Sixty Years After Desegregation, Ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
[ Posted Monday, July 28th, 2008 – 15:58 UTC ]
Sixty years ago, on July 26, 1948, President Harry S Truman singlehandedly desegregated the United States military.
Archive of Articles in the "Congress" Category
Friday Talking Points [40] -- Obama Shines, McCain Whines
[ Posted Friday, July 25th, 2008 – 16:17 UTC ]
Be careful what you wish for, John.
Exclusive Interview: An M.I.T. And A Yale Professors' Cure For The Electoral College
[ Posted Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 – 13:53 UTC ]
I had the chance recently to interview two professors in the field of statistics (from Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), who have jointly come up with an interesting plan for replacing the Electoral College. Their plan would retain the electoral advantages small states currently have, but would remove the winner-take-all system we have now.
Friday Talking Points [39] -- Republican Elitism Edition
[ Posted Friday, July 18th, 2008 – 16:21 UTC ]
For only the fourth (or fifth, depending on how you count) time in his presidency, George W. Bush had a veto overridden by both houses of Congress this week. This is big news, since it doesn't happen very often.
War Is Over (If Maliki Wants It)
[ Posted Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 – 15:35 UTC ]
You might have missed it, because there has been an astonishing lack of interest in this story in both the mainstream media and (surprisingly) the liberal blogosphere, but America's military involvement in Iraq may soon and irrevocably be drawing to a close. With timetables for withdrawal and everything!
Obama Frames Iraq Right, Bush And McCain Slow To React
[ Posted Monday, July 14th, 2008 – 16:35 UTC ]
There were two news reports over the weekend about Iraq that George Bush wasn't prepared for, and both the White House and John McCain have been slow to address them. This opens up a window of opportunity for Barack Obama, one that he has already begun to take advantage of. But he needs to do so more succinctly and more forcefully in the next few days, before the Republicans regroup and try to frame it in their own terms.
Friday Talking Points [38] -- Whiners And Cheeseheads
[ Posted Friday, July 11th, 2008 – 16:46 UTC ]
While plenty has happened in the past two weeks which bears close and careful analysis, I'd like to begin by focusing on one event. Barack Obama announced a masterstroke of political tactics last week, and I don't think everyone has appreciated fully what it is going to mean. I say this not as an "Obamamaniac," or as some starry-eyed follower who has been caught up in his "personality cult," but rather as a political observer (with an admitted left-wing bias) applauding a Democratic candidate on a monumentally brilliant decision.
Predictions For 2008
[ Posted Thursday, July 10th, 2008 – 14:00 UTC ]
So, to be fair, I am running a "halfway mark" check on my 2008 predictions. I wrote this column in mid-December last year. My record is not that good, I have to admit. Although the one about Iraq and the elections has so far turned out uncannily accurate, I have to say. But many of these I just got flat-out wrong. I predicted an extended primary campaign... for the wrong party. I predicted all kinds of wild things which just didn't happen. But, for your amusement, I am running the column in full, complete with my own personal self-grading. (You may want to read the column first, and then come back to this list to see how I marked it.)
My 2008 Election Picks
[ Posted Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 – 14:00 UTC ]
So here is how the 2008 election looked, to me, a year and a half ago. I concentrated mostly on the Senate, and if I were dividing up the races today, obviously I would switch some of these states from one category to another. But I think my final prediction of 57 Democrats (55 Democrats plus two independents who vote with them) to 43 Republicans is still among the most likely outcomes this year. I could be off by one or two, but I bet not much more than that.
So Is Torturing A Daughter OK?
[ Posted Monday, July 7th, 2008 – 15:06 UTC ]
Think about that for a moment -- a former Justice Department legal counsel couldn't answer whether the President of the United States of America could legally order a prisoner buried alive. These were the people who were responsible for drawing the lines on what was (in their opinion) legally allowable, and what wasn't, and they can't even publicly state whether the president ordering someone buried alive is legal or not.