tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115768352009-11-25T21:10:17.579-05:00A centrist voice in a period of extremism.JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.comBlogger1475125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-12197606763098277602009-02-01T09:03:00.002-05:002009-02-01T09:21:59.243-05:00

I snapped this picture a few days ago, and then realized it would make the perfect accompaniment for this post, which I've been meaning to write for a while.As any of you who still stop by this blog occasionally have certainly noticed, the radio silence of late has been deafening. Part of that stems from political burnout: during the post-election period I joined many others in taking a

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-15255398444778697712008-11-20T07:45:00.002-05:002008-11-20T07:54:31.074-05:00

Another nail in the coffin of Daylight Saving Time in today's NYTimes. Sooner or later we'll get rid of this thing for good.And yes, my gripes about DST have now passed the three year mark.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-91168117104190471322008-11-05T13:49:00.003-05:002008-11-05T15:12:48.573-05:00

You'd have thought the Red Sox had won another World Series, or New Year's Eve had come early through some strange fluke of the calendar. At 11 p.m. last night, I opened my apartment's windows to take in the sounds of firecrackers, car horns, cheering and whistling from around the neighborhood. Local t.v. showed a crowd of people making their way into Copley Square and from there to Christian

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-47050015435429507862008-11-03T14:00:00.003-05:002008-11-03T14:20:34.380-05:00

Tomorrow's it, folks. It's all come down to this.Now is our chance. Now is the time when we can either turn the page on the last eight years and start a new chapter, or we can continue listening to the same old song.Back in February when I made my endorsements in the primaries, I wrote that I would be happy with either McCain or Obama in the White House (making clear that Obama was my preference)

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-59893553431670337822008-10-31T10:38:00.002-04:002008-10-31T10:53:53.979-04:00

Former Secretary of State Larry Eagleburger (and a McCain supporter) was on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" yesterday (audio here), and was asked about Sarah Palin's preparedness to be commander in chief.Here's how Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post blogs his response (I agree with his characterization of Eagleburger's answer):"'It is a very good question,' he said. He paused, and then added: 'I'm

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-67073948532123958342008-10-28T09:20:00.002-04:002008-10-28T09:25:11.452-04:00

Senator Chuck Hagel is one of the most sensible, thoughtful people left in today's Republican party. Connie Bruck's profile of him in this week's New Yorker is a must-read. His reservations with what John McCain has come to represent in this campaign are serious, deep, and well-considered; they should be enough to give anyone pause before casting their ballot next week (or today, if you live in

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-73559610944678319452008-10-21T07:41:00.001-04:002008-10-21T07:44:01.979-04:00

(From the Boston Pumpkin Festival, 18 October 2008)

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-28757305275157223382008-10-13T11:29:00.002-04:002008-10-13T11:31:57.705-04:00

Another conservative Christopher for Obama: Christopher Hitchens writes in Slate that the McCain-Palin campaign has lost his support. And in true Hitchens fashion.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-83710391322518365772008-10-10T15:33:00.003-04:002008-10-10T15:34:59.173-04:00

Christopher Buckley, the son of well-known conservative William F. Buckley, endorses Obama. What he says about John McCain certainly rings true for me, as I'm sure it does for others who once held the man in great respect and admiration:"John McCain has changed. He said, famously, apropos the Republican debacle post-1994, “We came to Washington to change it, and Washington changed us.” This

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-13799645828401507122008-10-06T18:45:00.002-04:002008-10-06T19:13:28.490-04:00

Call it Mudsling Monday. What a disgusting display of desperation we're seeing from the McCain-Palin campaign. As their poll numbers sink, out comes every sleazy, dishonest, and offensive attack against Obama and Biden, no matter how tangential, outdated, or just plain stupid. Palin started complaining today about that doggone "filter of the mainstream media," which has apparently kept her from

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-31196300824448731562008-10-03T21:39:00.002-04:002008-10-03T21:57:37.260-04:00

One of Palin's answers that actually came close to impressing me last night was her comment on Darfur (I say 'came close to' because I think we need to do much more than this, as Biden and Obama do). Anyway, here's Palin: "America is in a position to help. What I've done in my position to help, as the governor of a state that's pretty rich in natural resources, we have a $40 billion investment

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-2775919767164960242008-10-03T13:04:00.002-04:002008-10-03T13:52:39.120-04:00

Two debates down, two to go.Sarah Palin survived. She recovered from the disastrous Katie Couric interview by not completely freezing up, falling down, or going completely off the reservation. She exceeded expectations. But when expectations are as low as they were, that's not saying much. She answered no questions directly. She ran out of talking points and started repeating them. She renamed

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-75204546662175287562008-09-27T08:33:00.002-04:002008-09-27T09:08:12.726-04:00

Some quasi-random thoughts about last night's debate:- I wouldn't be surprised if we see the same kind of radio/television split that was observed after the first Kennedy-Nixon debate in 1960 (although obviously the audience last night was much more heavily t.v.-based). McCain's body language as captured by the television pool (which often went to a split screen) was by far the worst element of

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-54146500711853385352008-09-26T15:45:00.004-04:002008-09-26T16:22:50.807-04:00

1. I'm glad there will be a debate tonight, and I will have more thoughts on that after it happens.2. There are several things about Palin's interview this week with Katie Couric that I want to pass along: the withering LATimes review, Hendrik Hertzberg's comments at the New Yorker, and James Fallows' take. And then there's the video. The last response on that clip, where Palin can't come up with

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-15681271234183851072008-09-14T07:57:00.002-04:002008-09-14T08:41:43.538-04:00

- First, let me just say that if you are as uncomfortable as I am with the turns this presidential campaign has taken in recent weeks, take a few minutes to read some coverage of the 9/11 Service Forum held on Thursday night. I haven't been able to find a video, but there's a transcript here. Both McCain and Obama spoke, and both kept the partisan sniping to a minimum while discussing their plans

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-27551186397776547432008-09-11T08:04:00.002-04:002008-09-11T08:23:27.586-04:00

They're at it again. As they did in 2000 and 2004, the Republican presidential campaign operatives trained at the Knee of Rove are doing their level best to distract voters from the issues by throwing up a smoke-screen of personal attacks, manufactured controversies, and complete misrepresentations of fact. To use an old cliché (as if we haven't had our fill of those lately), "Fool me once, shame

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-83926661474165828162008-09-06T07:57:00.002-04:002008-09-06T10:27:35.780-04:00

After we heard that AK governor Sarah Palin had been chosen as McCain's running mate, I wrote that I am "anxious to see how Palin handles the klieg lights of the national media circus." Well, it seems that the McCain campaign may simply see to it that she doesn't have to face the national media anytime soon.Marc Ambinder reports that a "senior McCain campaign official" told him "Gov. Sarah Palin

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-50927390933148491962008-09-05T20:28:00.002-04:002008-09-05T20:42:42.068-04:00

Recent events (combined with my chronic inability to keep my mouth shut about politics, no matter how hard I try) compel me to commit to a much more regular posting schedule here for at least the next couple months. The stakes we face in this election are, quite simply, so high that those of us who feel strongly about the issues facing our country have an obligation, even a duty, to speak our

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-54748793284462053672008-08-31T09:26:00.003-04:002008-08-31T10:01:06.756-04:00

It's been a while, but here are some thoughts about the current state of things.- The Democrats ought to be congratulated on what must be by all accounts considered a wildly successful convention. Aside from a lackluster and completely forgettable keynote speech by Mark Warner, the major speakers did very well (even, I admit grudgingly, both of the Clintons). The moment with Obama's girls on the

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-17536489854738150022008-08-02T15:43:00.002-04:002008-08-02T15:46:15.508-04:00

John Heilemann's New York piece "The Low-Road Warrior" is a very interesting take on the way the campaign has turned over the last week or so. Note particularly the way in which McCain's more - I'll be gentle and say sane - advisors have been/are being sidelined in favor of the '04 rattlesnakes.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-62612876570296116602008-07-30T18:54:00.002-04:002008-07-30T19:00:43.040-04:00

I've been busy lately, and haven't felt much need to weigh in on the political madness for a while. But John McCain's apparent new campaign strategy, is, as his former top aide puts it, "childish." McCain's better than this insipid nonsense, and he should call off the disrespectful and untruthful attacks and focus on the issues like he's repeatedly said he would do throughout this campaign.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-51095014144709656572008-05-16T06:36:00.003-04:002008-05-16T06:53:23.124-04:00

Apologies for the long silence here - nothing had quite gotten me incensed enough to write for a while. But President Bush has managed (it was only a matter of time). The portion of his Knesset speech yesterday which equates diplomacy with appeasement was a shameful display of Karl Rovian-style politics at its worst, and just goes to show just how far off the rails this administration has driven

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1466154203402882322008-03-09T10:49:00.002-04:002008-03-09T11:37:57.250-04:00

Well, the campaign continues. Back in January, I never would have thought that the Obama-Clinton race would have gone on this long. Iowa was a mere eight weeks ago, and there are now about six and a half weeks left before the next big contest in Pennsylvania on 22 April. Seems unbelievable when it's put like that, doesn't it?My discomfort with the Clinton campaign continues to grow more intense.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-91895855839113002612008-02-08T11:13:00.000-05:002008-02-08T11:46:02.070-05:00

- Romney's last campaign speech was his best. It was classy (or at the very least intelligent) of him to read the handwriting on the wall and realize that it was a mathematical impossibility for him to gain the nomination. His withdrawal positions him well for future involvement in the conservative movement.- There's word today that former RI Republican Senator Linc Chafee, now an unaffiliated

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-66150211370611460112008-02-05T09:18:00.001-05:002008-02-05T09:41:56.327-05:00

Last night some friends and I stood in line for three and a half hours, outside, in Boston, on a chilly February night. Why? To hear Barack Obama. The candidate held an election-eve rally at the city's World Trade Center last evening - it was supposed to start around 8:30, but we didn't even get through the doors until nearly 10:30 (or home to bed until nearly 1 a.m.).When we got off the T and

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0