On Gun Control, History, and Alternatives

Today I was called a “fucking idiot” on Facebook by someone who goes by the name Steamboat Guy. The reason? I suggested that if we, as a society, are unwilling to regulate and restrict gun ownership because of the Second Amendment, then we need other solutions to the problem of gun violence in the UnitedContinue reading “On Gun Control, History, and Alternatives”

On a Facebook Comment Worth Preserving

One of the problems with political discourse today is that those on the right and the left not only see the world differently but they talk about the world differently. Words have different meanings on the left and the right. A friend, one that has, in my view, gone unfortunately off the deep end intoContinue reading “On a Facebook Comment Worth Preserving”

On Obama’s Tax Cut Capitulation

Yesterday, President Obama and the Congressional Republican leadership agreed on a two year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts. It’s not entirely a done deal — Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont, has threatened a filibuster, and the deal still has to be sold to wary Democratic legislators, some of whom were willing to take PaulContinue reading “On Obama’s Tax Cut Capitulation”

On Allyn’s Adventures at the Rally For Sanity

Along with well over 200,000 other people, I attended the Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear on the National Mall in Washington, DC yesterday. Jon Stewart announced about two months ago, after Glenn Beck’s “Rally to Restore Honor,” that he was going to hold his own rally on the National Mall, the Rally to RestoreContinue reading “On Allyn’s Adventures at the Rally For Sanity”

On the Coming Impeachment of Barack Obama

The Republican Party, odds-on favorites to win the House of Representatives in six weeks, are looking to the future by looking back at their playbook of the 1990s past — a campaign platform long on rhetorical flourishes and short on a coherent governing strategy, talk of a government shutdown to force the President to theContinue reading “On the Coming Impeachment of Barack Obama”

On Constitutional Worship and Historical Trends

I have a friend — he and I go back over a decade — who, in the past two years, has turned into a rabid right-winger. He’s always been out there on the right, but ever since Obama was elected, he’s gone off the deep end. Obama is a socialist, a Marxist, a totalitarian fascist,Continue reading “On Constitutional Worship and Historical Trends”

On the Republican Party’s “Pledge to America”

A few days ago, the Republican Party unveiled A Pledge to America, their campaign for this autumn’s Congressional races. I downloaded the PDF. I printed it out. I read it on the train on Friday, only to wish that I were reading Clash of the Geeks instead. I’m a self-admitted policy and politics junkie, butContinue reading “On the Republican Party’s “Pledge to America””

On What’s At Stake In November’s Elections

Forty-five years ago Alabama governor George Wallace declared in his inaugural address a policy of “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” Opposed to the Civil Rights movement, rejecting federal authority, Wallace, an ardent racist and state’s rights advocate, sought to turn back the clock to an earlier era, but the genie of Civil Rights wasContinue reading “On What’s At Stake In November’s Elections”

On Barack Obama’s Religion

Wasn’t it P.T. Barnum who said that “You’ll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public?” That’s how I felt this morning, when I heard NPR’s story on a just-released Pew Research poll that indicates that a growing percentage of Americans — now 1 in 5 — believe that President Obama is, inContinue reading “On Barack Obama’s Religion”

On The Cordoba House Project

I’m thinking of converting to Islam, just to annoy a Republican. I’ve watched the news coverage the past month of the “controversy” over the Cordoba House project in New York City where a 13-story Burlington Coat Factory building two blocks from where the World Trade Center stood will be renovated into an Islamic community center.Continue reading “On The Cordoba House Project”