Cartoon by Steve Greenberg. To see more of his cartoons, visit his website HERE. … [Read more...] about Civil Discourse (Guest Cartoonist)
Priorities and Midterms (Guest Voice)
Priorities and Midterms by David Goodloe "For all the attention the White House and Congress have given to health care and Afghanistan this fall, no problem poses a greater political threat to the Democrats in 2010 than joblessness and slow economic growth." Dan Balz Washington Post Are Barack Obama and the Democrats beginning to realize that unemployment could … [Read more...] about Priorities and Midterms (Guest Voice)
Nate Silver Tells Us What He Really Thinks…
... about the public option: … [Read more...] about Nate Silver Tells Us What He Really Thinks…
Facts and Morality Beat Communications Tactics
Matthew Yglesias has a really good piece about morality and global warming: … [Read more...] about Facts and Morality Beat Communications Tactics
Inaccuracy in President’s Nobel Speech?
Was Great Britain a democracy during the War of 1812? Given that in 1812, neither US Senators or the President were elected by direct vote of the electorate, can it be argued that the United States was a democracy back then? And, given that the electorate was composed only of white males, the notion that the US was a democracy in 1812, isn't tenable, except in relative … [Read more...] about Inaccuracy in President’s Nobel Speech?
How Are Some People Able to Use Adversity as a Catalyst for a Proactive Life?
That's what Kevin Kuwik's story caused me to ask myself this morning. He was in Washington today lobbying for greater air travel safety, a positive response to an air crash that took the life of his fiance. And that's just one of several adverse experiences he's dealt with positively. Read his whole story. … [Read more...] about How Are Some People Able to Use Adversity as a Catalyst for a Proactive Life?
Criteria for ‘Just War’ According to Augustine and Aquinas
Earlier today, TMV co-blogger Tony Campbell took on President Obama for his reference to "just war theory" in his Nobel speech in Oslo. "Just war theory" is generally associated with Christian theology, specifically to Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. Here is a blog post by Ron Ballew from 2006, which delineates what, under the theory, constitutes a just war. Does Mr. … [Read more...] about Criteria for ‘Just War’ According to Augustine and Aquinas
Ghosts at the Peace Podium
Accepting the Nobel Prize, Barack Obama deferred to "Schweitzer and King, Marshall and Mandela" as well as Ghandi and a long line of peacemakers in parsing the irony of a wartime leader being honored in their company, as he acknowledged "the hard truth that we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. "I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King said … [Read more...] about Ghosts at the Peace Podium
Ben Witherington on Obama’s Talk of ‘Just War’
My TMV colleague, Tony Campbell, wrote earlier today about President Obama's reference to "just war" theory in his Nobel acceptance speech. Here is an interesting commentary on the speech from New Testament scholar, poet, and film and cultural critic, Ben Witherington. … [Read more...] about Ben Witherington on Obama’s Talk of ‘Just War’
Obama: Foreign Policy Realist
While President Obama's Nobel acceptance speech placated some of his US critics today, his recent decision to surge and withdraw in Afghanistan remains deeply controversial. Liberal critics upbraid the President for increasing US military forces there. Conservatives complain that Mr. Obama's announcement of a date for the beginning of US military withdrawal from Afghanistan … [Read more...] about Obama: Foreign Policy Realist
Google Should Set Up A $100M Journalism Innovators’ Fund
Not a bad idea. Michael Massing proposed it in the New York Review of Books. He says Google has both the resources and the moral responsibility to do it: The fund would seek not to subsidize existing news operations but to support creative ideas and new programs aimed at reinventing the news as Schmidt suggests. It would support start-ups and fledgling enterprises engaged in … [Read more...] about Google Should Set Up A $100M Journalism Innovators’ Fund
An Amazing Fact About Wall Street
By now most everyone knows that the Glass-Steagall Act was enacted during the Great Depression to separate investment banks from commercial banks in an attempt to cut down on speculation by (the then newly) Federally backed institutions. The last of the act was repealed in 1998 with the blessing of Clinton and active lobbying by several key players in Obama's economic team. At … [Read more...] about An Amazing Fact About Wall Street
New Poll: Most People Generally Sick of Congress
There are headlines blaring across the maw of the 24 hour news beast about the results of a new CNN - Opinion Research poll on the opinions of Americans about their representatives on Congress. (Follow the bloodbath on Memeorandum.) As with most of these polls, you can, if you wish, satisfy yourself with the rough cut talking points. "GOP has erased party popularity gap in … [Read more...] about New Poll: Most People Generally Sick of Congress
UPDATED: Amateur Pundits School Glenn Greenwald
Earlier this week, Andrew Sullivan noted a left-leaning voice disavowing the left. We picked up on that, contrasting the disenchanted left-leaner with a disenchanted right-leaner. Subsequently, Andrew published several of his readers' favorable reactions to the renegade lefty. Glenn Greenwald decided to chastise those Sullivan readers -- and then the readers (predictably) … [Read more...] about UPDATED: Amateur Pundits School Glenn Greenwald
The Heritage Foundation Hosts Speakers On Constitutionality Of Healthcare Mandates
By C. L. Smith aka “Leonidas”. C.L. Smith is a frequent right-of-center commenter here at The Moderate Voice and is a regular guest voice. ******************* Those of you who are interested in constitutionality issues and health care might find the following video interesting. It's over an hour long so if you want to watch, make yourselves comfortable. … [Read more...] about The Heritage Foundation Hosts Speakers On Constitutionality Of Healthcare Mandates
Learning to Live with the Healthcare Compromise
If, like me, you're not terribly happy about the (no public option) compromise Senate Democrats have worked out, make sure to read Chris Bowers's post at Open Left on how there has actually been "real success" here: While it looks like we didn't get a new public option program, we have received at least: 4 million more people covered by Medicaid, which is a public … [Read more...] about Learning to Live with the Healthcare Compromise
Palin’s Prize Literature?
Call me Ishmael if, as Barack Obama's gets his peace prize, the possibility of another unlikely award doesn't arise with the first academic appreciation of "Going Rogue" as a work of art. In his New York Times blog, Professor Stanley Fish makes the case for Sarah Palin's mastery of the autobiographical form in delivering "the truth the genre promises...the truth about … [Read more...] about Palin’s Prize Literature?
How to Spot a Moderate Voice
One of the joys of growing older is learning how to label people. When we were young, we were forced to determine someone’s character based on the subtleties of relationship. Fortunately, as we age, we learn to label and place individuals into easily defined categories. This alleviates the frustration of developing complex relationships. Labels have tremendous power. … [Read more...] about How to Spot a Moderate Voice
Obamanomics—Bad Economics, Awful Politics
When it comes to the economy, the Obama Administration seems politically brain dead — clearly not attuned to the kind of real world economics folks on Main Street must live with on a daily basis. There are many problems here, but the basic one seems to be that people at the top of this administration have bought into the notion that what's good for Goldman Sachs is good for … [Read more...] about Obamanomics—Bad Economics, Awful Politics
Polanski’s art
Over the long Thanksgiving weekend, I finally had the chance to watch Roman Polanski's Oscar-winning film, The Pianist. It isn't the story of Polanski's own survival, although it seems natural to conclude that Polanski was able to evoke the Holocaust so effectively because he lived through it himself. He lost his mother to Auschwitz and survived in hiding with a Polish … [Read more...] about Polanski’s art