Recently in Issue Framing Category

Yet another Republican with a hotline to God. This time it's that old Appalachian Trail hiker himself, Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina: "Mr. Sanford vowed not to quit despite growing pressure from South Carolina lawmakers and Republican Party officials to resign or face impeachment. He said he intends to complete his term, not to hold on to power but to fight for conservative principles of governance."I feel absolutely committed to the cause, to what God...

Political science has always fascinated me going back to my days at TCU where I got my undergraduate degree. When you meld in the little bit of psychology I got in my masters you really get some interesting things. Right now, the nation is focused on health care, but when you combine those two subjects (politics and psychology) you get a blueprint on just about every issue. Our two party system is fairly unique and...

Now that September is here and the Congressional recess is about to end, the next few weeks should answer some very important questions about our elected representatives in Washington, not the least of which is, who do they really represent, the people or the corporate interests? According to Brain Beutler at TPMDC the Senate Democrats are on the horns of the proverbial dilemma. Finally realizing that there will be no Republican support for any health...

I've always had a lot of respect for Senator Bob Dole.  He is an honest-to-God WWII hero, with two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star with the combat "V" - for his valor in attempting to assist a downed radio man.  In his service as a Congressman and Senator, he was widely regarded as a man able to bridge the moderate and conservative wings of the Republican Party.  Since his retirement (and loss in the...

The torture-defending spokespersons for the Republican Party were on full display yesterday on the Sunday news shows. First there was Papa Dick Cheney stopping by Fox News Sunday for a softball game with Chris Wallace, what Andrew Sullivan aptly named, A Teenage Girl Interviewing the Jonas Brothers. Then we had daughter Liz on This Week making some incredible claims (even for Liz, and that's saying something) about the Bush Justice Department. Finally, John McCain on...

As President Obama's approval ratings, both overall and on his handling of the issue of health care reform, continue to slide, the unasked question in these polls is why do those polled disapprove. Part of the answer may lie in the numbers from the latest Daily Kos/Research 2000 tracking poll. While the disapproval rating among Republicans remains constant, despite the concessions and the futile attempts to appease the unappeasable, the drop among Democrats and Independents...

I'm generally in a more chipper mood today, so I thought I would focus on what the Democrats should do instead of what the Republicans are doing. In a past life I was an assistant debate coach. My duties pretty much were generally relegated to driving the bus and serving as an occasional judge, but I learned a thing or two about debate during those two years. Most people recognize two kinds of debate (Lincoln-Douglass...

Before I go too far, let it be known that this blog entry is meant for everyone and not in direct response to any blog entry here or anywhere. The rules here are stated very simply, "be nice or go home." It seems that society has lost that somewhere along the way. I can't count the number of times I've heard someone say that "Obama wants to destroy the economy" or something similar to those...

Most critics and fans recognize Radio KAOS as the best of the Pink Floyd solo albums (Roger Waters). One of the songs on that album is titled "Who needs information?" He was talking about nuclear war and the desire not to know until something has happened. The song could be rewritten today to describe a lot of people in America. Unfortunately, this isn't a case of having no information, but having bad information. I talked about...

Okay, so some little taken-care-of-by-somebody-else, ("I don't know what our income is because my husband takes care of all the bills") late-to-the-game gal has decided she's up in arms over the current healthcare debate after not paying attention to the world around her for the past 35 years because she's self-centered. By all means, let's give her national exposure on 24-hour cable news because her opinion on Constitutional law, and everything else, is so relevant....