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 The last of the act was repealed in 1998 with the blessing of Clinton and active lobbying by several key players in Obama's economic team.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
Death threats for Obama
Four times as many as death threats for Bush? More? For his most passionate supporters, it is only natural to think of this young, charismatic and inspirational leader as another potential JFK, RFK or MLK Jr. (Although I doubt we'll ever call him BHO.) Yet it was Kevin Drum of all people who noted that according to Secret Service chief Mark Sullivan that the number of … [Read more...] about Death threats for Obama
Full Text Of President Barack Obama’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
Editor's Note: Here's the text of President Barack Obama's Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Several websites including the Washington Times, The Huffington Post and MSNBC put the White House-provided full text online. The speech will most assuredly become a political football today with partisans on each side giving predictable reactions to it -- in fact, some of the … [Read more...] about Full Text Of President Barack Obama’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
Where was Obama on Sunday morning?
The White House sent Bob Gates and Hillary Clinton out on Sunday morning to do a set of joint interviews on Meet the Press, Face the Nation and This Week. (Fox had to settle for Gen. Petraeus. CNN got Jim Jones.) After his address to the nation on healthcare reform, Obama himself made the rounds on Sunday morning. I'm inclined to think that the President didn't want to … [Read more...] about Where was Obama on Sunday morning?
Crappy Anniversary! (Guest Voice)
Crappy Anniversary! By Steve Greenberg December 1 marked a milestone I never expected, but which I inwardly worried might come. One year ago, I joined the ranks of the laid-off, and began a journey of uneasy new directions. Two days after the election of Barack Obama, the E.W. Scripps Company mandated staff cuts for all its newspapers. My employer, the Ventura County … [Read more...] about Crappy Anniversary! (Guest Voice)
Spiral Light Show. What the heck was it? UPDATE: Solved
(See update below) Over the skies of Norway, something was happening besides the President's arrival to pick up his Nobel prize. A truly strange light show took place which absolutely does not look like any permutation of the Northern Lights that I've ever seen. It went on for at least ten minutes, twisting in outward moving spirals with some sort of strange blue-green beam … [Read more...] about Spiral Light Show. What the heck was it? UPDATE: Solved
The Sky’s the Limit on Debt Ceilings
Who says that Congress can't get anything done? Say what you like about partisan gridlock, filibusters, obstruction on health care reform or disputes over military strategy, there's one thing that the folks on the Hill are good at... spending your money. Dems to lift debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion, fear 2010 backlash In a bold but risky year-end strategy, Democrats are … [Read more...] about The Sky’s the Limit on Debt Ceilings
Can They Pass A Health Care Bill ?
The news of the last few days has been filled with the stories about a compromise that will allow a bill to pass out of the Senate. To listen to some of the commentators, especially on the left, this makes health care reform a done deal. I hate to rain on this victory parade but given the details that are coming out I don't see how the package can possibly make it through … [Read more...] about Can They Pass A Health Care Bill ?