The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Ron Paul on "soft fascism" on MTP

    By Wordie on Sun, 12/23/2007 - 3:59pm |
    I had not really understood the appeal of Ron Paul, who has been generating huge amounts in donations over the last months, until I watched the Meet the Press interview this morning, and heard him speak about the "soft fascism"...

    Mandates: a Rube Goldberg solution

    By EmmaZahn on Sat, 12/15/2007 - 7:00pm |
     There is a growing consensus that our healthcare system is broken.  That is wrong.  There is no system.  System implies some sort of order.  What we have is healthcare chaos.  Mandates will expand the chaos and do nothing to improve...
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    Middle aged men rejuvenated by steroids and growth hormone; Can I please have some?

    By jollyroger on Fri, 12/14/2007 - 2:34pm |
    As the shitstorm swirls around yesterday's Boys of Summer, now the goats of Fall, may we not pause a moment in wonder at the miracles of chemistry? Just because teenage boys (already suffering from testosterone poisoning...) ought not bump their...

    Lions for Lambs and Sicko

    By AmericanDreamer on Wed, 11/21/2007 - 1:34pm |
    Redford's Lions for Lambs did not get favorable reviews in the DC area (we're back from our stay abroad). The knocks on it were that it was almost all talk--which seems to be presumptively boring to some of our ADD-afflicted...

    Text of 1960 Speech by JFK at the Houston Ministers Conference

    By Wordie on Mon, 11/12/2007 - 12:54am |
    I happened to check C-Span to see if there were any political things on TV this afternoon, and discovered they were running a couple of segments about religion in politics. The first was some video of a focus group session...
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    FORTNEY RACE HEATS UP; SCHUMER, FEINSTEIN STELLAR IN SENATE SET-TO

    By jollyroger on Sat, 11/03/2007 - 10:31am |
    Profoundly betraying principle and party, the hands that held the dagger have struck it into the back of the constitution. Only someone extorted by the most exquisite blackmail could be so base as these two. (Help me, Jesus, Dianne is...
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    Mukasey replied, “I don’t know what is involved in the technique.”

    By jollyroger on Wed, 10/31/2007 - 10:58am |
    Mukasey appears to be the only person over the age of 5 in the entire country who doesn't know what waterboarding is. As we reflect on the astonishing sequel to that preposterous assertion, viz: an additional several days to come...
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    NOMINATIONS FOR THE FIRST ANNUAL "FORTNEY " AWARD

    By jollyroger on Thu, 10/25/2007 - 1:59am |
    The Tony Montana Institute for Progressive Conflict Resolution ("No women, no kids") announces the first annual *Fortney, and solicits nominations from the public. The award goes to that figure in public life who most clearly, by his inexplicably craven consumption...
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    The strikes were in retaliation for a rebel ambush ...

    By jollyroger on Wed, 10/24/2007 - 6:42am |
    Turkey Shells Kurd Rebels in Iraq http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Turkey-Iraq.html?hp This day was always coming, ever since the end of Gulf War I when the no-fly zone was declared. Perhaps the Turks, knowing they would someday need unimpeded access to their border with...

    Hard Times

    By EmmaZahn on Sat, 10/20/2007 - 6:21pm |
    Like canaries in a coalmine, the poor and near poor suffer the worst effects of an ailing economy. From Associated Press last night: Living paycheck to paycheck gets harder - Yahoo! News “Across the nation, Americans are increasingly unable to...

    Disappearing demographic

    By EmmaZahn on Tue, 10/09/2007 - 11:55am |
    Expressed concerns over the future of Social Security by young people(1) and conservative concerns of being overwhelmed by immigrants, legal or otherwise(2) had me pondering what the future will be like for my grandchildren so I went looking for demographics.The disappearance...

    Walt and Mearshimer (The Israel Lobby) on C-Span2 BookTV - repeats October 14

    By Wordie on Sun, 10/07/2007 - 5:21pm |
    Authors Stephen Walt and John Mearshimer speak about their book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, on C-Span2 BookTV. It was an excellent presentation; the authors anticipated and thoroughly addressed many of the questions that have been raised by...

    Text of Clinton and Obama Position Statements on Israel

    By Wordie on Thu, 10/04/2007 - 3:44am |
    The Presidential candidates recently released statements to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) regarding their positions on Israel. Ron Kampeas (TPM Cafe poster Kampeas) of the JTA confirmed this, and very kindly posted both Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's statemtents in...

    Why not Dodd?

    By Wordie on Sun, 09/16/2007 - 3:01pm |
    I watched the Charlie Rose interviews with Senator Chris Dodd last week, and I was quite impressed with his knowledge and demeanor; he's dignified and has gravitas, but still seems down-to-earth, sensible and accessible. (I'm hoping Charlie Rose will do...

    John Edwards and the American Dream

    By AmericanDreamer on Fri, 09/14/2007 - 6:40am |
    I like John Edwards a great deal and, as I have said, am leaning towards voting for him in the primaries. Something he said last night in response to a Charlie Rose question on the Yahoo/Huffington/Slate Democratic candidate mashup bothers...

    re artappraiser's challenge, thoughts on a forward-looking agenda

    By AmericanDreamer on Wed, 09/05/2007 - 3:54pm |
    In Matt Y's first response to Todd Gitlin's post on his Bulldozers and Big Tent book, artappraiser asks Matt for his forward agenda, if he's not fully pleased with Todd's: http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/bookclub/2007/sep/04/how_big_a_tent#comment-... She didn't ask me, but I'll pitch in my...

    Thank you, Michael Vick?

    By EmmaZahn on Tue, 08/28/2007 - 5:58pm |
    The revelations of extreme animal cruelty in the recent Michael Vick case have provoked quite a discussion among some young, economic libertarians.  They are trying to square their perceptions of inherent rights for humans versus any that might be due...

    Working the Election Integrity Beat: The Brad Blog

    By AmericanDreamer on Sat, 08/25/2007 - 12:41pm |
    Check out The Brad Blog: http://www.bradblog.com/ Just discovered this. Looks like an important source of independent information for those of us interested in monitoring what's going on and helping the election integrity cause....

    Catch-22

    By EmmaZahn on Fri, 08/24/2007 - 8:17pm |
    I enjoyed Joseph Heller's novel so much when I first read it that I read it again.  Maybe I should try to find my book so I can reread it because I'm beginning to feel like we are living it.  Doesn't...

    The United States of Myopia

    By EmmaZahn on Wed, 08/15/2007 - 12:05am |
    We really have to get better news filters. China and Russia seem to be trying to send us a message.  I wonder if they know we are not getting it.  A couple of weeks ago I followed a link from Google News...

    Scathingly brilliant

    By EmmaZahn on Tue, 08/14/2007 - 5:18pm |
    Have you ever encountered someone who was so talented in some way that your initial response is to be literally dumbstruck with awe?  That is the way I felt after reading some posts by a young blogger named Julian Sanchez.  He has...

    The Foreign Policy Disconnect--a request of management

    By AmericanDreamer on Tue, 08/14/2007 - 5:25am |
    Dear Josh, Andy and fellow cafe denizens: The topic of the alleged disconnect between the foreign policy community and the public is getting a lot of attention lately, here, and at Yglesias and Greenwald as examples. I'd like to request...

    Questions for Dean Slaughter

    By AmericanDreamer on Fri, 08/10/2007 - 3:21pm |
    Spurred by recent posts by Anne-Marie Slaughter and comments by denizens, I went back and reviewed the Princeton Project on National Security's report, "Forging a World of Liberty Under Law," co-authored by Anne-Marie and John Ikenberry. http://www.wws.princeton.edu/ppns/report/FinalReport.pdf I will stipulate...

    Bill Moyers' Journal (PBS) on Impeachment

    By Wordie on Sat, 07/14/2007 - 5:17pm |
    The danger of not impeaching now, in view of the dangerous precedent being set for extra-Constitutional behavior by future presidents - was made repeatedly on Bill Moyers' Journal on PBS last night. It's a compelling argument. Moyers' entire program was...

    Ahmadinejad misquoted; not genocidal in relation to Israel (Juan Cole)

    By Wordie on Tue, 07/03/2007 - 8:09pm |
    I'm posting this in the hope that we will be able to avoid a foolish war with Iran, justifications for which are in no small part seemingly based on the misquoting of Ahmadinejad. Note that Cole hardly thinks highly of...

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