On Health Care Reform and the Debate

Can we invoke Godwin’s Law on the protestors railing against health care reform? We have cases such as these: A woman in Massachusetts compares reform to Nazism and holds up a sign of President Obama with a Hitler-esque mustache, prompting Representative Barney Frank to ask her what world she lives in and compare speaking withContinue reading “On Health Care Reform and the Debate”

On Carl Sagan and Policy Debates

Eric Michael Johnson of The Primate Diaries posted a few days ago an article on Carl Sagan’s theory of Nuclear Winter and the political reaction to it in the early 1980s. Okay, okay, yes, I will admit that Sagan was not the only person involved in the Nuclear Winter theory, that being the idea thatContinue reading “On Carl Sagan and Policy Debates”

On a Taxation Survey

I received something absolutely fascinating in the mail today. A survey from the Heritage Foundation. The right-wing think tank. They want to know what I think about taxation. Let’s take a look. Current plans by President Barack Obama and the liberals in Congress to erase the historic tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 could forceContinue reading “On a Taxation Survey”

On Mistaken Names

I watched on MASN2 this afternoon two of the lowliest teams in baseball — the Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates. I consider the Nats my “local team.” I think this is common amongst football fans (and by “football fans” I mean “soccer fans”), where there’s a top tier squad that one roots for, andContinue reading “On Mistaken Names”

On the Day After

I was planning on writing nothing more on the subject of Sarah Palin and her sudden resignation, at least until the federal indictments are handed down in the very near future, but I can’t stand to watch the bloodbath in Wrigleyville any longer. Oh, Cubs :cubs: , why hast thou forsaken me? Ahem. Sarah Palin.Continue reading “On the Day After”

On the Pernicious Evils of the FCC

Fuck the FCC. Fuck the cell phone companies. A year ago, I went out and dutifully bought a digital converter box for my television. Analog signals were going away, because the cell phone companies wanted the analog spectrum for who the fuck knows what reason. I set up the digital converter box, and I hadContinue reading “On the Pernicious Evils of the FCC”

On Liberty University’s Short-Sightedness

Liberty University, founded by the late Jerry Falwell, has banned its College Democrats Club, because “the Democratic party violates the school’s principles by supporting abortion, socialism and the agenda of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.” My instant reaction? Liberty University had enough Democrats for a College Democrats Club? I used to live in Lynchburg.Continue reading “On Liberty University’s Short-Sightedness”

On the Reach of International Law

If President Obama’s administration is unwilling to commission a Truth Commission to investigate the crimes and moral failures of the Bush administration and bring the actors who authorized torture to justice, that’s okay. The Spanish are more than willing to make up for our lapse. And the Brits, too. Spain’s national newspapers, El País andContinue reading “On the Reach of International Law”

On Ari Fleischer’s Revisionism

Years ago, when I read The Dark Knight Strikes Again, there was a line near the end of the third issue where George Bush’s Press Secretary, Ari Fleischer says “The President doesn’t have to say dick to you media pansies.” As satirical as Frank Miller’s story was, Miller hit really close to the mark; theContinue reading “On Ari Fleischer’s Revisionism”

On John Yoo’s Constitution

Contrary to popular belief, I do not have an Enemy’s List. Yes, Warren Ellis is my nemesis, but only because his writing makes me feel like an amateur. (Though I’m not sure what to think — yet — about Crooked Little Vein, which makes me realize how completely undepraved I am. That is a goodContinue reading “On John Yoo’s Constitution”