I have bemoaned the fact that so very few Medals of Honor were being awarded to our deserving heroes, both during the peak of our fighting in Iraq and during the entire first seven years of the Afghanistan War. While nearly 250 of our troops received the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Vietnam War, only four heroes were so recognized for actions in Iraq during the Bush … [Read more...] about Two Medals of Honor–Both Deserved, One Denied
Drawdown Day, Afghanistan
No matter what the President announces tomorrow on Drawdown Day, nobody will be happy with his decision, especially if, in Obama tradition, it is a measured move. That will neither satisfy the growing bipartisan desire to get out completely or the McCainiacs who see every Middle East conflict as an outpost for defending American liberty. Yet... How do we keep fighting in … [Read more...] about Drawdown Day, Afghanistan
More Gingrich Bad News: He Had Second Line of Credit At Tiffney’s
Yes, I do think that Newt Gingrich's campaign will go down as one of the worst - if not the worst -- in American political history. It now turns out he had a SECOND whopping line of credit at the jewlery store Tiffany's. Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign acknowledged today that Gingrich had a second line of credit at high-end jewelry store Tiffany's for as much as $1 … [Read more...] about More Gingrich Bad News: He Had Second Line of Credit At Tiffney’s
America’s Rejection Of Evolution Reflected In Miss U.S.A. Pageant
Update: @JoshRoseneau has a very good followup (July) at @SciAm: http://is.gd/AN1HHh In 1925, Tennessee prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools (The Butler Act). John Scopes, a high school biology teacher, was convicted of violating the law, and his trial highlighted the divide between "science" and fundamentalist (literalist) religion. (It was the first … [Read more...] about America’s Rejection Of Evolution Reflected In Miss U.S.A. Pageant
Wal-Mart Decision (Cartoon)
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Wal-Mart Decision (Cartoon)
Cognitive Dissidents
Hassan I Sabbah, the first Grandmaster of the cult later called "assassins" is reputed to have said: Nothing is true, all things are permitted. Which is a very convenient and logical formulation: destroy facts and truth, and anything can be justified. Traditionally we in the West have viewed this with extreme suspicion -- for reasons which ought to be obvious to the … [Read more...] about Cognitive Dissidents
Olbermann Launches ‘Countdown’ on Current
WASHINGTON - Nobody was tougher on Keith Olbermann during the '08 primaries, whose sexist commentary on Clinton knew no bounds. But at our house, we're moving to a new media provider for many reasons, with the bonus being Olbermann and we're paying for a higher tier to get Current and Keith, because he's carried by our new carrier, though we won't have it for a couple of weeks. … [Read more...] about Olbermann Launches ‘Countdown’ on Current
Newt Gingrich’s Campaign Fundraisers Quit
The AP reports that Newt Gingrich's two top fundraisers have quit and the campaign is $1 million in debt. Apart from this now going down as one of the worst, most incompetent campaigns ever, many Democrats, Republicans and independents who don't like Gingrich's demagogic style of politics can't help but thinking it's a bit of poetic justice. On the other hand, you would … [Read more...] about Newt Gingrich’s Campaign Fundraisers Quit
Will Liberals Blow the 2012 Election?
Is 2012 shaping up as yet another year when liberal Democrats will teach their party “a lesson,” sit on their hands and help elect a Republican President? These little lessons haven’t worked out too well for Democrats. It cost them a Supreme Court majority, a like-minded bureaucracy, control of the national dialogue and the shaping of key national political assumptions. … [Read more...] about Will Liberals Blow the 2012 Election?
Today’s Greek Games Are The Olympics Of Idiocy
Will Greece be able to pay its bond debt and avoid default? Sure — with a few caveats. This will happen if lenders feel so sure about the country's future solvency that they lend it more money at rates comparable to what the U.S., Germany and Australia now pay. And if Greek workers decide to accept happily the crushing austerity needed to service their country's debts, and … [Read more...] about Today’s Greek Games Are The Olympics Of Idiocy
Jon Stewart Sums Up Fox News (Video)
Jon Stewart sums up Fox News in slamming the way it edited his highly-touted interview with the news organization's Chris Wallace. The key moment in the interview, Stewart believes, is when Wallace noted that Fox tells "the other side" of news coverage. Stewart says this: The other side of the story. "We don't tell both sides of the story, we tell one side...the other … [Read more...] about Jon Stewart Sums Up Fox News (Video)
Clarence Thomas at the Brink
Bill Clinton has been described as one of those personalities looking for trouble, a guy who sees how far he can go and get away with it. In Bill Clinton's case, "experts" described this as common in a child of an alcoholic. Testing the limits. I haven't a clue what makes Clarence Thomas look for the edge of the cliff and stand there, waiting for a reaction. But it's what … [Read more...] about Clarence Thomas at the Brink
Scalia’s Vacuum & Mukasey’s Paradox
As jurisprudence goes, the last few years have seen legal thinking so daft that one could conclude that it was the babblings of psycho ward inmates. The hand's down babbler in chief is, of course, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who in writing for the majority in turning aside a lawsuit against Wal-Mart by women employees "reasoned" that the failure of the retail giant … [Read more...] about Scalia’s Vacuum & Mukasey’s Paradox
Who Will You Sacrifice for a Soundbite?
Several days ago I began writing a well balanced article about right wing ideas to dissolve, curtail or under-fund agencies (who knows actually) like the EPA and OSHA. Regulations are costing us jobs they say. They say the huge pile of private capital on the sidelines would come rushing to create jobs if only for those burdensome government regulations. I planned to point out … [Read more...] about Who Will You Sacrifice for a Soundbite?
The President as a Pinata
The tone of the 2012 presidential campaign is reflected in that Volkswagen commercial showing an auto-shaped piñata being whacked at a kid’s birthday party. How this image sells the idea of an indestructible car is not clear, but judging from last week’s GOP debate and subsequent stumping, such flailing at everything Obama is the Republican strategy for selling themselves … [Read more...] about The President as a Pinata
Republican Gym (Cartoon)
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Republican Gym (Cartoon)
Huntsman and the Republican Civil War
The Republican media created the Tea Party and the movers and shakers of the party don't like where things are going. John Huntsman is getting a lot of exposure. David Frum: I was one of 36 people to cast a straw poll ballot for Jon Huntsman at this year’s Conservative Policy Action Conference and, like a lot of other reform-minded Republicans, I admire his concern … [Read more...] about Huntsman and the Republican Civil War
Greece’s Hyrda Headed Economic
You might want to all Greece's economic crisis the crisis that won't start taking -- a toll and potential toll. It's a crisis that seems more grim by the day. USA Today's Scott Peterson writes: The crisis in Greece has been a lot like that never-say-die monster in B horror flicks that keeps popping up to scare the audience, even after it's been gunned down a dozen times. … [Read more...] about Greece’s Hyrda Headed Economic
Four Shocking New Revelations About Mexico’s Drug War
For those of us who live here in San Diego County (I live about 25 minutes from the San Diego-Tijuana border) Mexico's ongoing drug war has been an ongoing story -- but in recent years it has gotten downright horrific. How horrific? Just read these four revelations -- developments that even the sickest mind could not have passed off as reality just a few years ago. … [Read more...] about Four Shocking New Revelations About Mexico’s Drug War
Just When You Thought Demonizing Anti-Obama Polemics Couldn’t Get Lower
...It hits a new low. … [Read more...] about Just When You Thought Demonizing Anti-Obama Polemics Couldn’t Get Lower