Read more...] about Live-Blogging the Florida Primary: The Beginning of the End of the Republican Presidential Race
Merkel rises to Europe’s economic queen but the fight goes on
Greece might finally start to pull away from its woes in the next few days because of a likely deal with its creditors to roll over at least €200 billion of government debt. That would make it easier for a second tranche of €130 billion to come in later this year. But Greece’s economic problems are far from over. They hang like a Damocles sword over the Eurozone that … [Read more...] about Merkel rises to Europe’s economic queen but the fight goes on
Exit Polling Not Good For Newt
Although most observers have already said that Mitt Romney is likely to defeat Newt Gingrich in the Florida primary, exit polling just out on CNN is more bad news for the former House Speaker. For one thing the exit polls showed about an equal split between "very conservative", "somewhat conservative" and "moderate" (all self described). This is very different from South … [Read more...] about Exit Polling Not Good For Newt
The Largest Maritime Evacuation: It Happened on 9/11
More than 10 years after September 11, 2001, I thought that I had seen and heard all the stories about that tragic day. But recently I received an e-mail from a friend with a link to a video of a 9/11 event that I was not familiar with, or which I have perhaps forgotten. The video is a documentary made by award-winning documentary filmmaker Eddie Rosenstein and narrated … [Read more...] about The Largest Maritime Evacuation: It Happened on 9/11
Nate Silver Forecast: A Bad Day for Newt Gingrich in the Florida Republican Presidential Primary
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has gotten some powerful new allies in his battle against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and the Republican establishment: polarizing talk show host Rush Limbaugh, former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, Ronald Raegan's talks show/columnist son Michael Reagan and former GOP front runner Herman Cain. But Nate Silver -- who has a … [Read more...] about Nate Silver Forecast: A Bad Day for Newt Gingrich in the Florida Republican Presidential Primary
Romney is a Liar
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Romney is a Liar
Terror Threats: How Much Do We Really Want To Know ?
This morning the US Senate held a hearing on the subject of the leading terror threats facing the US and the world today. As I watched a portion of the hearing two things came to mind. First, that the hearing was to some degree for show and that there were many even more scary threats that they were not going to discuss in public. Second, I pondered, do I really want … [Read more...] about Terror Threats: How Much Do We Really Want To Know ?
Winner Take All In The Tech Economy
The Goodreads/Amazon story is a great example of why concentrated economic (market) power is not in the consumer's long-run best interest. In this case, Amazon wants to protect its bundled product, the Kindle. The Kindle is to Amazon as Office or MSIE are to Microsoft, extensions of an infrastructure franchise. Over at Google, it's two pronged: Google+ and Android. At Apple, … [Read more...] about Winner Take All In The Tech Economy
The Best Election Money Can Buy
They say that money can’t buy happiness, but the Florida G.O.P. primary shows once again that it can buy elections. Unlike the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, winning Florida with its large and diverse population can not be accomplished by “retail campaigning.” It’s impossible to reach enough voters to make a difference by shaking hands and … [Read more...] about The Best Election Money Can Buy
So What If Bush’s ‘Axis Of Evil’ Speech Has Held Up? The World Has Change For The Better
It was 10 years ago, give or take a few days, that President Bush delivered a State of the Union address with a passage alluding to an "axis of evil" and asserted that the world's leading rogue regimes -- Iran, Iraq and North Korea, by name -- and terrorist groups like Al Qaeda threatened world peace. David Frum, who had a hand in crafting the speech, writes that it has … [Read more...] about So What If Bush’s ‘Axis Of Evil’ Speech Has Held Up? The World Has Change For The Better
The Think Tank Song
Think tanks have become extraordinarily important in generating the ideas and the rhetoric that permeate our politics — often for the worse. This poem is a first person account of a typical think tanker's rise to prominence... The Think Tank Song For many long years I felt ineffectual A misunderstood and ignored intellectual My theories (though brilliant) were hooted … [Read more...] about The Think Tank Song
Mitt Newt and Jobs
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Mitt Newt and Jobs
Why Does the Catholic Church Enjoy IRS Protection?
WASHINGTON - The answer is simple. Because no Republican or Democratic politician has the courage to challenge them. This could apply to any religious institution meddling in politics, which the Catholic Church continues to do religiously without repercussions. E.J. Dionne reveals why: That is why it is so remarkable that he utterly botched the admittedly difficult question … [Read more...] about Why Does the Catholic Church Enjoy IRS Protection?
Brain Dead?
Richard Cohen writes this morning that Herman Cain's endorsement of Newt Gingrich is proof positive that the Grand Old Party is brain dead: It’s hard to know who is the more ridiculous figure — the grandiloquent, bombastic and compulsively dishonest Gingrich, or the beguilingly ignorant Cain, a man who has never held elective office and who was reduced to … [Read more...] about Brain Dead?
[video] WSJ Report: Gender Gap in Florida Will Favor & Stick With Romney
In South Carolina, predictions of Mitt Romney being favored to win in part because women would go for him over Newt did not materialize. And to be clear, we're not talking the gap between how men versus women vote for Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich. We're talking about the gap between who women prefer between the two candidates. This time around, in Florida, people seem much … [Read more...] about [video] WSJ Report: Gender Gap in Florida Will Favor & Stick With Romney
Debate Drought: Bad News for Newt
No GOP slugfests for the next three weeks—-how will we get through the month? Sunday Gingrich gave us some venom to go, in the parking lot of a Florida mega-church with a Starbucks in the lobby, tagging Mitt as a "pro-abortion, pro-gun-control, pro-tax-increase moderate from Massachusetts" with "money from Wall Street" to spread lies about him, "as big an outrage as I've had … [Read more...] about Debate Drought: Bad News for Newt
The GOP’s Anti-Gingrich Campaign
MIAMI -- When the empire strikes back, it hits hard. The Republican establishment is deploying every weapon and every soldier -- even Bob Dole -- in an increasingly desperate attempt to pulverize the Newt Gingrich rebellion. Eventually, the shock-and-awe campaign may work. But then what? In the establishment's best-case scenario, the party is left with Mitt Romney, a … [Read more...] about The GOP’s Anti-Gingrich Campaign
The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act
In Throw Them All Out, Peter Schweizer argues that Congress is a route to riches that is exempt from the same sort of laws that govern mere mortals. He shares an anecdote about George Washington Plunkitt and "honest graft" that reflects the largess of Tammany Hall, New York's infamous political machine. He argues that modern Congressional graft is more insidious. Schweizer … [Read more...] about The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act
If Newt Loses It’s Still Far From Over, But For The GOP It’s Over Bar The Shouting
Vote for Newt. Annoy a liberal. ~ SARAH PALIN When the sun comes up tomorrow in the Sunshine State, it is probable that Mitt Romney will have bounced back from his drubbing in South Carolina and defeated Newt Gingrich in the latest installment of the see-saw race for the Republican presidential nomination despite fellow serial adulterer Herman Cain's last-minute endorsement … [Read more...] about If Newt Loses It’s Still Far From Over, But For The GOP It’s Over Bar The Shouting
America: ‘Land of Inequality’ (Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany)
Has American society given up one of its foundational principles - that anyone who hunkers down and works hard can make it? Columnist Reymer Kluever of Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung explains President Obama's State of the Union change in political tact by pointing out that since the 1970s, the United States has become one of the least fair industrialized countries in terms of … [Read more...] about America: ‘Land of Inequality’ (Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany)