Our political Quote of the Day comes from First Read that says former Mass. Governor Mitt Romney better be prepared for the attacks coming his way from other Republicans who want to squelch his front-runner status for the 2012 nomination: *** Here come the attacks on Romney: Unlike past presidential-primary front-runners, Mitt Romney has enjoyed this advantage over the past … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: Romney Will Soon Be Under Intense Attacks
Senator Brown on Gingrich’s Imperial Ambitions
Commenting on a USA TODAY editorial a couple of weeks ago on Gingrich’s campaign promise to, as president, haul-in judges whose rulings he doesn’t like, force them to explain their rulings and to abolish entire courts he doesn’t agree with, I said in a letter that “[Gingrich’s] interpretation [of the Constitution] would undermine the timeless, functioning, checks-and-balances … [Read more...] about Senator Brown on Gingrich’s Imperial Ambitions
Keith Olbermann is Clashing with a New Employer Again
Well, that didn't take long, did it? Keith Olbermann is most famous for his hundreds of not-so-special "Special Comments" those melodramatic commentaries more often than not delivered in an indignant tone. He split with MSNBC after clashing with his employers there and then went over to Al Gore's Current Television." And now he is showing the second thing for which he has … [Read more...] about Keith Olbermann is Clashing with a New Employer Again
The Past Is A Blast. And Everlasting!
She's using a typewriter to write a letter... The letter is to a friend in Spain who sent a postcard -- "apparently people don't send them anymore, either" -- asking for a real letter. She bought the typewriter last summer at Goodwill. "I just love old things... I was surprised that the ribbon is still good." Note the paper dictionary she must use to find the correct … [Read more...] about The Past Is A Blast. And Everlasting!
Anyone-But-Romney Sweepstakes Survivors
Parsing Iowa results is like trying to solve the old riddle of why French intellectuals loved screwball comic Jerry Lewis, critics gave “The Nutty Professor” their Oscar and the government showered him with honors. In the world of slapstick, you never know which way the croissant will crumble and, post-Iowa, Michele Bachmann is gone, Rick Perry has his foot on a banana peel … [Read more...] about Anyone-But-Romney Sweepstakes Survivors
The Rick Santorum That America Doesn’t Know
SANTORUM AFTER HIS 2006 DEFEAT It matters not that Rick Santorum, who is the right-wing Republican flavor of the moment, doesn't stand a chance of becoming the GOP presidential nominee let alone beating Barack Obama. What matter is that Santorum has never gotten the kind of scrutiny that he deserves with the exception of one reporter working for one newspaper. That reporter … [Read more...] about The Rick Santorum That America Doesn’t Know
Book Review: Errol Morris’s ‘Believing Is Seeing: Observations On The Mysteries Of Photography’
Take a look at this photograph taken by Thomas Hoepker from the Brooklyn waterfront on the morning of September 11, 2001. Take a really good look. What are the people saying and thinking as they look away from the burning World Trade Center towers? That it's a lovely morning to go bike riding? That they'll be inconvenienced because they'll have to cancel their dinner … [Read more...] about Book Review: Errol Morris’s ‘Believing Is Seeing: Observations On The Mysteries Of Photography’
Why Great Photographers Make Their Luck
DETAIL OF "MIGRANT MOTHER" Years of lugging around cameras and lenses has convinced me that luck has a central role in outstanding photojournalism. This is because lucks results from years of practice. That is the story behind pioneering photojournalist Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother," perhaps the best known rural photograph from the Great Depression of the 1930s. The … [Read more...] about Why Great Photographers Make Their Luck
Newt Gingrich: And His List of Words
Below is the list of negative words Newt proposed be used by potential candidates against their opponents: It is from Newt Gingrich's 1996 GOPAC memo. I remember reading a nearly identical list of negative words in one of his books and wondered why he would broadcast his strategy that then could so easily be boomeranged back on him by his opposition. It's odd now, all … [Read more...] about Newt Gingrich: And His List of Words
How Newt Gingrich Threw It Away
I've often noted that the more people see, listen to and think about Newt Gingrich and his career and ideas, the more they really don't like him. He makes more sense when he isn't high in the polls. And once he's high in the polls, he blows it. Yes, indeed, in Iowa he was obliterated by the mass of attack ads Mitt Romney -- and let's not play the stupid political ballet … [Read more...] about How Newt Gingrich Threw It Away
Democracy vs. Autocracy: 2012 Will Be Critical Year (Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany)
Four of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council will see political changes at the top this year - including the United States. According to Stefan Kornelius of Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung, these decisions, out of the hands of most of the world's people, could decide the type of civilization most of us end up living in: some form of democracy or as the Chinese … [Read more...] about Democracy vs. Autocracy: 2012 Will Be Critical Year (Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany)
Virginia Debacle Could Seriously Hurt GOP Presidential Nominee
Virginia Debacle Could Seriously Hurt GOP Presidential Nominee by Matt Mackowiak and Ford O'Connell Only two candidates are slated to be on the 2012 Virginia Republican presidential primary ballot. The mainstream media is choosing to frame this predicament as evidence of which GOP candidates are running "serious" campaigns and which are not. But this media-driven narrative … [Read more...] about Virginia Debacle Could Seriously Hurt GOP Presidential Nominee
Search and Destroy Mission
DES MOINES -- Mitt Romney and his backers decided that to win in Iowa they had to destroy Newt Gingrich's campaign. Now Gingrich looks eager -- and able -- to return the favor. Romney got his victory, but it doesn't feel much like one. It's embarrassing that the supposed Republican front-runner could only manage to beat Rick Santorum by eight votes out of about 120,000 … [Read more...] about Search and Destroy Mission
Bye Bye Bachmann
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Bye Bye Bachmann
Progress and Issues in the Saudi Kingdom with Women’s Unmentionables
We are all familiar with the separation of the sexes in Saudi Arabia and in other Islamic countries and with the many laws restricting and limiting the rights and activities of women. While many of the Sharia laws are ostensibly to protect women from the prying eyes and other inappropriate gestures or advances by men, curiously women shopping for panties, bras, negligees, … [Read more...] about Progress and Issues in the Saudi Kingdom with Women’s Unmentionables
Iowa Reveals GOP’s Anti-Israel Slant
Cross-Posted to the Debate Link For the past few years, Republicans have incessantly attempted to argue that Barack Obama -- one of the most authentically Zionist politicians America has ever seen -- is "anti-Israel". It was always a laughable claim. But it's more so given the three Republican candidates who finished in an essential dead-heat for first place amongst Iowa … [Read more...] about Iowa Reveals GOP’s Anti-Israel Slant
The Iowa Caucuses- A Made For TV Reality Show
What purpose do the Republican Iowa caucuses really serve? They are an unofficial primary in a state with an overwhelmingly white population unlike the national demographic, with the Republican caucuses even more lily-white than the state as a whole. And since 1980, only two of the Republican winners eventually became the Republican nominee for president, Dole in 1996 and Bush … [Read more...] about The Iowa Caucuses- A Made For TV Reality Show
E. J. Dionne Jr.: Santorum and Huntsman and the Future of Conservativism
EDITOR's NOTE: DUE TO A TECHNICAL GLITCH THIS WENT OUT UNDER THE WRONG BYLINE. WE REGRET THE ERROR MERRIMACK, N.H. -- I love watching Republicans engage in class warfare. They condemn it as a sin when Democrats come within 100 miles of even mentioning the sharp and growing class inequalities in the United States. But when conservatives play the class card, they see doing so … [Read more...] about E. J. Dionne Jr.: Santorum and Huntsman and the Future of Conservativism
A Personal Census Poem
In nineteen hundred four and sixty, When staying stoned seemed real nifty, I thought age made one dull and nerdy, And trusted no one over thirty. The years have passed, my views have changed, My valuations rearranged, I now judge young folks shallow, drifty, And trust no one who ain't reached fifty. Soon from this author: This God-Awful Political Season (In Verse) … [Read more...] about A Personal Census Poem
Last Warning for the GOP
Glasgow, Scotland -- As I stayed up until 6am this morning, feeling like the only person in Scotland following the events of the Iowa Republican primary thanks to numerous dodgy streams of MSNBC and CNN, as well as Twitter, one thing jumped out at me... Iowa was it for the Republican Party. If the message hasn’t got through to republicans after these caucuses, it never will. … [Read more...] about Last Warning for the GOP