Recently in Politics Category

The House of Representatives: Where talk is cheap."House leaders have unveiled the text of their resolution addressing the shooting in Tucson, AZ over the weekend that left six people dead and wounded many others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords [D, AZ-8] who remains in critical condition. The resolution, which was written by members of both parties and is offered by Speaker of the House John Boehner [R, OH-8], will be voted on by the House Wednesday...

In the immediate aftermath of the shootings in Tucson this past Saturday, before any evidence had been uncovered as to what made Jared Loughner do what he did, and when it was still unclear as to whether or not incendiary political rhetoric played any part, Republicans rushed to microphones everywhere to try and distance themselves from any culpability with the "both sides do it" defense. A few opinions of others on this false equivalent and...

As more evidence is discovered--a search warrant for Jared Loughner's home producing a letter which shows he may have targeted Congresswoman Giffords for assassination as far back as 2007--it appears that there was no political motivation to the shooting and no connection to the map on Sarah Palin's web site which depicted gunsights surveyor marks over Giffords' district. That being said, it's interesting to note the timing and sequence of events from the Palin defenders in...

"The rhetoric has devolved and descended past the ugly, and past the threatening, and past the fantastic, and into the imminently murderous."<br />Undoubtedly, the descriptions of Jared Lee Loughner as "unstable, very disturbed" and a "loner" are accurate. But it is precisely unstable, disturbed, loners who are the most susceptible to the rhetoric Olbermann describes. Unstable, disturbed, loners like Lee Harvey Oswald, like Sirhan Sirhan, like Arthur Bremer, like John Hinckley.Who out of a twisted...

Forecast for the next two years. Mostly weepy, chance of precipitation 100%....

A few odds and ends on a gray Wednesday morning:Since the new Republican majority in the House is going to start today with a dog and pony show reading of the Constitution, maybe they could have Justice Scalia stop by and explain why he thinks the First Amendment right to free speech applies to corporations but the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth doesn't apply to women. Could be interesting.To whom it may concern at...

TPM Live Wire has the details:"You know the story and you know the names: states like Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and California are supposed to be in huge financial trouble thanks to bloated governments, business-unfriendly regulations, and strong public sector unions. ...But there's one state, which is fairly high up on the list of troubled states that nobody is talking about, and there's a reason for it.The state is Texas.This month the state's part-time...

Breaking news: In order to cut down on travel time through the revolving door for President Obama's outgoing and incoming team of advisers, the White House is moving from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Here's the new location:Might as well be:"President Barack Obama is considering naming William Daley, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive and former U.S. Commerce secretary, to a high-level administration post, possibly White House chief of staff, people familiar with the matter said. [...]After...

I've never been a fan of raisins. There's just something about a so-called fruit that is all shriveled up and looks like dead bugs that has never appealed to me.   Over the years, raisins have become analogous with things that I have found annoying. I find it particularly annoying when a situation calls for bold, decisive action ... and in comes Mr. Stay Puft to handle it. You know what I'm talking about. You...

I hope everyone got everything they wanted for Christmas. The Pentagon certainly did."On December 22 both houses of the U.S. Congress unanimously passed a bill authorizing $725 billion for next year's Defense Department budget. The bill, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, was approved by all 100 senators as required and by a voice vote in the House."The hypocritical cries from many of those same 100 senators and those "voices" in the...