[ Posted Friday, February 22nd, 2008 – 17:56 UTC ]
Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have, of late, been inserting Populist themes into their speeches, in an effort to (depending on who you listen to) win votes in Ohio and Pennsylvania, or court John Edwards' endorsement. Since this may be the last time I will address talking points to both campaigns, I thought I'd run through a few handy Neo-Populist positions for either Hillary or Barack to insert into their speeches.
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[ Posted Thursday, January 10th, 2008 – 17:33 UTC ]
In the wake of the New Hampshire primary opinion polling fiasco, everyone is focusing on various reasons the pollsters "got it wrong." In the midst of all this media breastbeating, one fact seems to be escaping a lot of people -- it was the undecided voters who carried the day for Hillary Clinton.
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[ Posted Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 – 15:43 UTC ]
Leno, Letterman, O'Brien and the rest of the late-night comics and hosts have all gone "dark" ever since the writers' strike began, leaving us with nothing but endless reruns to watch during the wee hours. If this goes on for the next two months, what effect will this have on politics during the crucial presidential primary season?
I have to admit, I didn't come up with this idea myself. I heard it as an offhand comment on one of the news shows (PBS' News Hour, I think) -- that if the strike went on, the candidates will all get a "free pass" on any amusing foibles during the campaign because the late night shows were on hiatus. The person who said this wasn't serious, or at best only half-serious, but it got me to thinking. What if this does have a major effect on politics? What effect would it have, and would it be a good thing or a bad thing?
What if (insert crescendo music here for effect -- dom Dom DOM!!) it already has had an effect?
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[ Posted Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 – 03:47 UTC ]
[Mayor "Diamond" Joe Quimby and tycoon C. Montgomery Burns]
You may well wonder why I, a (mostly) serious political analyst, begin my weekly Wednesday column with the images of two Simpsons characters. The answer is: these two images are the story. More on that in a bit.
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[ Posted Friday, September 14th, 2007 – 14:22 UTC ]
So Petraeus and Crocker have reported, President Bush has spoken to the nation, and the congressional war debate is slated to begin in earnest next week. Since the Democrats seem to be incapable of staying "on message" the way Republicans effortlessly manage to do, I'd like to steal a page from the Republican playbook. It's an idea whose time has come: Democratic talking points.
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[ Posted Monday, August 13th, 2007 – 17:18 UTC ]
Almost without exception, whenever space ships (large or small) are shown in space, the viewer is put at a distance, listening to engines rumble, weapons PING or ZAP or CHOW-CHOW-CHOW, and explosions satisfyingly go BOOM! This needs to end.
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[ Posted Friday, March 23rd, 2007 – 19:28 UTC ]
Because it's hard to reconcile federal law which states that if you are a certain race (Native American) you are allowed to use an illegal drug (peyote) with your religious ceremony, the practice of many Christian sects which use a legal drug (wine) as a sacrament, and the fact that Rastafarians can be arrested for being caught using their illegal sacrament (ganja). Legally, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
But then common sense has never been a strong point of the Drug War.
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[ Posted Friday, February 9th, 2007 – 18:32 UTC ]
The entire article is fascinating and well worth a read to anyone interested in what is being done in the name of the United States of America. Mr. Fair was quite brave to come forward and tell his story, and is the first to do so that I have read. This article deserves more prominence than it will likely get, which is why I draw your attention to it.
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[ Posted Sunday, December 31st, 2006 – 16:46 UTC ]
. . . It looks like the equation "Democrats = blue, Republicans = red" is pretty much set in stone for the foreseeable future. Does anyone else see the irony in the Republicans being the "red" party? Does nobody else remember Joe McCarthy and the "red = communism" equation that predated this?
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[ Posted Thursday, December 28th, 2006 – 16:20 UTC ]
PREDICTIONS
Speaker Pelosi will do a great job.
Karl Rove will be booted from the White House.
Congress will censure Bush and Cheney and "move on," but will not impeach.
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION
To get paid for writing these columns. I love writing them, and now I'm ready for my paycheck!
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