Paul Krugman makes me angry. Why? Because basically every column he writes for The New York Times does a great job of cutting through the chaff and highlighting the hypocrisy of Republican (and sometimes Democratic) politicians and what a disaster...
The always entertaining Bill Maher offers some sobering thoughts on the Stewart/Colbert rally in DC:...
I had the great pleasure of attending Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Keep Fear Alive in Washington, DC on Saturday. Perhaps Stewart summed up the event best in his closing comments, which you can watch...
So, I'm waking up slowly on a Saturday, sipping coffee and noodling around on the Tubes of the Internets. TV is on, tuned to ESPN. The top of the hour rolls by and ESPN begins coverage of a NASCAR race...
About a month ago, I had the pleasure of being in New Orleans for that town's annual Jazz and Heritage Festival. At the time, the Deepwater Horizon had just suffered an explosion, burned, and sank, rupturing the oil well it...
On the arrest of American citizen and alleged Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, Sen. John McCain had this to say: "Don't give this guy his Miranda rights until we find out what it's all about..."Note to John McCain: Law enforcement...
This is the joke that has people up in arms? Really? Reallly...this is the offensive joke? Wow....
It's been a tough week, that's for sure, but not the disaster to Democrats and liberals some (including many Democrats and liberals) would have you believe. So now it's a test of your mettle. Are you up to the fight?...
From the "sometimes somebody else expresses my sentiments better than I can" files, the always interesting Paul Krugman, writing in Monday's New York Times, took a look at the role of Right-wing paranoia in today's Republican Party. Krugman noted that...
Well, duh! More to the point, an article posted at Cato-at-Liberty informs us that, "Cato Adjunct Scholar Aaron Yelowitz concludes that the cost of President Obama's health care plan would fall inordinately upon younger Americans, meaning they are in essence...
It's official, Chicago will not host the 2016 Olympics. Here in Chicago, the locals have had a lot of mixed emotions about hosting the Games. Many people, particularly of a more conservative attitude, worried about the costs to taxpayers and...
THIS is why we need healthcare reform (among other things...): According to an article by David S. Hilzenrath in yesterday's Washington Post, health insurance companies have sought to deny coverage to people for a host of reasons. Health insurers have...
President Obama is planning to address America's schoolchildren next week in a speech that will stress the importance of setting educational goals and assuming personal responsibility for taking steps to achieve those goals. That sounds fairly inoccuous to me, but...
One thing about the Democratic Party in the age of Obama is that it has been fairly responsive to the ever-increasing lunacy of the Republicans. It really only has been in recent years that the Democrats have begun to actually...
I watched President Obama deliver remarks prior to his departure from Ghana this afternoon. Obama's remarks were delivered from a podium on the tarmac in front of Air Force One at the airport in Accra. Traditional drummers and dancers graced...
(via Media Matters) Rush Limpaugh derides the Republican Party because he thinks that they just humbly accept their imagined second-class status and he compares them to black people who were forced to ride in the backs of buses. He declares...
It's always disappointing to see someone you like do something you don't like. As much as I like President Obama, I voted for him knowing full well that he would occasionally disappoint. CNN reported today that Obama requested that government...
A chorus of conservative talking heads has been taking advantage of the swine flu outbreak (or, "snoutbreak," if you're Jon Stewart) by using it as a platform to whip up xenophobic hysteria among the conservative base. They do this by...
I have to admit I have mixed feelings about this whole thing. On one hand, I am not at all comfortable with the level of surveillance we're all under as American citizens. I didn't like it when word leaked about...
I am quite frankly amazed and obviously fascinated by the current state of the GOP and conservatism in America. It was just a matter of months ago that Democrats took a decisive win in the White House and increased majorities...
This is what it's come to: languishing in the political deep woods without a leader nor bold ideas to tackle the big problems we're facing, conservatives in America resort to making up enemies and diabolical plots against which they rail....
Here's exactly why I didn't give a shit about Rick Warren speaking at the inauguration: Obama appoints gay man to faith-based initiatives office Yes, symbols are important and I understand why so many Obama supporters were upset to see a...
Andrew Leonard wrote a must-read piece for his column at Salon.com about the efforts of Right-wing propagandists, enabled in this case by the Wall Street Journal, to rewrite history to their liking by pushing the idea that Franklin D. Roosevelt's...
Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican and the Senate Minority Leader, stepped up to the plate and offered his grim assessment of the state of the Republican Party. Per a CNN report, McConnell said: "We're all concerned about the fact that the...
Conservative writer David Frum, writing at NewMajority.com, bravely identified a core problem within today's conservative movement. I call his words brave because any sort of reality-based critical self-analysis is often met with scorn or charges of betrayal within the confines...
A conservative friend (and I mean that in all sincerity, so don't infer any snark where none is implied) posts his hopes for the new administration. He trumpets a common theme I'm seeing from conservatives and one that was apparent...
Tom Davis, a Republican and now former Representative from Virginia, has some interesting thoughts as to why the Republicans have suffered losses for two national elections in a row and what Republicans might do to make themselves more attractive to...
The Hill reported on Friday that a candidate for the Republican National Committee chairmanship, Chip Saltsman, sent a Christmas greeting to committee members that included a CD by the Rush Limbaugh Show's Paul Shanklin. Among the song titles on the...
President-elect Barack Obama ruffled feathers within the gay/lesbian community and within the larger Left community when he announced that Reverend Rick Warren would deliver the invocation at Obama's swearing-in ceremony. "Your invitation to Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation...
(Via Think Progress) It looks like I'm not the only one who noticed that the Republican Party is on its way to becoming a party of and for rural (southern) white people. Former Secretary of State General Colin Powell voiced...
Love her or hate her, it looks like Hillary Clinton will be Secretary of State in the Obama Administration. Hillary isn't one of my favorite political figures and her campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination at times bordered on the...
James Rainey, writing for the Los Angeles Times, apparently took a few minutes to listen to CONservative talk radio darling Rush Limbaugh so the rest of us don't have to. "The Obama recession is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen,"...
So lefties are bitching and moaning about Barack Obama's choice of Rahm Emanuel as his Chief Of Staff, suggesting that he's screwing his base, and that it's "not a good sign for progressives." Rahm Emanuel gets shit done, period. He...
George is a good friend from college who has lived in several different South American and European countries the last several years. Raised in Ohio, George watched from afar the election the whole world was waiting for and battled European...
Tomorrow is America's day of reckoning. After eight long years of Bush failures and congressional GOP assistance, now is the time to make a correction and to make a statement. What will you tell your grandkids you did this year?...
Like most anyone who gives a shit about this election, members of the GLONO crew gathered in Chicago last night to watch the Vice Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. We had drinks, we had TV, we had...
According to a piece by Nico Pitney in today's Huffington Post (includes CNN video), not only is McCain threatening to pull a no-show at the first of three presidential debates scheduled for Friday, September 26 if no Wall Street bail-out...
The National Enquirer (I know, I know) was apparently the agent that drove Alaska Governor and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin to release the news that her 17-year-old daughter Bristol was pregnant. Once the Enquirer had the scoop, they...
As I watched the RNC Day 3 festivities, I couldn't help but notice that very few people whose last names weren't Palin appeared to be around 45 or 50 at the youngest. Lots seemed to be wearing cowboy hats. I...
Although I haven't yet come across definitive proof in the form of a birth certificate it appears that the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is in fact the mother of infant Trig, born in April of this year. At least...
If you haven't heard by now, Jerome Corsi, the same individual who gave us "Unfit for Command," in 2004, a fact-light book designed to derail John Kerry's bid for the Presidency, has a new book out called, "The Obama Nation;...
"John McCain, Internet Dunce," boldly proclaimed the headline of a piece by Amanda Terkel at Salon.com on Wednesday. Terkel's article examines McCain's befuddlement with the newfangled Internet. She offers up some glistening jewels of McCain's net-ignorance, such as this quote...
Director David Zucker is currently directing a new film called "An American Carol" that is sure to pack a lot of the zany punch that some of his earlier works are famous for. Zucker's earlier works include classic comedies such...
The Obama campaign's new logo, which bears a striking resemblance to the Seal of the President of the United States, has raised the ire of many people on the right. CNN.com ran this piece describing the new logo on Friday,...
I half-watched MSNBC this morning as I sipped my coffee. Tim Russert had Tucker Carlson (sans bowtie) and Ryan Lizza on his show. The three of them devoted a sizeable portion of the show to dissecting the relevance of Barack...
Many on the Right, particularly Christian fundamentalist types, make it a point to use Barack Obama's full name, Barack Hussein Obama, when they discuss the Democratic presidential hopeful in the hopes that they will reinforce the idea among their fundamentalist...
I have been having an ongoing discussion regarding Global Warming-related issues with a conservative lot at LibertyPundit.com. The discussion was sparked by commentary on the Politics Junky Global Dumbing? article, which was inspired by the Politics Junky Barack Obama on...
Over at Robert Reich's Blog, Reich argues that by getting out of Iraq, letting the Bush tax cuts expire, and increasing taxes on the very rich, we can get rid of the budget deficit, pay down some national debt, and...
Almost every speech delivered by Republican candidates for the presidency has evoked a yearning to return the party to the glory of the Reagan years. While Reagan has virtually been declared a saint by the Republicans, I wonder how wise...
This shit pisses me off. This piece is inspired in part by PolJunk commenter Nikki and partly by the morons at LibertyPundit.com. To give you an idea of what kind of brain power is poised to select, presumably, the Republican...
Are the reasons people dislike Hillary Clinton also reasons to vote for her? I will openly admit that I am no big fan of Hillary Clinton, nor do I despise her. I find her to be very clever and calculating...
As all Americans suffer the fallout of the sub-prime mortgage disaster in one way or another, our nation's leaders in Washington, D.C. are all atwitter as to what should be done about it. Democrats in Congress will be quick to...
One of the most common charges levied against Barack Obama and, sometimes, Hillary Clinton as they seek the Democratic nomination for the presidency is that they lack experience. On the one hand, it is perfectly fair to demand to know...
Alex Koppelman posted an interesting interview over at Salon.com with conservative pundit Jonah Goldberg. The piece is very much worth reading because it sheds some light on the inner workings of one of the Right's most influential minds. The interview...
In a Washington Post op-ed - Why I believe Bush must go - George McGovern argues that Bush and Cheney should be impeached. It's a powerful piece, neatly condensing the arguments for impeachment. A must read: As we enter the...
Those gays... why do they hate America so much? Why do they want to fundamentally alter the American way of life with their crazy alternative lifestyles? That was me channeling Jim Talent, former Senator from Missouri. He got his ass...
Anyone still on the fence regarding Barack Obama should watch this clip. It takes his outstanding Jefferson-Jackson speech and couples it with video footage of the excitement his campaign stops evoke. It's stirring and it's salient. Obama: One Voice...
Yesterday, The New York Times editorial board published a year end editorial - Looking at America - that reflects on the crimes of the Bush administration that came to light in the past year. It's not a pretty picture: There...
Salon is listing what they think are their best pieces from 2007. This Walter Shapiro piece from April - Repeal the Second Amendment - caught my eye: ... [L]iberals should look at the firearms issue from a long-term perspective, instead...
Barron Hilton, grandfather of Paris Hilton, said this week that he plans to donate 97% of his fortune to charity when he dies. 97% of $2.8 billion dollars. That would leave about $84 million after the charitable donations. Which is...
Here's your Friday video fun. A new documentary by Morgan Spurlock - of Supersize Me fame - chronicles the efforts of Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping to bring American consumers to their senses in a new documentary,...
It isn't often that I read Tammy Bruce's right-leaning blog, but Salon.com's link to her site on Tuesday caught my attention. Tammy, to her credit, took the Bush Administration, and Condi Rice in particular, to task over the meeting of...
Nobody I read seems to be sad to see John Howard go in Australia. In fact, some seem to be near gleeful - at least pleased. That includes Andrew Sullivan, Joe Romm, and Glenn Greenwald. And Kyoto Protocol supporters everywhere....
Good news for people who care about the future of the planet: John Howard is no longer Prime Minister in Australia. Labor is in, and the Liberal Party is out. Kevin Rudd, the new Prime Minister, promised to take global...
I'm thankful for a lot of things. One of the things I'm thankful for is the Beatles: Happy Thanksgiving....
If you guessed Dennis Hastert, you'd be close, but wrong. The Hammer would like to bitch-slap none other than New York Times columnist and Princeton economics professor Paul Krugman. Probably because Krugman insists on brandishing facts and logic when he...
Last Wednesday, Warren Buffett testified in front of the Senate Finance Committee. He's still on his pro-taxes on the rich crusade. This time, he's advising the finance committee to retain the estate tax: The resources of society I don't think...
While perusing the Right side of the blogosphere recently, I encountered the usual smattering of declarations that the Main Stream Media has a leftist agenda. I traded comments with some tool on a conservative website where I tried to explain...
As far as conservatives are concerned, progressives hate America. I prefer the term liberal, but progressive is what we are apparently calling ourselves these days, since Republican propaganda has succeeded in associating the term liberal with child molesters and mass...
Originally posted on our parent site's message board, Keith Olbermann takes it to Bush on torture and how this administration has devolved into a pathetic machine for cover-your-ass. We post Olbermann's Special Commentary from time to time and this one...
In his Trickle Down or Bottom Up post, Robert Reich writes that the only way to solve our budget and debt woes is to raise taxes on the rich: The only way is to stop obsessing about balancing the budget...
The Kucinich sponsored bill that calls for impeaching Vice President Cheney was referred to the Judiciary Committee last week, where it will likely die. On Friday, Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) sent a letter to Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), chair of the...
The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) was originally intended to make sure a handful of rich people - 155 families - weren't able to almost avoid paying federal income taxes entirely. That was in 1969. Now, because the AMT isn't indexed...
Reason.tv is also highlighting this gem: A Keith Olbermann interview from 2006 with Dr. Claudia Jensen, who advocates for using cannabis as a treatment for ADD and ADHD instead of Ritalin, which is basically speed. And she has some credibility:...
Drew Carey is doing a series of public service messages on Reason.tv. It's called the Drew Carey Project. Episode 2 is all about medical marijuana. Best line? "Smell that smell? That's the smell of freedom." I bet you can guess...
The recent Washington Post piece on U.S. guns arming Mexican drug gangs reminded me: I never did go back and read that 2nd piece in the Christian Science Monitor series I blogged on before. This quote from the CSM article...
When I heard about the earthquake out in San Francisco this morning, the first thing I thought was "What role did Al Qaeda play in triggering the earthquake?" In their coverage of the SoCal wildfires, our good friends at Fox...
There's a lot in this Harold Ford interview that drives me insane, but I am going to focus on Ford's answer to the very first question and how it is an abject lesson in how NOT to respond to a...
They'd rather see a carbon tax than a cap and trade system: Economists agree that the real cost of burning fossil fuels – damage to the environment and health, not to mention the cost of replacing them as they run...
On "Comment is free", the Guardian's new "group blog", Francis Fukuyama has posted A self-defeating hegemony, on the topic of anti-Americanism around the world. Fukuyama once was a beacon among neoconservatives, and urged both Clinton and Bush to invade Iraq...
Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Republican Minority Leader in the Senate, has stepped in it this time. Remember the S-CHIP bill that passed the Senate and House with substantial majorities? The one that the monkey in the White House vetoed, even...
12 former U.S. Army captains - all of whom did tours of duty in Iraq - argue in today's Washington Post that unless the country is willing to support a draft, it's time to get out of Iraq. Now: There...
When Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week (along with the IPCC), I knew conservatives wouldn't be dancing in the street and sending fruit baskets to the Vice President. But I'll have to admit, I was a bit...
According to a recent Associated Press article, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were in Russia on Friday to discuss a missile defense system in eastern Europe. The Americans received a less-than-warm welcome since the...
While the Republican candidates for president trip all over themselves trying to demonstrate who is more Reaganesque, I think it's worth noting one of the major legacies of the Reagan era: almost $9 trillion dollars in national debt. Before Mr....
The best thing to do with people like Ann Coulter is to ignore them and not give them any credibility by repeating the ignorant blather that they projectile vomit over the airwaves. But sometimes, these comments are just too rich...
Jimmy Carter was on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer last night. He did not shirk his responsibility to condemn the use of torture by the Bush administration, nor was he afraid to call President Bush a liar: BLITZER: President...
Keith Olbermann continues to doggedly pursue the lawlessness of the Bush administration on his show. Countdown is generally a great show, and I hope i's nightly viewer ship will grow well past a million (currently an average of 750,000). Last...
Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, agrees with us on the need to eliminate farm subsidies: I've got a way to reduce global poverty, decrease the number of workers crossing our borders illegally, save American taxpayers money, and...
You may not know who Neal Katyal is, but any lawyer worth his or her salt should. A Yale Law graduate who once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, he is a professor at Georgetown Law, and last year...
Great commentary from Thomas Friedman this past Sunday on the White House response to a Democrat's suggestion that a tax be levied to pay for the Iraq War: Every so often a quote comes out of the Bush administration that...
If you haven't heard by now, the Bush Administration has been outsourcing work that used to be performed by uniformed American military personnel to a private outfit called Blackwater. It is important to note that, as a private company, Blackwater's...
Can I speculate for a minute here? I think you'll find this Daily Show clip a tad bit funny... or, your head might explode, raining down flecks of brain matter on your fellow cube mates. You decide:...
This summer has been filled with news about the subprime meltdown, the resulting market movements, and the inevitable recession that will result from the disintegration of the housing boom. We're seeing the country's housing stock drop in total value for...
There's nothing more exciting than watching a good, old fashioned tasering. It builds character, and strengthens stomach muscles. So here's your Friday video fun: A woman tasered repeatedly by an overweight Ohio cop: Reasonable commentary from CNN on the topic....
I watched the New Orleans Saints lose at home in the Superdome to the Tennessee Titans in the Monday night game. For a minute, I though Rex Grossman had donned a Saints jersey, as the Titans nabbed four interceptions....
From a Christopher Hitchens piece - Run, Al, Run - in Slate today: On Oct. 12, we shall hear again from Oslo, and I will be very surprised indeed if the peace prize is not awarded to Albert Gore Jr....
Resident Bush and his Republican friends are disgusted with the advertisement that MoveOn.org placed in last week's New York Times that suggested General Petraeus might be better called General Betray Us. As Salon's Tim Grieve reports, a total of 72...
In an attempt to jumpstart negotiations on what will replace the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations is holding "high level" meetings today on addressing climate change. Over 80 heads of state will be attending. True to form, though, President Bush...
