Gallup has a new poll out that provides no unexpected results -- but results that nonetheless are bad news for Demoocrats. Young voters are less enthusiastic about voting in the upcoming mid-terms: Younger voters remain less enthusiastic about voting in this year's midterm elections than those who are older, underscoring the challenge facing the Democratic Party in its … [Read more...] about Gallup Poll Bad News for Democrats: Younger Voters Less Enthusiastic
Senate Vote Stalls Debate On Financial Reform
It is no big deal Senate Republicans blocked debate Monday on the financial reform legislation and sent it back to Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd's Senate Finance Committee for additional bipartisan haggling. Republicans are probably correct that the legislation needs more work which most likely result in a shorter floor debate towards passage. With 60 votes required, the … [Read more...] about Senate Vote Stalls Debate On Financial Reform
A Lesson for our Post-Modern Media Environment
This is one of the more amusing stories about modern media you'll ever read. Today was supposed to be "Everybody Draw Muhammad" Day on the internet, where those with a creative bent were to draw the prophet in caricature or representationaly, ostensibly to stand in solidarity with the creators of South Park who were threatened by Islamic bullies for dressing Muhammad up in a … [Read more...] about A Lesson for our Post-Modern Media Environment
A Case Study In 21st Century Political Spin and Hot-Button Pushing
If historians and journalism professors in years from now want a little time capsule example of 21st century political spin and hot-button pushing SAVE THIS POST. Here's a classic example of a solid piece of for-the-record journalism reporting on The Politico and how it resurfaces as A SCREAMING HEADLINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! at the top of the Drudge Report, which often sets the tone … [Read more...] about A Case Study In 21st Century Political Spin and Hot-Button Pushing
Even Tame Palin Protest Too Much for Conservatives to Handle
The right-wing Gateway Pundit blog had an unintentionally funny post up over the weekend, by one Jim Hoft, with the following title: "Leftists Wave Vile, Violent Signs At Sarah Palin in Oregon... Media Silent." You see, there's been a good deal of attention, and rightfully so, on the vileness and violence of conservatives, and so the intent here, one supposes, is to show … [Read more...] about Even Tame Palin Protest Too Much for Conservatives to Handle
Which Financial Reforms?
Financial reform has seized Congress' attention now that the political bloodbath over health care reform has finally sputtered to a temporary cease-fire. Unfortunately, most media analysis has focused on the political horse race instead of the substance. One can find endless coverage of the degree to which financial reform may be a solution to Democrats' … [Read more...] about Which Financial Reforms?
The Right Court Fight
WASHINGTON -- The genius of American conservatives over the last 30 years has been their understanding that the most effective way to change the country is to change the terms of our political debate. On issue after issue, they have done just that. Sensible regulation was cast as a dangerous quest for government control. Modest measures to alleviate poverty became … [Read more...] about The Right Court Fight
Kaboom: Embracing The Suck In A Savage Little War (Guest Book Review)
Book Review: Kaboom: Embracing The Suck In A Savage Little War Reviewed by Ron Beaseley I graduated from college in June, 1968. This was a few months after the Tet Offensive. The United States still had a draft and I was caught in it. I received my draft notice in September and I was ordered to report in November. If I went the draft – two year route it was almost … [Read more...] about Kaboom: Embracing The Suck In A Savage Little War (Guest Book Review)
Tea Party in Historical Context
Monte Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Tea Party in Historical Context
It’s The Extremists, Silly
"Epistemic closure" is the newest addition to the longstanding "all conservatives are dumb/crazy" meme. In a particularly bald piece of self-serving partisan slander, Marc Ambinder just asks flat out "Have Conservatives Gone Mad?" The practice of charging conservatives with being stupid and/or crazy has an unfortunately long pedigree. In 2004, two professors published a … [Read more...] about It’s The Extremists, Silly
The Lindsey Graham Zigzags
The most perplexing GOP politician is at it again, this time upending a "bipartisan" energy bill in a fit over Senate Democrats' decision to take up immigration reform in the face of a harsh new law just passed in Arizona, the home state of his best friend, John McCain, who is fighting for reelection there. Lindsey Graham's decision, which derails planned introduction today … [Read more...] about The Lindsey Graham Zigzags
Protesters threaten President, call him a traitor
How much polarization can American politics withstand before our government starts to break down? The following incidents tell us a lot about what can happen when partisanship and ideology replace civil discussion and pragmatism. Thousands of protesters gather outside the President's home and hint that they will drag him out into the streets. When a member of the cabinet … [Read more...] about Protesters threaten President, call him a traitor
The Black Tea Party
Cross-posted to The Debate Link Tim Wise asks us to imagine what would happen if the Tea Party was a Black movement: Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters —the black … [Read more...] about The Black Tea Party
Like Al Capone, Goldman Sachs Must Be Taken Out: Financial Times Deutschland, Germany
Americans are not alone in calling for a crackdown on Wall Street in the person of Goldman Sachs. Writing for one of Germany's leading business journals, columnist Wolfgang Munchau suggests banning the shadow banking system, prohibiting toxic financial products and breaking up Goldman Sachs, because, "A hypothetical collapse of Goldman would be a cataclysmic event for the … [Read more...] about Like Al Capone, Goldman Sachs Must Be Taken Out: Financial Times Deutschland, Germany
Stephen Hawking: Don’t Be Too Eager To Contact Extra-Terrestrials
His reason? They might be too much like us: … [Read more...] about Stephen Hawking: Don’t Be Too Eager To Contact Extra-Terrestrials
What if Obama had an identical twin?
Yes, it sounds like the plot of second-rate comedy flick. Namely, this one. But Polish President Lech Kaczynski, tragically killed in plane crash, actually does have an identical twin brother Jaroslaw, who may run to replace him. Almost from the day of the crash, one question dominated political discussions and columns: Will Jaroslaw run? If he does, opinion polls and … [Read more...] about What if Obama had an identical twin?
Goldman Sachs: What Hath Fraud Wrought? (Guest Voice)
Goldman Sachs: What Hath Fraud Wrought? by Michael Winship Goldman Sachs is the Blackwater of finance, the latest in a long line of companies you love to hate, like AIG and the Dallas Cowboys. Or, as Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi infamously characterized it last year, the financial behemoth is “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, … [Read more...] about Goldman Sachs: What Hath Fraud Wrought? (Guest Voice)
Jules and Julia
A new memoir by an old friend, Jules Feiffer, and a belated look at a movie about another, Julia Child, recall a time when we were all young and the world was opening up for us like a Cinemascope screen. Julia and Jules grew up on separate planets before ascending into the celebrity firmament. A sunny ultra-WASP California childhood led her to volunteer for service in … [Read more...] about Jules and Julia
Will Arizona’s New Immigration Law Hold Up In Court?
Will Arizona's new strict immigration law hold up in court? Here's one, stand-back analysis of the legal prospects from CNN with Andreson Cooper interviewing CNN's Jeffrey Toobin. Toobin believes it'll have trouble in the lower courts but could survive a Supreme Court ruling, given the current make-up of the court: You can already see HERE that there are a lot of … [Read more...] about Will Arizona’s New Immigration Law Hold Up In Court?
100,000 Rally Against U.S. Marine Base On Okinawa
Tensions between the United States, Japan and the people of Japan's Okinawa island are so strained over a U.S. Marine air base that the long-brewing controversy could topple the Tokyo government, Reuters news agency reports. About 100,000 people rallied Sunday near the Futenma air base demanding the facility moved off the island in defiance of a pending 2006 agreement that … [Read more...] about 100,000 Rally Against U.S. Marine Base On Okinawa