"CNN's Heroes" confers fame on so-called ordinary people reaching out to help others in extraordinary ways, this weekend a 57-year-old suburban single mother named Pam Koner who, inspired by a newspaper picture of a hungry child, started a network of 600 sponsors to provide families in 13 communities across the country with over 800,000 meals and counting. My admiration for … [Read more...] about A Hero Close to Home
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Crusade
Polimom watches very little television, and when I do, it's almost always as something to do with someone else. Dear Husband and I, for instance, set aside fall Sundays for the NFL, while springtime Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are family time with American Idol -- and since I'm writing this in May, you can easily guess what I'm fixin' to talk about: the culture … [Read more...] about A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Crusade
Unintended Consequences: Credit Card Edition
I think credit card reform is definitely going to pass which is (possibly) good news for millions of struggling Americans. However, as the New York Times points out, it may not be so good for people with good credit. I'll state up front that I am skeptical about the tone of the article, which has a bunch of hallmarks of a financial industry propaganda piece meant to dissuade … [Read more...] about Unintended Consequences: Credit Card Edition
Pelosi in Her Own Words
As regular readers know, I'm among the Republican defectors recently highlighted by Gallup. But while there's no love lost between the Grand Old Party and me, Speaker Pelosi entirely deserves this one, courtesy of the House Republican Conference. Granted, House Republicans didn't have to work very hard. Pelosi handed the noose to them and then jumped up on the … [Read more...] about Pelosi in Her Own Words
The Upside of a GOP Blowout
The blogosphere is chatting about former McCain and now former Huntsman advisor John Weaver's fears of a 2012 GOP Blowout if the party's guiding lights are Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney. There is a lot of talk that if the party doesn't start appealing to moderates soon, 2012 is going to be bloody. That prospect used to bother me, but I'm beginning to wonder … [Read more...] about The Upside of a GOP Blowout
Emission Limits
Mike Lane, Cagle Cartoons This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Emission Limits
Clinton to Grads: Marginalization of Women & Girls Continues – Use Social Media to Combat
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave the commencement address at Barnard College yesterday. Here's an excerpt: And women’s progress is more than a matter of morality. It is a political, economic, social and security imperative for the United States and for every nation represented in this graduating class. If you want to know how stable, healthy, and democratic … [Read more...] about Clinton to Grads: Marginalization of Women & Girls Continues – Use Social Media to Combat
Bad Time to be a Speaker
.... whether you're Nancy Pelosi in the U.S. or Michael Martin in the U.K. H/t Ben Smith. … [Read more...] about Bad Time to be a Speaker
Hasselbeck (Not Quite) Ready to Rumble with Ventura
Justin Gardner posted this segment from The View yesterday, apologizing that he couldn't remove the unnecessary name calling in the video's title. Ditto. However, like Justin, I also think the clip itself is worth sharing. Though I agree with Ventura, I'll give Hasselbeck this much: She's braver in confronting the former wrestler/governor than I would be. … [Read more...] about Hasselbeck (Not Quite) Ready to Rumble with Ventura
Gallup Poll: Republicans Lose In All Demographic Groups Except Conservatives, Churchgoers And Seniors
A new Gallup poll provides evidence that the Republican party has now been seriously downsized in support from 2001 to 2009 -- steadily losing ground in a host of groups across the boards, particularly among college graduates and moderates. The groups that have held largely firm have been conservatives, churchgoers and seniors -- groups already considered part of the party's … [Read more...] about Gallup Poll: Republicans Lose In All Demographic Groups Except Conservatives, Churchgoers And Seniors
Nancy Pelosi’s Sniper Fire
Last year, we chuckled when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave her stirring account of her experience under enemy fire in Bosnia. This year, we are equally dumbfounded by Speaker Nancy Pelosi's creative tales of how she has been misled, uninformed, or just lied to about receiving briefings by the C.I.A. beginning in 2002. A cameraman, on a tarmac at Tuzla Air Base, … [Read more...] about Nancy Pelosi’s Sniper Fire
CNN Poll: Pelosi As (Un)Popular As Gingrich
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?