On the PPACA Primal Scream

Last week, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, upheld the Constitutionality of the PPACA, commonly referred to as “Obamacare.” Surprisingly, Chief Justice John Roberts was the deciding vote in the decision. More surprisingly, he initially voted against upholding the PPACA and changed his vote. Unsurprisingly, the Republicans, who had been so bothered under theContinue reading “On the PPACA Primal Scream”

On Talking Politics on Facebook

This is going to be a disjointed post, because it comes from something I wrote on Facebook. And obviously I don’t want it to fall down the memory hole that is Facebook. 🙂 First, some background. I linked to this — Steve Benen of MaddowBlog pointed to an appearance of Thomas Mann and Norman OrnsteinContinue reading “On Talking Politics on Facebook”

On Final Thoughts on North Carolina’s Amendment One

Some final thoughts on North Carolina and Amendment One. (Previous comments here and here.) I know that many of the people who voted in favor of Amendment One did so on religious grounds. They feel that homosexuality is incompatible with their religious beliefs because it is condemned in the text of the Bible. But IContinue reading “On Final Thoughts on North Carolina’s Amendment One”

On My Instant Reaction to Amendment One

This morning I wrote about Amendment One, a Constitutional amendment in North Carolina that was up for a vote on election day that would outlaw same-sex marriage and any heterosexual arrangement that wasn’t marriage. I implored people to vote against its passage, and I won’t recap what I said there; just read it for yourselfContinue reading “On My Instant Reaction to Amendment One”

On North Carolina’s Amendment One

Many states are going to the polls today. Dick Lugar’s career is likely to end today in Indiana as the crazy wing of the Republican Party turns him out in a primary. And North Carolina votes on Amendment One. Yesterday, I was invited to an after-election party in Raleigh by one of the anti-Amendment OneContinue reading “On North Carolina’s Amendment One”

On Being Noticed by Rachel Maddow’s Producer

How’s this for fun? I got noticed by one of Rachel Maddow’s writers and producers on Twitter this afternoon. 🙂 A few months ago, Maddow hired Steve Benen, formerly of Washington Monthly, to work on MaddowBlog. I’d followed Benen’s work on WM‘s “Political Animal” blog for a number of years, and when Maddow hired himContinue reading “On Being Noticed by Rachel Maddow’s Producer”

On Hulled Boats and Rising Tides

Something I threw up on Facebook, but it’s worth preserving before it falls down the memory hole. I linked to this, an article by Steve Benen on opposition to the minimum wage by Senate candidates in Missouri. Benen writes: Indeed, the fact that U.S. Senate candidates would have no qualms about standing against the existenceContinue reading “On Hulled Boats and Rising Tides”