Slate has commissioned a series of articles on aging and the aged: Last week, the Republican Party nominated John McCain as its candidate for president. As you may have heard, McCain is no spring chicken. Having just turned 72, he would be the oldest man ever elected president of the United States if he wins. McCain's age has provided much fodder for the nation's political … [Read more...] about Slate’s “Going Gray” issue on automated driving
Synthetic Outrage
I'm a little wary of even trying to say anything about the whole "lipstick" affair, because it seems to only give what I think is a trivial issue more strength. But, Clive Crooks says it best: One wonders how much lower this election can sink. The furore over "you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig" sets a new benchmark. The idea that Barack Obama seriously … [Read more...] about Synthetic Outrage
My education from 9/11
Rather than doing yet another column on this, I will simply direct you to my latest column at Pajamas Media. While there may have been many lessons to learn from the attacks, the biggest and most painful lesson I took from it was about myself and my own personal shortcoming. … [Read more...] about My education from 9/11
Quote Of The Day: Barack Obama’s Big Political Mistakes
The political Quote Of The Day actually is a variety of quotes of the day from Newsweek's Howard Fineman, who stands back and takes a good look at the variety of mistakes Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama has made and -- which is why he is facing increasingly rocky political terrain...terrain not rocky due to the manufactured flap over lipstick on a pig. Let's go through … [Read more...] about Quote Of The Day: Barack Obama’s Big Political Mistakes
The Party On the Right
The Republican convention sparked considerable interest abroad, and not just because of media-darling Sarah Palin. From Rudy Giuliani to Ron Paul to Cindy McCain, the Republicans who spoke received wide attention. And of course there were opinions about the candidate himself, who is generally out of favor (see the BBC’s piece Obama win preferred in world poll. In terms of … [Read more...] about The Party On the Right
9/11
When the planes hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon that morning, I said to someone, "This is the worst day of my life." I didn't know then what I meant, but it was as if the crust of the earth had suddenly cracked and we would never again feel safe going about our daily lives. Over time, that feeling has receded, but the world has not been the same since. What we lost … [Read more...] about 9/11
Flash of Inspiration
In Michigan, as in the rest of the country, many people are suffering from home foreclosures. Most of us feel bad for those individuals fighting to keep their home. Local Republican leaders, on the other hand, saw an opportunity to prevent people from voting. They've announced that they will deploy challengers on Election Day to prevent people whose addresses have been … [Read more...] about Flash of Inspiration
Obama Implodes (Guest Voice)
Has the campaign of Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama been caught momentarily flat-footed due to the nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin as GOP Presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's running mate? Or is it going from stumble to stumble and ineffective response to ineffective response as it starts to implode? Conservative talk show host Michael Reagan, son of former … [Read more...] about Obama Implodes (Guest Voice)
Cartoonists View Obama Palin Lipstick Pig Controversy
Palin Pig Pit Bull: Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com Lipstick Smear: Eric Allie, Caglecartoons.com McCain Lipstick on a Pig: Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com … [Read more...] about Cartoonists View Obama Palin Lipstick Pig Controversy
Sarah Palin
Bob Englehart, The Hartford Courant … [Read more...] about Sarah Palin
Polyface Pigs
Last night All Things Considered weighed in on the "lipstick on a pig" brouhaha by talking with Joel Salatin, a farmer from Swoope, Va., as he attempted to actually put lipstick on a pig. Of course, given that he was doing this on radio, we couldn't actually see anything. As it happens, I visited Joel's farm last summer... and have footage of the pigs (sans … [Read more...] about Polyface Pigs
Bizarrobama
As a child, one of the more amusing and yet disturbingly frightening characters for me in the cartoon pantheon was Superman’s strange doppelganger from the Bizarro world. This image is what finally helped to identify something which has been tugging at the back of my mind for nearly two weeks; I finally remembered where it was that I’d seen Sarah Palin before. It was the 2004 … [Read more...] about Bizarrobama
Part Three: Still More Revelations About Sarah Palin’s Incredible Lightness of Being
In Part One, we learned that Sarah Palin has taken stands opposite John McCain on open government and sex ed, feuds with members of her extended family, lies about little things as well as big things, has never expressed a conviction on a major issue, attends a church where some pretty weird stuff gets preached, as a true-blue Christianist effortlessly mixes religion and … [Read more...] about Part Three: Still More Revelations About Sarah Palin’s Incredible Lightness of Being
Sarah Palin: The ‘Seductress’ of the American Election – Iraqi News Agency
It probably won't come as a surprise that along with the rest of the world, Iraqis who aren't struggling every moment of the day and night to keep body and soul together are watching the American presidential race with great interest. This article from the Iraqi News Agency is as interesting for what it doesn't mention as for what it does. The writer, Sati' Noureddine, … [Read more...] about Sarah Palin: The ‘Seductress’ of the American Election – Iraqi News Agency
Palin: A Brilliant Selection … Until After Election Day – Excelsior of Mexico
Montreal Gazette It seems that both in and out of the United States, the things that concern people the most about Sarah Palin - John McCain's running mate - is her age, his age, and Palin's fundamentalist Christian upbringing. Cecilia Soto of Mexico's Excelsior newspaper lays out some of the concerns Mexicans have, not only about the McCain-Palin ticket, but with Mexican … [Read more...] about Palin: A Brilliant Selection … Until After Election Day – Excelsior of Mexico
McCain-Palin butchers FactCheck.org – supporters need to rebuke them
The latest McCain-Palin ad, on TV and their e-mail list to supporters, implies that FactCheck.org blamed the Obama campaign for "completely false or misleading" rumors about Sarah Palin. Curious to see what this report was, I visited FactCheck, associated with the Annenberg Public Policy Center, and saw they didn't appreciate the campaign's creative interpretation of their … [Read more...] about McCain-Palin butchers FactCheck.org – supporters need to rebuke them
PygPALIoN
Oddly enough, I am not referring to "pig gate," that asinine flap (or is it a kerfuffle?) developing between the two battling political camps over Barack's remark about the McCain program being "putting lipstick on a pig"... the Democrat apparently failing to recognize that Governor Sarah Palin using her stupidmean-spirited adorable joke noting that the difference between a … [Read more...] about PygPALIoN
We Don’t Like Ike
WEDNESDAY UPDATE Sorry for the lack of updates, been busy with work It looks like Corpus Christi will be getting hit by the weekend but the good news (no offense to our friends or my family in CC) is that it will avoid the oil fields for the most part. Latest track below. So far, the last few weeks have been something of a good-luck charm in terms of hurricanes. … [Read more...] about We Don’t Like Ike
Blog Addiction – What’s the remedy?
As we enter the height of the political season, I feel compelled to read every single blog under the sun. I feel the whole range of emotions as I read through blogs that pump up my candidate and show good news for him, just as I do blogs that tear him down or show bad news. It is much like the emotions I feel when I watch my favorite sports teams play. Yes, politics is more … [Read more...] about Blog Addiction – What’s the remedy?
The real problem with the media’s political coverage
Plenty has been said about the McCain camp's exploitation of this whole lipstick-on-a-pig thing—it's petty, it's divisive, and it's not the type of political conversation this country needs right now. I'm not going to get much further into that, but you can read some of my thoughts over at Ablogistan. The media's culpability in the whole matter, however, is something … [Read more...] about The real problem with the media’s political coverage