Why did Barack Obama win the presidency in 2008? Silly question. It was the economy, stupid! Wall Street greed and arrogance over a period of years finally brought about its inevitable economic (and political) consequences. The economy sank like a stone, and Americans elected a black Democratic president. Why, then, after just a year-and-a-half in office, after the country … [Read more...] about Tim Geithner Must Go
Planes, Trains, and Ferries: My Eyjafjallajokull Story
By ShannonLee My wife and I were in Galway, Ireland, for a guest speaking invitation. We were set to fly out of Galway at 7:30 am last Thursday, April 15. We had a short layover in Dublin and then to Frankfurt. That was the plan. This is what happened. ------------------------- Thursday 4/15 8:00 am: We arrived in Dublin, worked our way through immigration and … [Read more...] about Planes, Trains, and Ferries: My Eyjafjallajokull Story
When A Conservative Turns Liberal
I enjoy reading the Brit pub The Economist because it offers a fresh viewpoint on American politics we cannot find in this country. But, this yuck yuck by B.G. misses the mark on conservatives and Tea Partiers by, oh, say, the width of the Atlantic Ocean between New York and London. The article's author suggests conservatives turned against former President George W. Bush … [Read more...] about When A Conservative Turns Liberal
Poisonous Politics
Eight of ten Americans distrust their government, a new Pew poll finds, concluding that "Politics has poisoned the well" in the era of "a dismal economy, an unhappy public, bitter partisan-based backlash, and epic discontent with Congress and elected officials." In the face of such domestic bitterness, however, a BBC poll of 28 countries finds that, coinciding with Obama's … [Read more...] about Poisonous Politics
A Pew On You, Mr. Big Government
The latest Pew Research Center survey says 78% of Americans polled the past two months don't trust the federal government. The timing is akin to asking a husband if he trusts his wife after finding her in bed with another man. Pew said the results are a perfect storm -- "a dismal economy, an unhappy public, bitter, partisan-based backlash and epic discontent with Congress … [Read more...] about A Pew On You, Mr. Big Government
April 19, 1775: The Courage of Your Convictions
It may be a juvenile thing to do, but I like to personalize history sometimes, going back in time and placing myself in the shoes of those who lived the history I am reading. It's a harder exercise than you might think. In order to make this little parlor game worthwhile, you have to know something about how people lived at the time, how they thought, what they believed. By … [Read more...] about April 19, 1775: The Courage of Your Convictions
Gun Rights – How Far Is Too Far – Updated
In 2008 the U. S. Supreme Court decided District of Columbia v. Heller, overturning the handgun ban in Washington D. C. under its federal enclave jurisdiction. In 2009, Congress passed legislation, signed by President Obama, that allows guns in national parks. The Supreme Court, on this year’s docket, is considering, and will soon issue an opinion, on extending Heller to … [Read more...] about Gun Rights – How Far Is Too Far – Updated
More Privileged Populism
The so-called "Tea Party" movement certainly has its fair share of demons. There are a smattering of genuine bigots, some unreconstructed militia fantasy adherents, and a disturbing proportion of the kind of people who wear Revolutionary War costumes on their monthly trips to the local town council meeting where they rant about vast and shadowy conspiracies controlling the … [Read more...] about More Privileged Populism
Obama Goes For The Gold In The Bankrupt Golden State
President Barack Obama today flies into California where the state budget is $20 billion in arrears and unemployment is a rising 12.6%. But the president is not asking what he can do for them, but what Democratic fat cats can do for him. Obama pulled off the same heist earlier in his term and collected $3 million. Today's event in Los Angeles is expected to far exceed that … [Read more...] about Obama Goes For The Gold In The Bankrupt Golden State
The Populism of the Privileged (Guest Voice)
WASHINGTON -- The tea party is nothing new, it represents a relatively small minority of Americans on the right end of politics, and it will not determine the outcome of the 2010 elections. In fact, both parties stand to lose if they accept the laughable notion that this media-created protest movement is the voice of true populism. Democrats will spend their time … [Read more...] about The Populism of the Privileged (Guest Voice)
Wall Street Financial Reform
Monte Wolverton, Cagle Cartoons This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved. … [Read more...] about Wall Street Financial Reform
Tech Industry Still A Boys’ Club
The NYTimes has a major piece asking why so few women in the Silicon Valley workforce: Tech communities in Silicon Valley and in other hubs — like New York, Austin, Tex., and Boston... — pride themselves on operating as raw meritocracies ready to embrace anyone with a good idea, regardless of education, age or station in life. For women, though, that narrative often unfolds … [Read more...] about Tech Industry Still A Boys’ Club
When Rule of Law Becomes Social Engineering in Winslow, Arizona
At the age of two, my parents moved me and our family from El Monte to the rolling, fertile hills back of San Juan Capistrano in Southern California where my father grew vegetables. While we lived there until I was 11, my best friends were from the white families in town, not because the Mexican kids were social outcasts, but because the whites formed the nucleus of the … [Read more...] about When Rule of Law Becomes Social Engineering in Winslow, Arizona
NBC’s David Gregory’s Mistake: Declining Post Meet the Press Interview Fact Check Call
There have been many big mistakes in the news biz that didn't seem as big when they first took place. Here's one: the seemingly dismissive and contemptous attitude early on by many newspaper bigwigs about the Internet -- Internet websites as somehow never being real competition to holding a paper in your hand (just like Hollywood bigwigs once felt "the talkies" sound movies … [Read more...] about NBC’s David Gregory’s Mistake: Declining Post Meet the Press Interview Fact Check Call
Living in One of Forbes Disaster Zones
The first time I visited Temecula, Calif., more than 40 years ago it was an oasis off Hwy. 395 to Riverside. I was there on assignment covering the murders of two Border Patrol officers shot down by drug runners on the old highway some 10 miles south of the town which then boasted only vineyards. I was shocked, I tell you, shocked when I returned in 2006 to live nearer my … [Read more...] about Living in One of Forbes Disaster Zones
End Of The Big Belch Theory
My favorite all-time author and columnist, multiple Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas L. Friedman, knows more about the Middle East and the global economy than all of the idiot pundits on television combined. In his New York Times column Sunday, Friedman waxes poetic about one of his pet projects, this one a start-up company in St. Louis which is developing sort of a pacemaker to … [Read more...] about End Of The Big Belch Theory
Obama’s targeted assassinations
Some foreign policy decisions are causing Barack Obama to be seen as an enigma wrapped in a riddle. The issue is not whether he is tough or a pushover prone to poetic speeches. It is whether he is law-abiding in international relations when under pressure or an illusionist throwing wool over foreign eyes? The current concern is over his decision to target an American citizen … [Read more...] about Obama’s targeted assassinations
Obama vs. McConnell
It's come to this: The President is publicly calling the Senate Republican Leader a liar--and worse. In his weekly address, Barack Obama says flatly that, after meeting with "two dozen top Wall Street executives to talk about how to block progress" on financial industry regulation, Mitch McConnell "came out against the common-sense reforms we’ve proposed. In doing so, he … [Read more...] about Obama vs. McConnell
Could Rottweilers Hold the Cure To Cancer?
There's an old joke: What looks good on a lawyer? The answer: a Rottweiler. But now the breed that has been used in a thousands of other comic punchlines may hold a key to understanding cancer via the study of long-living female Rottweilers: … [Read more...] about Could Rottweilers Hold the Cure To Cancer?
Stuck in the Spin Cycle (Guest Voice)
Stuck in the Spin Cycle by Peter Funt Rhetorical spinning used to be good sport. Think back on the scenes following Presidential debates, when high-powered advocates for each candidate pounced on reporters to spin every syllable so it seemed to favor their team's point of view. It was unabashedly biased, and usually entertaining. Nowadays, though, we're stuck in a … [Read more...] about Stuck in the Spin Cycle (Guest Voice)