Archive for November, 2006
The Beat Of A Different Drummer
With the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century entering a critical phase, with time quickly running out on the prospect of the good guys winning the defining good-versus-evil battle of our lifetimes, the President seems to be strangely relaxed and laid back. Strangely cocky. Almost as if somone’s done the math for him, and [...]
Graham’s Fairy Tales
AP: Rep. Rangel, a veteran of the Korean War who has unsuccessfully sponsored legislation on conscription in the past, has said the all-volunteer military disproportionately puts the burden of war on minorities and lower-income families. […] Sen. Graham said he believes the all-voluntary military “represents the country pretty well in terms of ethnic makeup, economic [...]
The Gang Of Four
After reflecting on the no doubt chastening experience of the midterm election, after introspecting about how to put their best foot forward, here’s the bold new strategy the Republican Party has come up with: “It’s broke, but hey why fix it?†(No doubt, when they were debating this in their internal conclaves, the clincher was [...]
The Wheel of Life, Politics Edition
You may have wondered, in idle moments, what is supposed to happen once we elect those good-looking, smooth-talking, TV-camera-genic people to Congress. How exactly do these eager public servants go about doing the people’s business, delivering to us a government of the people, by the people, for the people? The Washington Post lays it out [...]
Be Careful What You Wish For
Get Your War On Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postShare on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itBookmark in BrowserTell a friend
So Confused
The media and many Republican talking heads have been warning me that newly-elected Senators Jon Tester and Jim Webb only won their elections because they are more like Republicans than Democrats. But I just saw them on Meet the Press, and they were talking about how their top legislative priorities are making things better for [...]
Rest in Pierce Brosnan
Like most male Americans, James Bond has been part of my life almost from the beginning. My dad used to take me to see each new release while catching me up on the ones that came out before I was born. I came of age at an odd time in the franchise, Sean Connery was [...]
Miscommunication
Politicians sometimes regard the results of an election as a message transmitted by the people. But the people can only send the message; they can’t make sure it is received. Not by all the politicians. After calling for bipartisanship, President Bush surprised Senate Democrats with plans to renominate a controversial list of judges some of [...]
From Sir, With Love
Here’s the hard-on Bush has been hiding in his pants until after the elections. According to sources familiar with the administration: 1) The Iraq Study Group is just window-dressing. 2) Bush’s pious post-election claptrap about bipartisanship is just that. 3) Bush has no intention of learning any lessons from the results of the midterm election. [...]
A Strategy Of Paralysis
Reuters: The top U.S. general in the Middle East on Wednesday rejected calls to either boost troop levels or withdraw from Iraq, saying Americans should stay and train local forces to eliminate raging sectarian violence. Gen. John Abizaid has pretty much made it official. Our tactics may change constantly, but our alleged Iraq strategy is [...]