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This was a true straddle week, ushering out 2008 and ushering in 2009. And some of the top political stories reflected this split. Blago calling a press conference felt very '08; the Burris/Senate Dems showdown is totally '09. Franken v. Coleman is '08; Franken v. the Senate Republicans threatening to filibuster his seating is '09. Gov. Patterson considering Bill Clinton and Mario Cuomo doesn't feel '08 -- it feels 1988; Caroline in the Senate could be one of the more, y'know, compelling stories of '09. The top quote of straddle week had to be Alberto Gonzales' pathetic: "I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror." Let's see, he approved torture, politicized the Department of Justice, and lied to Congress about warrantless wiretapping and pre-war intelligence. Definitely not an '09 definition of a victim.
More and more in the past ten years the U.S. and Israel have shared a fantasy which says that the Arabs understand only force.
I and others will soon announce a large grassroots campaign aimed at channeling the amazing desire for change that Americans are feeling right now into tangible and fundamental reform of our political system.
Taking a children's song and twisting it in such vulgar, mean-spirited way, is a slur to our entire country and our common agreement to move beyond racism.
I'd like to forget... That Eliot Spitzer likes things "you might not think are safe." That Dick Cheney still doesn't believe waterboarding is torture. The tingle going up Chris Matthew's leg. Joe the Plumber...and so much more.
Given that in almost every foreign policy issue that Obama will face, Iran will figure prominently, a response (or lack of one) to Ahmadinejad's congratulatory letter to Obama is of far more importance than one might ordinarily think.
Andy can't believe that shoe almost hit Rick Warren. Andy doesn't think Caroline Kennedy is qualified to replace Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, but doesn't blame her for asking.
In order to get beyond the superficial analyses one might find on Morning Joe, I called up Zbigniew Brzezinski to offer him a serious opportunity to talk about Obama and the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
In his latest radio address, President Bush lambasted Hamas for "spending its resources on rocket launchers instead of roads and schools." Is he really that unconscious or does he say these things just to make people crazy?
One is that Danny Boyle wins for Best Director and that Slumdog Millionaire is Best Picture at the Oscars. I hope its star, Dev Patel, is, at the very least, nominated for this incredible film.
In June, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling on the Second Amendment right to bear arms, D.C. v. Heller. So far, the victory hasn't turned out exactly as the gun rights folks had hoped.
The government needs to spend a lot of money, so that the collapsing private economy does not end up as Great Depression II. When recovery comes, we can get the budget closer to balance.
In area after area for Obama, much goodwill can be garnered simply by embracing common sense. Call it cheap grace. A good place to start would be with changing our preposterous policy towards Cuba.
If you use dogs to harm dogs, you're sentenced to jail time. If you use dogs to harm humans, you receive no repercussions except a moderate grilling on Meet The Press.
Brace yourself. It's going get rocky soon. We are about to have a very bright man as our president. And we've been away from that territory for a very long time.
How does it look now that Reid is manipulating Senate procedure to exclude Burris, but simply shrugged his shoulders over Samuel Alito, warrantless wiretapping and the Military Commissions Act?
A computer video circulating the internet has rekindled fears that an asteroid will hit Earth and send mankind the way of the brontosaurus. Based on NASA projections, there is indeed a chance of this.
The web changed forever the moment that Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at President Bush. Or at least it changed for two or three days as the animated gifs and games flooded the Internet.
We can easily find more than a few quotes from the year of political and cable news hackery that were almost totally overlooked, along with too many hacks, hoopleheads and outright doofs who weren't given a full turn at the flogging pole.
