House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who became Speaker of the House to great fanfare as the first woman to serve in that post, has now reached a watershed moment: according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, she is now as (un)popular as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. A series of scandals and hubris is what most analysts believe deep-sixed … [Read more...] about CNN Poll: Pelosi As (Un)Popular As Gingrich
Mr. Obama Goes to Detroit
I'll be the first to admit, I didn't see this one coming. Apparently some of the Powers That Be are getting on board with the POTUS and looking down the line toward the future of the automotive industry in terms of cutting down the carbon emissions and boosting the fuel usage standards. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers provides the details. Washington, DC – On … [Read more...] about Mr. Obama Goes to Detroit
Pelosi Versus CIA
RJ Matson, Roll Call This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Pelosi Versus CIA
The Millennial Generation
I am a Baby Boomer, born in 1950. My daughter is a Millennial, born in 1989 (the extreme young end). So you can imagine how interested I was to read this story at the Center for American Progress: It’s a “New Progressive America” out there, as I argued in my recent Center for American Progress report, with a new demography and a new agenda. The new demography refers to the … [Read more...] about The Millennial Generation
The Most Immediate Middle East Worry
What's the most immediate Middle East worry? With Israel's new right-wing PM, Benjamin Netanyahu, now in Washington, some people might think it's that country's intransigence over peace talks with the Palestinians. No. That's a problem that will drag along for some time to come. With the growing concern about Iran's nuclear ambitions, some people might think this issue will … [Read more...] about The Most Immediate Middle East Worry
Some GOP Anti-Rush Limbaugh Rumblings Grow A Notch Louder
Have some GOP heretics begun to become more vocal? Damn the negative emails and broadcast denunciations: full speed ahead! Two voices from the GOP are now downplaying the idea that Rush Limbaugh has a blank check -- and questioning whether he should have one -- to define the GOP and who is a Republican. First, there's this statement from a GOPer that will most likely be … [Read more...] about Some GOP Anti-Rush Limbaugh Rumblings Grow A Notch Louder
The Most Dysfunctional State In America
Few eyes in the world, including those in California, will be focusing on Tuesday's state special election which sets out to prove it is the most financially dysfunctional government in the nation. Most of the six ballot measures, according to recent polls, will fail, sending the state into deeper economic chaos. Even if they pass, the state's fiscal problems will only be … [Read more...] about The Most Dysfunctional State In America
Lincoln and Today’s GOP, Cont’d
The second part of my essay on Lincoln and the contemporary Republican Party was published yesterday at Kiko's House. Last week, after the first part was published, a TMV commenter wrote that "Historical figures can only be judged by the standards of their times ... so the whole argument is moot." Perhaps. But that doesn't stop Republicans and Democrats from fighting over … [Read more...] about Lincoln and Today’s GOP, Cont’d
Growing U.S-Mexico Problem: Mexico’s Drug War Overflowing North?
For years, Mexico has battled an image problem in the United States amid issues such as sporadic cases of American military and tourists getting robbed across the border, the flow of illegal aliens/undocumented workers (choose your pet phrase) into the United States and, the most recent instance, swine flu. But now a longstanding issue is growing in Mexico and spilling over … [Read more...] about Growing U.S-Mexico Problem: Mexico’s Drug War Overflowing North?
Sri Lanka: End Of Separate Tamil Homeland Dream
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – once the most feared terrorists in the world – seem to have finally lost their battle against the Sri Lanka government forces after the reported killing of its top leader Velupillai Prabhakaran (file photo above). Thus bringing to an end 26 years of brutal war for a separate Tamil homeland. For the chronology of Tamil separatist … [Read more...] about Sri Lanka: End Of Separate Tamil Homeland Dream
What’s in a Name? A Dutch Name, That Is.
In my “The ‘Road to Heaven’ at Sobibor,” I mentioned that my great-great-grandfather, Alexander Levy, who lived in the Netherlands---Holland in those days---around the turn of the 18th century, changed his surname (or family name) from Levy to de Wind. Why did he do that? To be frank, I don’t know why he changed his last name. I don’t think that it was for religious or … [Read more...] about What’s in a Name? A Dutch Name, That Is.
The Damage Bush Is Still Doing
Frank Rich's New York Times column yesterday, headed "Obama Can't Turn the Page on Bush," was a sad symptom of America's best and brightest still obsessing over eight years of a national nightmare to the detriment of what needs to be done now. With an economy in shambles and the Mideast a potential nuclear tinderbox, the Obama Administration has its hands full without "a new … [Read more...] about The Damage Bush Is Still Doing
The Peace Process Industry’s Going to Get You–And Your Little Country, Too! (Guest Voice)
Editor's Note: When Israel's new conservative prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, meets President Barack Obama at the White House today the two leaders will press two different agendas. Barry Rubin of The Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center in Israel has some thoughts on this. Guest Voice posts do not necessarily reflect the opinion of TMV or its … [Read more...] about The Peace Process Industry’s Going to Get You–And Your Little Country, Too! (Guest Voice)
Two State Solution
Yaakov Kirschen, The Jerusalem Post, Dry Bones This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Two State Solution
Dick Cheney As Suicide Bomber
By SHAUN MULLEN GUEST VOICE It becomes clearer with every new explosion from Dick Cheney in defense of the Bush torture regime that the former vice president is on a suicide mission. The grotesqueries, lies and obfuscations of the last eight years strapped to his waist, he is determined to visit as much destruction as possible on the Obama administration, as well as his own … [Read more...] about Dick Cheney As Suicide Bomber
Maureen Dowd: Pants on Fire Redux
The cat is not only out of the bag, but well into the next county by now. Originally exposed by thejoshuablog at TPM Cafe, it was obvious that Maureen Dowd, in her Sunday column, lifted some of Josh Marshall's prose from Talking Points Memo. To her credit, and that of her taskmasters at the Gray Lady, she quickly owned up to the "error" and issued a correction in the online … [Read more...] about Maureen Dowd: Pants on Fire Redux
Cost of War Reaches $670 Billion
According to the National Priorities Project, the War in Iraq has now cost American taxpayers $670 billion. That stands in stark contrast to the $100 billion to $200 billion pricetage estimated by President Bush's chief economic advisor in September 2002 or the $50 billion to $60 billion estimate offered by the White House Office of Management and Budget Director in … [Read more...] about Cost of War Reaches $670 Billion
Does Obama Actually Rule the United States?: Cadena Global, Venezuela
In Latin America, it's a suspicion shared just as much by those who favor President Obama as oppose him: Does any president of the United States, particularly a 'rookie' like Obama, really control the espionage and security apparatus of the United States? This article by Alberto B. Aranguibel of Artgentina's Cadena Global puts it this way: "In an imperialist culture based … [Read more...] about Does Obama Actually Rule the United States?: Cadena Global, Venezuela
Karzai’s ‘Odes to Pakistan’ Come Too Late to Stop India: The Frontier Post, Pakistan
'THE PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN MEETS OBAMA' It's been a busy weekend in terms of the Af-Pak crisis, and we've been working to bring you news and opinion from the Pakistanis and our NATO allies. In one article, an editorial from Pakistan headlined, Karzai's 'Odes to Pakistan' Come Too Late to Stop India, the reasons Pakistan feels so much angst toward Afghan President Hamid … [Read more...] about Karzai’s ‘Odes to Pakistan’ Come Too Late to Stop India: The Frontier Post, Pakistan
Why Jon Huntsman Jumped
Upon hearing that Utah Governor Jon Huntsman was taking Obama's offer to become Ambassador to China, I was saddened. Huntsman was a conservative that didn't live in the GOP echo chamber and could see the change that needed to happen in the Republican Party if it is to be a viable force in the age of Obama. He was for civil unions for gays, and was pro-environment. He was … [Read more...] about Why Jon Huntsman Jumped