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March 12, 2010
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Commentary, Democracy, Opinion, Politics, Republican, The Pundit's Corner
 Leave a comment Hurricane Christie Hits New Jersey! By Alan Caruba When the news that Republican Chris Christie had been elected Governor of New Jersey first hit Washington, D.C. they began to hang black crepe over the windows in the White House. This decidedly Democrat and politically liberal State had done something fairly extraordinary; a majority of the voters had concluded [...] March 12, 2010
Posted by Congressman Billybob in: Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Democrat, Governance, Healthcare, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment When Congress Cheats on Its Rules March 11, 2010
Posted by Kaye in: Accountability, Attitude, Children, Commentary, Economic Crisis, Education, Family, Governance, Habit Change, Homeland Security, Legal, Opinion, Politics, Social Issues, The Economy
3 comments Today, like every weekday, I got in my car, after work, and head for home listening to NPR. I’ve been thinking about this for some time now and today, after hearing a piece on NPR about Kansas City, Missouri’s school board approving a plan to close 26 schools in one district and Cleveland, Ohio’s school [...] March 11, 2010
Dear President Obama, Hey, it’s Brandon again. I recently read that you are inviting Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg to The White House to view the new HBO series The Pacific. I think that’s great. It’s very honorable that you are respecting these men who are chronicling the efforts of our uniformed men and women. I just [...] March 8, 2010
Don’t forget the [...] March 5, 2010
Posted by Congressman Billybob in: Commentary, Current Events, Democracy, Freedom, History, Journalism, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment Lies, Damned Lies, and Expert Testimony March 5, 2010
Why the Tea Party should remain [...] February 24, 2010
Glenn Beck, Performer and Provocateur By Alan Caruba I watched Glenn Beck mesmerize the audience at the CPAC meeting that had begun so well with serious conservative speakers such as former Vice President Dick Cheney. However, it ended as a libertarian fun fest and Beck strikes me as the clown prince of libertarianism. I find it beneficial when [...] February 20, 2010
Posted by Congressman Billybob in: Commentary, Education, History, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment ‘President’s Day, So?’ February 19, 2010
Posted by Peggy Noonan in: Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Democrat, Governance, Opinion, Politics, Republican, The Pundit's Corner
Leave a comment Can Washington Meet the Demand to Cut Spending?
President Obama’s decision to appoint Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson to his bipartisan commission on government spending is politically shrewd and, in terms of policy, potentially helpful. It is shrewd in that he is doing what he has been urged to [...] February 16, 2010
Posted by Brandon Marcus in: Current Events, Entertainment, Humor, Politics, Satire, The Media
One comment Things change a lot. Like the four seasons of the year, things come and go, rise and fall, sparkle and fade. We live in an uncertain world, where we lose things we hold dear without any warning. Luckily, there are some things that stay the same and will never, ever change. Glenn Beck is one of [...] February 12, 2010
Posted by Peggy Noonan in: Commentary, Current Events, Governance, Opinion, Politics, The Pundit's Corner
Leave a comment The Off-Center President
There is, I think, an amazing political fact right now that is hiding in plain sight and is rich with implications. It was there in President Obama’s Jan. 25, pre-State of the Union interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, who was pressing him [...] February 10, 2010
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: African-American, Commentary, Current Events, Democracy, Democrat, Opinion, Politics, Social Classes, Social Issues, The Pundit's Corner
Leave a comment First of all it would be very difficult to elect an African American President in America today. There would have to be some sort of cataclysmic event like a massive meltdown of or economic system that would cause people to lurch violently left. But let’s just say that happened and an African American were elected. [...] February 10, 2010
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: Commentary, Current Events, Democracy, Opinion, Politics, Social Classes, Social Issues, Sociology, The Pundit's Corner
Leave a comment President Obama can stop running now. Someone should really tell him that. He is still in campaign mode and wants to give those feel good speeches. The problem is the speeches don’t feel so good anymore and we really don’t need somebody running for an office he already won. Being President is not about approval [...] February 10, 2010
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: Commentary, Comments & Discussion, Current Events, Democracy, Democrat, Opinion, Politics, Social Classes, Social Issues, The Pundit's Corner, The Writer's Corner
Leave a comment Sarah reads from her palm. She mixes up names and trashes the English language and makes up little idioms like shout outs and six pack joes and hockey moms. She really isn’t into all that minutia of policy and stumbles around when pressed and mixes metaphors and trips over sound bytes and puts her pedagogy’s [...] February 9, 2010
Posted by Peggy Noonan in: Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Democracy, Democrat, Governance, Opinion, Politics, Republican
Leave a comment Question Time Isn’t the Answer
There’s renewed interest in Question Time, or rather in the idea of trying to import in some fashion the British parliamentary institution whereby the prime minister appears each Wednesday in the House of Commons in order to take questions and debate. The [...] February 6, 2010
We have become accustomed to the idea that a great strategy is the triumph of a logical mind (or set of minds) over blind nature. Some incredible guys in a room came up with this brilliant idea and it took over the world. Think Microsoft. Think Neutron Jack Welch. Think Warren Buffett. Think PR. Why do we [...] February 3, 2010
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Democrat, Economic Crisis, Energy, Environment, Global Warming, Governance, Opinion, Politics
2 comments The National Madhouse By Alan Caruba If you think that you are going mad, based on the statements out of the White House and Congress, let me assure you that you are sane, but those in charge of governing the nation appear to have lost their wits. The Democrat’s third-ranking House leader, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), during an [...] February 1, 2010
Posted by Congressman Billybob in: Commentary, Current Events, Democrat, Governance, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment “I am not an ideologue.” January 30, 2010
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Commentary, Current Events, Democrat, Governance, Opinion, Politics
2 comments All Obama, All the Time By Alan Caruba We are back to the Obama administration’s original theory of governance, “All Obama, all the time.” Having basked on the spotlight during his rather long State of the Union Speech, Obama addressed the Baltimore conference of Republican members of Congress with yet another familiar excuse, it’s all George W. [...] January 29, 2010
The Obama Contradiction
When you watch a president give a State of the Union Address on television, you’re always watching three people: the president at the podium, and the vice president and House speaker on the rise behind him. As a TV shot it’s awkward. The [...] January 28, 2010
Posted by Congressman Billybob in: Commentary, Current Events, Governance, Opinion, Politics
2 comments Sex, Lies, and the State of Union January 28, 2010
People are either Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal. But this says nothing about why we vote. It is not issues. Issues are the window dressing we paint over our biases. The reason we vote the way we do goes back to childhood. Did we hear dad use the N word? Did we grow up [...] January 28, 2010
In the early days of Obama’s run for President a lot of people said he had no experience. Remember all those people who said this guy had just been a Senator for a couple years and did he really have the experience to walk into the ring and govern and be the leader of the [...] January 28, 2010
Guess what. We cant afford ideologies anymore. Like our credit we have used them all up and at the end of the day they mean nothing anyway. The Democrats are socialists and the Republicans are right wing fascists who want us all to be teabaggers now and the independents want to overthrow the government. Please. Those [...] January 28, 2010
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: Governance, Opinion, Politics, Social Classes, Social Issues, Sociology
Leave a comment When I wrote my last novel Rocket Man about a man struggling to keep his home, I emphasized the chaos of the American Dream and threw everything but the kitchen sink at my poor main character. Now this fictional character seems to have moved down the pike into the mainstream of suburban America. A bank [...] January 28, 2010
He could have given a feel good speech. There is no one who can give a better speech than Barack Obama. He can soar to the heavens and take us with his vision, his eloquence, his verbal acuity. But he did none of that. He told it like it is and it was a hard [...] January 28, 2010
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Commentary, Current Events, Democrat, Economic Crisis, Governance, Opinion, Politics, Recovery, Republican
One comment And, Now, for Some Good News! By Alan Caruba After the State of the Union speech and the instant analyses on television and the punditry that follows on newspaper’s editorial pages and, of course, on news/opinion websites and countless blogs and forums, the tendency is likely to dwell on how it portends more of the same bad [...] January 26, 2010
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Accountability, Business, Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Democrat, Economic Crisis, Opinion, Politics
2 comments MY State of the Union By Alan Caruba Each one of us has their own “state of the union” so far as the economy is concerned. Much of the workforce receives a paycheck, but many of those jobs have ceased to exist. Other jobs involve contract services. A reported 10% of the workforce is unemployed and the [...] January 23, 2010
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Commentary, Communism, Current Events, Democrat, Governance, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment Observing the Obvious By Alan Caruba For the past two years, it has been obvious to a lot of conservatives and independents that we have a President whose elevator doesn’t go to the top floor. This is a seriously flawed person. Anyone in law enforcement will tell you that there are few people, including serial killers, who “look” [...] January 21, 2010
Do Not Mistake An Independent For A Moderate January 19, 2010
Posted by Tony Bayliss in: Commentary, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Relationships, Satire, Social Issues, Travel, Uncategorized
5 comments I first visited Cambodia in the late 80’s. It was dangerous place. Small factions of the Khmer Rouge were still at large in the jungle, sheltering Pol Pot. There was little rule of law, armed thugs roaming the litter-strewn streets of Phnom Penh, the capital. I was unable to travel outside the city for fear [...] January 19, 2010
Posted by Muhammad Cohen in: Commentary, Communications, Current Events, Democracy, Democrat, Economic Crisis, Healthcare, Politics, Recovery, The Economy
Leave a comment After one year, President Obama has yet to defy the Nixon’s funeral rule and deliver change we can believe [...] January 18, 2010
Two years ago, I visited Yangon and Mandalay, in Myanmar, to see for myself a country which our own Government was urging us not to visit. I found a marked contrast between the beautifully-tended boulevards and parks on the approach to each city – clearly showcases for visiting dignitaries – and the completely neglected downtown [...] January 18, 2010
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse in: Commentary, Current Events, Democrat, Opinion, Politics, Republican
2 comments The Noble Lies and the Hypocrisy that Fuels a National Deceit by Lloyd Lofthouse It’s well known that many Americans have a short attention span due to watching too much TV and a shorter memory. It seems that Republicans believe that too. Anyone who has done the homework to understand how the current neo-conservative Republican leadership works [...] January 15, 2010
Slug the Obama Story ‘Disconnect’
The first thing I learned in journalism is that every story has a name. At WEEI News Radio in Boston, the editor would label each story with one word, called a “slug,” and assign a writer to write it [...] January 12, 2010
Posted by Alan Caruba in: African-American, Commentary, Current Events, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment Race and Politics in America By Alan Caruba Politics in America has always been about race. It began with the writing of the Constitution and the compromises made by the Founding Fathers in order to keep the southern states in the fold. It can be found in the very first Article that makes reference to the “respective numbers, [...] January 11, 2010
Senator Harry Reid’s words that have eclipsed the news of late are not so much racism as how most of America feels about race. His stating that Barack Obama would not have been considered electable for president had he not been light skin and void of Negro dialect is something African Americans have dealt with [...] January 9, 2010
Posted by Congressman Billybob in: Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Democracy, Governance, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment Getting Control of Congress, Permanently In [...] January 8, 2010
Posted by Peggy Noonan in: Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Democrat, Governance, Healthcare, Medical, Opinion, Politics, Republican
One comment The Risk of Catastrophic Victory
Passage of the health-care bill will be, for the administration, a catastrophic victory. If it is voted through in time for the State of the Union Address, as President Obama hopes, half the chamber will rise to [...] January 5, 2010
Posted by Jack B Rochester in: Current Events, Opinion, Politics, Social Issues, Uncategorized
One comment Remember the “Twinkie Defense” Dan White used to explain why he killed Harvey Milk 25 years ago? White claimed he was made mentally unstable by ingesting Twinkies – ergo, too much sugar. Now in Boston we have Massachusetts State Senator Anthony Galluccio, who has been thrice charged with drunken driving [in the last instance, after [...] January 1, 2010
Posted by Peggy Noonan in: Business, Commentary, Current Events, Democrat, Economic Crisis, Governance, Opinion, Politics, Religion
Leave a comment Look Ahead With Stoicism—and Optimism The accomplished and sophisticated attorney was asked what attitude he was bringing to the new year. “Stoicism and mindless optimism,” he laughed, which sounded just about right. He meant it, he said, [...] December 26, 2009
Posted by Peggy Noonan in: Commentary, Current Events, Governance, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment ‘He Just Does What He Thinks Is Right’ Cannon to the left of him, cannon to the right of him, cannon in front of him volley and thunder. That’s our president’s position on the political battlefield now, taking it from all sides. And the odd thing, the unique thing in terms of modern political history, is [...] December 20, 2009
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Energy, Environment, Governance, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment Demography Decides Everything By Alan Caruba When I listen to politicians arguing the merits of some piece of legislation, I am usually 99% sure they have no idea how demography-—population—-will affect the outcome of their grand schemes. This is particularly true of advocates of fixed and often flawed ideas about the environment. Most “save the Earth” true believers [...] December 17, 2009
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Accountability, Cap and Trade, Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Governance, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment Why You’re Broke By Alan Caruba While it is incontestably true that a lot of people took out mortgage loans they could not afford to replay, it is just as true that they were encouraged to do so because banks were required by federal law to make these bad loans. Bankers even gave them an acronym, “Ninja” [...] December 13, 2009
December 15 is Bill of Rights Day By Alan Caruba December 15 is Bill of Rights day, a national holiday that was signed into law by Franklin Delano Roosevelt on that day in 1941. For those who know their history, that was just a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into [...] December 13, 2009
Obama Moves Toward Center Stage
The political headline this week is that President Obama appears to be attempting to move toward the center, or what he believes is the center. We saw the big pivot in two major speeches, one on the economy and [...] December 8, 2009
Posted by Congressman Billybob in: Accountability, Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Governance, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment Reading What Isn’t There December 2, 2009
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Accountability, Commentary, Current Events, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, Governance, Homeland Security, Islam, Military, Opinion, Politics
One comment The Open-Ended War By Alan Caruba As I listened to the President address the nation from West Point, I was reminded of how well he can deliver a speech. It’s like watching a slight-of-hand magician. You marvel at his dexterity, but you know he’s still skillfully fooling you. The speech, given in the Eisenhower auditorium at West Point, [...] November 29, 2009
Posted by Peggy Noonan in: Commentary, Current Events, Foreign Relations, Opinion, Politics, The Pundit's Corner
Leave a comment He Can’t Take Another Bow
This week, two points in an emerging pointillist picture of a White House leaking support—not the support of voters, though polls there show steady decline, but in two core constituencies, Washington’s Democratic-journalistic establishment, and what might still be called the [...] November 25, 2009
Now Every Democrat down in the Senate liked healthcare reform a lot, but among the Democrats there was one who did not. The Liebergrinch hated healthcare reform – the whole Senate season. Now, please don’t ask why; no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. Or it could be [...] November 17, 2009
Ga-Ga for Sarah By Alan Caruba As we know from the 2008 campaign, every so often Americans go ga-ga over some politician. A relatively slim majority of the voters were convinced that Barack Obama was the first or second coming of a great new future filled with “change”; all of which has turned out for the worst. The [...] November 16, 2009
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: Entertainment, Opinion, Politics, Social Issues, Television, The Media, The Pundit's Corner
Leave a comment Even if we agree that our journalism is less than objective these days and television now resembles the carnival more than the domain of the Cronkite’s and the Murrow’s with hawkers yelling at us as we walk down the dusty aisles…that still doesn’t mean we can’t try for a representative news channel. You could never [...] November 16, 2009
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: Commentary, Opinion, Politics, The Media, The Pundit's Corner
Leave a comment There is an old saying: never let anyone see how smart you are, they will cut you off at the knees. Certainly President Obama never heeded this little aphorism. He has shown us how smart he was time and again and he is paying a price. Smart people have to be careful. You do not [...] November 16, 2009
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: Comments & Discussion, Democracy, Democrat, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment Who can forget seeing Oprah with Barack at the big rally in Chicago? There she was the number one woman in America with sway over millions of American women and men and she was standing with the man who would change the world. Oprah loves Barack Obama. Let there be no mistake. She supported him, [...] November 12, 2009
Posted by Peggy Noonan in: Commentary, Current Events, Foreign Affairs, Governance, Opinion, Politics, The Pundit's Corner
Leave a comment Just the Facts, Mr. President The president has been taking time thinking about Afghanistan. I cannot see why this is bad. If he’s really thinking, he’s not dithering—thought can be harder than action, weighing plans as hard as choosing and executing one. A question of such consequence [...] November 10, 2009
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: Current Events, Healthcare, Opinion, Politics, Recovery, The Pundit's Corner
2 comments In the depths of the Great Depression the United States government undertook the largest project in the United States to date–The Hoover Dam. Billed to provide electricity and water for the West from the Colorado river and to finally tame the Colorado so it would quit washing out farms–the dam was audacious. No one knew first [...] November 9, 2009
“I have a constitutional duty to make the right decision for my district whether or not the decision was popular.” When was the last time we heard that? It gets better. “I had to make a decision based on the needs of the people in my district…a lot of my constituents are uninsured, a lot [...] November 8, 2009
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Democrat, Economic Crisis, Economics, Education, Energy, Environment, Global Warming, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment Wrecking America By Alan Caruba I am always wary of conspiracy theories. Most can be explained away as shared ideologies which, in the case of the current and recently past Congresses and White Houses, can be described as socialism. It did not and does not matter which Party was or is in power. The other explanation for the [...] November 8, 2009
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: Economic Crisis, Economics, Healthcare, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment I know a man whose job it is to call up doctors and hospitals and knock down their fees. He has a large home and shiny sports cars and acreage and stocks and bonds and his kids will go to Big Ten schools and he is very affable and is known as a man who [...] November 8, 2009
THE RECESSION IS OVER! So says President Barack Obama and government officials. Prosperity is right around the corner. REALLY? Now what corner is that prosperity lurking on? Herbert Hoover’s corner? The bankers corner? The auto manufacturers corner? AIG’s corner? The bail out execs with bonuses corner? Barack Obama’s corner? Geitner’s corner? I mean I must be [...] November 8, 2009
You really should watch Glenn Beck to understand what is going on. The third party is here and it is a radical amalgam of disgruntled teabaggers and 9/12 ers who have coalesced around Republican contests and are now going to unleash their own far right candidates to purge the republicans of moderates and anyone else [...] November 8, 2009
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: Opinion, Politics, Social Classes, Social Issues, Sociology, The Writer's Corner
Leave a comment I would think he gets it now. There is a subsonic rumbling in America. It breaks out like a volcano on the cable shows. Gas emits from the Palin Beck coalition in the name of taking back America. They took back the election in upstate New York and gave it to a Democrat. They took [...] November 8, 2009
At a white people rally in front of the capitol yesterday Michele Bachmannn from Minnesota called for revolution. She threw a large stack of paper to the ground and whipped up Teabaggers, 9/12ers, closet Klansmen, guntoters, and the assortment of middleaged white people who hold signs of Obama as Hitler, Healthcare as a concentration camp, [...] November 8, 2009
Twenty three billion trees. That’s how many the Civilian Conservation Corps planted. Eight hundred new state parks. Millions of men taught to read and write and trained for future professions. Franklin Roosevelt’s baby brought charges of socialism and worse. Some thought he was trying to create a personal army the way Mussolini and Hitler were doing. [...] November 8, 2009
Posted by Congressman Billybob in: Accountability, Commentary, Congress, Current Events, Democrat, Healthcare, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment Nancy Counts on Corruption November 8, 2009
Posted by Tim Roux in: African-American, China, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Relations, History, Homeland Security, Islam, Journalism, Latino & Hispanic, Military, Morality, Politics, Religion, Republican, Sociology, Terrorism, Women's Rights
6 comments In Britain it is now a criminal offence to make any statement which might incite racial hatred. So, if you go around saying that all Irishmen are stupid or all Welshmen are thieves, then you may well find yourself helping the police with their enquiries and facing a sharp fine or even a term of [...] November 6, 2009
The Rose Garden Path First thought on Tuesday’s elections: There’s a lot of firing going on in America, and now that includes politicians. Seems only fair and will likely continue. I don’t think voters in New Jersey and Virginia were saying, “Oh the [...] October 30, 2009
Posted by Alan Caruba in: Accountability, Commentary, Current Events, Heroes, Opinion, Politics
8 comments Obama: Saluting for the Cameras By Alan Caruba Presidents engage in all kinds of ceremonial events. Every Thanksgiving, they “pardon” a turkey so it doesn’t end up on the White House menu. They make sure they are photographed with the winning teams of various sporting series. Every Easter they can be found at the White House Egg [...] October 30, 2009
Posted by Peggy Noonan in: Commentary, Current Events, Economic Crisis, Energy, Environmental Issues, Freelance Author, Healthcare, Journalism, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment We’re Governed by Callous Children
The new economic statistics put growth at a healthy 3.5% for the third quarter. We should be dancing in the streets. No one is, because no one has any faith in these numbers. Waves of money are sloshing through the system, creating [...] October 27, 2009
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: Commentary, Comments & Discussion, Democracy, Governance, Healthcare, Politics, Social Issues, Sociology
4 comments We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. So if we are to take these words at their core and apply them to the year 2009 then we [...] October 26, 2009
Posted by Bill Hazelgrove in: Health & Fitness, Healthcare, Politics, Social Aspects, The Pundit's Corner
One comment Seven Million. That’s what insurance companies are spending a week to defeat this healthcare reform. Now why would that be? Is it because they are just so sure they are providing us the best healthcare out there and no other system could better serve the American public than the one where insurance companies decided who [...] October 26, 2009
Posted by in: Accountability, Commentary, Current Events, Healthcare, Humor, Opinion, Politics
Leave a comment Speaker From The Black Lagoon Is it just me, or is Nancy Pelosi starting to look more and more like Marty Feldman? Every time I hear that grating |
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Copyright © 2010 Speak Without Interruption - All Rights Reserved |
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The Government Sucks at Most Things
The Government Sucks at Most Things
By Alan Caruba
On the eve before Daylight Savings Time, I managed to break a wall clock in the process of trying to grasp it to “spring ahead.” It crashed to a counter top and gave up the ghost. I then went online to Staples and 24 hours later I had [...]