[ Posted Friday, February 27th, 2015 – 18:58 UTC ]
Before we get to anything else...
Mr. Spock is dead. Long live Mr. Spock!
That may be a rather illogical construct, but it just seemed the most appropriate thing to say. The fictional character the late Leonard Nimoy played often used "Live long and prosper" as his favored salutation, which is just a rephrasing of the basic sentiment, really. Nimoy will be missed by fans all over the world, who agree with President Obama's simple statement: "I loved Spock." We all did, which is why Spock will live on in many hearts. Long live Mr. Spock!
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[ Posted Thursday, February 26th, 2015 – 18:27 UTC ]
[Program Note: I had intended to write something different today, but it turned out to be more research-intensive than I had originally thought. So, instead, I am putting it together for tomorrow, as a bit of a departure from my normal Friday Talking Points (as I am often wont to do). But because we'll be pre-empting the weekly talking points, I thought this was a good way to fill that void. So see you all tomorrow, and for today, enjoy some finer wordsmithing than I am capable of, courtesy of Senator Warren.]
Senator Elizabeth Warren has another viral video out. Tuesday, she spoke to a forum on the middle class, and in the past two days the video has been viewed over a million times on Facebook.
In it, she asks precisely the right questions of the Republicans who are now using soaring language to speak of the plight of the middle class in America. As Warren put it, it's time for such Republicans to "put up or shut up."
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[ Posted Wednesday, February 25th, 2015 – 17:26 UTC ]
The big headline at the Washington Post website today reads: "Trump For President? Mogul Says He's Serious About Running In 2016." The story notes that Trump has "hired staffers in key primary states, retained an election attorney and delayed signing on for another season as host of NBC's Celebrity Apprentice." It certainly sounds like he's serious, in other words. May I just take a moment to speak for all of America's political pundits, celebrity-watchers, and late-night comedians, as I openly beg for such rich pastures of political amusement: "Please run, Donald. Please?"
Right next to this juicy headline was a seemingly unrelated story: "Marijuana Set To Be Legalized In D.C. At Midnight." Well, not a moment too soon, since the best possible way for everyone inside the Beltway to contemplate a Trump candidacy (much less a Trump presidency) is, quite obviously, stoned out of their gourds.
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[ Posted Tuesday, February 24th, 2015 – 16:57 UTC ]
Mitch McConnell has just defused the ticking Department of Homeland Security shutdown bomb, and signaled that the department will not have to shut down this weekend. No word yet on how John Boehner and the House Republicans are going to react (to say nothing of the right-wing media). But by acting this early, McConnell is allowing time for such tantrums and hair-pulling before the House actually votes for a clean D.H.S. budget bill, right before the weekend.
You'll forgive me if I take a little victory lap today. Because I've been predicting precisely this outcome for quite some time now. This wasn't all that hard to do, because it merely proves what seems to be a natural law in Washington politics: holding budgets hostage and shutting down the federal government to pick some political fight never works. It didn't work back in the Bill Clinton years, it didn't work for the Tea Partiers a year and a half ago, and it didn't work this week. Predictably.
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[ Posted Monday, February 23rd, 2015 – 18:08 UTC ]
The Senate just voted for a fourth time to open debate on a budget bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security, coupled together by the House with poison-pill language to block President Obama's new policies on immigration. For the fourth time, the bill failed to gain the 60 votes necessary to move forward. This time around, Republicans could only muster 47 votes in favor of the legislation -- fewer than any of the previous three times the Senate has voted on it (the bill has never even gotten 55 votes, much less 60, and the only bipartisanship has come from one Republican voting with the Democrats, for those of you keeping score at home).
The reason the fourth vote was held is a simple one: Mitch McConnell is stalling. He is buying time until the last minute looms, which will happen later this week. Republicans will not back themselves out of their self-induced corner until the absolute last possible opportunity to do so arrives. What is amusing in this contest of wills is that the endgame depends not on a fight between Obama and the Republicans, but rather on the outcome of the power struggle between John Boehner and Mitch McConnell. Perhaps "power struggle" is the wrong term -- what it really amounts to is "avoiding being the Tea Party's scapegoat." One way or another, there will be conservative blame. That blame will be laid at the feet of whichever Republican leader is seen to cave first, and neither McConnell nor Boehner wants to be that target. This is why absolutely nothing productive is going to happen until much later in the week.
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[ 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 Thursday, February 19th, 2015 – 18:12 UTC ]
Jeb Bush gave a speech this week that was supposed to lay out his foreign policy ideas. The speech itself fell far short of this goal, according to most who bothered to listen to it. Bush did announce his foreign policy advisory team -- which looks a whole lot like his brother's, with a sprinkling of his father's advisors added into the mix. But the entire exercise left many questions unanswered.
I don't mean to single Bush out, here. At least he's talking about foreign policy, which is more than most of the Republican candidates can claim, at this early point. But sooner or later the discussion will get wider within the party, and what I'm hoping is that we'll eventually get some answers to the questions that remain. I should also state up front that I certainly don't have the answers to all these questions either, but then again I am not running for president.
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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 Tuesday, February 17th, 2015 – 18:03 UTC ]
There's a scheduling flaw in the implementation of Obamacare that is just now becoming a reality. I noticed this flaw quite some time ago, but haven't mentioned it in a while. [Editorial note: I just know I wrote about this subject previously, but a quick check of the archives didn't provide me with a linkable example, sorry.] This flaw is about to become apparent to millions of procrastinatory Americans. Some in the media and political worlds are now noticing this, but it likely won't be until April that this surprise dawns on most.
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[ Posted Monday, February 16th, 2015 – 16:54 UTC ]
The Republican Party and the political media world are already off to the 2016 horseraces. With endless fascination, the latest polling from Iowa and New Hampshire is examined under the microscopes of the pundits and sweeping pronouncements are made as to who the eventual frontrunners will be. Of course, it is way too early for any real analysis of the public's mood, but that doesn't stop the oddsmaking within the Beltway. After all, the Democratic nomination race is setting up to be a snoozer, so why not get started obsessing over the Republican race?
Instead of opining on what I think the chances of Scott Walker will be an entire year from now (as everyone else seems to be doing of late), I thought it would be timely to make a few "big picture" comments on the Republican race. Mostly because everyone seems to be actively forgetting quite a few basic rules of thumb, most of them learned the last time around.
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