[ Posted Friday, February 20th, 2015 – 17:56 UTC ]
Hello and welcome back to our Friday political news roundup. I must apologize for not writing one of these columns last week, but I was under the weather and far too sick to type (or think coherently). So the events covered today really encompass the previous two weeks, just to warn everyone in advance. Also, this intro is going to move along at an accelerated clip, because there is a lot to cover. Our awards this week are backwards, and then we've got a rant on the Republicans in Congress who are getting ready to have another government shutdown (because the last one worked so well, right?). But enough overview, let's get on with things.
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[ Posted Wednesday, February 18th, 2015 – 16:51 UTC ]
The immigration fight just got a little more complicated for the Republicans. A federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of President Obama's new immigration policy, which has thrown a curve ball into the Republican congressional strategy of having a big political battle over immigration next week. Will they realize the ruling gives them a political "escape hatch" out of their unwinnable position? Will they use the legal case as an excuse to "kick the can down the road" a bit more? Or will they just go ahead and shut down the Department of Homeland Security anyway? These are really their only three viable options, and all of Washington is atwitter over which they'll choose to take.
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[ Posted Wednesday, February 11th, 2015 – 19:04 UTC ]
The 1828 presidential campaign was one of the most vicious in all of American history. While campaigning on what would today be called populism (complete with a "Let the people rule" slogan), Andrew Jackson was called a nothing short of a "jackass" by his opponents. Jackson, in a feat of political jiu-jitsu, then embraced the jackass label as his own. This is why, today, the Democratic Party is often represented by an image of a jackass (which is usually euphemistically referred to as a "donkey"). This historical introduction is necessary to put Speaker John Boehner's recent comments regarding Senate Democrats into context and perspective.
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[ Posted Monday, February 9th, 2015 – 18:18 UTC ]
Roy Moore, the chief justice of Alabama's state supreme court, is making a stand in the courthouse door. This is not literally happening, the way it did back in 1963 when Alabama's Governor George Wallace made a similar stand in the schoolhouse door. But the motivation is similar; a classic standoff between states' rights and federal legal supremacy over state law. In both Moore's and Wallace's cases, high Alabama officials are defying federal civil rights legal orders -- and the United States Supreme Court -- to preserve the state's ability to legally discriminate against a segment of its population.
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[ Posted Friday, January 30th, 2015 – 17:54 UTC ]
That headline certainly does promise a large amount of schadenfreude over the misfortunes of a certain former vice presidential nominee (and half-term governor of Alaska), doesn't it? Well, that'll all have to wait for the end of this column, where we will be supplanting our normal talking points section with a few choice conservative reviews of Sarah Palin's recent speech in Iowa. But before we dive into this snarktastic dessert of vicious quips, we've first got to get through the meat and potatoes of the politics of the week.
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[ Posted Friday, January 16th, 2015 – 17:58 UTC ]
This was a busy week in politics, as the Republicans in the new Congress began a bout of legislating and President Obama ramped up his agenda in preparation for next Tuesday's big speech to Congress and the country. So let's just dive in to the week that was, shall we?
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[ Posted Monday, January 12th, 2015 – 16:31 UTC ]
The New York Times disclosed over the weekend that federal prosecutors have recommended that the Justice Department should bring charges against former general and C.I.A. director David Petraeus. Unless President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder (or his successor) want to be seen as flaming hypocrites, Petraeus must now be prosecuted.
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[ Posted Wednesday, December 31st, 2014 – 14:39 UTC ]
This is the second part of Monday's article, which consists of a "link dump" of all the stories I really meant to write about last year, but never got around to. Before I get to the second part of the list, though, I have to address a comment from Monday. Here's a second link on a subject mentioned earlier (to an extensive New Yorker article) about "asset forfeiture," also known as "highway robbery by the police." Got too much cash in your car? Well, why don't you just sign it over to our local police force, and you can be on your way (and we won't call Child Protective Services to take your kids away).... This is beyond outrageous, and has been happening in some places in America for a very long time now.
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[ Posted Monday, December 29th, 2014 – 18:28 UTC ]
Today's article is nothing more than a giant collection of links to some stories you may have missed during 2014. Another way to put this is: I am clearing out my list of "things I should write about, when I have the time" -- articles which got me thinking, but which I never followed up on by actually writing about them. I'm cleaning up my bookmarks, and so I thought I'd dump all these out there for others to read, perhaps waiting for a flight home or perhaps hiding in your old bedroom because you are sick of dealing with your extended family's drama right now. Ahem.
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[ Posted Friday, December 26th, 2014 – 19:14 UTC ]
Welcome back to our annual year-end awards column!
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