Category Archives: politics

Obama Won’t Be “Naked” in Copenhagen

So explains The Economist: Over the past few days, America has moved towards a federal system for regulating its carbon emissions in three ways. First, several big companies have broken with trade associations that oppose the cap-and-trade bill now in the Senate. Second, the bill has moved a stage further towards becoming law. Third, andContinue reading “Obama Won’t Be “Naked” in Copenhagen”

We Did Not Come Here to Fear the Future

The conclusion of a great speech last night by some guy named Barack:  I understand that the politically safe move would be to kick the can further down the road — to defer reform one more year, or one more election, or one more term. But that is not what the moment calls for. That'sContinue reading “We Did Not Come Here to Fear the Future”

Socialism: The Useful Menace and Sequoia Savior

To kill President Obama's health care reform plan, opponents have resorted to calling it "socialist." Some have even criticized his speech to schoolkids, urging them to stay in school and study, as "socialist." To progressives, this line of attack might seem silly, or even absurd, but the truth is that this calumny has a longContinue reading “Socialism: The Useful Menace and Sequoia Savior”

Sarah Palin’s to Run on “Drill Baby Drill” Platform

As predicted in this space a week or so ago, Sarah Palin is running for president on a pro-oil and gas development platform. In the the next few months and years, assuming she doesn't flip out and self-destruct, she's going to become Ms. Drill Baby Drill. Inevitably, she will ignore or mock global warming. SheContinue reading “Sarah Palin’s to Run on “Drill Baby Drill” Platform”

Palin to Run on Oil Development Platform in 2012

Really. Outside of her flaming display of hurt feelings, it's about the only thing that makes any kind of sense in her resignation "statement" (if we are so generous as to characterize it in that way). (You'll have to ignore the eccentric capitalization and odd verb choices; clearly, Palin without a speechwriter is like BushContinue reading “Palin to Run on Oil Development Platform in 2012”

Sarah Palin Makes Fun of an Old Man

From an interview with Sarah Palin in Runner's World: "I used to joke around with John McCain during the campaign about coming jogging with me. And once I asked him what his favorite exercise was, and he said, 'I go wading.' Wading. He lives on a creek in Arizona, so he goes wading. That crackedContinue reading “Sarah Palin Makes Fun of an Old Man”

On Hypocritical Philandering Right-Wing Politicians

Such as Nevada senator John Ensign; well, I'm with Matt Taibbi.  [pic of the Senator with Miss Nevada USA for 2006, Tiffany, from 2006 Nevada Queens] He had an affair with a campaign aide, not Tiffany, but as Taibbi said: I am going to really enjoy the inevitable media fragging Senator John Ensign is goingContinue reading “On Hypocritical Philandering Right-Wing Politicians”

Lefty vs. Lefty: Was Economic Crash Reagan’s Fault?

Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman said yes it was, in a column called Reagan Did It: For the more one looks into the origins of the current disaster, the clearer it becomes that the key wrong turn — the turn that made crisis inevitable — took place in the early 1980s, during the ReaganContinue reading “Lefty vs. Lefty: Was Economic Crash Reagan’s Fault?”

Somalia: How Environmental Piracy Led to Pirate Attacks

Yesterday Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ) mentioned on NPR's All Things Considered that the pirates operating off the Somali coast grew out of chaos that descended on the region in the l990's. He said one of the costs of that chaos was environmental piracy — overfishing and toxic dumping. To wit: "What's happened in the country,Continue reading “Somalia: How Environmental Piracy Led to Pirate Attacks”