Interesting piece of advice to Obama today from one James Carville: "Panic." In view of recent Congressional losses, even Carville's waking up to the fact that whatever political caluclations Obama and his team have been making, they're not adding up to anything but disaster. Which is why he's saying things like fire the losers in his administration, indict real criminals, and fight. Something that this writer and scores of others have been advocating literally now for years. Here's why he's not delusional: A must-read, recent confessional from long-time congressional Repubican operative, Mike Lofgren, comes as cold comfort to those of us who have consistently been accused of wearing tin foil hats with respect to ...
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He had the public overwhelmingly on his side in terms of his insistence on a balanced approach. Even, the most limited read of the Constitution would support his right invoke the 14th Amendment in the face of defending the nation against certain calamity. He positioned the Dems as supporting the middle class while effectively tarring the Pugs as radical defenders of the freeloading billionaires and predatory corporations who are bleeding us dry. Obama didn't just have the wind at his back, he had a hurricane.
But what does he do? He lifts the ball just as we're about to kick it. He may take solace in finding a solution that we're not going to default and that he found a compromise that makes . ...
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Among the many strange things about Republicans and the Tea Party is their obsession with signing oaths and ignoring the one that really matters. They take great self-righteous pride in swearing to be pro life, swearing allegiance to Jesus and to never, ever support any bill that raises taxes. But they stretch the rules plenty when it comes to their conduct in public life. Chuck Almdale wrote a letter to the editor in today's LA Times that raises an incredibly intriguing question:
"All politicians take an oath of office swearing to defend the Constitution. In California, this includes the phrase, "I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge ...
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As the Pug/Baggers begin shutting down the government again in a reprise of the '90s, the blame game is going to be blaring from all sides. Found some interesting stats in a reply to Huff Post article: GOP President: 1980-1992, 2000-2008 (20 years in power v. 10)
GOP Senate: 1980-1988, 1994-2000, 2002-2006 (16 v. 14)
GOP House: 1994-2006 (12 v.18)
GOP Supreme Court Chief Justice:1980-2011 (30 years in power v. 0)
GOP dominance of governmental branches, in years: 21.34 (past 30 years)
DEM dominance of governmental branches, in years: 8.66 (past 30 years)
Sort of like the winger/progressive imbalance in talk radio and in the MSM headlines these days. Given the stacked deck, no wonder no one knows right from left ...
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Clarence Thomas should be disbarred, fined and jailed for tax evasion, lying and for failing to live up to his oath of office by not recusing himself in the Citizen's United case.
For anyone's who's been even remotely attentive over the past 8-10 years, we've evolved a two-tier justice system. One that severely punishes illegal aliens and dudes who light a blunt or two and no penalties for the corporate pirates and the official "elite" class that has plundered our treasure, started illegal wars, violated international laws against torture and deliberately flaunted established laws and codes of conduct.
This began under Bush I, who pardoned Iran/Contra folks and was raised to an art form under Bush II. The hell of ...
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While most of us are watching the emerging tragedy in Egypt, the real story of the past couple of days has been happening in our backyards. Literally. With the exception of California (where I live) and parts of Arizona, three-quarters of the nation has been battered by largest snowstorm on record. 2,000 miles long.
Coupled with a near-Category 3 inland hurricane over Wisconsin earlier this year and an unprecedented Katrina-sized cyclone making landfall in Australia, it's pretty clear Al Gore was no Chicken Little. And yet, the words, "climate change" have been excised completely from both the official and public discourse.
I see the signs of it every day. My maple tree dropped its leaves mid-December (usually early ...
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Shocking that I'm probably the only one writing on this blog who was truly impressed by Obama's SOTU last night. There is still great risk that none of his initiatives will happen or that he'll crumble under the weight of his "reasonableness" and become Carter II.
Nonetheless, the liet motif of the speech was its powerful and pointed neutrality. It's the one time that Obama really has walked his talk with focus and more specificity than he had, certainly in the '10 SOTU. It could very well be his defining moment and the single moment that politics as usual pivots into something new and potentially exciting. It will depend on his endurance and what kind of leverage he has in a clearly hostile congress.
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In the wake of the Giffords shooting, the right wing distortion chamber is trying hard to place the blame on the left, as if the shooter were a deranged Marxist terrorist fueled by Obama and Bill Ayers. Palin, who's left graphic evidence of her intentions, is defiant. Gee willikers, she didn't mean shoot, just targeting. Of course that's why her map has gun sights, not bulls-eyes.
Unfortunately because our shooter hasn't said a word and lists both Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto as favorite books, his motivation is being characterized as "apolitical," an interpretation that the mainstream media is playing to the hilt and that the right is using to deflect blame. But to dismiss the Giffords ...
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There’s no other rational explanation for Obama’s no-confrontation strategy. The calculus is that the other side is so rabid, so righteously terrified, they’ll punch themselves out well before the 2012 campaign process begins in earnest. He could be right. And if he is, there’s lots of reasons to be optimistic. After all, we’re now having Constitutional Catechism before each Congressional session, and the citing of the words of our Lord known to the believers only as “Madison” into every bill. Funny thing about that. You see, the Constitution is the penultimate liberal document. It confers rights and limits the powers of government. But not in the way Ms. Michelle, Sister Sarah and ...
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For years around here at BOB, many of us wrote about incipient fascism with tongue firmly planted in cheek. But with the rise of the Tea Party movement, egged on by demagogues like Sarah Palin, who clearly gets off whipping up the rage in a crowd, the pummeling of a man in a wheelchair who supported single payer healthcare last year and now, the stomping of a woman at a Rand Paul rally, are we not in a state of denial if we ignore the signs?
With the advent of the Citizens United decision, millions of dollars of undisclosed corporate campaign funds, a crippled economy that deliberately is not only being sustained but morphed in a cudgel over the heads of Democratic opposition, we're quickly comping to a point of no return . ...
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