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Latest Articles: Opinions/Editorials
Time to Call the Tea Party's Bluff [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2010-06-03 09:52:42 by go65
57 Comments
I'm done trying to hack through the tea party thicket of self-contradiction, self-delusion and self- serving positions. My last straw is Rand Paul, a tea party favorite and now Republican nominee for senator from Kentucky. What damns Paul wasn't the flap over his views on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Presumably, Paul isn't a racist. He's just a privileged white guy -- a doctor and son of 11-term congressman Ron Paul -- who lacks feeling for America's tragic history of racism. What makes Rand Paul so exasperating is his crashing hypocrisy on Medicare. The hero to the cause of smaller government and balanced budgets also vows not to touch Medicare -- the biggest and ...
Is Gulf Disaster Spilling into Obama's Approval Ratings?
Post Date: 2010-06-03 09:47:35 by go65
22 Comments
We haven't written very much about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Needless to say, it's a real tragedy for people in the Gulf Coast states, a region which was hit hard both by the hurricanes of 2005 and by the economic hurricane that has hit the country over the past couple of years. I hope that those of you with means will consider spending some time down there. Without meaning to trivialize the situation, it does bear considering whether the incident is having any impact on Barack Obama's political fortunes. The hard evidence is mixed. This is Pollster.com's chart of Obama's approval ratings since the oil spill occurred. You can arguably see a point or two's ...
Of course, they were asking for it
Post Date: 2010-06-02 15:12:24 by Skip Intro
2 Comments
Of course, they were asking for it It's time the Israeli government's PR team made the most of its talents, and became available for hire. Then whenever a nutcase marched into a shopping mall in somewhere like Wisconsin and gunned down a selection of passers-by, they could be on hand to tell the world's press "The gunman regrets the loss of life but did all he could to avoid violence." Then various governments would issue statements saying "All we know is a man went berserk with an AK 47, and next to him there's a pile of corpses, so until we know the facts we can't pass judgement on what took place." To strengthen their case the Israelis have ...
Tina Fey Isn't Funny
Post Date: 2010-06-02 09:37:35 by Badeye
18 Comments
Tina Fey Isn't Funny By Aaron Goldstein on 6.2.10 @ 6:07AM Are they kidding? That was my first thought when I heard The Kennedy Center had named Tina Fey the 2010 recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor last week. Fey will receive the honor in Washington D.C. on November 9. The ceremony will subsequently be broadcast on PBS as it has been since 2000. The Mark Twain Prize was established in 1998 "to recognize those who create humor from their uniquely American experiences." Past recipients include Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner, Bob Newhart, Lily Tomlin and Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels. In 2009, the award was bestowed upon Bill Cosby. The idea of ...
Israel Falls into the Trap
Post Date: 2010-05-31 13:13:08 by Brian S
5 Comments
Israel has sparked global outrage. At least 15 people were killed when the Israeli military stormed a flotilla carrying pro-Palestinian activists on Monday. In addition to being a human tragedy, it is also a political catastrophe for Israel. It has provided its critics around the world with fresh ammunition. The pro-Palestinian organizers had described the fleet with which they had hoped to break through the Israeli sea blockade of the Gaza Strip on Monday morning as a "humanitarian aid convoy." But as the Israeli army stormed the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara, the activists they encountered were in no way exclusively docile peaceniks. Some of the "peace activists" ...
Big blunder cost New Jersey teachers years of goodwill
Post Date: 2010-05-27 10:26:13 by Badeye
11 Comments
Big blunder cost New Jersey teachers years of goodwill By Kevin Manahan May 27, 2010, 5:05AM Ed Murray/The Star-LedgerKevin Stinson, a high school social studies teacher in Leonia, protested Gov. Chris Christie's budget cuts during Saturday's protest in Trenton.My father spent nearly his entire career in public relations at AT&T, so he was always dispensing advice on how to handle personal crises, big and small. And when I would come home from my high school job of stocking shelves at King’s Supermarket, complaining about some ungracious customer, he would remind me: “AT&T spends millions of dollars trying to shape the public’s opinion of us, but it takes ...
Letting Rand Paul Twist in the Wind
Post Date: 2010-05-27 09:47:11 by Badeye
10 Comments
Letting Rand Paul Twist in the Wind By Larry Elder www.JewishWorldReview.com | Libertarian Rand Paul, Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate from Kentucky, shocked many conservatives when he refused to give full-throated support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Act criminalized public sector racial discrimination, and struck down laws that required discrimination and segregation. But it went much further. It outlawed racial discrimination by private actors such as restaurant and hotel owners who refused to serve blacks. National Review's Rich Lowry, for example, wrote: "[T]he Civil Rights Act was the last spasm of the Civil War. The South had frustrated the ...
Joe Sestak and the phantom -- or was it? -- job offer
Post Date: 2010-05-27 09:44:57 by Badeye
1 Comments
Joe Sestak and the phantom -- or was it? -- job offer Did the Obama administration offer him a job to get him the quit the race against Arlen Specter? It should be an easy question to answer. May 27, 2010 It's no secret that the Obama administration wanted Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) to drop his primary challenge to Republican-turned-Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter. But did President Obama's representatives try to entice Sestak into leaving the race by promising him a job? It's a simple question, and one that Sestak already has answered in the affirmative, but the administration continues to treat the issue as much ado about nothing. Actually, it's much ado about something. Yes, ...
Sarah Palin's fact-free commentary on Paul and BP
Post Date: 2010-05-27 09:18:59 by war
3 Comments
Has Sarah Palin learned anything since she was plucked from obscurity almost two years ago? Not that I can tell. It was not Palin's fault that she was woefully unprepared to be the Republican vice presidential nominee. For that one, blame the petulant, impetuous John McCain. But Palin has had ample time now, outside the crash course of a presidential campaign, to develop and exhibit some understanding of the issues. Her learning curve, from all the available evidence, is a flat line. Three unattractive Palin traits have, if anything, been amplified since the election: her unwillingness to buckle down and do the necessary preparation; her tendency to adopt what McCain adviser Steve ...
Watching Israel Delegitimize the U.S.
Post Date: 2010-05-26 21:30:18 by Brian S
1 Comments
What’s behind the sudden crisis in Korea? Who benefits? Which nation’s nuclear arsenal is problematic? The U.S.-Israeli relationship has long been America’s Achilles heel. Our first president warned against “entangled alliances” particularly when, as here, there’s a “passionate attachment.” Our “special relationship” with this rogue state has placed the U.S. outside the same system of international law that we now seek to impose on others, including Iran. Our handling of the current crisis on the Korean peninsula could restore our tattered reputation. What’s the first issue that needs to be addressed? Here’s where you the reader ...
Sarah Palin's candidates having bad week. Could darling of 'tea party' voters be losing her touch?
Post Date: 2010-05-26 19:32:52 by Brian S
0 Comments
May 26, 2010 | 8:39 am During primary season, Sarah Palin's endorsement was seen as a gift from the heavens in Republican circles -- the seal of good housekeeping for "tea party" activists. Candidates who received the former Alaska governor's blessing soon soared in the polls, as money and volunteers poured in. Ditto the spotlight of national attention. Now, it's easy to wonder if Palin's political Midas touch has turned to rust. In Kentucky, the self-professed oracle for tea party anger has gotten himself in trouble with his mouth. First Rand Paul questioned the 1964 Civil Rights Act for forcing private businesses to integrate public spaces. ...
Another Day, Another Security Leak
Post Date: 2010-05-26 10:03:15 by Badeye
2 Comments
Another Day, Another Security Leak J. E. Dyer - 05.25.2010 - 5:51 PM The New York Times reported Monday that General David Petraeus issued a secret directive in September, expanding covert military operations in the Middle East. The author, Mark Mazzetti, states that the Times’ staff has viewed a copy of the document. Preparation for the article included speaking to government officials who discussed its contents only on condition of anonymity, because it’s classified. Fortunately, our information security usually works better than this. Leaks of national-security secrets are the exception and not the rule. But once again, someone on the government payroll, with a clearance, and ...
GOP Wants To Return Us To Bush-Era Mistakes
Post Date: 2010-05-25 13:41:13 by Brian S
2 Comments
The whiners and complainers of the country -- tea partiers, far right conservatives, racial bigots, birthers, conservative Republicans and others -- feel that the country is headed in the wrong direction. In 2001, Bill Clinton handed George W. Bush a large surplus in the U.S. treasury, and it took Bush two years to turn it into a large significant deficit. In 2009, President Barack Obama is handed the largest federal deficit in history and an economy close to a real depression due to Republican big spenders who think the only answer is to lower taxes to the wealthy. The Democrats passed the stimulus plan that is getting people back to work, and the economy is starting to move in a ...
Gordon Duff: :Assassination In Dubai, Israeli’s Warning To The World
Post Date: 2010-05-25 02:35:32 by mininggold
4 Comments
Gordon Duff: Assassination In Dubai, Israeli’s Warning To The World
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman “WE CAN KILL ANYONE, ANYWHERE FOR ANY REASON…ARE YOU LISTENING PRESIDENT OBAMA”
When Israel sent 27 Mossad agents to a 5 star hotel in Dubai to murder Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a minor Hamas figure, it had nothing to do with Hamas or Dubai. It was a warning to President Obama and anyone else that nobody is safe and no reason is small enough to not justify a killing if key interests are involved, money, drugs, power and, least of all, the security of Israel. Mahmoud is said to be an “arms smuggler” who is traveling the world to get weapons into Lebanon for Hamas. As Lebanon ...
What History Tells Us About (Tea) Party Revolts
Post Date: 2010-05-23 22:05:07 by Brian S
1 Comments
(CBS) There are various reasons being given for the rise of the Tea Party, and you heard several more today. But here's what I'm wondering: Are we just seeing history repeat itself? In modern history - to me, that means during my lifetime - political upheavals have generally been followed by the out party going too far . . . Republicans too far to the right, Democrats too far to the left. Here's what I mean: In 1960, after John F. Kennedy's election and subsequent death, Lyndon Johnson came to power and caused a sea change in American politics. He launched the Great Society programs, and passed the 1964 Civil Rights bill. Republicans responded by throwing out the ...
Republicans Ignore Past Anti-Immigrant Debacles
Post Date: 2010-05-23 21:36:08 by Brian S
1 Comments
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Arizona Republican Party, following hard-fought primaries, plans a victory dinner in Phoenix on Aug. 27. There is a perfect speaker: former California Governor Pete Wilson. Arizona Republicans believe they’re riding a big anti- illegal immigration wave to success in November. Wilson can regale them with how he pursued a similar strategy in 1994, winning re-election with 55 percent of the vote after embracing Proposition 187 to cut off state-funded education and health programs for children of illegal immigrants. Wilson might also remind his political neighbors that since then the only other member of his party to win a major statewide election is the ...
Bob Bennet Throws A Snit Fit ANd Blames Kimmy Carter For His Loss
Post Date: 2010-05-23 14:48:19 by war
5 Comments
Jimmy Carter won the White House in 1976 by riding the wave of anger and disillusionment that followed Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon. Carter tapped into that anger with the slogan "I will never lie to you." An angry electorate, disgusted with Nixon, decided that was reason enough to give Carter the presidency. He won, in large part, because he made it clear that he wasn't Richard Nixon. Pundits called Carter a political genius. Four years later, however, he was a political pariah. Voters embraced Ronald Reagan because he wasn't Jimmy Carter, proving that good slogans do not necessarily produce good government. Unlike Carter, Reagan had more than slogans. He ...
Rand Paul and Robert Bork are soul mates
Post Date: 2010-05-22 22:00:59 by A K A Stone
0 Comments
I’m having a flashback to the 1987 confirmation battle over Robert Bork. Not surprising, with a pending Supreme Court nomination, except my flashback has nothing to do with Elena Kagan. It’s about Rand Paul, the Republican Senate nominee from Kentucky, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Bork and Paul are ideological soul mates. For those whose perspective on the rejected Bork nomination is that it was such a skewed pummeling that it led to the creation of a new verb -- Borking -- here’s a reminder. Writing in The New Republic in 1963 about the proposed civil rights act, Bork inveighed against a principle of "unsurpassed ugliness” -- not of racism, mind you, but of ...
Rand Paul for President -- The People's Hero, the Establishment's Nightmare
Post Date: 2010-05-22 21:53:52 by A K A Stone
3 Comments
Rand Paul's victory over the GOP machine pick Trey Grayson is a stunning victory for grass roots Americans, and a stunning blow to the Republican establishment. Dr. Paul's victory is a political nightmare for the Republican Party, which wants the momentum, money, manpower and votes of the "Tea Party" activists and other angry voters. But the GOP establishment trembles over candidates who are actually principled when it comes to fiscal liberty, allowing only Christian marriage, and outlawing all child killing by abortion. This is a huge quagmire for the GOP. Old line party hacks like Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, and Pat Buchanan, and Mitch McConnell are trying to co-opt the ...
Defending Rand Paul, Part II
Post Date: 2010-05-22 01:17:33 by A K A Stone
0 Comments
A number of liberal writers have included or featured me in essays about the Rand Paul flap. First, Adele Stan: Rand Paul’s biggest mistake, Weigel asserts, is that he told the truth about what he believes. ... I do not, I admit, know whether or not Rand Paul is a racist, or simply misguidedly naive. But I do know that this conservative, libertarian idea — that private ownership trumps civil rights — is nothing more than bigotry dressed up in the garb of “principle.” Then, Gabriel Winant: Various figures who stand a few notches in toward the mainstream from Paul have made arguments similar to Weigel's. It was a mere theoretical fancy, they say, nothing ...
Rand Paul and the Constitution
Post Date: 2010-05-22 00:55:56 by A K A Stone
0 Comments
The New York Sun wasn’t publishing in 1964, but we have no doubt that it would have supported the Civil Rights Act, as the editor who now conducts these columns did then and as the Sun does now. We revere the great figures of the civil rights movement. When their names — Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, Thurgood Marshall, to mark but three who are still in the news columns — come up at the dinner table, we speak to our children about their righteousness, courage, and heroism. We haven’t the slightest hesitation in supporting the authority of the federal government to outlaw racial discrimination in public or private businesses and myriad private transactions, such as, ...
If I own a scooter
Post Date: 2010-05-21 07:29:11 by A K A Stone
2 Comments
Ok I go to the store and buy myself a shiny new scooter. Am I allowed to choose who gets to ride it? Can I exclude people I don't want to ride it for whatever reason I choose? I suspect every reasonable person would say yes. Now say I take that money and buy a business instead. I own that business. Can I choose who to serve?
Have Some Tea, but Don't Throw a Party Yet
Post Date: 2010-05-19 15:19:27 by go65
3 Comments
The Tea Partiers, as John Judis points out, are a particular breed of conservative populists. It is easiest to define them by their media consumption habits and how they express their rage against the establishment. Their sacred texts are a particular and circumscribed view of the Constitution, is filtered through the brains of Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, Michelle Bachmann and others. Ye shall know them by the metaphors they use to describe the world, and how violently they describe the actions of the party in power today and the motivations (always deep and conspiratorial) they divine for those actions. They are angry conservatives, but not all angry conservatives are Tea Partiers. Regular ...
TITLE: Neocon Rand Paul defeats neocon Trey Grayson
Post Date: 2010-05-19 07:49:33 by A K A Stone
32 Comments
The MSM parrots are making a big deal of Rand Paul’s victory over his ideologically identical opponent Trey Grayson. They are both neocons. Either way we loose. These two neocons were simply vying to replace another neocon, career crook Jim Bunning, who is retiring. This is a non-event and another net loss for freedom. HERE IS ONE COMMENT FROM THE THREAD Rand Paul is a NEOCON! “Rand Paul: Try, Convict and Lock Up Terrorists In Guantanamo” http://www.randpaul2010.com/2009/11/rand-paul-try-convict-and-lock-up-terrorists-in-guantanamo/ imp has it right, only chumps continue to vote in rigged elections. and only chumps would sit there and say “9/11 can wait” ...
Itching to Fight Another Muslim Enemy
Post Date: 2010-05-18 11:34:18 by Brian S
0 Comments
If you read the major American newspapers or watch the propaganda on cable TV, it’s pretty clear that the U.S. foreign policy Establishment is again spoiling for a fight, this time in Iran. Just as Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was the designated target of American hate in 2002 and 2003, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is playing that role now. Back then, any event in Iraq was cast in the harshest possible light; today, the same is done with Iran. Anyone who dares suggest that the situation on the ground might not be as black and white as the Washington Post's editors claim it is must be an “apologist” for the enemy regime. It’s also not very smart for ...
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