They should have been sitting down for the first hour. The civility Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama showed in their Las Vegas round table last week and in the second hour of the Myrtle Beach debate tonight bracketed a standup slugfest that did neither of them credit. Particularly ugly was Clinton's attempt to tar Obama with Chicago slumlord Tony Rezko and particularly … [Read more...] about Democrats’ Standup Demagoguery
The U.S. Disses NATO Over Afghanistan: Bloody Outrageous Or Bloody Spot On?
When Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently accused NATO forces in Afghanistan of being lousy at counterinsurgency warfare, it at first seemed to be an egregious example of the pot calling the kettle black given that the U.S.'s record in fighting Iraqi insurgents was downright dismal until it hit on the Surge strategy on the fourth or fifth try over a four-year … [Read more...] about The U.S. Disses NATO Over Afghanistan: Bloody Outrageous Or Bloody Spot On?
Guest Poet: Uncle Sam’s Money Tree
Another poetic gem from TMV's favorite poet, Michael Silverstein, aka Wall Street Poet: The latest lemming run in Washington is a race to give out upwards of $145 billion to Americans in hopes of fending off a recession. It's a rather amazing idea when you think about it. Aside from such obvious drawbacks as swelling the deficit and adding to inflation and trashing the … [Read more...] about Guest Poet: Uncle Sam’s Money Tree
What’s Wrong With Our Business Schools?
While I have a really good case of the ass about the state of the U.S. economy, let me pose a question: What kind of business schools do we have in this country that when I think of a stock broker or lender I think of a used car salesman with a really nice suit, an ethically impaired individual whose ethical compass was never properly calibrated when they got their MBA? Just … [Read more...] about What’s Wrong With Our Business Schools?
Confronting the ‘World’s Leading Power’ Won’t Benefit Argentina …
Since late last year, a bitter war of words has broken out between the United States and Argentina's former first lady and first female president, Cristina Kirchner, over whether Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez helped fund her election campaign. According to this op-ed article from Argentina's La Nacion, whatever the truth of these charges leveled by U.S. prosecutors, allowing … [Read more...] about Confronting the ‘World’s Leading Power’ Won’t Benefit Argentina …
Barack Obama: The Most American of Dreams
Try as I might, I can't say anything about this extraordinary Hosanna to Obama from Germany's Stern, that is any better than letting it speak for itself... Welcome back, America! Welcome to the 21st Century, in which the President can have a black face, an Indonesian childhood and Hussein as his second name. Barack Obama is the American dream. Difficult to imagine that … [Read more...] about Barack Obama: The Most American of Dreams
Clinton, Obama And Edwards Shine And Clash In “Personal” South Carolina Debate
The South Carolina primary debate between Democratic Presidential nomination wannabes Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama and former Senator John Edwards was the most peppery "real" debate yet -- with moments where it got intensely personal with each candidate seemingly accomplishing some goals. Clinton and Obama went at it in a debate that was the closest this … [Read more...] about Clinton, Obama And Edwards Shine And Clash In “Personal” South Carolina Debate
Rice’s Misplaced Enthusiasm Over Progress in Iraq …
Keep an Eye on Bill this Week
The Dutch are watching Bill Clinton. They think you should too. H/T Watching America.com … [Read more...] about Keep an Eye on Bill this Week
Dems Debate in SC
Watch it on CNN-TV or CNN.com - I'm reminded of an old toy: Mattel Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots During Debate Before Debate LIVE-BLOGGING: CNN Political Ticker Blog of the Moderate Left Chris Cillizza's The Fix at Washingtonpost.com MSNBC First Read AMERICAblog Debate Open Thread Crooks and Liars Debate Open Thread The Caucus Blog of The New … [Read more...] about Dems Debate in SC
America Discovers “La Dolce Vita” of Fats
The respected Italian daily, Corriere della Sera, has a thoroughly engaging article about the acceptance of obesity among Americans. In times gone-by in various cultures, as is well known, largeness was attractive because, it is said, it indicated wealth or power, since only the wealthy or powerful could afford to eat so well. Now, in modern America, where even the poorest tend … [Read more...] about America Discovers “La Dolce Vita” of Fats
Why There Will be No Recession in the U.S.
The American economy is the engine of the world, so they say. So the world is watching it closely. El Pais, a Spanish daily, seems to assert that good Keynesian American economics (a la "the deficit doesn't matter") will be just what the U.S. needs, and will get, to head off the recession, and comes close to suggesting that the Europeans should be taking a leaf out of the … [Read more...] about Why There Will be No Recession in the U.S.
Conscious Conservatives, Rising
The caucus chaos is a clear sign that the Conscious Conservative movement continues to grow. There are Neoconservatives, and President Bush tried to establish a Compassionate Conservative label, but it is the Conscious Conservatives who may represent the new power in the Republican Party. Conscious Conservatives are those conservatives, mainly Republican, who have become … [Read more...] about Conscious Conservatives, Rising
A Dose of Mamet
On Saturday, Andrew Sullivan posted a "Quote for the Day" from David Mamet, which he (Sullivan) picked up via "Monday Morning Clacker" writing at greenmountainpolitics1. In turn, "Clacker" took the quote from a New York magazine interview with the famed playwright. During these dog days of January, the quote that Sullivan and Clacker zeroed in on is a great reminder about … [Read more...] about A Dose of Mamet
A Global No-Confidence Vote in George Bush
Why did stocks plummet across the world today, with markets in Europe suffering their biggest one-day losses since the 9/11 attacks? Because President Bush has not even a shred of credibility and analysts from Sweden to Singapore see his stimulus package for what it is -- weak tea that will not check the U.S.'s slide into a recession. Don't know about you, but I can't … [Read more...] about A Global No-Confidence Vote in George Bush
Rational Choices
Note to CNN: Contrary to popular belief, when faced with a choice between a Black man and a White woman, Black women do not behave like a science-fiction robot and self-destruct due to irresolvable paradox. Rather, just as I am capable of making a rational decision about who I am voting for even though I have so many White boys to choose from (even though I ended up not … [Read more...] about Rational Choices
Hillary Clinton Adviser Suggests Bill Clinton Verbal Offensive Will Continue
A key adviser to Senator Hillary Clinton indicated former President Bill Clinton's verbal offensive against Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic nomination race will continue: he called Obama's charge that the former President was not honest about Obama's campaign as "right wing talking points" -- and almost gleefully noted that B.C.'s verbal nukes helped win Iowa and Nevada for … [Read more...] about Hillary Clinton Adviser Suggests Bill Clinton Verbal Offensive Will Continue
Obama’s Best Speech of the Season?
On the eve of Martin Luther King Day, Barack Obama spoke on King's old pulpit at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. His speech was bold, progressive, and necessary: For most of this country’s history, we in the African-American community have been at the receiving end of man’s inhumanity to man. And all of us understand intimately the insidious role that race … [Read more...] about Obama’s Best Speech of the Season?
TMV Welcomes…
We at TMV are pleased to welcome several new cobloggers... Damozel “... the internet handle for a lady of a certain age who stumbled onto the path of political blogging while planning to do something else entirely. She has a background in philosophy and law... [is] a Democrat, though a moderate and reasonable one... blogs regularly at Buck Naked … [Read more...] about TMV Welcomes…
The Church of Ronald Reagan
Bill Clinton rode the failure of Reaganomics all the way to the White House in 1992 ("It's the economy, stupid"). In 1991, he said: “The Reagan-Bush years...have exalted private gain over public obligation, special interests over the common good, wealth and fame over work and family. The 1980s ushered in a Gilded Age of greed and selfishness, of … [Read more...] about The Church of Ronald Reagan