The Fox Movie Channel showed "Gentleman's Agreement" last night, a preachy drama about anti-Semitism that won the Academy Award 60 years ago, and it brought into focus the realization that I may live to see a black man inaugurated as President of the United States. What Barack Obama faces from now until November would be unimaginable to the people who made and saw that movie … [Read more...] about Picture of Prejudice
Up Close
Writing at Land and People, Lebanese blogger Rami Zurayk chronicles events in Beirut as they unfold. His accounts are fascinating in their clarity. Friday, May 8th, 8:26AM: I live in Ras Beirut, between Hamra and Manara. We woke up this morning to the sound of machine gun shooting. I looked from the window and there was a few young armed civilians running in all … [Read more...] about Up Close
Hillary Exposes ‘Weak Link’ in Democratic Government
'Retribution, swift vengeance, eternal malice were in her whole aspect, and spite of all mortal men could do - the said solid white buttress of her forehead smite the ship's starboard bow.' (apologies to Moby Dick) It seems that a global consensus against Senator Hillary … [Read more...] about Hillary Exposes ‘Weak Link’ in Democratic Government
The Great Debates of Obama and McCain
Obama Eager to Campaign With McCain. Newt Gingrich, who has advocated this, will stand up and cheer. It makes me shake with anticipation... Obama is receptive to the idea of a debate roadshow with McCain. This would seem to benefit Obama by introducing him to a wider audience and contrasting him with the older and less rhetorically artful McCain. But beyond the contrast … [Read more...] about The Great Debates of Obama and McCain
Some Saturday Reading
Join us for a quick tour of Saturday afternoon reading in case, like me, the weather is keeping you inside the house. As always, these are just a quick taste and I invite you to click through the selection of links for some interesting views offered up by some great writers. The Booman Tribune wonders if Obama is facing even more challenges because the Secret Service is full … [Read more...] about Some Saturday Reading
Rupert Murdoch withdraws NY Newsday bid
Reuters: News Corp's decision to walk away from Newsday is an unexpected twist in the three-way bidding war for the paper. Murdoch and Tribune Co Chief Executive Sam Zell had an agreement in principle to sell the paper to News Corp, with Tribune retaining a small stake to create a way to defer large capital gains taxes that a total sale would incur. As recently as three … [Read more...] about Rupert Murdoch withdraws NY Newsday bid
In The Sights of Russia
Last month, at their summit in Bucharest, NATO bowed to pressure from Moscow and failed to offer paths to membership for Georgia and Ukraine. Instead, they decided to endorse the deployment of an Eastern European-based missile defense system, a longstanding goal of the Bush administration. But, as political analyst Seth Weinberger argued shortly after the summit's conclusion, … [Read more...] about In The Sights of Russia
Symbolism Is Overrated
Kick Burma out of the United Nations? That's what The Wall Street Journal is suggesting is an appropriate punishment for the country's miserable response to Cyclone Nargis: The United Nations this week said the refusal of Burma's government to allow workers into the country's devastated agricultural region was unprecedented in the history of humanitarian relief. The human … [Read more...] about Symbolism Is Overrated
America’s Race to the Middle
This Wall Street Journal piece on America's Race to the Middle After Years of Gridlock,Campaign '08 May Yield A New Political Center is an optimistic look at the ways in which the political process may be moving more towards cooperation. It seems to me that a few adjustments to campaign finance and redistricting can accelerate the movement of the pendulum back towards the … [Read more...] about America’s Race to the Middle
Clinton and Obama – Please Stop Them!
It's as though anxiety around the world over the ongoing battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is just as strong as it is among U.S. Democrats. Referring to the remaining undecided Democratic superdelegates, Sabine Muscat writes for the Germany's Financial Times Deutschland: "There are moments in life in which a person must make a decision, even if you don’t … [Read more...] about Clinton and Obama – Please Stop Them!
How little we read
Usability expert Jakob Nielsen reports: On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely. We've known since our first studies of how users read on the Web that they typically don't read very much. Scanning text is an extremely common behavior for higher-literacy users; our recent eyetracking studies … [Read more...] about How little we read
The Bush Wedding: Some Advice for the Happy Couple
By now, things should be getting underway in the run-up to this evening's nuptial ceremonies for Jenna Bush and Henry Hager. I generally tend to feel sorry for the children of celebrities, politicians and other famous families. The wedding day should be one of the happiest in their lives and as private as they wish. For the high profile, this is often not the case. However, … [Read more...] about The Bush Wedding: Some Advice for the Happy Couple
Obama Wins
Sandy Huffaker, Cagle Cartoons … [Read more...] about Obama Wins
The Old Guy vs. The Black Guy
One of the wags at The Onion wrote the other day that the number of acceptable phrases that a presidential candidate can use has dropped from 38 at the beginning of 2007 to a mere four. They are: Thank you all for coming, God bless America, These pancakes are great, and Death to the infidels. Like all great humor, there is an element of truth to this, which leads me … [Read more...] about The Old Guy vs. The Black Guy
Watch The Democratic Party Clinton Obama Divide Live On TV!
This was quite a week -- and not just because of the North Carolina and Indiana primaries. It was a week when there were two TV moments when you could seemingly watch and hear the Democratic party starting to split. First, brace yourself for Clinton supporter and strategist Paul Begala clashing with uncommitted superdelegate and former Al Gore campaign manager Donna … [Read more...] about Watch The Democratic Party Clinton Obama Divide Live On TV!
World’s Cartoonists Lampoon Clinton Obama Democratic Nomination Battle
Here are four cartoons from abroad looking at the battle between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. Note that the cartoonists abroad see it in the same way as American cartoons do (there are still a lot of great American cartoons on the primary battle and we'll run the backlog throughout the day). Tab, The Calgary … [Read more...] about World’s Cartoonists Lampoon Clinton Obama Democratic Nomination Battle
How I (Didn’t) Get Over
Several years ago, I took part in a workshop after church. The members of the congregation were gathered and watch a video about race and American society. We were then asked to talk about our experience with race. Now, I was the only African American in the room and most of the people there were in their 60s and 70s. Most talked about how they had good relations with … [Read more...] about How I (Didn’t) Get Over
Will This Comment Cost Barack Obama The Presidency?
Will Rush, Sean, O'Reilly, weblogs and Sunday morning news show talking heads turn this into the new issue that will dominate 524 1/2 news cycles? Will Obama have to make a clarification speech about it? Will it turn up in Republican campaign ads this fall? I would say....you can count on it (war planning, war policy, the economy, gas prices, health care can all … [Read more...] about Will This Comment Cost Barack Obama The Presidency?
Lebanon
I ask this because frankly, what's happening there is scaring the crap out of me. There are some incredibly knowledgeable folks who blog here who know far more about the current state of global politics than I do. What are we thinking? What do we do? What can we do? I do a lot of shlepping and have just good old analog FM in my car, so I'm mostly listening to NPR. Some … [Read more...] about Lebanon
Chris Cillizza of The Fix On Top 10 Veep Choices
Chris Cillizza of Washington Post's The Fix On the Top 10 Veep Choices The Friday Line: Veepstakes! Ask someone who works for either Barack Obama (Ill.) or John McCain (Ariz.) about the search for a vice presidential nominee and, to a person, the response you get goes something like this: "It's way too early to even be thinking about specific names." Bring up potential … [Read more...] about Chris Cillizza of The Fix On Top 10 Veep Choices