[ Posted Monday, December 24th, 2007 – 15:38 UTC ]
When is Christmas? And why?
These are questions guaranteed to get you funny looks when you pop them, especially in a gathering of wassail-soaked relatives. But if you're tired of hearing the seemingly-eternal "this is what Uncle Fred did when he was twelve" stories, and you're leery of bringing up politics with your kin from Outer Podunk, then it's at least a conversation-starter that's somewhat neutral. Plus, you can reaffirm your nearest-and-dearests' image of you as a latte-sipping fruitcake who moved away from the glory of the heartland and now lives on (say it with an embarrassed whisper) the coast.
OK, I should stop editorializing here. After all, the subject at hand is Christmas.
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[ Posted Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 – 13:03 UTC ]
[ Posted Friday, December 21st, 2007 – 14:41 UTC ]
For those of you who have been reading this column long enough, you may remember a fun set of columns (Part 1 and Part 2) I wrote last year, giving my picks for the annual tongue-in-cheek awards handed out by the McLaughlin Group television show.
Because I had so much fun doing it last year, I present for your amusement, agreement, and/or rage my selections for this year's awards. This is a two-week event, so check back here next Friday for Part 2.
As always when this column hands out awards, our eminent jury consists of me, my wife, and our cat (who breaks ties with her vote). So I wouldn't take it too seriously.
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[ Posted Thursday, December 20th, 2007 – 16:36 UTC ]
[ Posted Thursday, December 20th, 2007 – 12:57 UTC ]
Like Christmas poinsettias popping up all over, articles are starting to appear in not only the blogosphere but also the mainstream news with a common theme: what if we've been wrong all along? What if the "inevitable" candidates don't win the nomination of the Democratic and/or Republican parties? What if they're not even the "second-place" candidates we picked? What if (gasp!) the people of Iowa and the rest of the early primary states don't give us Clinton, Obama, Giuliani, or Romney?
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[ Posted Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 – 15:31 UTC ]
Politics is sometimes a brutish and nasty game. At least it's supposed to be, when both sides actually fight for their positions. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen. Sometimes vacations get in the way.
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[ Posted Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 – 16:07 UTC ]
This just in from the campaign trail: more proof that Republicans "just don't get it" about the concerns of ordinary Americans over health care.
Mike Huckabee is getting a lot of media attention these days because of his dramatic rise in the Iowa polls. But I was personally stunned last night to see him say the following (from PBS' "The News Hour With Jim Lehrer"):
If you think that Medicare is expensive now, wait until 10,000 aging hippies a day find out they can get free drugs. Then, it's really going to get expensive in a hurry.
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[ Posted Monday, December 17th, 2007 – 15:06 UTC ]
A reader recently took me to task for an article I wrote a month ago -- "What Will Be The Big Issue A Year And A Day From Now?" His complaint was that I had asked a bunch of questions, but hadn't provided any answers. He directed me to a radio interview on The World with the editor of the Economist, and asked what I thought about his predictions. So I have decided to accept the challenge and will now confidently predict what will happen in American politics next year.
[Warning: these all have absolutely no basis in reality, and are all merely the product of an overactive imagination. I am not a psychic nor do I pretend to be one. So there.]
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[ Posted Saturday, December 15th, 2007 – 17:58 UTC ]
[ Posted Friday, December 14th, 2007 – 17:48 UTC ]
It's been a busy week, so forgive me if I don't get to everything today. Part of the reason is the absolute congressional snowstorm of bills moving on the Hill both this week and next, as Congress prepares to scarper off on yet another extended vacation.
I'll do a better tally of all these last-minute efforts when the dust settles next week, I promise. But for now, I'd like to pause for a minute to reflect on the past year of Democratic majority rule in Congress. Putting aside legislative issues, and even putting aside the war for the moment, one thing many partisan Democrats were hoping for this year was some scalps nailed to the wall.
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