National Republicans
A Serious Man
It was a very serious man who stepped up to the podium in front of the Capitol to give his Inaugural Speech but what he said wasn’t nearly as earthshaking in the reeling world of Republican Congressmen as what he’d already done. Barack Obama raised $1 billion in his reelection campaign and built the…
Read MoreThe New Normal?
Last month up in the hallowed halls of Congress, Speaker John Boehner slipped on a banana peel – deciding it was time to flex his muscles he stripped four Republican Congressmen of their blue-chip committee assignments – which, in Washington, is the same as the army stripping off a general’s epaulets in public. Back then, watching,…
Read MoreAfghanistan
President Obama stepped to the podium in the White House at a press conference – with Afgnanistani President Karzai beside him – and said he’s bringing 66,000 American soldiers home from Afghanistan sooner rather than later (which sounded fine). Then he added, Because the Afghan Army is now ready to whip the Taliban all by…
Read MoreThe Search for the Cure
To cure gun violence the Vice President met with the NRA, which told him the cure was fixing our broken culture – like violent video games; next the Vice President met with the video game industry which told him ‘Independent scientific research showed no connection between video games and real-life violence,’ then another group told…
Read MoreThe Big Deal: 1 + 1 = 3
Up in Congress the Democrats wanted to raise taxes on 2% of the people — while the Republicans wanted to cut government spending instead. So they reached a compromise. The result? They voted to raise taxes on 77% of the people — and to increase spending. How did that happen? It’s hard to…
Read MoreRevelation
A brawl followed by an outbreak of brawls erupted Sunday morning in the small insular world of politics;–it started on Meet the Press when Wayne LaPierre of the NRA said, ‘The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun‘ — David Gregory nodded politely, said, ‘That…
Read MoreA Cruel Trick of Nature
Back in the old days there was a breed of Congressman, rugged individualists, who, whenever he (or she) had to cast an unpopular vote, would shrug and say, Let the chips fall where they may. That political animal is now all but extinct. In the place of a troublesome conscience (when it comes…
Read MoreUnder the Gun
Don’t underestimate how much the Newtown killings can change politics. It has happened before. In 1995, President Clinton was struggling to be relevant in a Washington dominated by Newt Gingrich and his newly triumphant Republican majority. Then came the Oklahoma City bombing. Seizing the moment, Clinton spoke for the nation’s grief and anger. The…
Read MoreThe Other Side
One thing I enjoy about this blog is learning how Carter and his political crowd see the world. It’s a lot different from how my crowd sees it. I mention this because it drives some of my friends crazy that I associate in any way with Carter. One said he avoided me for two years because…
Read MoreFooling Ourselves
Gary’s progressive but he’s also old-fashioned so a year ago when he said, ‘You know, you ought to use Twitter’– he surprised me. ‘I expect,’ I said, ‘Twitter’s too young for my blood.’ ‘Use it like an old-fashioned clipping service,’ he said. Back in the old days, in the dark ages before…
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