There’s one aspect to the rise and possible election of Barack Obama that I have not read a lot about: the form and function of a First Ladyship filled by one Michelle Obama. What exactly are we going to get from her if Mr. Obama is elected to the presidency? Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes at…
Author: marc
Marc is a software developer, writer, and part-time political know-it-all who currently resides in Texas in the good ol' U.S.A.
Shocker: College Faculty Mostly Fund Democrats
This may come as a bit of a traumatic shock to readers of the this blog, but it’s become known to the Houston Chronicle that the vast majority of political donations made by Texas’ college professors go to left-wing candidates. Texas faculty member’s candidate of choice for president? Hillary Rodham Clinton. Faculty members have contributed…
The New Anti-Intellectualism
From the Wall Street Journal: Often it seems as though American higher education exists only to provide gag material for the outside world. The latest spectacle is an Ivy League professor threatening to sue her students because, she claims, their "anti-intellectualism" violated her civil rights. Priya Venkatesan taught English at Dartmouth College. She maintains that…
McCain Joins Ethanol Rebellion
John McCain has joined with 23 other Senate Republicans to call for ethanol production mandates to be eased in light of rising grain prices. McCain did not vote on the 2007 energy bill that contains President Bush’s new bio-fuel requirements. Food prices have increased substantially worldwide and CNN reports that riots have occurred in Egypt,…
Censoring Ourselves
Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith, today posted an intense condemnation of the western practice of censoring itself in regards to Islam and the terrorists who operate with its theocratic permission. What’s most interesting about Harris’ article are his personal anecdotes about censorship by the mainstream American press. Highly recommended reading. Harris writes:…
Hillary Ignoring Economists on Gas Tax Holiday
Robert Reich, a former Clinton Secretary of Labor who now favors Barack Obama, says that the gas tax holiday Ms. Clinton supports – as does John McCain – is "economically stupid" and would increase demand for gas while costing the government $9B to finance. And he’s not alone. …when economists tell a president or a…
Public Not Believing Obama re Wright
A new Rasmussen telephone poll shows that only 30% of Americans believe that Barack Obama broke with Jeremiah Wright because of his disgust with the former pastor’s racially-charged statements. Most—58%–say he denounced the Pastor for political convenience. … Fifty-six percent (56%) say it’s at least somewhat likely that Obama “shares some of Pastor Wright’s controversial…
Using Oil Reserves to Lower Gas Prices
Texas Congressman Chet Edwards (D) wants to use the U.S.’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower prices at the gas pump. Needless to say, I think this is a bad idea, for reasons I list below. He says the increased supply would help halt rising gas prices which are predicted to hit $4 per gallon by…
The Market Works
Many of the same people who champion fuel-efficient, (relatively) environmentally-friendly automobiles are at the front lines calling for the government to "do something" about high gasoline prices. For these people, the news that higher gas prices are driving an unmistakable shift to the very cars they’d like us to drive must present a bit of…
Telco Immunity Deal Coming?
That’s what Jane Hamsher thinks. According to the ACLU, there is rumor of a backroom deal being brokered by Jay Rockefeller on FISA that will include retroactive immunity. I’ve heard from several sources that Steny Hoyer is doing the dirty work on the House side, and some say it will be attached to the new…