[ Posted Monday, April 16th, 2012 – 15:05 UTC ]
As we enter the general election season, the political punditry will (once again) trot out many shallow and trite phrases and concepts to be consumed as easily-digestible mental pap for their audiences. It is, after all the silly season. I don't even exclude myself -- I'll probably oversimplify a few things from now until Election Day, if the past is any prologue. But I just wanted to address the worst of these inane and facile statements right here at the beginning of the race: the false dichotomy that "this election will either be a choice or a referendum." Mostly because I'm already sick of hearing such tripe, and it is only April.
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[ Posted Friday, April 13th, 2012 – 16:28 UTC ]
The big political distraction at the end of the week was a reopening of what used to be called the "Mommy Wars," by Democratic insider Hilary Rosen. This came about largely because the political chattering class was bored, now that their GOP nomination horserace is all-but-officially over, and they needed a new toy to blow up with metaphorical firecrackers. Of course, they leapt at the chance to do so with all the fervor of a nine-year-old with a pocketful of Black Cats and his sister's Barbie doll, heading into the woods for some pyromaniacal fun.
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[ Posted Thursday, April 12th, 2012 – 15:56 UTC ]
That title is an attempt to be lighthearted, perhaps what someone would say when spotting two famous Aunties (Andy Griffith's in Mayberry, and Dorothy's in Kansas). But it's a failed attempt, because I'm not saying "I see Bee, Em" but rather I.C.B.M. -- a subject which is the polar opposite of "lighthearted."
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[ Posted Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 – 14:47 UTC ]
President Barack Obama is using the week before income taxes are due to make a full-court press for the vote next week in the Senate on the so-called "Buffett Rule" (which would force people making a million bucks a year to pay higher taxes than their secretaries). Today, he mentioned what could turn out to be the biggest weapon in this fight, and made a joke about what it should be called instead. Obama shouldn't be treating it as a joke, though. He should take his own advice and publicly rename the idea the "Reagan Rule" -- and then run a television ad explaining why to the country.
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[ Posted Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 – 17:12 UTC ]
Today is, of course, the day when the entire political universe pivots from the 2012 primary election season to the 2012 general election season. This was precipitated by Rick Santorum exiting the race early today, much to Mitt Romney's relief.
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[ Posted Monday, April 9th, 2012 – 16:38 UTC ]
The movement that Occupy Wall Street began is at another crossroads, it seems. It isn't the first such fork in the road, and it certainly won't be the last. What happens next is anyone's guess. Is the Occupy movement poised for a comeback? Or is it about to be co-opted altogether? Can both, in fact, happen simultaneously, and would that be a good thing or not?
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[ Posted Friday, April 6th, 2012 – 16:09 UTC ]
We'll get to that provocative title in the Talking Points section, never fear. I felt the need for a sort of a rant this week, as well as a little humor to open it up with. Truth be told, I've been in a humorous mood all week, as evidenced by my column casting the Republican primary race so far as a climb up the polling mountain range. I think it's the spring weather or something. Since we're on the subject, though, Republican candidates seem like a good place to start today.
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[ Posted Thursday, April 5th, 2012 – 17:27 UTC ]
The rhetoric surrounding the Supreme Court and the H.H.S. v. Florida case certainly ratcheted up on both sides this week. Expect this partisan fray to get even more intense in the weeks leading up to the decision on the constitutionality of Obamacare, expected in late June. But I'm not going to get into the midst of this fray today (perhaps I will do so tomorrow, though), because I thought it would be more intelligent to review some bedrock definitions of the terms involved.
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[ Posted Wednesday, April 4th, 2012 – 17:09 UTC ]
I'm going to be honest, here. I'm just as bored with the Republican nomination race as everyone else is by now. The mainstream media pundits have done a mighty job of trying to keep the excitement alive, but it's just not working anymore. I can do math, and Mitt Romney has been the obvious winner for at least a month now -- which even the pundits are beginning to sheepishly admit.
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[ Posted Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012 – 16:00 UTC ]
In the last primary race, back in 2008, three political entities clustered around the Potomac River all voted on the same day, and thus was born "Crab Cake Tuesday." This year, for some inexplicable reason, Virginia has decided not to vote on the same day as Maryland and the District of Columbia, and (again, inexplicably) Wisconsin replaced Virginia. Linking these three in a cute label has become much tougher as a direct result. The only thing we could come up with was "Crabby Badger Tuesday," which... well, we admit it, it's just too downright bizarre to be considered cute.
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