Mitchell Bard is a writer and filmmaker.

Mitchell's weekly television column appears on the Toronto-based entertainment site WILDsound.

He has written, produced and directed many independent film projects, including features, made-for-television movies and music videos. His feature film directorial debut, "Mergers & Acquisitions," was a festival favorite and is currently available on DVD in North America. He has also co-directed two music videos for Brian Vander Ark (lead singer of The Verve Pipe).

Mitchell is currently pursuing a graduate degree and serving as a teaching assistant at the University of Wisconsin School of Journalism & Mass Communication in Madison.

Blog Entries by Mitchell Bard

Candidate Obama Might Have Some Questions for President Obama

7 Comments | Posted November 3, 2009 | 08:17 PM (EST)


As Barack Obama stood in Grant Park a year ago tonight and gave his victory speech, it was a galvanizing moment, one I (and millions of others) will never forget. A year later, many of the president's supporters are expressing concern as to whether he has kept faithful to the...

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We Should Be Grateful That Obama Is "Dithering"

134 Comments | Posted October 22, 2009 | 05:00 PM (EST)


Former Vice President Dick Cheney accused President Barack Obama on Wednesday of "dithering" on Afghanistan. I found this equally amusing and outrageous.

You see, we, as a country, would be a lot (and I mean a lot) better off right now if Cheney and his boss had done some...

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Baucus Debacle Shows Why Democrats Have to Stop Trying to Woo Republican Lawmakers

502 Comments | Posted September 16, 2009 | 06:37 PM (EST)


When it comes to policy positions, I certainly agree with the Democrats far more than the Republicans. (Do the Republicans still have policy positions? Does really, really hating the president, making decisions based primarily on hurting the president politically instead of what is good for the American people, and lying...

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On Wednesday, the President Has to Move the Health Care Debate from a Marketplace of Lies to a Marketplace of Ideas

162 Comments | Posted September 7, 2009 | 11:41 AM (EST)


- John Boehner has a fetish that only allows him to become aroused when he wears 1950s women's housecoats with curlers in his hair.

- Rush Limbaugh eats pudding made from the rats that infest his home.

- Charles Grassley calls in sick to the Senate once a week to...

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Hypocrisy Alert: Cheney Relies on the Objectivity of the Justice Department to Defend Torture

59 Comments | Posted September 1, 2009 | 11:37 AM (EST)


I am regularly amazed that public officials can say things in public without experiencing what should be obvious repercussions. The latest example? This doozy from former Vice President Dick Cheney regarding his sanctioning of torture (we have prosecuted waterboarding as torture in the past, so Cheney was defending torture),

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When "Yes We Can!" Meets "No We Won't!"

268 Comments | Posted July 31, 2009 | 10:57 AM (EST)


I am very concerned about the future of this country.

No, not just because health care reform is being so watered down in Congress that it now completely fails to address the underlying dire (and spiraling) problems of the health care system. (As I've written previously, there is...

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Congress Is Behaving as if the Health Care System Isn't in Tatters

272 Comments | Posted July 20, 2009 | 03:39 PM (EST)


When it comes to health care reform, I feel like the house is on fire, but nobody in Washington (except maybe President Obama) seems to see it. Or worse, they see it, and they don't care.

Here are some statistics, via the nonpartisan/bipartisan National Coalition on Health Care (NCHC),...

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When It Comes to Health Care, Why Do Republicans (and Some Centrist Democrats) Hate Americans?

405 Comments | Posted June 22, 2009 | 12:11 PM (EST)


A couple of weeks ago, in discussing torture, I asked why so many Republicans hate America. Now that the debate over how to fix the heath care system has moved forward, listening to the Republican position (which is, unfortunately, shared by some centrist Democrats), I can't help but wonder...

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One Lesson from the 1930s: Financial Regulation Has to Be Bold

42 Comments | Posted June 17, 2009 | 02:38 PM (EST)


Three weeks ago I asked why so many Republicans seem to hate America. Well, today, one reason has become clear: Because some of them love banks and big corporations more than they love the American people or the American economy.

President Obama revealed his plans to regulate the...

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The Bush Hangover: Guantanamo Undercuts Our Protests of North Korea

296 Comments | Posted June 8, 2009 | 03:30 PM (EST)


George W. Bush has been out of office for more than four months now, but I fear that the damage done during the Bush years has inflicted serious injury to the American psyche and reputation, and it will take years, if not decades, to recover.

Why am I bringing this...

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Why Do So Many Republicans Hate America?

330 Comments | Posted May 27, 2009 | 05:08 PM (EST)


On Sunday, as I sat watching former House speaker Newt Gingrich unabashedly endorse the politics of fear on Meet the Press, ("I think people should be afraid"), I couldn't help wonder why so many Republicans hate America so much.

Don't get me wrong. I know Republicans think...

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In Choosing Souter's Replacement, Obama Should Follow the Lead of... George W. Bush?

74 Comments | Posted May 11, 2009 | 03:32 PM (EST)


If someone asked me what was the single most important thing I learned in law school, it would take me all of a nanosecond to answer: U.S. Supreme Court justices are far more powerful in shaping American society than the average person realizes. As these officials are appointed and not...

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Obama's First 100 Days: Restoring the Good Name of the U.S.

19 Comments | Posted April 28, 2009 | 09:48 AM (EST)


The media's obsession with grading Barack Obama's first 100 days in office amuses me. Sure, in calmer times, maybe it was reasonable to look at a new administration after a little more than three months and try and figure out what kind of presidency the country was in for. But...

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The "Teabag" Protests Smack of Neo-McCarthyism

Posted April 15, 2009 | 03:07 PM (EST)


Today's "teabag" protests would be funny, if they didn't make me think of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and what he might have accomplished if Fox News existed during his time.

On February 9, 1950, McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin, said to the Women's Republican Club of Wheeling, West Virginia,

"While...

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One Man's Car Shows Why Aid to the Automakers Must Include a Commitment to Fuel Efficiency

Posted March 31, 2009 | 09:48 PM (EST)


When I read that President Obama was taking a hard line with General Motors and Chrysler, I immediately thought of Daniel Glass.

A professional drummer and drum historian (and, in the interest of full disclosure, a fellow resident of Scheffres Hall at Brandeis University during our sophomore year of...

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Why I Have No Sympathy for Jake DeSantis

Posted March 26, 2009 | 11:53 AM (EST)


On Tuesday the New York Times ran on its op-ed page the resignation letter written by Jake DeSantis, a vice president of AIG's infamous financial products division. DeSantis essentially argues that he had nothing to do with the credit default swaps that nearly brought down the company...

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Why Obama Was Smart to Come Out Strongly Against the AIG Bonuses

Posted March 16, 2009 | 02:33 PM (EST)


Earlier this month, New York Times op-ed columnist Thomas L. Friedman took some heat for writing that he feared the Obama presidency would be "eaten" by the problem of dealing with the banking system.

Less than two weeks later, the White House has had to move quickly...

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Congressional Democrats Made a Big Mistake Including Earmarks in the Spending Bill

Posted March 2, 2009 | 10:48 AM (EST)


Democrats in Congress could really use a lesson in the art of politics from President Obama.

Millions of Americans turned on their computers this morning and went to Yahoo, only to find this headline:

Obama will sign spending bill despite earmarks

Instead of being a positive headline about President...

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Are GOP Governors Who Turn Down Stimulus Money Unpatriotic?

Posted February 23, 2009 | 04:44 PM (EST)


If someone questioned the patriotism of the Republican governors who have said that they will turn down portions of the federal stimulus money intended for their states, I would have a hard time arguing with them.

Hey, if the Republicans can accuse the Democrats of being unpatriotic when they were...

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Republicans Say They'd Support the "Right" Stimulus Bill, But Stimulus for Them Is Only More Tax Cuts

Posted February 9, 2009 | 04:17 PM (EST)


There was an exchange on Meet the Press yesterday that illustrated why Republicans in Congress opposing the stimulus package are being less than forthright with the American people.

David Gregory: "But you cite Japan. Critics of what Japan did during that decade was that they often, with these stimulus plans,...
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