John McCain has offered a health care plan as part of his platform. Employer provided health insurance would be taxed as income, and then the taxpayer would receive a tax credit when they file their 1040s — $2,500 for the individual, $5,000 for a family. For workers who can’t get health insurance through their job,Continue reading “On John McCain’s Health Care Plan”
Category Archives: Politics
On the Obsession DVD
I mentioned on Thursday that I had received that day in the mail a DVD — Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West. Obsession is, according to Wikipedia, “a documentary movie about Islamist teachings and goals” that “compares the threat of radical Islamism with that of Nazism before World War II, and draws parallels betweenContinue reading “On the Obsession DVD”
On the Next John McCain Hail Mary
The headline says it all — “McCain camp prays for Palin wedding.” Why is the McCain campaign “praying”? Let’s put it like this — Republican presidential standard bearer John McCain had a pretty rough week last week. His Vice Presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, sat for an interview with Katie Couric — and came outContinue reading “On the Next John McCain Hail Mary”
On the Debate and John McCain’s Lies
Okay, the debate. Let’s liveblog. 🙂 Barack Obama is hardly “the most liberal member of the Senate” as McCain likes to say. Two tax brackets? Did I catch that correctly? McCain wants to collapse the tax brackets to only two? How is building nuclear power plants, as McCain suggests we need to do, going toContinue reading “On the Debate and John McCain’s Lies”
On Community Organizers, Myth, History, and Politics
Over the past month I’ve seen a meme making its way across the interwebs. Not a meme in the questions-passed-from-blog-to-blog sense that “meme” usually means online, but a meme in the more traditional sense, an idea that’s spreading and taking root. The meme? “Jesus was a community organizer. Pontius Pilate was a governor.” This is,Continue reading “On Community Organizers, Myth, History, and Politics”
On John McCain’s Campaign
John McCain is suspending his presidential campaign tomorrow. The reason? So he can go to Washington and work out a solution to the crisis rocking Wall Street. Twenty-four hours ago, McCain had been trying to distance himself from any role in resolving the financial crisis. Only now does McCain want to be involved in movingContinue reading “On John McCain’s Campaign”
On the Advice of Jed Bartlet
A few weeks ago I wrote about an article in The Atlantic that rated the fictional Presidents of film, much as Presidential historians today rate the real Presidents. The Atlantic article limited itself to presidents such as Bill Pullman in Independence Day, Michael Douglas in The American President, Kevin Kline in Dave. Martin Sheen’s JedContinue reading “On the Advice of Jed Bartlet”
On “The Goddamn McCain”
Consider Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns. An aged hero confronts a new generation. He’s older, he’s slower, he knows that he’s physically no match. An artist has done an incredible job mixing portaits of John McCain with Frank Miller’s Batman dialogue and thought balloons from The Dark Knight Returns. If Frank Miller, circa 1985,Continue reading “On “The Goddamn McCain””
On John McCain’s “Mansion”
Watching McCain’s speech last night, I kept wondering — why is there a mansion on the jumbotron behind him? It wasn’t the White House. Was it supposed to be one of McCain’s eight houses? But it surely couldn’t be in Phoenix — the surrounding landscape looked too verdant and lush. Turns out that, no, it’sContinue reading “On John McCain’s “Mansion””
On Rudy Guiliani’s Speech to the RNC
Said I, to a friend of mine, just now: “God, Rudy sounds like a limp dick.” Now, to watch Sarah Palin. Is there a drinking game for Palin’s speech? Anyone know? ETA: A late update. Rudy Guiliani obviously did not receive the Republican talking points for his speech. He used the word “torture” when describingContinue reading “On Rudy Guiliani’s Speech to the RNC”