T.E. Lawrence and John McCain are bona fide war heroes, but when it comes to Iraq, that's where any similarity between the two men ends. Lawrence (top photo), one of the most astute observers of Iraq and the Middle East of any generation, knew impending disaster when he saw it and warned three years after the British occupation of Iraq commenced in 1917 (bottom photo) that … [Read more...] about U.S., Iraq & The Lessons of T.E. Lawrence: ‘Your Foundations Are Very Sandy Ones’
Guest Voice: Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Plan: One Way To Help Pay For It
Health care proposals in Campaign 2008 have often gotten drown out in bitter campaign exchanges -- but what about the issue's specifics? In this Guest Voice post, D. Cupples , co-administrator of the site Buck Naked Politics, takes a stand-back look at Senator Hillary Clinton's health care proposal. Guest Voice posts do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Moderate Voice … [Read more...] about Guest Voice: Hillary Clinton’s Health Care Plan: One Way To Help Pay For It
Book Review: Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth
This is another Guest Book Review by fiction writer Jessica Schneider who also writes for Cosmoetica, is Book Editor for Monsters and Critics and is the only contributor to her own blog. Book Review: Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth By Jessica Schneider This is an odd book. Yet, highly entertaining is it as long as excessive sexual details don’t deter you. … [Read more...] about Book Review: Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth
Guest Voice: Memo To Barack Obama: How To Win The Pennsylvania Primary
In this Guest Post, Bill Steigerwald, columnist at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, has some advice for Senator Barack Obama on how to win the Pennsylvania primary. Memo To Barack Obama By Bill Steigerwald TO: Barack Obama FROM: ABH Campaign Consultants Inc. RE: How to win the Pa. Primary Welcome again to Pittsburgh, Sen. Obama. Don't worry about those … [Read more...] about Guest Voice: Memo To Barack Obama: How To Win The Pennsylvania Primary
Discombobulated Democrats
Can someone explain to me how the Democrats handle their business? To clarify, when they make rules and other Democrats agree to the rules, why is there a problem now with the rules? As you may have picked out, I'm talking about the Michigan and Florida Democratic delegate exclusions due to moved up primaries. I've scoured the blogosphere reading all kinds of opinions on … [Read more...] about Discombobulated Democrats
April Showers
Micro-parsing: The Way to News Salvation
What is infinitely bothersome this campaign season is how the words of Senators Clinton, McCain, and Obama are micro-parsed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Meanings are pulled out of non-meanings. Non-ideas pulled out of ideas. So on and so forth. Case in point: Senator Obama's words at a town hall meeting in Johnstown, Pennsylvania last Saturday. Consider the following … [Read more...] about Micro-parsing: The Way to News Salvation
Beleaguered HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson Resigns
Here's yet ANOTHER Bush administration bigwig who is resigning to -- no joke -- spend more time with his family. But there is a teensie-weensie bit more to it than that: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson resigned today amid a criminal investigation into favoritism in awarding HUD contracts that critics said was blunting the agency's effectiveness in … [Read more...] about Beleaguered HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson Resigns
The Center is a moving target
Ross Douthat writes in the Atlantic.com blog about Lieberman Democrats and the challenge of finding, and staying in, the political center ...the American "center" moves around a lot (and varies wildly on an issue-by-issue basis), and thus a party that moves leftward or rightward on the hot-button issues of the day can sometimes find a new center that nobody realized was … [Read more...] about The Center is a moving target
Should Hillary Withdraw?
At At HuffPo, Steve Clemons notes that the world is watching and that the Obama-Clinton "race should go all the way" to the end: [Obama and Clinton] struggling against each other for every superdelegate, every pending state primary, every vote is the best thing America has had going for it in some time on the "global public diplomacy" front... The world is watching, … [Read more...] about Should Hillary Withdraw?
A Huge Court Victory For Little Delaware
DOTTED LINE SHOWS WACKY DELAWARE-NEW JERSEY BORDER In a huge victory for environmentalists and my fellow First State citizens, Delaware won an historic Supreme Court fight with New Jersey today, probably killing a proposed nearly half-mile-long liquefied natural gas terminal on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River. The justices, in a surprising 6-2 decision, said … [Read more...] about A Huge Court Victory For Little Delaware
The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy Hugs Hillary Clinton
Last week, it was the reverse: "Hillary Clinton hugs the vast right-wing conspiracy" -- Hillary conducted an interview with the editorial board of right-wing media baron Richard Mellon Scaife's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, with Dick Scaife himself sitting right next to her, and she used the occasion to bring up the Obama-Wright controversy and otherwise to cozy up to a man, as I … [Read more...] about The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy Hugs Hillary Clinton
Spend April Fools’ with the Capitol Steps
Don't take politics TOO seriously, enjoy it with the Capitol Steps! TUNE IN your radio to these fine public radio stations for the April Fool's Day edition of "Politics Takes a Holiday" Promo Clip Here! … [Read more...] about Spend April Fools’ with the Capitol Steps
Earth Hour and Two Heels per Loaf
I had just recently finished reading about the results of Earth Hour Chicago and the tons of carbon emissions which were not released into the atmosphere when I was suddenly put in mind of a sandwich I made recently - and my grandmother. The combination may sound strange, but programs such as Earth Hour nudge me to remain mindful of some efforts my family and I have undertaken … [Read more...] about Earth Hour and Two Heels per Loaf
Why Wall St. Reform Plan Is a Huge Joke
I blew coffee through my nose when I read the details of the Bush administration "overhaul" of Wall Street regulation announced this morning. The so-called reforms, called the broadest since the Great Depression, would create a new regulatory maze but do virtually nothing to deal with the roots of the problem, which The New York Times charitably called an “alphabet soup of … [Read more...] about Why Wall St. Reform Plan Is a Huge Joke
Wanted: A Better Caption For This Photo
Barack Obama bowled a 37 (not a typo) during a weekend presidential campaign stop in Altoona, Pa. "My economic plan is better than my bowling," he told supporters. … [Read more...] about Wanted: A Better Caption For This Photo
Einsteinian Insanity
Late last week, Newt Gingrich delivered a curious, under-reported speech at the American Enterprise Institute. He called it, "Answering the Obama Challenge", and it was framed as a response to Barack Obama's historic speech about race. (Video and transcript available here. My emphasis.) Segregation was a horrible institution imposed by force by the state. It ruined the … [Read more...] about Einsteinian Insanity
A. J. Liebling’s War
As a charter member of what has been called the Church of Liebling, I have good news for fellow worshippers (hat tip to Holly in the next pew). Liebling's coverage of World War II for the New Yorker has now been gathered into a volume of 1089 pages by the Library of America. Like everything else he wrote, by reporting what he saw and heard, Liebling conveyed more about his … [Read more...] about A. J. Liebling’s War
McCain, Obama and Clinton: They’re All Bad
How do the Russians view the three remaining U.S. presidential aspirants? After explaining that there isn't a hair's breath of difference between President Bush and John McCain on the issue of Russia, Novosti political affairs analyst Dmitry Gornostayev writes, "The Democrats think the same way as McCain. No, not on health care, abortion, the withdrawal of troops from Iraq or … [Read more...] about McCain, Obama and Clinton: They’re All Bad
Dear Billary: Let’s Make a Deal
Hillary Clinton says she will not allow the "big boys" to "bully" her out of the race, and I think she is absolutely right. Although it twigs me to no end that Clinton continues to play the gender card (when she or her surrogates are not playing race card), she has the right to soldier on despite the formidable obstacles standing between her and a presidential nomination … [Read more...] about Dear Billary: Let’s Make a Deal