This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Gabrielle Giffords
The Preamble
Just a little reminder of why debates like ours can happen … [Read more...] about The Preamble
The Candy Man
We need a little light-heartedness … [Read more...] about The Candy Man
Heroism in Combat: Never Too Late To Be Recognized
I have often bemoaned the dearth of Medals of Honor awarded to our heroes of our most recent---and still ongoing--- wars: Iraq and Afghanistan. However, I will not complain if the hands of Congress and of the U.S. Army reach back almost 150 years to recognize and honor military valor and heroism. That is exactly what is happening in Congress. The names of two Civil … [Read more...] about Heroism in Combat: Never Too Late To Be Recognized
Two By Joni
People's Parties … [Read more...] about Two By Joni
A Twice In A Century Day
Just a bit of numerical trivia. Tuesday is 1-11-11 Only happens twice a century. … [Read more...] about A Twice In A Century Day
America’s War on Drugs Claims Another Innocent Victim
Last week, Reason Magazine Senior Editor Radley Balko was invited onto Judge Napolitano's Freedom Watch to discuss the latest victim of our government's ongoing drug war. According to Boston's NECN and The Boston Globe: Last Wednesday, law enforcement officers mistakenly shot and killed a 68 year old grandfather of twelve in an early morning drug raid outside of Boston. … [Read more...] about America’s War on Drugs Claims Another Innocent Victim
What Sarah Palin Should Have Said
Coming from David Frum, this advice carries a lot more force than if it were coming from, oh say, Firedoglake or Crooks and Liars, e.g. (emphasis is mine): … [Read more...] about What Sarah Palin Should Have Said
DeLay Sentenced To Three Years In Prison
According to the Washington Post, Senior Judge Pat Priest has sentenced former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) to three years in prison "for his role in a scheme to illegally funnel corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002." In November, a jury found DeLay guilty of money laundering. In 2002, DeLay's political action committee (Texans for a Republican … [Read more...] about DeLay Sentenced To Three Years In Prison
America’s Hate-Filled Rhetoric ‘Unworthy of a Democratic Nation’ (Die Thuringische Landeszeitung, Germany)
Have extremist Republican attacks against President Obama and left-wing Americans resulted in the assassination attempt against an American lawmakers and the murder of six others? Continuing with our coverage of the massacre in Tucson, columnist Axel Zacharias of Germany's Die Thüringische Landeszeitung writes that Republican party spokespeople like Sarah Palin have a lot to … [Read more...] about America’s Hate-Filled Rhetoric ‘Unworthy of a Democratic Nation’ (Die Thuringische Landeszeitung, Germany)
Tom DeLay Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
The Austin American-Statesman reports: Judge Pat Priest sentenced Tom DeLay to three years in prison. The three-year sentence was on the charge of conspiring to launder corporate money into political donations during the 2002 elections. On the charge of money laundering, DeLay was sentenced to five years but that was probated for 10 years. UPDATED: Travis County … [Read more...] about Tom DeLay Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
Massacre in Tucson – ‘A Sad Day for America’: Salzburger Nachrichten, Austria
How responsible is right-wing rhetoric for the assassination attempt against Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords? According to columnist Thomas Spang of Austria's Salzburger Nachrichten, where to pin the blame couldn't be clearer. For the Salzburger Nachrichten, Thomas Spang writes in part: For months, the political right has been turning up the heat in the … [Read more...] about Massacre in Tucson – ‘A Sad Day for America’: Salzburger Nachrichten, Austria
Abandoning Assange (Guest Voice)
Abandoning Assange by Prairie Weather McClatchy's Nancy Youssef reports that journalists are pulling away from Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. Looks like cowardice to me, but you can judge for yourself. Not so long ago, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could count on American journalists to support his campaign to publish secret documents that banks and … [Read more...] about Abandoning Assange (Guest Voice)
Basque ETA Declares “Permanent” Cease Fire In Spain (Guest Voice)
Basque ETA Declares "Permanent" Cease Fire in Spain by Jose M. Guardia THERE WE GO AGAIN: The Basque separatist group ETA declared a permanent and internationally verifiable cease-fire Monday, calling it a step toward ending its decades-old fight for an independent state straddling northern Spain and southwest France. ETA's statement in the pro-independence … [Read more...] about Basque ETA Declares “Permanent” Cease Fire In Spain (Guest Voice)
Lies, Damn Lies, And Lies About Health Care Rationing
When it comes to the most flagrant forms of officially sanctioned hypocrisy in this country, it's hard to beat the blather about health care rationing. The very word "rationing" in this context brings down howls of sanctimonious denial from officialdom. When Arizona recently refused to fund some heart transplants for financial reasons, the action was loudly decried as a … [Read more...] about Lies, Damn Lies, And Lies About Health Care Rationing
Mexico’s Obesity Rate Triples
It turns out that Americans are not the only ones broadening their horizons: Sizing up the magnitude of Mexico's obesity problem is as simple as visiting a clothing manufacturer. At Arush, a clothing factory in Mexico City, the changing demand has modified production. Buyers, including Mexican giant retailers like Soriana and Liverpool, are increasingly asking for "large" … [Read more...] about Mexico’s Obesity Rate Triples
Against Insane Fame
Now comes insult added to social injury as the "news" starts to tell us every detail of the Tucson killer's sick life and what led him to massacre innocent people and devastate a nation as well as so many families. In my lifetime of journalism spanning Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated JFK, to Mark David Chapman, who gunned down John Lennon, one of the sorriest dilemmas … [Read more...] about Against Insane Fame
Gabrielle Giffords: Tragic Prophet
WASHINGTON -- There is one commentator whose words should enlighten us on the meaning of Saturday's shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the savage murders that took the lives of, among others, a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl. The person is Giffords herself. In an interview last March, the Arizona Democrat anticipated almost everything being said now and … [Read more...] about Gabrielle Giffords: Tragic Prophet
God Bless America
Given the events of the weekend I thought a bit of unity was in order. An absolutely stunning performance … [Read more...] about God Bless America
Being a Female Elected Official and Mother of a Nine Year Old Child on Student Council…
Has made it almost impossible for me to respond to what happened in Arizona yesterday to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and those at the site of the shooting that has left her critically wounded. I learned about the incident in a most ironic way: I had just finished a more-than-two-hour lunch meeting with a fellow female council member. As I walked to the restroom, I pulled … [Read more...] about Being a Female Elected Official and Mother of a Nine Year Old Child on Student Council…