Provocative Questions
Were you initially in favor of the military action in Afghanistan?Do you think the war powers that Congress granted to President Bush are appropriate powers for the Office Of The Presidency to have?...
View ArticleWould You Be Tortured For Your Country?
I don't have much to say on this topic, but the question has been bothering me lately. All this talk about the GOP (and others) approving torture... it kind of raises the bar on what it means to be in...
View ArticleEmperor Palpatine: A Lesson for Democrats
How did a squirmy little congressman from a backwater planet become the most powerful figure in the galaxy?He didn't do it by standing up to anyone, or by going toe-to-toe in a fair fight. Every step...
View ArticleDefending Paris Hilton
(expanded from a comment).I was making snarky comments about Paris Hilton yesterday, as we are all wont to do. But then someone whom I respect made a couple of points and it turned me around. I saw...
View ArticleGore Understands Power
Imagine three cases:Gore runs for President. He is given candidate-level treatment by the press, akin to what happened in 2000.Gore issues a Shermanesque statement ruling out a presidential run. "If...
View ArticleHow We Might Be Enabling GOP Hypocrisy On Homosexuality
I came across the following line in an opinion column by Joan Walsh:Buchanan kept insisting Craig wasn't a hypocrite, preaching anti-gay "family values" while cruising for sex in men's bathrooms; Craig...
View ArticleWho Do You Think Gore Would Endorse?
It's a simple question. Poll below.Note that this is not the same question as "Who is your favorite candidate in the primary?" Don't just automatically go for your favorite. Think about who you think...
View ArticleAny Other Primary Fence-Sitters Here?
It's that time of year when any diary that argues strongly in favor of a particular candidate can feel a little suspect. Are they part of the campaign? Are they simply sharing their feelings about...
View ArticleEdwards vs Obama - my history
It was primary season, 2004. Edwards was slightly intriguing to me but I was routinely caught between two impressions - thinking he was too smooth/suave, or thinking that his smoothness was actually a...
View ArticleBarack: A Lesson For The Blogosphere (UPDATE)
Barack Obama won tonight, and I take it as a lesson for the blogosphere/netroots, because he staked his approach on something that the more partisan amongst us have scoffed at for a few years. He...
View ArticleHillaryTear Has Me Less Inclined To Support Edwards
And it's not because of vote totals.I'm sure you've all heard of Hillary tearing up. Now, on the off chance that you haven't actually SEEN this "tearing up", this "emotional moment" that everyone is...
View ArticleMLK Listening List
Every year on MLK Day I listen to a piece by still-living classical composer Joseph Schwantner, called New Morning For The World "Daybreak of Freedom". It's a gorgeous piece of work. About...
View ArticleBarack, I'm Trying To Like You
I've posted a few essays regarding my thinking of the three major candidates. The rough history is here - I liked it when Obama came to Daily Kos. I thought it showed courage and leadership, even...
View ArticleObama's Missing 38 SuperDelegates
So I took a look at this table of unclaimed state super-delegates and brought out my spreadsheet.I personally think it would be fair if a state's supers roughly broke out by the state's popular...
View ArticleYet Another Clinton Analysis
"What is Hillary Cling-on Doing?" go the anguished cries. Here are my thoughts.It's all too easy to ascribe ridiculous and irrational motivations to those we disagree with or don't understand. We...
View ArticleRecession Good News For Social Security?
This particular factlet dives into the minutiae of social security projection details a bit, but it is also a hugely overlooked detail that could entirely change the perceptions of the health of social...
View ArticleHillary's Was Never A Winning Strategy
Dear Traditional Media,What do you call a good strategy when it's achieved? You call it a victory. I think we're all in agreement there. But what do you call a bad strategy, successfully...
View ArticleHillary and Barack, In An Underground Bunker
Once in a while it's fun to go on flights of fancy.We're in a period of time right now, right after the Pennsylvania Primary, where Obama's victory looks assured, and Hillary's looking rather desperate...
View ArticleCheney's Rational Energy Policy (Thought Experiment)
I'm not much of a student of history, but I've picked up on a few things. I know that during the Cold War, we were all freaked out about nuclear war. Not just the possibility of the Soviet Union...
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