From The Archives -- Our 51st "Estado"
[ Posted Thursday, November 8th, 2012 – 17:17 UTC ]
What happens if Puerto Rico becomes the 51st state of the Union?
Archive of Articles in the "The Constitution" Category
Friday Talking Points [233] -- Wake Me When It's Over
[ Posted Friday, November 2nd, 2012 – 16:09 UTC ]
Every so often, I get an idea which I know would make me millions of dollars. Today, I had another one: develop and market a pill which, when taken, would put you to sleep until the morning after the election. The pill would be magically timed to work no matter when you took it, meaning a citizen in Texas or California might not want to take one until perhaps mid-October, but the folks in Iowa and New Hampshire might be expected to take one New Year's Eve -- thus avoiding not only the debates and punditary frenzy of the general election, but the entire primary season as well. It would be marketed under the name "The Rip Van Winkle Pill."
Last Election For Electoral College?
[ Posted Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 – 16:43 UTC ]
I'm going to paint a picture of how America could scrap the Electoral College system in the next decade, but I make no predictions whatsoever about the chances this could become reality. You'll have to judge that sort of thing for yourselves.
Friday Talking Points [228] -- Debate Questions I'd Ask
[ Posted Friday, September 28th, 2012 – 17:28 UTC ]
Unsolicited advice to the Romney campaign: this is not the way to convince voters that your candidate isn't Thurston Howell III. I'm just sayin'....
Happy 225th!
[ Posted Tuesday, September 18th, 2012 – 17:41 UTC ]
Yesterday was a momentous occasion, but I was steeped in crass horserace politics, and so failed to mention it. Two hundred and twenty-five years ago yesterday, the United States Constitution was adopted by the convention called to create it.
Friday Talking Points [226] -- Convention Talking Points
[ Posted Friday, September 14th, 2012 – 15:22 UTC ]
The second item of note is that today marks the fifth "birthday" of this column series. September 14, 2007 saw the very first Friday Talking Points column ever (although the name and the column format wouldn't solidify for a few months). Since then, almost every Friday, we've been attempting to provide Democratic talking points for politicians to use to get their point across in a snappy and memorable fashion. How much success we've had doing so is open to interpretation, but we're still here doing it, which tends to indicate that Democrats still have a ways to go to match the Republican ability to keep "on script" during interviews. To put this another way, it's the old Democratic "herding cats" problem.
Fantasy Veepstakes
[ Posted Wednesday, August 1st, 2012 – 15:42 UTC ]
Peering into this fantastical realm, a broad array of fictional characters immediately leaps to mind, any one of which might help balance a Romney ticket. The following list is roughly ordered from least-likely to most-likely, for no other reason than to build suspense and keep you reading this silliness until the end. Where, perhaps, you'll be inspired to make your own suggestion (in the comments) as to a favorite who was inadvertently left off my list.
Guest Column: Let's Talk About Guns
[ Posted Tuesday, July 31st, 2012 – 17:24 UTC ]
Another madman, another massacre, this time in Aurora, Colorado. When will it end? The Supreme Court has guaranteed an individual's right to bear arms -- how does that end? Do we wind up with private armies, owned by rich individuals and corporations? Is that where it ends?
Losing On Gun Control
[ Posted Monday, July 23rd, 2012 – 17:27 UTC ]
No matter where you stand on gun control, this is where the country stands politically -- like it or not. Democrats learned, back in the 1990s, that they could get thrown out of office when they voted for new gun control laws. You can quibble over whether the assault weapons ban was the sole motivating factor for any individual lawmaker's defeat, but in this case perception has become reality, at least in Democrats' thinking. "Once burned, twice shy" is the party's mantra now on gun control.
Friday Talking Points [216] -- Obama Cares
[ Posted Friday, June 29th, 2012 – 16:19 UTC ]
All kidding aside, though, it certainly has been fun to see the other side spin. As a child's reader might put it: "See GOP spin. Spin, spin, spin! So sad, the spinning."