The Democrats are trying to regain their (long lost) momentum. But how to do that? Should the mid-term elections be nationalized or will that backfire? Here's a good backgrounder from CBS that has lots of video clips that put this question into context: … [Read more...] about Will Nationalizing the Elections Backfire for the White House?
The Official End of the Great Recession (Guest Voice)
The Official End of the Great Recession by Martha Randolph Carr Think back and try to remember where you were in June of last year. That’s when the official end of the Great Recession took place according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit organization that officially calls the beginning and end of American business cycles. I was moving out of New … [Read more...] about The Official End of the Great Recession (Guest Voice)
Dog Bites Rove
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Dog Bites Rove
Christine O’Donnell’s Damaging Campaign Funding Controversy: One More Piece of Baggage
As the Tea Party movement continues to pick up steam nationwide, one perceived weak link in the general election is Delaware, where Christine O'Donnell has gotten some unwelcome coverage about her claims to have once dabbled in witchcraft -- but, even worse, that she used campaign funds from another campaign in a questionable way. She is enmeshed in a controvery over her use of … [Read more...] about Christine O’Donnell’s Damaging Campaign Funding Controversy: One More Piece of Baggage
Another Poke In The Eye From Economists
Police arrest you. Beat you to a pulp in the station house. Then let you go when they find you're innocent of any crimes. Do you feel good about the incident because you've been exonerated? You have a stroke. It leaves you paralyzed and unable to speak. But the doctors assure you that you're lucky because the stroke didn't actually kill you. Do you feel healthy … [Read more...] about Another Poke In The Eye From Economists
Clinton Global Initiative Poised to Begin: Needed More than Ever
New York City, NY -- The press accreditation room at the Sheraton Hotel here on 7th Avenue is busy right now as staffers search through lists of names of reporters, bloggers, and media producers who've been cleared to cover the Clinton Global Initiative which runs through Thursday. And boy is it ever needed now. As American political"debate" and "discussion" sinks to a … [Read more...] about Clinton Global Initiative Poised to Begin: Needed More than Ever
What It’s Like To Be A Peregrine Falcon
Can Comedy Central Rally the Radical Middle?
When Americans badly needed a few laughs during the Great Depression, a cowboy comic named Will Rogers became a huge star--and influential public figure--by tweaking politicians and announcing, "I don't belong to any organized party, I'm a Democrat." Now that Democrats and their independent ilk are even more disorganized and disheartened, here comes another comic calling … [Read more...] about Can Comedy Central Rally the Radical Middle?
Quote of the Day: Newt Gingrich Is On His Way to No Longer Be Taken Seriously
Our political Quote of the Day should be filed in the Great Minds Think Alike File since the Chuck Todd and the folks at MSNBC have now said what I've noted for the past week: former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who love him or unlove him was always an idea man, is now well on his way to lose his right to be taken seriously (by anyone other than people who write … [Read more...] about Quote of the Day: Newt Gingrich Is On His Way to No Longer Be Taken Seriously
New York Tea Party Movement Republican Candidate Paladino Is Against Government Help Unless..
New York's new upset Tea Party movement Republican Senate candidate Carl Palidino is against big government spending -- unless it involves a $1.4 million eyebrow-raising tax break that involves a company he's involved in. … [Read more...] about New York Tea Party Movement Republican Candidate Paladino Is Against Government Help Unless..
Howard Fineman Quits Newsweek to Join The Huffington Post
Yet another big name has abandoned the sold Newsweek ship -- and the name they're losing is a really big one. And where he is landing is even more significant. The name: Newsweek's former Senior Washington Correspondent and Columnist Howard Fineman, one of the print journalists who also successfully became a leading political analyist talking head on cable television. Where … [Read more...] about Howard Fineman Quits Newsweek to Join The Huffington Post
Fixing Cuba
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Fixing Cuba
Mexico at 200: Partying Neoliberal Encroachment – La Jornada, Mexico
It's interesting that Mexicans, who Americans that oppose NAFTA think are the big beneficiaries of the treaty, are just as vigorously opposed to it as they are. A few days ago, Mexico celebrated its 200th anniversary. But according to this editorial from Mexico's La Jornada, the event was not the unadulterated celebration it should have been. The culprit?: From La Jornada, … [Read more...] about Mexico at 200: Partying Neoliberal Encroachment – La Jornada, Mexico
When Lunacy Masquerades As Scholarship
In the most recent edition of Forbes Magazine, Dinesh D'Souza writes that "Barack Obama is the most antibusiness president in a generation, perhaps in American history." Given the renewed health of Wall Street and the fact that General Motors is once again turning a profit, D'Souza's assertion is certainly suspect. But even more suspect is what Newt Gingrich has called … [Read more...] about When Lunacy Masquerades As Scholarship
Not Going To Happen
Bob Herbert a couple of days ago: We can keep wishing and hoping for a powerful economic recovery to pull the U.S. out of its doldrums, but I wouldn’t count on it. Ordinary American families no longer have the purchasing power to build a strong recovery and keep it going. The seeds of our current economic malaise started about 32 years ago with the election of Ronald … [Read more...] about Not Going To Happen
The Wrong Tax Cut Debate
WASHINGTON -- In any athletic contest, winning teams play their own game and force the other side to play that game too. The same being true in elections, it's remarkable how timidity leads Democrats to fight this year's campaign on Republican terms. Nowhere is this more obvious than on taxes, where the entire debate revolves around what to do about the cuts enacted … [Read more...] about The Wrong Tax Cut Debate
Victorious Tea Party
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Victorious Tea Party
Should We Arrange the Gradual Extinction of Carnivorous Species?
At the conclusion of a substantial essay examining the question of whether the controlled extinction of carnivorous species would be a good thing, philosophy professor Jeff McMahan cautiously concludes: It would be good to prevent the vast suffering and countless violent deaths caused by predation. There is therefore one reason to think that it would be instrumentally good if … [Read more...] about Should We Arrange the Gradual Extinction of Carnivorous Species?
Al D’Amato Calls Fox News’ Jack Burkman a Racist
We've talked often about what I call the talk radio political culture which not just frames things in outrageous, push-the-envelope, demonizing sound bites but rewards, winks or enables it. Here (h/T Americablog) is former NY Republican Senator Al D'Amato drawing a very firm, assertive line on a comment Jack Burkman makes that he calls "racist." It's at the end of the segment. … [Read more...] about Al D’Amato Calls Fox News’ Jack Burkman a Racist
Bill Clinton’s Advice to Barack Obama on What to Do in Campaign 2010
At the height of the beginning of the Clinton Global Initiative in NYC, former President Bill Clinton, via Yahoo and the Huffington Post, offers this advice on what Barack Obama and the Democrats should do to stave off what increasingly looks to be an impending GOP landslide: … [Read more...] about Bill Clinton’s Advice to Barack Obama on What to Do in Campaign 2010