I honestly don't see what the media hype swirling around this Herman Cain ad is all about. It features a boring blurb by Chief of Staff Mark Block that is unlikely to make one voter who doesn't want to already support Herman Cain decide to support Herman Cain. And monitoring the cable and broadcast talkers yesterday on XM radio (A MUST if you travel extensively by car as I am … [Read more...] about Herman Cain’s Unusual (?) Stunning (?) Ad (NOT!)
Mutinies Abound in the Republican Party
You’ve heard of the winter of discontent? Welcome to the autumn of mutinies. In the United States and beyond rebellion is in the air and those who aren’t rebellious enough could be forced to walk the political plank. The Republican Party is facing a mutiny and a counter mutiny. It’s 2011 Cain mutiny is led by Godfather Pizza’s likable former CEO, conservative Herman Cain, … [Read more...] about Mutinies Abound in the Republican Party
Eight Wheels & Eight Paws: What A Way To Go
PERCY, REX, NICKY & JACK AT THE MOUNTAIN RETREAT -- Having installed a passive solar power system at the mountain retreat that is paying dividends because our local utility has to buy our surplus electricity and we've got gobs of it, the next logical step in managing our lives more economically and environmentally friendly was to buy a hybrid vehicle. And so the DF&C … [Read more...] about Eight Wheels & Eight Paws: What A Way To Go
The Tale Of Two Swedish Meatballs
VOLVO 188ES: THE MOST BEAUTIOUS CAR EVAH My newborn children came home from the hospital in Volvos. I put 262,000 miles on one of them and it never failed to start, including one morning when the temperature had dipped below zero. It's marvelous four-cylinder turbo could really crank, and in the late 70s I once did 125 miles an hour on a long straightaway in the middle of … [Read more...] about The Tale Of Two Swedish Meatballs
World Economic Meltdown In 3 Minutes
Not sure if I want to laugh or cry … [Read more...] about World Economic Meltdown In 3 Minutes
The Anti-Revolution and the Void that Remains
Anti is a revolutionary prefix. When joined with the right name, system, or organization, it can change the course of a nation. Anti topples entrenched regimes and tyrannical dictatorships. Anti unites diverse factions under a shared purpose; a purpose often rooted in anger and frustration. Anti is seldom a solution for the future. Instead, it is a judgement on the past. … [Read more...] about The Anti-Revolution and the Void that Remains
The Laffer Curve and Last Laughs
There's nothing more contentious -- or the topic of sound bites -- than federal tax policy. Although Jude Wanniski, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, coined the term in 1974, the Laffer Curve made its way into the political lexicon with President Reagan's championship of supply-side economics and the Kemp-Roth Tax Cut of 1981. And now it's back, because Authur Laffer … [Read more...] about The Laffer Curve and Last Laughs
Perry ‘Flirting with Birtherism.’ Perhaps Leonard Pitts was right.(UPDATE: ‘Just Joshing’)
A few months ago, I commented on a piece by Pulitzer Prize winner Leonard Pitts at the Miami Herald calling birthers "morons,'' ''jackasses," "imbeciles," "idiots,'' "doofuses" and "pinheads." He also called the birther movement "not just claptrap, but profoundly racist claptrap." I said, “While I agree with Pitts on the claptrap, I would not call the birthers morons, … [Read more...] about Perry ‘Flirting with Birtherism.’ Perhaps Leonard Pitts was right.(UPDATE: ‘Just Joshing’)
Quote of the Day: Jeb Bush Tells Rick Perry to Knock It Off On Obama Birtherism (UPDATED)
Our political Quote of the Day is not unexpected. Jeb Bush has basically told Texas Gov. Rick Perry to knock it off on re-raising the birther "issue": "Republican candidates should categorically reject the notion that President Obama was not born in the United States. It is a complete distraction from the failed economic policies of the President." Bush is correct. … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: Jeb Bush Tells Rick Perry to Knock It Off On Obama Birtherism (UPDATED)
Cain Leads Romney in New CBS News/NY Times Poll as Romney Faces New Political Pitfall
Former Godfathers' Pizza CEO Herman Cain is now showing he can deliver more than pizza and refurbished pizza franchise stores: he has delivered a big, fat, pie of problems for up-until-now front runner Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He is now leading in a major CBS News/NYTimes poll -- as Romney finds himself enmeshed in a political controversy that could further hurt him with … [Read more...] about Cain Leads Romney in New CBS News/NY Times Poll as Romney Faces New Political Pitfall
Perry the Clown
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Perry the Clown
What America Means To Me
I will reveal here a controversial assertion that is -- if not explicitly denied, then most assuredly implicitly trampled upon in common practice -- as deceptively and seductively simple as it seems: words actually mean something, and what they mean matters. Note the Liberty [Phrygian] Cap on pole I will grant the Opposition's case that in point of fact words are useless … [Read more...] about What America Means To Me
Further Still Down The Road: The State Of The Republican Presidential Field
Are we at peak Mitt Romney and if so does this mean the Republican presidential nomination will be Rick Perry's to lose? That is a scrumdiddlyumptious prospect for Obama supporters because the former Massachusetts governor is scary in a bad way -- well spoken, intelligent and full of moderate ideas -- while the Texas governor is scary in a good way -- a stumblebum orator, an … [Read more...] about Further Still Down The Road: The State Of The Republican Presidential Field
Measuring News Consumer Interest Around Occupy Wall Street
My most recent article in Harvard's Nieman Lab explores why Occupy Wall Street is perfect for web journalism. I interviewed editors from the New York Observer, The Atlantic, and Reason to determine how hungry news consumers are for OWS content. Bob Cohn, the online editor for The Atlantic, told me that 10 percent of the publication’s top 100 posts for the month of October … [Read more...] about Measuring News Consumer Interest Around Occupy Wall Street
Perry: Obama Birther Issue is “Fun” and “A Good Issue to Keep Alive”
If there was any doubt that Texas Gov. Rick Perry is NOT a candidate for thoughtful Americans who are Republicans, Democrats and independents he has now erased it in an interview with CNBC. He has pretty much summed up the sorry state of American politics: he says the birther issue is "fun" and a "good issue to keep alive." Yes, demonization is SO much fun. Suggesting that a … [Read more...] about Perry: Obama Birther Issue is “Fun” and “A Good Issue to Keep Alive”
Flat Taxes And Jobs
I've been surprised about all the flat tax talk this October by Republican presidential candidates. The flat tax idea usually doesn't surface much until April, when taxpayers and their helpers gather around dining room tables to figure out how much they can get away with in their tax reporting. The fact that flat tax mania among Republican White House aspirants has come to the … [Read more...] about Flat Taxes And Jobs
What Herman Cain Has Won
Second prize in the GOP presidential contest is a lucrative stint as a commentator for Fox News, and the Pizza Man has a lock on that, which makes it surprising that Karl Rove is the first to count him out as the nominee. Holding up a list of Cain flip-flops and walkbacks, his future colleague decrees that it “has created an image of him as not being up to this task. That’s … [Read more...] about What Herman Cain Has Won
Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta — The Fight Continues
I don’t remember anymore when I first started to seriously lament and write about the dearth of recognition received by our heroes whom we sent into harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan and who “gave it all,” including, at times, their lives. With the award of several Medals of Honor, President Obama has started to more justly recognize the many instances of ''conspicuous … [Read more...] about Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta — The Fight Continues
Obama & Americans To GOP: ‘We Can’t Wait’
As inured as I should be to Republican obstructionism at this point, it still boggles my mind that with 14 million Americans unemployed and the economy taking only baby steps toward a recovery, the GOP continues to block President Obama's job creation bill despite its overwhelming popularity among voters. With that in mind, the president sets out today on a three-day tour of … [Read more...] about Obama & Americans To GOP: ‘We Can’t Wait’
Air Force Science Fiction?
The tagline on the new Air Force ad, "It's not science fiction. It's what we do every day." Danger Room's Spencer Ackerman, say what? [T]he C-17s swoop over a breaking bridge to evacuate some poor souls in the middle of an emergency. So far, so good. But then the C-17 engines rotate into a vertical position. (Nope.) The behemoth of a plane — which is 174 feet long and … [Read more...] about Air Force Science Fiction?