tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80771542009-11-25T08:05:35.815-08:00Being Divers Opinions, and Analysis of the News of the Day, with Reference to, and Informed by, Myriad Sources.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comBlogger1166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-50446830025294191722009-11-25T07:55:00.002-08:002009-11-25T08:05:27.611-08:00

Former White House spokeswoman Dana Perino was on Fox News' Hannity show, and said"We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term"No, really. She said that.Neither of the two other people on the set, including Hannity, appeared to notice.Ironically, the comment came in a discussion implying that the Obama administration was in denial about the terrorist nature of

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-49753360596113850232009-11-19T22:43:00.002-08:002009-11-19T23:13:47.090-08:00

...why a single-payer national health care plan was never a part of this year's reform discussions? I wonder what the Senate bill has to say about situations like this one.SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle's Swedish Medical Center says it might stop accepting Regence BlueShield — the region's biggest health insurer — as a provider because its reimbursement rates are too low.Regence said in a news release

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-22196384758861603372009-11-19T18:07:00.002-08:002009-11-19T18:11:41.618-08:00

The girl is young enough to have an excuse (though someone as smart as she is should be able to see through that rhetoric), but the guy...ow. I can only hope he's too dumb to get himself legally registered to vote.

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-42778435893886688112009-11-01T09:05:00.003-08:002009-11-01T09:33:43.725-08:00

The New York Times has a piece on the rise of freshman Congressman Allan Grayson, in a piece entitled "Alan Grayson, the Liberals’ Problem Child". (No, seriously, that's what they called him.)WASHINGTON — On paper, Representative Alan Grayson, a freshman Democrat from Florida, seems a bit stiff: degrees from Harvard and Harvard Law; a résumé that includes clerking for the United States Court of

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-52906772706577456872009-10-27T18:10:00.002-07:002009-10-27T18:38:08.643-07:00

I'm thinking that Ned Lamont wouldn't be talking about filibustering a key Democratic objective.Say, Harry, wasn't it you who said Joe was with us on everything but the war?Just in case you thought Joltin' Joe wasn't serious, read his health-care rap sheet as compiled by the folks at My Left Nutmeg.Barack, I'm lookin' at you. You stood by him, you endorsed him, you talked about how much "he cares

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-10498125084219933602009-10-23T18:44:00.002-07:002009-10-23T18:47:20.910-07:00

Grayson uses the "over-the-top excess" rhetorical tactic to good effect, and blows Chris Matthews' mind. A two-fer!

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-21911641427825483622009-10-14T07:39:00.002-07:002009-10-14T07:43:43.819-07:00

Why is it that some of the best media criticism in our media-rich country comes from a comedy show on a basic cable channel? The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cCNN Leaves It Therewww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorRon Paul Interview

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-31559179879486206272009-09-22T17:44:00.002-07:002009-09-22T17:54:09.391-07:00

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-37622073671930030752009-09-18T07:21:00.005-07:002009-09-18T08:00:26.761-07:00

I'm not really interested in defending ACORN, but the sanctimony of their enemies really irks me.If we're going to start denying funding to organizations that screw up, fine. And if John Boehner wants to rant about corrupt organizations, he should go right ahead. But, unless I missed a story I'm pretty sure the GOP wouldn't have let me miss, ACORN hasn't electrocuted anyone or shot up a public

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-82055924952526491122009-09-17T07:44:00.003-07:002009-09-17T08:15:38.989-07:00

So, a low-level staffer of a national community organization in a low-income urban neighborhood was filmed giving advice to a woman about how she could continue to make a living as a prostitute (for which said staffer has already been canned) and that's supposed to be the most heinous news in weeks and the pretext for denying unrelated government grants to the organization. But meanwhile a

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-87514862416991679852009-09-10T19:03:00.002-07:002009-09-10T19:10:47.891-07:00

Now that Congressman Wilson of South Carolina has apologized for violating the rules of decorum in the House of Representatives, to say nothing of embarrassing himself and his party by being completely wrong in the facts as well as the form of his accusation, the question comes what consequences he should face.I think we should let the Dixie Chicks decide.

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-7328445663835857632009-08-27T20:56:00.001-07:002009-08-27T20:59:24.975-07:00

Captured perfectly by the Onion News Network. Laugh to keep from crying.Is Using A Minotaur To Gore Detainees A Form Of Torture?

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-19839505826158085702009-08-26T06:54:00.005-07:002009-08-26T07:15:27.644-07:00

The work goes on.The cause endures.The hope still lives.And the dream shall never die.You are already missed."Yes, we are all Americans.This is what we do.We reach the Moon.We scale the heights.I know it.I've seen it.I've lived it.And we can do it again!"

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-22180402244057608252009-08-19T07:55:00.001-07:002009-08-19T07:58:01.524-07:00

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-23461608854747373672009-08-11T09:06:00.002-07:002009-08-11T09:10:22.326-07:00

Dear NPR editors:When one side shows up to an event with the express intent of "shutting it down", engages in rhythmic chanting to drown out the attempt to exchange information, and repeats slanderous and completely false allegations, that is not "heated debate." Democratic congresspeople have not met "heated debate" at their town hall meetings. They have met a concerted attempt to disrupt and

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-85367148877031182112009-07-20T13:20:00.002-07:002009-07-20T13:26:25.086-07:00

Over the weekend, it became clear that some Republicans just want to obstruct health insurance reform for political reasons.On Friday, on a "Conservatives for Patients Rights" conference call with conservative activists dealing with health care reform, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said, as Ben Smith at Politico reported, "If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-71930729355847196962009-07-07T07:50:00.003-07:002009-07-07T08:01:44.595-07:00

I think there should be some kind of way to penalize the Republican Party for nominating this woman for Vice President. They should, like, lose a turn and have to sit out an election, or something. Remember, if they'd had their way, she would be the Vice President now.But as for whether another pursuit of national office, as she did less than a year ago when she joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-78861422035330868482009-06-26T17:13:00.002-07:002009-06-26T17:43:43.852-07:00

My personal preoccupations of the early 80s apparently left me permanently out of sync with the rest of the world in some ways, and I never fell under the spell of the Thriller album. The most recent Michael Jackson song I really enjoy listening to these days is Never Can Say Goodbye, though the love song to the homicidal rat Ben always gets a laugh. For at least the last decade, Michael Jackson

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-18685722814589832132009-06-18T07:57:00.003-07:002009-06-18T08:08:31.744-07:00

why having a 'public option' for health insurance is a bad idea?Executives of three of the nation's largest health insurers told federal lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday that they would continue canceling medical coverage for some sick policyholders, despite withering criticism from Republican and Democratic members of Congress who decried the practice as unfair and abusive.The hearing on the

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-60075047036897374062009-06-16T22:17:00.002-07:002009-06-16T22:26:19.241-07:00

The truth about another conservative stalwart revealed:Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), who had been considering a 2012 presidential campaign, has now admitted to an extra-marital affair, and will hold a press conference later today in Nevada to explain it further.Chris Cillizza reports that the affair took place between December 2007 and August 2008, with a woman who worked for Ensign's re-election

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-799429927646589392009-06-09T07:32:00.002-07:002009-06-09T07:37:09.073-07:00

Charging someone, and then bringing them to trial...what a novel idea! I wonder who came up with that.WASHINGTON – U.S. authorities have brought the first Guantanamo Bay detainee to the United States, flying him into New York to face trial for bombing U.S. embassies, the Justice Department said Tuesday.The department said Ahmed Ghailani arrived in the early morning hours Tuesday. U.S. Marshals

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-16633042571520659552009-06-03T07:32:00.003-07:002009-06-03T07:36:56.237-07:00

It sure was nice of George W. Bush to complete two terms without capturing Osama bin Laden, if only so that we could actually get proof that GOP claims about al Qaeda being happy if Obama got elected could be proven wrong.Shortly after Obama arrived Al Jazeera television aired a recording by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in which he said the U.S. president had planted seeds for "revenge and

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-11801701340248138662009-05-29T18:03:00.002-07:002009-05-29T18:19:08.972-07:00

Is it wrong to feel gleeful watching the Sotomayor nomination forcing the Right into fits of uncontrollable racist, sexist lunacy, dialing their inanity up to 11, right where everyone can see?Am I wrong to enjoy the way that major Republican rhetorical stalwarts like Newt, Rush, G. Gordon, Glen and Karl spewing the most dreadful, hateful nonsense just puts them in the worst light? Should I look

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-90684935180980032732009-05-22T07:55:00.002-07:002009-05-22T08:12:10.643-07:00

WASHINGTON – New questions surfaced Wednesday about the accuracy of a CIA document meant to settle who in Congress knew about severe interrogation methods approved by the Bush administration.Three new errors appeared to emerge in the CIA's matrix of 40 congressional briefings on so-called enhanced interrogation techniques.Oops.The CIA chart states that a Senate staffer, Chris Mellon, attended a

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077154.post-42958131615921359552009-05-22T06:50:00.002-07:002009-05-22T06:54:06.047-07:00

Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel of McClatchy News, who did some of the rare good reporting in the run-up to Iraq, took the time to truthsquad Cheney's speech yesterday. Guess what they found? WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney's defense Thursday of the Bush administration's policies for interrogating suspected terrorists contained omissions, exaggerations and misstatements.In

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11838273805071235364noreply@blogger.com