In the last two and a quarter centuries of American history, it’s always been fashionable for politicians and politically motivated organizations to include callbacks to well-known historical documents and quotations in their speeches and published materials. President Obama titled his speech on race in America during the 2008 campain “A More Perfect Union,” referencing the […]
Remember that history lesson about the filibuster from a couple of days ago, where I lamented the modern nature of the filibuster, and wished it would return to the contest of endurance where the dissenting minority had to back up the sincerity of their opposition by actually talking things to death? Well, stuff like that […]
Commenter tannenburg‘s brilliant and succinct deconstruction of the ethos of a certain political faction deserves a celebratory cry of “THIS!!!!111!eleventyone1!” from all corners. I know I’m overly snarky here, but I keep hearing “I’m ignorant, and angry about things which I’m ignorant of, but by God if you tell me I’m ignorant and try to […]
For the most part, I got a pretty good public school education. The breadth of knowledge I left high school with was sufficient to prepare me for more in-depth study at the university level, and equipped me well enough to function as a base-level responsible adult in American public life. I can, however, point to […]
With the weather being, shall we say, uncommon, for this region at this time of year, I’m hearing more and more comments from folks, both personally and in the media, questioning the validity of global warming/climate change, taking particular shots at one Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, former Senator, Vice President, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, and […]
Those wily English, with their tea and their Doctor Who and their National Health Service, also happen to have an interesting perspective on the American political circus. The other day, the BBC offered up a solid investigation as to why Americans tend to vote against their own interests. And, oddly enough, it’s not entirely that […]
Even though right now, the thought of drinking alcohol is enough to make my stomach start turning itself inside out, I present the annual link to the 2010 State of the Union drinking game. Two of them, actually, since HuffPo‘s is pretty good this year as well. Also, definitely drink if the President mentions the […]
Listening to the various news outlets this week, you’d think that because of the results in the special election in Massachussetts, the Democratic party is in complete disarray and health care reform is dead in the water, because <gasp> they’ve only got a fifty-nine seat majority* in the Senate rather than the sixty they had […]
Breaking News: Based on what I saw at the checkout at the grocery store the other day, Sarah Palin’s apparently decided that she and her daughter self-identify as being “pro-choice”. Yeah, I know, but hear me out… That’s what textually, seems to be the correct message to take from the big huge yellow letters on […]
In the wee small hours of this morning, the Senate passed it’s health care bill. While I may not be entirely happy with the contents, I’m happy it got passed; passing some flavor of health care reform is important, if only to set the precedent for more comprehensive reforms in the months and years ahead. […]
