Chris Bowers, at Open Left, offered a supposed “Serious Question” today: Does anyone here think that working to stop GOP from destroying the filibuster in 2005 was still a good idea? Wasn’t that a mistake? Shouldn’t we have helped them instead? Discuss. It was also sent out on Twitter, and I responded thusly: Yes. If [...]
The White House at least has the decency to try to make amends to Shirley Sherrod. The problem is that they never should have put themselves in a position to do so. The “story” was “broken” (i.e., fabricated) by an activist who was upset that the Tea Party has been called to task for failure [...]
I haven’t been writing much here lately. Not to offer a lame excuse, but I’ve been doing other things. Obviously. American political scientists sometimes like to talk about something they call “realignment.” It’s a concept that seeks to explain, and perhaps predict, when an entire generation will suddenly and irrevocably change their political identity. It [...]
I’ve given up on watching TV news, at least until the “BP Gulf Oil Spill” saga is over. I’m simply tired of hearing earnest-sounding news anchors earnestly intone “the largest oil spill in American history.” With absolutely no background information – other than a vague idea about the Exxon Valdez – those words are pretty [...]
This post started out with an unbelieving laugh: Now, I think Arizona’s actually gone off the deep end, or they’re playing a practical joke on us now. Because now they’re going after minotaurs. Following the link gives you this: The Arizona state Senate on Thursday passed a bill making it illegal for a person to [...]
Self-deception, by definition, is impossible to see without someone else’s help. And, all too often, it is likely that the person who helps us see that will, in the short term, anger us. This is part of being human. Rufus, over at the League of Ordinary Gentlemen, ties this self-deception, or lack of self-criticism, to [...]
This post is the fallout from a Facebook discussion. The issue at hand had to do with “Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell” (DADT) and its purpose. After all, no soldier, sailor, marine, or airman’s job is to get laid for their country. So serving in the military is not inherently dependent on sexual orientation. In concept, [...]
The latest word is that John and Elizabeth Edwards are now separated and will likely divorce. The descent of John Edwards has been stunning. From one step away from VP to a viable Presidential candidate, he is now simply a rich man who can’t keep his pants up. Worse, with all the money at his [...]
In case you haven’t heard about Sen. Harry Reid’s comments on Barack Obama, here’s a recap: [Reid] told staff to brace for a tough weekend and instructed them to go into damage-control mode. He then hunkered down at his home in Searchlight, Nev., and began working the telephone, apologizing for saying Obama had a good [...]
For those of you who don’t share my religious views, this post will be largely academic for you. But I hope that those who do share my religious views will take a moment to seriously consider the points I intend to raise. I grew up in a very conservative Christian household. We not only went [...]
