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
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. all rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Bad Economy Summer
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
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Ground Zero
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
Hiroshima Bomb Survivors to Obama: ‘Come Stand Here’ – Asahi Shimbun, Japan
Is there some way for the idealistic vision of a total abolition of nuclear weapons to take hold in the real world of global politics? In one of a series of articles we've posted on the 65th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, this editorial from Japan's Asahi Shimbun, heralds President Obama's decision to send an American ambassador to a ceremony at the site of the world's … [Read more...] about Hiroshima Bomb Survivors to Obama: ‘Come Stand Here’ – Asahi Shimbun, Japan
CNN’s and Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria Returns ADL Award Due to Group’s Anti-Mosque Stand
Fareed Zakaria, the high profile, high quality Newsweek staffer who is also a rising star as a CNN host, has returned an award he received from the Anti-Defamation League to the ADL due to the group's stand opposing a mosque two blocks away from 9/11's Ground Zero. The Huffington Post reports: Newsweek writer and CNN host Fareed Zakaria has returned an award he received in … [Read more...] about CNN’s and Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria Returns ADL Award Due to Group’s Anti-Mosque Stand
New Report Shows Health Care Reform Boosting Medicare Solvency
Dan Froomkin (emphasis mine): … [Read more...] about New Report Shows Health Care Reform Boosting Medicare Solvency
Let’s Hope Iraq Has Taught Us Something: Dagens Nyheter, Sweden
Continuing with our tour of what the rest of the world thinks of President Obama's declaration of an end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq, this editorial from Sweden's Dagens Nyheter has one very succinct message for the United States and any nation with similar intentions: learn the limits of military power. The Dagens Nyheter editorial says in part: ... the … [Read more...] about Let’s Hope Iraq Has Taught Us Something: Dagens Nyheter, Sweden
What Is the Real Magnitude of the BP Oil Spill? (Updated)
After three months of spewing millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, it appears that BP’s runaway well has been permanently plugged, albeit both BP and the U.S. government won’t claim victory until the relief well is completed sometime this month. We will not know the short and long-term effects of the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history for … [Read more...] about What Is the Real Magnitude of the BP Oil Spill? (Updated)
Kagan Prepares To Be Sworn In Saturday
Elena Kagan will be sworn in as the newest U.S. Supreme Court justice tomorrow, after a fairly close vote: 37 Senators voted "nay". Here are the most recent Supreme Court nomination votes. Do you see a trend? 1975, John Paul Stevens confirmed, 98-0 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor confirmed, 99-0 1986, Antonin Scalia confirmed, 98-0 1987, Robert Bork not confirmed, … [Read more...] about Kagan Prepares To Be Sworn In Saturday
Shameless Self Promotion: Help Me Save The World
I'm someone that puts his brain where his mouth is, meaning that I actively try to work to address problems that I talk about. One of these days I'm going to do comprehensive posts about everything I'm involved with from health care to energy to food production to economic modeling, there may be some other stuff I don't remember now. I've been wanting to do so, but until we've … [Read more...] about Shameless Self Promotion: Help Me Save The World
How Chicken Democrats And Creepy Republicans Killed The 9/11 First Responders Bill
For three days I fumbled how to write my disgust over House Democrats and Republicans killing needed help for 9/11 first responders. I’ll do it by letting the experts lay it on the line. First, this news release on the website of Rep. Carolyn Maloney, author of HR 847. Next this fact check Q&A. And, finally, this from Jon Stewart of the Daily Show. The guy nailed … [Read more...] about How Chicken Democrats And Creepy Republicans Killed The 9/11 First Responders Bill
Hiroshima Plus 65
Note: This is a reposting from a couple years ago This week marks the 65th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and the beginning of the end of World War 2. As is usually the case every year, we have the stories of those who attack the incident as a ‘war crime’. These historical revisionists miss (or ignore) the fact that they are looking back with … [Read more...] about Hiroshima Plus 65