Joe Wilson may not necessarily be the Evil Twin of Plame’s husband. But he indeed is the newly crowned, self-appointed hero of the politically deranged.
About Mary Lyon
Mary Lyon is a veteran broadcaster and five-time Golden Mike Award winner, who has anchored, reported, and written for the Associated Press Radio Network, NBC Radio "The Source," and many Los Angeles-area stations including KRTH-FM/AM, KLOS-FM, KFWB-AM, and KTLA-TV, and occasional media analyst for ABC Radio News.
She began her career as a liberal activist with the Student Coalition for Humphrey/Muskie in 1968, and helped spearhead a regional campaign, "The Power 18," to win the right to vote for 18-year-olds. She remains an advocate for liberal causes, responsibility and accountability in media, environmental education and support of the arts for children, and green living. In addition to The Northeast Democrat, Mary writes for OpEdNews, Democrats.us, World News Trust, and WeDemocrats.org's "We! The People" webzine. Mary is also a parenting expert, having written and illustrated the book "The Frazzled Working Woman's Practical Guide to Motherhood."
What Still Ails America
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Leave it to President Obama to wrap up his speech about health care reform in a brief examination of the American character. True. For the love of God, somebody has to say something. Obama, however, did not see America the Mean.
To This Partisan Irish Catholic, More Change We Can Believe In
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Maybe I came to revere Ted Kennedy’s work all the more because unlike his brothers, he had time and many years to make a difference, large and small, and a terrific and powerful podium from which to do so. He never hesitated to use his stature or gifts for good, to help somebody.
Freedom Isn’t Free – We Still Aren’t Free of Sarah Palin
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Happy Independence Day, on the eve of which we’ve been reminded that we are FAR from declaring our national independence from the Sarah Palin addiction. After watching her rambling, disjointed “W-T-F Moment” as she announced she’s not only not running for reelection as Alaska’s governor but she’s bailing out now, I guess what I’m doing [...]
What the Specter Switch Ultimately Means
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Arlen Specter?!?!?! The first time I blurted that out was during an industry screening of Oliver Stone’s “JFK”, in which his name came up in connection with the rogue “magic bullet” issue. I just had another Arlen Spector blurt a few minutes ago (as of this writing, anyway). He’s switching? Defecting? “Coming home,” as some [...]
Reason Returns to the White House
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Like it or not, knuckle-draggers: Science is back IN. As a life-long Catholic, I couldn’t be more delighted. I’m sure the airwaves and the cable channels will soon be wall-to-wall with conservatives and Republicans and other assorted 13th-century thinkers whining and moaning and ringing their hands – probably gnashing their teeth and rending their garments, [...]
Obama Reaches the Bleechers. Jindal? Off the Fists
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Feels like it’s still the best of times and the worst of times. If the night of President Obama’s first major speech to a joint session of Congress proved anything, it confirmed that America chose the better of two directions last November. Nothing could underscore that more glaringly than the comparison of Obama’s remarks to [...]
So What Do I Do Now?
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This is a heckuva hangover. More than just the sun dawned on me on the morning after Obama Day. I realized as I woke up following the Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States that I’m not sure how to behave anymore. For eight years I’ve felt like a hostage. [...]
They’re Just Not That Into You, George
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Mr. Bush, you shouldn’t have bothered. It wouldn’t have mattered what you said on your last Thursday evening as White House occupant. I’m sure many Americans did tune in out of curiosity as to how you were going to try to talk your way out of your mess this time. You used the same familiar [...]
Blago for Senate Majority Leader
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There! I said it. Yes. I know embattled and ethically – well, um – relaxed Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has no business in the U.S. Senate. There’s more than a fair amount of people who quite reasonably believe his shenanigans redefine him as having no business in the Illinois governor’s job, either. But there’s something [...]
The “Bush Effect” – Hopefully for a Third and LAST Time
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Third time’s a charm, maybe? I’ve compiled three of these lists now. In 2006, I issued the first one, looking back on everything George W. Bush has adversely affected since he first arrived in the Oval Office. Just a damage assessment, really. At the time, I thought it would be instructive to look back, at [...]
Hitting the Reset Button on the 21st Century
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Maybe we were just behind schedule. Could it be that we simply got a late start launching the REAL New American Century? There is an argument to be made that THIS, NOW, is the new and more formal start to the 21st Century, or perhaps it will be, come January 20th, 2009. Just a little [...]
I Helped Pay for That, Too, Senator McCain
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The piece of film that just made the biggest impression on me on this particular night, when Barack Obama aired his half-hour TV special, was not anything Obama presented. It was the sour grapes John McCain squeezed in reaction. He complained about all those sinister mystery contributions, the suspicious credit card funding that’s poured into [...]
It’s Going To Take a Lot More than Joe the Plumber
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How much do I not like John McCain now, because of this final debate in Campaign 2008? Let me count the ways – which, at this point, number far greater than the components of a well-equipped plumber’s tool collection.
The Hate-Talk Express – Is This Really the Way You Want to Go Out, Senator McCain?
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Dear Senator McCain, One way or another, you reach an end on November 4th. We do know that for certain, even though no one can say what kind of end it will be – whether the road takes you to the Oval Office or to the finish of your long-held ambition to be President. But [...]
The Subliminal Slam-Dunk
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I was going to start out by calling the second Presidential Candidates’ Debate between Barack Obama and John McCain a “running out the clock” affair for Obama. Basically a draw – no big wins or losses, with an edge to Obama because he didn’t give up any ground and McCain didn’t gain any.
Advantage Biden
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I had help with this one. I watched Joe Biden and Sarah Palin square off, on CNN, specifically for that network’s audience meters. In this case, it was a group of undecided voters in Ohio, both men and women. What was revealing to me was how the audience reaction dovetailed with my own.
The Ole Miss Debate: Whose Opening Advantage?
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I’m mixed. Who won? They both did. And didn’t. Here’s what strikes me about the opening round of presidential debate season: the one-liners, the facts (or not), the jabs, the international names and one mispronunciation, the energy, and the eye contact. Or in McCain’s case, the lack thereof. Among other things. I think John McCain [...]
Sarah Palin Lipschtick and Pigs
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by Mary Lyon – Amazing what a difference a week makes. Something has changed since Sarah Palin burst into the Republican Convention and started living it up by the stiletto. It still stings to look back over her mean-spirited, scornful, barb-laden speech. Whoever once said sticks and stones might hurt but names would not, has [...]
Trying To Make Nice
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By Mary Lyon – Dear Senator McCain: Well, gee, look at you, ‘eh? Have we finally met the “kinder, gentler” Republican that Republicans have been teasing us with for 20 years now? And why is my first instinct still to pull away? Maybe because it’s a Republican talking. Pure and simple. Perhaps you’ve heard the [...]
Republicans Are Mean
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I sat through Rudy Giuliani and the debut of Sarah Palin – and I’ve come to only one conclusion. Republicans are mean. No whining here. I’m no Phil Gramm. Just an objective statement of fact based on first-person observation. Nasty. Snarky. Mocking. Sarcastic. Punch you in the nose first and then laugh at you because [...]
A Connection of Disconnects
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One certainly can’t say that the Republican Convention doesn’t bring divergent individuals together. Sometimes, they’re the strangest of strange convention bedfellows.
Hurricane Sarah Palin
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The Look-Before-You-Leap presidential campaign is at it again: “Do as I say, not as I do.” It amuses and confuses me as I watch the Republican Party writhe and wriggle around in the mud. It’s not so much the Gulf Coast hurricane wreckage in which they’re mired, but in the dialogue (and probably their own [...]
Cue Lloyd Bentsen
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Where is Lloyd Bentsen when we need him? The distinguished Texas Democratic Senator, who died two years ago, probably would be rolling over in his grave to see what’s happening now. More than actually rolling over, I imagine he’d be trying to find a way to tunnel himself out to settle another political-presumption score. Dan [...]
The Mile-High Milestone: Signed, Sealed, and Delivered in Denver
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A signature Stevie Wonder hit struck the perfect introductory note for this historic evening: “Signed Sealed and Delivered.” And we were. So was Barack Obama.
Is This the Day America Started Growing Up?
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An awful lot of childish behavior has been on parade on the campaign trail this year. Well, yeah, pretty much every campaign season we see that, but this year has seemed even more juvenile than usual. Are we getting beyond that, at long last? Did we just take a big step? There’s one way in [...]
Hillary Clinton Wore Gold and She Was Golden
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All the blue and white “Unity” signs didn’t make nearly as vivid an impression as did the Lady in Gold on Night Number Two in Denver. Hillary Clinton Night at the Democratic Convention was actually the first night we’ve seen any real red meat served up in prime time. And no woman in there was [...]
Tears and Bookends – Day 1 of the Democratic Convention
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by Mary Lyon – What a great opening night! And what an historic journey the Democratic National Convention highlighted in its kickoff. It was a night of Great Democratic Bookends.
A Noun, A Verb, and P.O.W.
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by Mary Lyon – Joe Biden is already a pretty effective giant-killer, and he may just have killed another giant – a giant bummer among Democratic partisans concerned about the backbone of their party. Biden’s the guy who yanked the teeth and claws out of Rudy Giuliani last October 30th, during one of the Democratic [...]
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Three Little Words
“I screwed up.” Sounds like a simple, ordinary, and harmless little thing to admit, unless of course you’re the President of the United States. We haven’t heard the likes of this in at least eight years. No wonder everybody in the media is almost literally erupting about it. They can’t believe their ears. Seems THAT [...]