While we here in the US are speculating over Presidential running mates a number of events unfold overseas. In Pakistan the death toll from the double suicide attack on an armaments plan continues to rise and may exceed 100. This attack was carried out by a Pakistani branch of the Taliban and is hardly helpful with the recent resignation of President Musharraf already an … [Read more...] about Overseas News Roundup
McCain Launching Multipronged Counterattack On Obama Response
If you thought you saw negative campaigning up till now, to use a phrase made famous in the 1980s by Ronald Reagan and in the 1920s by singer Al Jolson: "You ain't seen nothing yet." On a day when Republican John McCain got pounded in an ad by rival Democratic Senator Barack Obama for not knowing the number of houses he owned, the McCain campaign is sending out signals that … [Read more...] about McCain Launching Multipronged Counterattack On Obama Response
Pointless VP Predictions Number XXX
Well, since we've all been talking the issue up on the net and everyone else is doing it, I figure I might as well make my pointless predictions on Obama and McCain running mates. Something in my gut tells me that neither one is going to go with the supposed 'front runner choice'. Either he will go with one of the other leading contenders or he will go with someone … [Read more...] about Pointless VP Predictions Number XXX
Informed Predictions On McCain Obama Running Mates
Mitt Romney for McCain, Joe Biden for Obama... … [Read more...] about Informed Predictions On McCain Obama Running Mates
Is This the Right Policy Toward Russia?
One of the most important forces in Russian national history and one of the major keys to understanding Russia has been the country's enormous collective inferiority complex relative to the West. It explains why, three hundred years ago, with Russia's elite bent on mimicking Europe and being more engaged in the life of the West, Peter the Great moved his capital to Saint … [Read more...] about Is This the Right Policy Toward Russia?
Stephanie Tubbs Jones once tried to indict him…
...but former Cleveland Mayor Mike White says that he and the Congresswoman tragically felled by a brain aneurysm earlier this week remained friends. WKYC talked with White on his alpaca farm: EDITOR's NOTE: Due to a technical problem we had to remove this video. It will be put back at a later date and this post will be moved up to the top of TMV when this is corrected. I … [Read more...] about Stephanie Tubbs Jones once tried to indict him…
John L. Jackson Jr.’s Racial Paranoia
Cultural anthropologist John L. Jackson Jr., a Brainstorm blogger and author of three scholarly books on race issues, chose Racial Paranoia: The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness for his first non-academic book. It's reviewed today in The Philadelphia Inquirer: Jackson...says African Americans live with the suspicion that they encounter racism constantly in … [Read more...] about John L. Jackson Jr.’s Racial Paranoia
Nepal & Pakistan: Lessons For The USA
Nepal and Pakistan provide good lessons in foreign policy to both Barack Obama and John McCain. The democratically-elected new Prime Minister of Nepal, Prachanda (photo above) who led a 10-year guerrilla war, now professes that his country's era of "capitalist democracy" has begun. He was sworn in by Nepal’s first president, Ram Baran Yadav. Lesson No. 1: The president or … [Read more...] about Nepal & Pakistan: Lessons For The USA
Another Look
Spencer Ackerman takes a fresh look at the New Republic/Scott Thomas Beauchamp controversy. When I read Franklin Foer's fact-check of the story, I remarked that it did not appear to me that the story needed to be retracted at all -- and certainly, nobody had done anything to justify the vitriol that had been heaped upon both writer and magazine by radical right-wing bloggers. … [Read more...] about Another Look
The New China, Just Like the Old China
In China, it seems, Olympics or no Olympics, capitalism or no capitalism, it's probably best not to protest, not to challenge the totalitarians who run and rape the place: BEIJING — Two elderly Chinese women have been sentenced to a year of "re-education through labor" after they repeatedly sought a permit to demonstrate in one of the official Olympic protest areas, … [Read more...] about The New China, Just Like the Old China
“You’re Out of Touch. No, You Are.”
Paybacks can be a...well, you know. John McCain should have known that the Obama team was just waiting to pounce after his "Celebrity" ad, and pounced they did after his gaffe on not knowing how many houses he owns. Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post notes how both parties try very hard to paint the other as out-of-touch with the common man. McCain and the GOP have … [Read more...] about “You’re Out of Touch. No, You Are.”
Replay of Bob Barr Conference Call
You can listen to the entire thing here. … [Read more...] about Replay of Bob Barr Conference Call
Kindergarten Politics
TMV Chief Joe Gandelman has already provided a run down of the latest "Who's really out of touch?" exchange between the major-party presidential campaigns. (As has CNN.) Here's an abbreviated version: "You're out of touch." "No, you are." "No, you are." "Na-ah. You are." My un-solicited advice to both campaigns: GROW UP. Or, as I recall Sen. Obama saying, … [Read more...] about Kindergarten Politics
Reminder: Listen in to a Bob Barr conference call
We'll be on the air at a special time today, 4:30 pm eastern until 6:00 pm. In the last hour we'll be recording and broadcasting a conference call with Bob Barr. Stop by Mid Stream Radio with your questions and comments, or just listen along! … [Read more...] about Reminder: Listen in to a Bob Barr conference call
Voter Suppression Artist Hired by Civil Rights Commission
The technical term for this is sick $&%@ing joke. … [Read more...] about Voter Suppression Artist Hired by Civil Rights Commission
Veepstakes: The Silly Season for Speculation
I was away on vacation in Prince Edward Island for almost three weeks and, since my Monday return, have spent the past few days re-obsessing myself with the presidential race, including the whole Veepstakes saga, about which I've written extensively, some here and more over at my place. An announcement from Obama could come at any moment. For what they're worth, which isn't … [Read more...] about Veepstakes: The Silly Season for Speculation
Old Fuss and Feathers
America loves to elect military men to political office. Since General Washington earned the votes for the Presidency numerous other military heroes - some generals and some common soldiers - have parlayed their military prowess into political gold. Presidents Jackson, Wm. Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses Grant, James Garfield, Teddy Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower are the … [Read more...] about Old Fuss and Feathers
Obama Confirms He Has Picked A VP, But Not When He’ll Announce
Word just breaking that Barack Obama has confirmed to an USA Today reporter that he has chosen a VP candidate but he did not say when he would reveal the pick. At this point it seems unlikely he will announce today so look for this weekend. … [Read more...] about Obama Confirms He Has Picked A VP, But Not When He’ll Announce
The State of the Race: Polls, Projections, and Presidential Politics
Poll-wise, the news hasn't been good for Obama in recent weeks -- and it seems to be getting worse. Although he still leads in most national polls, the gap has generally been narrowing. And the media, which love the tension that comes from high electoral drama, have dutifully (and thoughtlessly) been in full sensationalization mode. Consider the headline of Joe's post from … [Read more...] about The State of the Race: Polls, Projections, and Presidential Politics
God And Politics
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune … [Read more...] about God And Politics