Breaking up is hard to do, but much more expensive in today’s Hollywood than rural Georgia of three decades ago. Mel Gibson is finally divorced from his wife of more than 30 years and mother of seven children after turning over an estimated half of his $850 million in movie earnings. At the same time, the nation’s other Lethal Mouth seems to have been lying about his … [Read more...] about Gingrich, Mel Gibson Divorce News
Republican Extreme Views Do Not Represent Mainstream America
I've spent most of my adult life (unlike many of my generation, I could both drink and vote at age 18) being wary of single-issue politics. However, as the parties have become increasingly indistinguishable from one another once they get into power, making a decision based on a single issue may not be as much of a cop-out as I used to think. Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has … [Read more...] about Republican Extreme Views Do Not Represent Mainstream America
Two Iowa Pastors See Politics As Chess Game
According to two "evangelical" Iowa pastors, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum are being pressured to collaborate: one should bow out and endorse the other. "Otherwise, like-minded people will be divided and water down their impact," said Rev. Cary Gordon, a Sioux City minister. He said he asked Santorum several weeks ago to consider exiting the race but has since … [Read more...] about Two Iowa Pastors See Politics As Chess Game
Hypocrisy 101: Obama TelePrompter Critic Bachmann Uses an iPad
Greetings, students. I hope you all have a copy of your syllabus. Yes, you are in the correct classroom. This is Hypocrisy 101 at Political University. Last year we dealt with the TelePrompter issue and how Sarah Palin was blasting President Barack Obama for using a TelePrompter and many conservative talk show hosts did, too. But then she wrote notes on her hand and she and the … [Read more...] about Hypocrisy 101: Obama TelePrompter Critic Bachmann Uses an iPad
Book Review: “Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi”
If you want to understand Pakistan and a good deal about South Asia buy "Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi." South Asia has always been of huge interest to me, from the time I was a student at Colgate University, to my internship on "The Hindustan Times" in New Delhi in the early 1970s, to a couple of years I spent in that city after graduating the Medill School of … [Read more...] about Book Review: “Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi”
Romney and the Art of Unpredictable Predictability
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- No matter what happens in Iowa, Mitt Romney has a safety net in New Hampshire. And that could rank as the year's most perilous sentence. Why shouldn't Romney be surprised in the state that temporarily derailed Barack Obama's supposedly rapid march toward nomination four years ago? Hillary Clinton humbled many a pundit here in 2008, reason enough to … [Read more...] about Romney and the Art of Unpredictable Predictability
Barack Obama: ‘Milking’ the Iraq War for All it’s Worth (Azzaman, Iraq)
How sorry is the present state of Iraq - and how bitter do some Iraqis feel about the consequences of the U.S. invasion and withdrawal? For Iraq's Azzaman, columnist Fateh Abdulsalam accuses President Obama of brazenly using the Iraq withdrawal to his political advantage and leaving the country 'with a government reveling in the joys of its own corruption and the opportunistic … [Read more...] about Barack Obama: ‘Milking’ the Iraq War for All it’s Worth (Azzaman, Iraq)
‘How Much Is That Purple Heart In The Window?’
I don’t know what caught my attention while browsing the web today. Perhaps it was the similarity to the title of that famous song, “How much is that doggie in the window?” Perhaps it was the similarity to the title I chose for one of my military aviation stories, “How much is that F-35 in the window?” But more likely it was the incongruence in the words in the title … [Read more...] about ‘How Much Is That Purple Heart In The Window?’
New CNN Iowa Poll: Romney Now Leading, Paul Second, Gingrich Nosediving & Santorum
The seesaw verdicts of the polls continue in Iowa. The latest CNN poll in Iowa fits in with the new tone coming from the camp of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: a seeming sense of relief plus a belief that their candidate will prevail in Iowa -- and in the end. The new poll puts Romney in the lead, former House Speaker Gingrich fading faster then the impression a … [Read more...] about New CNN Iowa Poll: Romney Now Leading, Paul Second, Gingrich Nosediving & Santorum
New Year Hope
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about New Year Hope
The Best, Worst and Most of 2011
Here’s our modest annual list looking at 2011 — a list that might help guide us in 2012. Best New National Scene Republican: Former Utah Gov. Jon Hunstman. Some GOPers never forgave him for having served as President Barack Obama’s Ambassador to China, but he offered the kind of thoughtful conservative Republicanism that could have roped in independents. He would have had a … [Read more...] about The Best, Worst and Most of 2011
One American’s Pretentious Resolutions for a Decisive New Year
The New Year of 2012, a general election year, will be a year when the fortunes of political parties and politicians will rise and fall; it will be a year of unprecedented social and ideological confrontation; most important, it will be a year when "we the people" once again have the opportunity -- the obligation -- to make necessary adjustments or corrections to the course of … [Read more...] about One American’s Pretentious Resolutions for a Decisive New Year
Perry (in Iowa, Natch) Changes Abortion Position: Now No Abortion Even if Rape or Incest
It sounds like over Christmas Texas Gov. Rick Perry paid a visit to Mitt Romney's or Newt Gingrich's flip-flop outlets: Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry on Tuesday declared that had undergone a “transformation” and no longer supported abortion in cases of rape or incest. During a campaign event in Iowa, Full Faith Christian Center pastor Joshua Verwers noted … [Read more...] about Perry (in Iowa, Natch) Changes Abortion Position: Now No Abortion Even if Rape or Incest
Remembering Those Who Passed in 2011
As usual, we end a year much the poorer due to many of those who passed -- people we knew and loved, and people we read about and felt we knew and loved. Here's a slideshow about some of the more famous people who left us in 2012. … [Read more...] about Remembering Those Who Passed in 2011
Republicans Have a Gambling Problem (Guest Voice)
Republicans Have a Gambling Problem by Tina Dupuy We like risk and reward. The gold rush was as much a motivation to be a pioneer as was the more noted religious freedom. Poker is actually considered a sport. Yes, poker players are athletes according to the U.S. government. It's the one sport you can train for while chain smoking in a tracksuit. But like every wine … [Read more...] about Republicans Have a Gambling Problem (Guest Voice)
Poll: Paul Continues to Surge in Iowa
A new poll shows Rep. Ron Paul continues to significantly surge in Iowa and has taken the lead -- raising the real prospect that if trending continues he could be the winner of the Republican Iowa causes which would further add to the media narrative that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney can't close the deal and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is on the quick descent as … [Read more...] about Poll: Paul Continues to Surge in Iowa
Notes in a Bottle from a Shipwreck Year
Reading bloggers' own favorite posts of 2011 is a reminder of how much political and social sanity has been lost in this Tea Party world. Satire and rage abound. Yet it’s cathartic to read these notes in a bottle from survivors and realize we are not alone in this shipwrecked world. Such comfort is provided by keeping alive a tradition started by the late Al Weigel, who … [Read more...] about Notes in a Bottle from a Shipwreck Year
Putin Fires Chief Strategist: Battens Down the Hatches
Vladimir Putin seems to be battening down the hatches instead of showing more flexibility in the face of the massive prodemocracy protests since the rigged December 4 elections. In the latest protests in Moscow and several smaller cities on December 24, an estimated 120,000 middle class Russians braved icy weather carrying anti-corruption banners and chanting “Russia without … [Read more...] about Putin Fires Chief Strategist: Battens Down the Hatches
Romney Compares Gingrich to Lucy in the Chocolate Factory
The imagery of Newt Gingrich's veracity keeps getting worse and worse as does his refurbished image in general. And today it'll take another big hit because former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney: With just a week to go before the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney said Newt Gingrich's failure to qualify for the Virginia GOP primary ballot indicated a disorganized campaign effort. “I think … [Read more...] about Romney Compares Gingrich to Lucy in the Chocolate Factory
Independents Not United, OR United Around Anti-Partisanship?
Randy Schultz, writing for the editorial page of the Palm Beach Post, doesn't see dissatisfaction with the major parties as a uniter of independent voters. He's got some interesting observations here about the need for organization -- the "volunteers who staff phone banks, stuff envelopes and drive voters to the polls," the stuff of electoral politics in America. But unity? … [Read more...] about Independents Not United, OR United Around Anti-Partisanship?