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 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 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 John McCain and His Lack of Judgment

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has had a lousy seventy-two hours. That’s the only real conclusion that one can draw as news reports about the Republican Vice Presidential pick filter in. She was affiliated with and was a member of a secessionist political party, the Alaska Independence Party. She’s hired a lawyer in advance of herContinue reading “On John McCain and His Lack of Judgment”

On Sarah Palin, Tactics, and the Cynicism of John McCain

Yesterday, presumptive Republican Presidential nominee John McCain made his pick for his vice presidential running mate — Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Who? To be frank, a week ago I hadn’t even heard of Sarah Palin. It’s my fault for not watching The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson, I suppose. Here’s a quick biography. AgedContinue reading “On Sarah Palin, Tactics, and the Cynicism of John McCain”

On Joe Biden

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has picked his vice presidential running mate. Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. Joe Biden? I thought Obama was running as the candidate who was going to change Washington. How does picking an “inside the Beltway” Washington insider do that? Biden has been serving as Delaware’s Senator since Obama wasContinue reading “On Joe Biden”

On John McCain and His Disconnect

A day after writing about John McCain and his treatment as a prisoner of war at the hands of the North Vietnamese, I reluctantly find that I must take up the keyboard and write again of John McCain. When asked, John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, could not name the number of homes thatContinue reading “On John McCain and His Disconnect”

On Obama and Space Policy

For some time, I’ve had one great reservation with Barack Obama as a potential President. Obama wanted to gut NASA, taking the funds for Constellation, the successor to the space shuttle, and channel them into funding education. One analysis of Obama’s education plan likened it to Hernando Cortez burning his boats when he landed inContinue reading “On Obama and Space Policy”

On an Honor Too Awesome For Words

In San Francisco, they want to memorialize President George W. Bush. But this would be no ordinary memorial. Not a school, or a federal courthouse, or a stretch of interstate highway. This would be a sewage plant. The George W. Bush Sewage Plant: [A] group going by the regal-sounding name of the Presidential Memorial CommissionContinue reading “On an Honor Too Awesome For Words”