WASHINGTON -- By insisting Tuesday evening that "it's time to turn the page," President Obama was talking about more than the Iraq War, and doing much more than reviving one of his most effective slogans from the 2008 campaign. He was also trying to turn the page on a period in which he has found himself on the defensive, his party in a perilous position for November's … [Read more...] about What’s On Obama’s Next Page?
Believing Obama Is Muslim
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Believing Obama Is Muslim
Fact Checking Glenn Beck
I'm holding my nose, but here goes. From A Tiny Revolution, I have a transcript of part of Glenn Beck's Lincoln Memorial speech/sermon*: Behind you, in front of me, the Washington—alone, tall, straight—if you look at the Washington Monument, you might notice its scars. But nobody talks about that...but a quarter of the way up it changes color. Did you know that it did? … [Read more...] about Fact Checking Glenn Beck
Avoiding tattered dignity in Iraq
America’s combat mission in Iraq has ended but exiting from the quicksand without its dignity in tatters remains a long shot. The chief culprit may be clouded vision in Washington rather than fractious Iraqi politics. The key players, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were prudently non-triumphal in their comments as they … [Read more...] about Avoiding tattered dignity in Iraq
Hostages And Bombs At Discovery Channel (UPDATED)
UPDATE: The gunman has been killed by police and the hostages are safe ************************************************* Sadly not a show on the network but a real world crisis. The suspect is James Jay Lee, a man with a history of protesting the network for not airing the proper kind of programming on the environment. Reports are he has hostages, a gun and some bombs … [Read more...] about Hostages And Bombs At Discovery Channel (UPDATED)
Beck and Palin Search for Mythical ‘Paradise Lost’: El Mundo, Spain
What is it that makes Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin so appealing to a certain segment of American society? According to this assessment by columnist Julio Valdeón Blanco of Spain's El Mundo, it is a native desire to recapture a past that exists only in the minds of demagogues and the 'uncultivated' people that always tend to follow them. For El Mundo, Julio Valdeón Blanco … [Read more...] about Beck and Palin Search for Mythical ‘Paradise Lost’: El Mundo, Spain
Gates Near Tears
The most moving moment in ending America's combat mission in Iraq comes not from the President's touch-all-the-bases Oval Office speech but the stifled tears of a man who helped George W. Bush prosecute the war. At an American Legion convention yesterday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates choked up as he said: "Today, at the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 4,427 American … [Read more...] about Gates Near Tears
Is HCR Making Your Insurance Go Up ?
I've been expecting it ever since Health Care Reform passed but i just got word that my health insurance premiums are going up 20% this year. First big increase (other than for age bracket) changes in some time. I will absorb the hike, probably by dropping dental coverage (which is to me of debatable value) and being single I am not in too bad of a position. I can only … [Read more...] about Is HCR Making Your Insurance Go Up ?
The Last Moderate Talk Show on Earth
I host a daily Christian talk show in Seattle. Yesterday, I just got so tired of all the extreme talk that I dedicated my first hour to some common sense. I dealt with the "Mosque somewhere near ground zero" issue, the "who gets the credit and blame for the Iraq war" issue, and the "Why in the world are we using the words Glenn Beck and Martin Luther King Jr. in the same … [Read more...] about The Last Moderate Talk Show on Earth
Glenn Beck In Wonderland
Was it just a coincidence? A case of life imitating art? A very subtle attempt at self-parody? Or did that Tea Party gathering on the Washington Mall this past weekend bear an eerie resemblance to the tea party in Alice In Wonderland? The March Hare in Carroll's book, who presided over a tea party on the other side of the looking glass, was of course quite mad. Glenn Beck, … [Read more...] about Glenn Beck In Wonderland
Supreme Court – Not What You Think: Part III, The Conservative Activists
During the administration of Andrew Jackson the size of the Supreme Court had been increased from seven Justices to nine. In 1863 it was increased to ten. With Lincoln’s death, and Andrew Johnson in the White House, the Court was reduced from ten Justices to eight. To preserve the Reconstruction acts, congress had also limited the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. … [Read more...] about Supreme Court – Not What You Think: Part III, The Conservative Activists
Plastic Bag Makers Zip Lock California Senate
Last June, in a rash moment of environmental fervor, I wrote that California was poised to be the first state to sharply reduce the use of plastic bags at retail outlets. The bill, AB 1998, passed the Assembly and was supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. They were joined by environmental groups angry at seeing plastic wrappers pollute our rivers, beaches and ocean. … [Read more...] about Plastic Bag Makers Zip Lock California Senate
Conservatism’s False Dawn
You don't have to be able to read tea leaves, examine entrails, or count the warts on a horny toad to know that conservatism is headed for a smashing victory in November. Or is it? Will the coming electoral tidal wave hide deficiencies that have yet to be addressed following a long decade of decline and exhaustion? What has changed in the intervening months? Certainly, … [Read more...] about Conservatism’s False Dawn
More Taser Trouble v. Finnish Gentle Justice
In a statement the Sheriff's office says, "We are confident the actions of our deputies will be found to have been both within the law and department policy." Then the law has to change... I saw the story on GMA this morning, where a "former homicide detective" defended the tasering because the 64 year-old victim was "intoxicated" and officers thought he … [Read more...] about More Taser Trouble v. Finnish Gentle Justice
The (Im)Possibilities of Reforming Conservatism
Blogger E.D. Kain's "Up from Conservatism" post had me thinking about something that I've seen over the years. You take a guy who was a conservative that starts to see some of the problems. They start to see them grow bigger and bigger and start to take on a crusade to reform conservatism. However, they continue to focus on the issues plaguing the movement, until the … [Read more...] about The (Im)Possibilities of Reforming Conservatism
Give credit to Bush where it’s due
Now that I've gotten my inner partisan screed out of the way, let me go ahead and say something I never thought I'd say. President Obama would not have been able to give the speech on Iraq that he gave last night if not for the surge that he - and I - vigorously opposed. As we discussed at length back in 2007, the surge merely expanded and capitalized on an … [Read more...] about Give credit to Bush where it’s due
“We Could Not Have Known…”
Writing about the U.S. invasion of Iraq in The New York Times, John Burns asserts: [T]here were few, if any, who foresaw the extent of the violence that would follow or the political convulsion it would cause in Iraq, America and elsewhere. We could not know then ... the scale of the toll the invasion would unleash: the tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians who would … [Read more...] about “We Could Not Have Known…”
Grade Obama A+ For Honoring Troops, F For Policy, AWOL On The Economy
Let’s see if I got President Obama’s speech Tuesday night right: We spent a trillion borrowed and printed dollars and 6,000 American lives in Iraq and Afghanistan on wars we could not afford based on an American economy he cannot fix. What the president avoided to say was that the big winner in this war of lies was a shift in the Middle East balance of power in favor of … [Read more...] about Grade Obama A+ For Honoring Troops, F For Policy, AWOL On The Economy
It’s Time for Rope-a-Dope, Dems. Again
My humble advice to Democrats: Take the long view. The American people are angry and frustrated. The primary driver of that anger is the economy. Yes, there are myriad other factors at work, included some still-unpopular legislation, a prolonged war in Afghanistan, a nasty oil spill, and near-one party rule (60 votes is apparently necessary to qualify as one-party rule, yet … [Read more...] about It’s Time for Rope-a-Dope, Dems. Again
What to Expect From Apple’s Fall Event
I don't make predictions. But I read a lot of them. And repeat the ones I like. Some swirling around Wednesday's Apple event (10 a.m. Pacific)... Nearly everyone expects Apple TV to be renamed iTV and go on sale for $99 ($130 less than the current model). One hold out, NewTeeVee's Darrell Etherington: While I don’t doubt that Apple has big plans in store for the iTV, I … [Read more...] about What to Expect From Apple’s Fall Event