Michael Sigman: Expert political prognostications may be devoid of useful information, but they can help us resist our own tendencies to act like big shots, prediction-wise.
The Seven Biggest Economic Lies
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Robert Reich: Here’s a short effort to rebut the seven biggest whoppers now being told by those who want to take America backwards.
Are Republican Politicians Good for Jews?
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Steve Hochstadt: Romney’s clumsy attempt campaign to use alleged Jewish gullibility to knock his opponent isn’t about Jews at all. It is part of a larger effort by conservative Republicans to use Jews to win Christian votes.
Own It, Barack!
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Lucia Brawley: The more hard-hitting and direct you are the better. The more you own your critics’ ammunition against you and turn it on them, the more effective you’ll be.
Forget Rick Perry – Mitt Romney Is Perfect for the GOP
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Tina Dupuy: For the last 30 years at least, the Republicans have been relentlessly, uniformly hawkish – but mostly with other peoples’ children. This disconnect was made evident in the ’08 election when soldiers donated money to candidate Barack Obama 6-1 over Senator John McCain.
Corporations Are a Mitt’s Best Friend
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Michael Sigman: Picking up on the Supreme Court’s gargantuan gift to Republican candidates in the 2010 Citizens United decision, the Mittster went all Soylent Green on an Iowa heckler, opining, “Corporations are people, my friend… of course they are.”
Open Letter to President Obama Post-S&P’s Credit Rating Downgrade
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Lucia Brawley: I will fight for you in the upcoming campaign with everything I have, in order to prevent a Republican, or unthinkably, a Tea Party candidate from winning the presidency. But in order to fight for you again, I have to know you’re fighting for Bianca and me. Because if not you, then who?
What Brings Democrats and Republicans Together: A White President?
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Anthony Samad: The rise of the Tea Party wouldn’t have taken place had we had a white president. Blink if you want to…but the fact this has not happened to any other President has raised my “Race-dar,” beyond anything ideological battles could muster. Race(ism) has not disappeared in this country. It’s just been codified.
What the Debt Ceiling Deal Means for Foreign Policy
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Rebecca Griffin: Depending on whom you ask, the Pentagon either got a free ride or the deal decimates the military budget. Given the leverage that Republicans had in this debate, it’s not surprising that the Pentagon got off easy in the first round of cuts.
Liberals Need to Stop Making Excuses
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Bernard A. Weisberger: The current situation is evidence of the crashing failure of liberal America to stand up for its forgotten principles of some sixty years ago, and its decision to chain itself to a Democratic Party now under the leadership of “centrists” or “moderates” who in fact occupy the terrain once held by the vanished race of liberal Republicans.
Let’s Stop Blaming Immigrants
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Alvaro Huerta: Whether it’s Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., blaming the wildfires in the Southwest on immigrants coming across the border or whether it’s the state of Alabama passing the harshest anti-immigrant law in the country, it’s clear that brown-skinned immigrants have become the targets of the day.
America Comes to Its Senses
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Andrew Bacevich: Yet it is a measure of just how quickly things are changing that McCain himself, once deemed a source of straight talk, now comes across as a mere crank.
Obama’s Disappointing Peace Plan
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Rebecca Griffin: Unfortunately, the president’s plan allows the war to last indefinitely and leaves in place almost twice as many troops as when he came in office. The American and Afghan people will pay the price for prolonging this disastrous policy.
Is Obama Violating the War Powers Act?
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Marian Wang: Even supporters of the Libya intervention have complained that the administration is flouting the law.
Sarah and Newt: Campaign Doubletalk
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Michael Sigman: How can politicians and their consultants expect voters to “re-remember” reality when a quick Google search can verify what actually happened? Perhaps because they know that’s how the brain works — or, rather, doesn’t.
An Elephant for Sister Sarah
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Carl Matthes: Just in time to take advantage of the uptick in movie ticket sales is ”The Undefeated,” a film that will hopefully “reflate” the political life of America’s Republican sweetheart, Sarah Palin.
GOP Has an Extremist Problem
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Brent Budowsky: Now Rick Santorum attacks John McCain on the issue of torture. It is amazing — a major party has a pro-torture wing.
Online Egocentricty
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Mike Price: It’s like when Ella sings. Sang. When she wanted it to, her last note faded into itself, and then there was sweet silence wrapped into its own perfect moment.
President Obama: MIA
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Walter Brasch: Good presidents do what is best for the country. Great presidents, however, do not only what is best for the people, but are also willing to speak to the courage of their beliefs, of their principles, even if it may be unpopular among many of their constituencies.
President Jimmy Carter Was Right
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Brent Budowsky: The one national leader who understood was a prophet without honor in a nation addicted to oil: President Jimmy Carter.
Phoenix Police Exaggerate Kidnapping Stats
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Andrea Nill: One city councilwoman claims that police officials have known the figures were wrong since August 2010, but continued to deny allegations that they weren’t for months.
Time to Stand With the Prez?
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Tom Degan: As disappointed as I may be with the performance of this president to date, I still thank goodness each and every day that John McCain is not sleeping in the Oval Office at this very moment and that Sarah Palin is not a 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency. Can you even imagine?
The Politics of Hate—and Hate Speech
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Walter Brasch: While most Tea Partiers are White, middle-aged or senior citizens who are angry but not violent, whenever there is violence, whenever there is racism, discrimination, or homophobia, there are Tea Party sympathizers present.
Tpaw and the Campaign ‘Autohagiography’
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Michael Sigman: Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty this week joined Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney, 2012 GOP presidential hopefuls who’ve published campaign books that might best be called “autohagiographies.”
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot
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Tragedy in Tucson Arizona Congressional Representative Gabrielle Giffords has been shot. She was shot in the head as she was addressing constituents at a Tucson, Arizona stripmall. Congresswoman Giffords was immediately taken to a nearby hospital and is listed in critical condition. The Arizona representative was attending an event at a local stripmall in Arizona [...]
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This Jobs Crisis Is Obama’s Kryptonite
David Love: Obama can solve this whole thing tomorrow if he just calls for a new New Deal program already. But will he have the courage? Time will tell, but the President, like this sad nation, is short on time.