With prospects of electoral losses looming, President Obama has taken to the campaign trail in the final weeks of the midterm election cycle to push hard for Democratic candidates in states he won just two years ago. Speaking at a Massachusetts fundraiser on Saturday, the President made remarks that at once speak to a political tone-deafness and a refusal to take sober stock of … [Read more...] about Obama: Voters aren’t “thinking clearly”
Trapped
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Trapped
The Head-Spinning Rate of Change in American Politics: Die Zeit, Germany
For many people around the world, American politics is as unfathomable as the Byzantine machinations of North Korean politics. To assist his German readers, columnist Josef Joffe of Die Zeit explains why an entity like the Tea Party can emerge so suddenly in the United States to take over a major party, whereas in Germany, groups on the extremes have hardly a prayer of doing … [Read more...] about The Head-Spinning Rate of Change in American Politics: Die Zeit, Germany
Tea Party Candidate Driving the (Rich) Peoples’ Car
A Tea Party Senate candidate shows up at an interview driving a $138,000 Mercedes. (He sure must understand how most Americans live..) … [Read more...] about Tea Party Candidate Driving the (Rich) Peoples’ Car
Scary Funny
If I had not been in the library when I read this, I would have fallen on the floor laughing. … [Read more...] about Scary Funny
Oh, Mommy Make Her Stop…
...PLEASE, MOMMY! … [Read more...] about Oh, Mommy Make Her Stop…
A Rogues Gallery of the Most Extreme House Members and Candidates
Must-read independent and centrist writer and CNN analyst John Avlon has put together a gallery of the most extreme house members and candidates. Here's part of his intro: Ah, Congress: where demagogues enter our democracy if they decide not to pursue careers in media or religion. This week, the Wingnut Index, our attempt to use semi-scientific process to measure … [Read more...] about A Rogues Gallery of the Most Extreme House Members and Candidates
Quote of the Day: When a Candidate’s Security Handcuffs a Tough Question Asking Reporter
Our political and media-related Quote of the Day comes via a Huffington Post interview with Tom Hopfinger, who talks about his being handcuffed by Tea Party movement hero and GOP candidate Joe Miller's security forces after he would not stop asking unwelcome questions at an event on public property: "Getting handcuffed by somebody you don't know at a public school, no one … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: When a Candidate’s Security Handcuffs a Tough Question Asking Reporter
Paladino and Pals
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Paladino and Pals
West ‘Inhibits Political Diversity’ Among Nations: Global Times, People’s Republic of China
Apparently bewildered by global applause at the decision to award imprisoned democracy dissident Liu Xiaobo the Nobel Peace Prize, this very defensive editorial from China's state-controlled Global Times argues that the United States and the West 'prohibits political diversity among countries.' Later, in apparent defense of its own authoritarianism, it continues, 'in some … [Read more...] about West ‘Inhibits Political Diversity’ Among Nations: Global Times, People’s Republic of China
Order From Chaos
The man who found order in the chaos of the universe, Benoit Mandelbrot, has died. Mandelbrot, who had joint French and US nationality, developed fractals as a mathematical way of understanding the infinite complexity of nature. The concept has been used to measure coastlines, clouds and other natural phenomena and had far-reaching effects in physics, biology and … [Read more...] about Order From Chaos
When One Failure Becomes a Domino Crisis
Every person, at least once in their lifetime, should experience the joy of setting up and knocking down a carefully spaced row of dominoes. Domino engineering has the perfect anticipation to payoff ratio. The more time one spends carefully aligning and designing a spiraling domino maze, the more rewarding the grand finale. Playing with dominoes is a lesson in contrast. … [Read more...] about When One Failure Becomes a Domino Crisis
Corporate America’s View Of Free Speech
Give credit to MSNBC.com for a timely article Monday on politics in the workplace: Be careful what you say; it could get you fired. Contributor Eve Tahmincioglu cites a variety of examples and suggestions how to conduct oneself in a politically correct yet politically polarized environment. Commenters who rant daily on political websites take note: “There is no First … [Read more...] about Corporate America’s View Of Free Speech
Why Older Folks Deserve a Boost In Social Security
Peter Orvetti wrote a post about why older folks don't really deserve a boost in their Social Security benefits. This was well grounded in economist thinking. Which, of course, is why, in my opinion, it is so far removed from reality. His point was that since official inflation was very modest this past fiscal year (1.1 percent), and official inflation was actually down last … [Read more...] about Why Older Folks Deserve a Boost In Social Security
The GOP’s Triple Play
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- The Republican Party is running a three-level campaign this year that gives its candidates a wealth of advantages -- in flexibility, deniability, and determination. At the first level are the party's candidates, who can be as reasonable or as angry, as moderate or as conservative, as their circumstances require. Next come the outside … [Read more...] about The GOP’s Triple Play
Republican Joe Miller’s Security Guards Handcuff Reporters (UPDATED)
Now, we all know that in this political season that some reporters have been hamstrung by Republicans running from office who will only be interviewed on Fox News or by candidates who literally run away from them. But now the bar has been lowered/raised (put your political bias here) by the news that Alaska Tea Party favorite and GOP candidate Joe Miller didn't like being … [Read more...] about Republican Joe Miller’s Security Guards Handcuff Reporters (UPDATED)
Obama Defends Himself In Musically
Here's Barack Obama's musical defense of himself: … [Read more...] about Obama Defends Himself In Musically
Are Americans Conspiring with Iran, or are they Simply Fools?: Iraq News Agency, Iraq
It's a conspiracy theory that has been brewing for years and its adherents now believe the moment of truth has come: Have America and Iran made a deal on the disposition of Iraq? Columnist Tariq Hameed of the Iraq News Agency writes that Iraqis who question this conspiracy theory have another perhaps less flattering explanation: Washington is clueless. For the Iraq News … [Read more...] about Are Americans Conspiring with Iran, or are they Simply Fools?: Iraq News Agency, Iraq
Prison-to-Poverty Cycle A New Jim Crow
Sasha Abramsky reports on new research demonstrating precisely how the prison-to-poverty cycle works: In devastating detail in Daedalus [the Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences], the sociologists Bruce Western of Harvard and Becky Pettit of the University of Washington have shown how poverty creates prisoners and how prisons in turn fuel poverty, not just for … [Read more...] about Prison-to-Poverty Cycle A New Jim Crow
The Mortgage Securities Ship Can’t Take On Much More Water Before Sinking
Former lead prosecutor in the Savings and Loan fraud Bill Black and derivative expert/author Janet Tavakoli have been saying for the last couple years that the financial problems were not caused solely due to unforeseen circumstances but the largest fraud in history. Information about the nature of mortgage backed securities that confirms this view has trickled out for years … [Read more...] about The Mortgage Securities Ship Can’t Take On Much More Water Before Sinking