ChrisWeigant.com

Archive of Articles for August, 2013

Friday Talking Points [271] -- A Weed Screed

[ Posted Friday, August 30th, 2013 – 17:09 UTC ]

This is all by way of introducing you to today's column. We're throwing out our usual format today, because of a monumental shift in federal policy this week. Such a momentous and historic occasion deserves special treatment, we feel, and that special treatment translates to the following unorthodox presentation: first, a few awards; then, some talking points from respected voices; and finally, my own screed at the end.

Read Complete Article »

The Beginning Of The End Of The War On Weed

[ Posted Thursday, August 29th, 2013 – 13:51 UTC ]

It's a new day in America.

Read Complete Article »

Bending The Arc

[ Posted Wednesday, August 28th, 2013 – 17:27 UTC ]

Fifty years ago today, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior gave a seminal speech. This anniversary has been marked today by many, by presidents and by bloggers alike. Many have taken as their springboard for commentary the immortal phrase "I have a dream," completing it with their own new dreams of justice and righteousness for America.

Read Complete Article »

Media Actually Gets One Right

[ Posted Tuesday, August 27th, 2013 – 17:51 UTC ]

So, after an awfully slow and non-obsessive August, it is indeed refreshing to see our national news media -- collectively, even -- do something right in the reporting of actual news in a way that actually imparts important information to the public. Yes, journalists everywhere -- even on television! -- are incredibly living up to the basic definition of journalism. And all it took was one big fire.

Read Complete Article »

What Happens After We Bomb Syria?

[ Posted Monday, August 26th, 2013 – 16:57 UTC ]

Once again, the question on everyone's minds as they turn on their evening news is: "Are we at war yet?" This time, against Syria. Have the bombs started dropping? Have the sorties started? Have the cruise missiles been unleashed?

Read Complete Article »

Friday Talking Points [270] -- The Dog That Didn't Bark, And Herding Stupid Insane Cats

[ Posted Friday, August 23rd, 2013 – 17:19 UTC ]

"Boehner's trouble isn't even that he's trying to herd cats -- it's that he's trying to herd stupid insane cats."

Read Complete Article »

From The Archives -- King's Eloquence Goes Far Beyond "I Have A Dream"

[ Posted Thursday, August 22nd, 2013 – 16:02 UTC ]

This speech will forever be known as his "I Have A Dream" speech, and portions of it are as familiar to every American as F.D.R.'s "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," J.F.K.'s "Ask not what your country can do for you," and even Abraham Lincoln's immortal "Government of the people, by the people, for the people" address on the hallowed battlefields of Gettysburg.

Read Complete Article »

Natural Born Presidents (Part 2)

[ Posted Wednesday, August 21st, 2013 – 17:03 UTC ]

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

Read Complete Article »

Natural Born Presidents (Part 1)

[ Posted Tuesday, August 20th, 2013 – 17:18 UTC ]

The problem, obviously, is that nobody's ever adequately legally defined what exactly "a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States" means. There have been no court challenges. It has become a political issue at times, but has never been adjudicated at all -- which means it is completely open to interpretation, for now. By anyone, really.

Read Complete Article »

60 Years Of Middle-East Meddling

[ Posted Monday, August 19th, 2013 – 17:18 UTC ]

[T]he military coup that overthrew Mosadeq and his National Front cabinet was carried out under CIA direction as an act of U.S. foreign policy, conceived and approved at the highest levels of government. It was not an aggressively simplistic solution, clandestinely arrived at, but was instead an official admission [...redacted...] that normal, rational methods of international communication and commerce had failed.

Read Complete Article »