Friday Talking Points [150] -- A Fortean Week
[ Posted Friday, January 7th, 2011 – 18:18 UTC ]
Sometimes it is hard to come up with a metaphor to describe the week that was. This was not one of those weeks.
Archive of Articles in the "Populism" Category
The Media And The Tea Partiers
[ Posted Thursday, January 6th, 2011 – 16:36 UTC ]
In taking in the news of the 112th Congress' first new steps (especially those taken by the Republican House of Representatives), I had to wonder -- how will the Tea Party and the Tea Partiers be treated by the mainstream media, going forward? Will they still have a voice in the media's political coverage of the next two years, and what will that voice say? To put the point I'm trying to make more succinctly: will the Tea Partiers become "old news" to the media?
Reading The Constitution
[ Posted Wednesday, January 5th, 2011 – 16:41 UTC ]
The newly-Republican House of Representatives is going to start off their tenure with a gimmick. Or, to be slightly more charitable, a bit of political theater. They're going to read the entire United States Constitution on the floor of the House, as a sop to the Tea Party Republicans. Their aim is twofold -- to appease the Tea Party Republican faction, right from the get-go; and to provide stirring video clips of Republicans faithfully reading our country's founding document. There's one problem with this second goal, though: who gets to read the uncomfortable bits?
My 2010 "McLaughlin Awards" [Part 2]
[ Posted Friday, December 24th, 2010 – 19:34 UTC ]
Welcome back to our annual year-end awards column!
My 2010 "McLaughlin Awards" [Part 1]
[ Posted Friday, December 17th, 2010 – 17:45 UTC ]
My apologies to anyone tuning in who was expecting to see the 150th "Friday Talking Points" column, since it will be pre-empted for two weeks here. But the good news is we're doing so to bring you our annual "McLaughlin Awards," which are even more fun!
A Politically-Polarized Sesquicentennial
[ Posted Monday, December 13th, 2010 – 19:26 UTC ]
A theme has emerged, in recent years, of America as a nation almost hopelessly divided, politically. This theme is most often reinforced by such superlative declarations (by "journalists" who really should know better) as "America is more politically divided than ever," or "this is the most politically polarized Washington has ever been," or similar such alarmist rhetoric. It has even gotten to the point where many see such statements as truisms -- statements so obviously true that they are seen as irrefutable. This is a gross error, born of the fact that most "journalists" simply have no concept of their own country's history. Because while we are indeed currently politically divided and somewhat polarized, this is actually our normal state as a nation -- and on the polarization scale, we're nowhere near the "most divided" we've ever been. Far from it.
Friday Talking Points [148] -- Aliens Landing?
[ Posted Friday, December 3rd, 2010 – 17:42 UTC ]
So the good news this week was apparently that giant mutant space monsters are not, in fact, about to arrive and (assumably) enslave humankind and eat our children for snacks.
Obama's Busy Week Ahead
[ Posted Monday, November 29th, 2010 – 17:52 UTC ]
President Barack Obama has a busy week scheduled, as Congress begins the lame duck session. Everyone in Washington has a few busy weeks ahead, until the 111th Congress wraps up business and heads off into the sunset, but President Obama will be at the center of this whirlwind. So it's worth taking a look at how the week is going to play out. To put it in football-watching terms, we're just returning from the "two-minute warning" commercial break, in the fourth quarter. And anything could happen.
Friday Talking Points [147] -- Democrats Fighting The Good Fight
[ Posted Friday, November 19th, 2010 – 17:24 UTC ]
Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I thought that was a pretty good week for Democrats.
Exclusive Interview With Populist Caucus Chairman Bruce Braley
[ Posted Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 – 15:13 UTC ]
Representative Bruce Braley, from Iowa's First District, returned to the House of Representatives this week, after surviving a very brutal re-election campaign in which millions of dollars of outside money from anonymous right-wing donors were spent against him. His campaign was an interesting one, because rather than try to distance himself from his own party or from what Democrats have accomplished in the past few years, Braley instead embraced his own record, and proudly defended it to his voters.