A concidence or not? You decide. And you can give your take on it one way or another in comments.. … [Read more...] about McCain’s Trip To Colombia
Anger Mismanagement, McCain-style
As Biloxi's Sun Herald is reporting, Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran, a Republican, has told the story of how his colleague John McCain once got into "a physical confrontation" on a diplomatic mission in Central America: Cochran said he observed McCain engage in a physical confrontation with a Sandinista while participating in a diplomatic mission led by Sen. Bob Dole and … [Read more...] about Anger Mismanagement, McCain-style
An Iranian Suspension?
Blogger "MDC," who works as a defense analyst by day, has the best write-up I've seen yet on Iran's recent movement towards a suspension of its enrichment program. The context, the roadblocks, and the reasons why are all considered. A must-read. … [Read more...] about An Iranian Suspension?
The Price Isn’t Right
Over at the Wall Street Journal, reporter Neil King Jr details the internal debates in Saudi Arabia over oil production. With the price now skyrocketing past $140 dollars a barrel, some Saudi officials are starting to sweat. Intuitively, you'd think it would be the opposite. Higher prices lead to greater revenue, right? Yet historically, Saudi Arabia has been the leader of … [Read more...] about The Price Isn’t Right
Teach your children well
Whether you're white, black, or anything else: It's now cliche for white folks looking to justify their own paranoia and fears to invoke rowdy black kids on the train, with no parents, acting a fool. Word up, I hate it to. But my ability to see this threw a racial lens is undercut by one observable fact--white kids act a fool in full view of their parents. In the last three … [Read more...] about Teach your children well
Campaign Advice For Barack Obama: Forget About The Center?
The Huffington Post's Arianna Huffington has a list of seven things she feels Democrat Senator Barack Obama should do "to keep from blowing it" in the Presidential election. Some of the key ones touch on whether he should win over the center -- a segment of the electorate past elections have shown is important but a segment which is often talked about with disdain by people on … [Read more...] about Campaign Advice For Barack Obama: Forget About The Center?
The Obamacans and McCainocrats And The Pitch To Centrists
What do Democratic Senator Barack Obama and Republican Senator John McCain have in common? Both presumptive Presidential nominees are trying to appeal to the center while they try to consolidate support from their parties' bases. John Avlon, a top centrist who worked for both former President Bill Clinton and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, takes a look at this race to … [Read more...] about The Obamacans and McCainocrats And The Pitch To Centrists
About ‘Gay’. And some speculation on why the Religious Right insists we’re ‘homosexual’
In his hilarious post Monday noting that the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow website auto-replaces the word "gay" with the word "homosexual" -- which led to some blogger fun when a sprinter named Tyson Gay won the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials -- Jazz asks: Is the word “homosexual” somehow perceived to be more pejorative than “gay” these … [Read more...] about About ‘Gay’. And some speculation on why the Religious Right insists we’re ‘homosexual’
Obama and the Hispanics
Remember back during the primaries when Hillary was pretty much trouncing Obama among Hispanic voters and there was all that talk about how Hillary's success among Hispanics contributed to her so-called "electability" and how doing so poorly among Hispanics would be a big problem for Obama come general election time? Yeah, well... here's Gallup: Hispanic registered … [Read more...] about Obama and the Hispanics
Harold Ford and Excellent Answers
RCP's Tom Bevan recaps an exchange he had with Harold Ford, former Congressman and current DLC chair, who moonlights as an MSNBC political analyst. (I'll never forget the first time I saw Ford sitting cozily next to Pat Buchanan on MSNBC's Morning Joe; the double-take nearly ripped the eyes from my head.) What Ford clearly demonstrates in his exchange with Bevan -- … [Read more...] about Harold Ford and Excellent Answers
Watermelon Can Act Like Viagra
Was that Bob Dole I just saw coming out of the supermarket pushing a cart loaded with watermelons? Maybe: A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra - but don't necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks all night long. Watermelons contain an ingredient called … [Read more...] about Watermelon Can Act Like Viagra
Civil Rights Review: 07/03/08
Your morning roundup of civil rights and related news. The review will be off for July 4th, and will return to action Monday morning. TMV note: I still haven't quite made a permanent decision on how I want to do this, but for now I think I will continue cross-posting this feature in full here at TMV. But if you don't see it here, it may well be at my place. The NAACP has … [Read more...] about Civil Rights Review: 07/03/08
Bringing The Surge Home
By now we've all heard how the surge strategy in Iraq has been a great success. Which raises the question whether the things that have made this "success" possible can be applied to problems in our own country. Here are a few tips in that regard. So-called "Awakening Councils" in Sunni areas of Iraq where we used to encounter fierce resistance have been largely pacified. … [Read more...] about Bringing The Surge Home
The Application to become Commander-in-Chief: Obama and Powell (Guest Voice)
Editor's Note: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has been complimentary of Democratic presumptive nominee Sen. Barack Obama -- and speculation is increasing since it now turns out they met two weeks ago. So when, if at all, will there be an endorsement? Examiner.com political columnist Tony Campbell is on the trail and has some reporting tidbits -- and advice to pundits … [Read more...] about The Application to become Commander-in-Chief: Obama and Powell (Guest Voice)
Sicko Susan Atkins & The Quality of Mercy
Beyond Charles Manson himself, Susan Atkins was the most public face of his murderous family during the 1970-71 Tate-LaBianca trial. She bragged about stabbing the pregnant Sharon Tate and laughed when details of the slaying were presented in court. Her death sentence was later changed to life imprisonment and now Atkins, who says she has found God and her sins have been … [Read more...] about Sicko Susan Atkins & The Quality of Mercy
Separation of Church and State, Sort Of
Barack Obama is promising Americans another faith-based presidency but asking us to trust him not to pervert it, as George W. Bush did, "to promote partisan interests." That may take a leap of faith on the part of those drawn to Obama's new politics as an antidote to eight years of seeing Bush-Rove, to use a JFK era phrase, "pour God over everything like ketchup." In his … [Read more...] about Separation of Church and State, Sort Of
Into the Wild
(WARNING: May contain non-political content.) For those of you who may not know, I'm currently off on vacation. The picture above is the view from my window in the evening, just as the moon was coming up. It is only through the miracle of modern satellite technology that I'm able to check in with you, as the word "remote" only begins to describe my current location. It's on … [Read more...] about Into the Wild
Patriotic Obama
Bob Englehart, The Hartford Courant … [Read more...] about Patriotic Obama
Patriotism
Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune … [Read more...] about Patriotism
(Updated) Why Are Right-of-Center Bloggers So Silent On The Bush Torture Regime?
As you know if you are a reader of this or any number of other blogs, The New York Times broke a biggie yesterday in reporting that the Pentagon knowingly employed torture techniques that the Communist Chinese used on U.S. airmen during the Korean War to extract false confessions from them. But if your diet is heavy with right-of-center blogs you probably wouldn't have read … [Read more...] about (Updated) Why Are Right-of-Center Bloggers So Silent On The Bush Torture Regime?