Today Barack Obama delivered a strong speech about race and how, in his opinion, this country needs to reconcile its color issues. The man is an inspiring speaker, no doubt. But what of his substance? Do his ideas represent what is best for the future of this country? In some respects, perhaps. In my mind…
Category: Politics
Kos-ites on Strike. Web a Better Place?
How could the answer to that question be anything but a resounding "Yes!", you ask? Well, it seems it’s the more sane writers at Kos that are on strike, which necessarily leaves only the dregs of the Internet still "working"* there. "Alegre" says: I’ve put up with the abuse and anger because I’ve always believed…
House FISA Bill Denies Telco Amnesty
The House of Representatives today voted to pass a Democratic plan to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, defying President Bush’s demand that telecom companies that cooperated with the Justice Department be granted immunity for their actions. As I’ve said repeatedly, it makes no sense to penalize the telecoms for doing what they thought they…
Too Thin Political Skin
James Carville, one of Bill Clinton’s campaign advisers back in the day, wrote this dead-on piece as a post-mortem to the sad little affair of Samantha "Monster" Power. To prevent her candidate from further embarrassment, Ms Power performed the ritual act of American political hara-kiri and resigned. The problem is that calls for resignation are…
Obama Condemns Wright’s Statements
Barack Obama, undoubtedly stunned by the outcry that followed the popularization of Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s racist and anti-American statements, has "strongly condemned" his pastor’s teachings today. This decision is the correct one. But it’s late in coming. If Obama is really to be the trans-party, post-racial leader America has been waiting for he must demonstrate…
Spitzer’s Last Crusade?
Yesterday Eliot Spitzer admitted that he was a client of a prostitution ring, today he’s said to be considering whether or not to resign as Governor of New York. America loves to build up and then tear down its idols. Witness Michael Jackson, Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears, and others who were catapulted to fame and…
Testing John McCain, Pork Buster
Robert Novak brightened my day by writing that John "I’m the Sheriff" McCain and his Republican colleagues will be at odds this week over the practice of earmarking, which big-name Republicans decry even as they rack up massive amounts of pork for the voters back home. Sen. Jim DeMint, a first-term reform Republican from South…
Smearing John McCain
For reasons known only to himself, Robert Farley compares an ad by John McCain to the Nazi propaganda film Triumph des Willens and wonders aloud if McCain is a liberal fascist. His reasoning: Both McCain’s ad and Triumph have cloud imagery in them. Why, that’s genius! I’m so jealous – I wish could make that…
Obama Adviser Favors Telecom Immunity; Barack Demurs
ABC’s Justin Rood reports that John Brennan, Barack Obama’s intelligence adviser, has gone on-record as being strongly in favor of granting immunity to telecoms that provided information to the national security apparatus in advance of a new law granting them that authority. "I do believe strongly that [telecoms] should be granted that immunity," former CIA…
No More Power
Doing his best Babe Ruth imitation, Jimmie called his shot. Now it’s happened: Samantha Powers has resigned her position as advisor to the Obama campaign after calling Hillary Clinton a "monster" during an interview. Presumedly Obama was involved in the decision. I would have thought better of him if he’d taken the hit and told…