WASHINGTON -- When it comes to the role and functioning of the United States Senate, my rather dyspeptic views could not be more at odds with those of Chris Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat who is retiring at the end of the year. I've reached the point where I'd abolish the Senate if I could. It is more profoundly undemocratic than it was when the Founders created it and … [Read more...] about Chris Dodd and the Politics of Joy
Immigration Anchorites
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The Seriousness of Depression
I was doing some research earlier for my next article at Suite 101 -- about the economic costs of depression -- and I came across some amazing statistics. Even I, who live with depression every day and in fact have lived with it for most of my life -- long before I knew what it was -- did not know quite how stunningly serious depression is in terms of its effect on society. … [Read more...] about The Seriousness of Depression
Andy McCarthy’s Americans Versus Americans
Andrew McCarthy thinks he knows what Americans think -- about everything, really, but in this particular case, about Muslims and the Ground Zero mosque: … [Read more...] about Andy McCarthy’s Americans Versus Americans
Paul Ryan: I’m Right and You’re Wrong
Rep. Paul Ryan has an op-ed in today's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel about Paul Krugman's response to his "Roadmap" budget to eliminate the deficit. Unfortunately, Ryan spends most of his piece criticizing Krugman for misrepresenting his proposed solutions and trying to "win the debate by default" while failing to substantively defend or support the very "solutions" he claims are … [Read more...] about Paul Ryan: I’m Right and You’re Wrong
Marriage Is a Fundamental Constitutional Right
There is no way I can improve on Ted Olson's responses to Chris Wallace here, so I will not even try (via Think Progress): … [Read more...] about Marriage Is a Fundamental Constitutional Right
Continuing Watergate Coverup
Richard Nixon's spirit lives on. Thirty-six years after the only presidential resignation ever, he is still with us as admirers try to hide evidence of his disgrace in the Nixon Library and Museum just as he himself did in the White House. The Watergate room of the memorial is almost as blank as those missing Oval Office tapes in a to-do described by the New York Times after … [Read more...] about Continuing Watergate Coverup
It Certainly DOES Sound Like Racism
WikiLeaks Shreds ‘Myth’ of Western Moral Superiority: Izvestia, Russia
Despite the fact that a NATO loss in Afghanistan would also spell disaster for Russia, there is always an element of schadenfreude - taking pleasure in the pain of others - in Russian coverage of the war. In that respect, this article from Russia's Izvestia - the one time mouthpiece of Soviet communism - is a classic example. Are Westerner's on too much of a high moral horse … [Read more...] about WikiLeaks Shreds ‘Myth’ of Western Moral Superiority: Izvestia, Russia
Say That Again?
EDITOR's NOTE: Due to a technical glitch this was on TMV with the wrong byline for about a minute. We regret the error. As President Obama's approval numbers tanked again last week, Michael Steele donned a red hat, emblazoned with the logo "Fire Pelosi," and kicked off a six week bus tour. He was jubilant as he spoke to a crowd in Kansas City, predicting that he and the RNC … [Read more...] about Say That Again?
The Presidential Ham
There are hams and then there are hams...and then there's politics. Somehow the two of them go together. So what could be more fitting than a gallery showing American Presidents holding hams? (The first portrait, of George Washington, is shown above). Go here to view the complete must-view Presidential gallery in this true work of art. Now I'm waiting for the fitting … [Read more...] about The Presidential Ham
Flag-Raising Robester (Guest Voice)
Flag-Raising Robester by Will Durst Just when you thought we were settling in for another typical, slow August news month, along comes Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker to overturn California’s Proposition 8. The one that banned same-sex marriages. Did you get that? He overturned the ban. Loosed the bonds. Broke the chains. Raised a rainbow flag. And reopened a can … [Read more...] about Flag-Raising Robester (Guest Voice)
Bad Economy Summer
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Temporary Judges
Jonathan Chait asks: Is Kagan Obama's Last Justice? Bear in mind that, before Obama picked her, Kagan was touted as the consensus pick most likely to gain Republican support. (Ginsburg had been head of the ACLU's Women's Rights Project -- imagine a nominee like that getting through the Senate today, let alone with 96 votes!) The Republican pretense that judicial … [Read more...] about Temporary Judges
What Are We Going To Do About Liz Warren?
The Democrats in Congress and the Administration have succeeded in doing what they set out to do. After long months of shadow boxing and pontificating, they finally produced a financial reform that has a patina of real reform without unduly intruding on the gimmicks endlessly employed by Wall Street's self-serving cash machines. This legislative product, party strategists … [Read more...] about What Are We Going To Do About Liz Warren?
It Is Hard To Behold, But Far Harder To Live Through: Mutiliation of Women Ordered by Taliban “Judges”
The above photograph of Aisha is by South African photographer Jodi Bieber for Time. Unusual Choice for Magazine Cover: A Reality Hard to Face/ Speaking to Children About The Cover This week, Time magazine's managing editor Richard Stengel, blew out all stops for usual old school magazine propriety, and published a magazine cover that, when I saw it at the grocery store … [Read more...] about It Is Hard To Behold, But Far Harder To Live Through: Mutiliation of Women Ordered by Taliban “Judges”
Donna Shalala Visits Israel to Fight Boycott Against Israel’s Academic Institutions, Is Humiliated By Israeli Authorities at the Airport
You cannot make this stuff up, and you cannot, ever, go wrong predicting that Israel will do something even more stupid and self-destructive than it did the last time it did something stupid and self-destructive: … [Read more...] about Donna Shalala Visits Israel to Fight Boycott Against Israel’s Academic Institutions, Is Humiliated By Israeli Authorities at the Airport
Wading into the Mosque Controversy
I have had mixed feelings about the question of whether to build a mosque and community center 2 miles from Ground Zero, which is the major reason I've been mostly silent about it. But the myth makers and apologists for radical Islam who feel no compunction in smearing all opponents of the mosque as bigots and haters have changed my mind. The constant appeal directed to the … [Read more...] about Wading into the Mosque Controversy
Ground Zero
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Anti Same-Sex Marriage & Pro-Slavery Arguments: Answering NOM’s Maggie Gallagher
I'll be in Atlanta today for the "Love + Commitment = Marriage" rally. The event is a counter-protest to coincide with the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) Summer for Marriage Bus Tour's arrival there. You will recognize my partner and me by our t-shirts. They were commemorative gifts handed out at a Renewing Our Commitment ceremony we held for our 10th anniversary … [Read more...] about Anti Same-Sex Marriage & Pro-Slavery Arguments: Answering NOM’s Maggie Gallagher