Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
The rent is too damn high
At a seven-candidate debate for governor of New York, Jimmy McMillan of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party stole the show. Here is a video clip of his performance. His catchphrase was remixed into a dance-beat tune, which is catching on quickly.
Obama blames “scared” voters
Mickey Kaus says that Obama has returned to blaming voters for not agreeing with him, just like when he spoke of people in Pennsylvania that “cling to guns and God” during the 2008 election campaign. At a recent fund-raising event in Massachusetts, Obama said: “Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now and […]
Focus on the Tea Party, miss what’s going on
Two op-ed pieces today provide some badly-needed perspective on the Tea Party and party politics generally. First, the Financial Times’ Gideon Rachman is in America, and he has a very sensible opinion piece on the Tea Party in today’s edition. As Rachman rightly points out, the Tea Party “is not as ‘mad’ as its opponents sometimes claim”. […]
Christie’s tunnel vision
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie yesterday cancelled the largest public transportation project in the country, a commuter train tunnel under the Hudson River to Manhattan. It is a very short-sighted move. The project originally was financed by about $3 billion each from the federal government, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the […]
“I’m not a witch”
Well, “I’m not a witch” is not what you expect to hear coming out of a candidate’s mouth. But what’s even more disturbing is Christine O’Donnell saying “I’m you”. That really creeps me out.
The CYA Europe terror alert
The State Department issued a travel alert on the weekend to Americans visiting Europe, warning of a possible terrorist attack. But what’s the point of it? I’m not saying an attack won’t happen. But what use is a vague warning? Europe is a huge territory – can they be a little more specific? The State […]
The Democratic Party “base”
So what’s happening with the Democratic Party’s base in the run-up to the November midterm elections? Not much it seems. The Wall Street Journal today reports on how union leaders are trying to drum up support for Democratic Party candidates, and are not having much luck. It quotes Debbie Olander of the United Food and Commercial […]
Paladino and the upstate-downstate New York divide
For many denizens of New York City, Carl Paladino, the Republican candidate for governor, is beyond the pale. He does appear to be a nasty piece of work. The real estate developer has a seedy reputation among some for distributing racist and pornographic emails. His policy proposals include housing welfare recipients in former prisons and giving them lessons in hygiene. […]
Obama on Dylan at the White House
In his interview in the current issue of Rolling Stone, President Obama speaks about Bob Dylan’s performance at the White House in February of this year (video above): Here’s what I love about Dylan: He was exactly as you’d expect he would be. He wouldn’t come to the rehearsal; usually, all these guys are practicing before the set […]
Republicans’ “Pledge to America”: lacking credibility, full of intensity
Last week House Republicans announced their “Pledge to America”, which promises to restrain government spending. But the fact is, despite all their puffed up rhetoric, Republicans lack credibility when it comes to deficit reduction. Two useful articles published today make this point. First, Jacob Sullum in Reason argues that Republicans’ vows to restore more balance to the government accounts “ring hollow”. The […]