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Shuts and Failures

by Michael Maiello

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Biography

Michael Wolraich is a non-fiction writer in New York City. He co-founded dagblog, contributes frequently to CNN.com, and wrote Blowing Smoke: Why the Right Keeps Serving Up Whack-Job Fantasies about the Plot to Euthanize Grandma, Outlaw Christmas, and Turn Junior into a Raging Homosexual (Da Capo, 2010). Wolraich has been a guest on C-SPAN's BookTV, The John Batchelor Show, Culture Shocks, and various radio shows across the country. He is currently working hard on his next masterpiece, When the War Began: Theodore Roosevelt, Republican Progressives, and the Birth of Modern Politics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

Wolraich is also the computer genius who maintains dagblog's state-of-the-art software, but he denies responsibility for technical glitches and advises users to "quit sniveling." In his spare time, Wolraich raises peach mold and performs live impressions of the law of gravity.

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http://blowingsmokebook.com

History

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4 years 38 weeks
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Blog Posts

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Premature Mid-life Crisis

by Michael Wolraich 9/25/2008 - 10:44 pm   |

I wrote this piece some years ago, before I was 30. I'm now probably in what could be called an on-schedule midlife crisis, but this article still seems relevant. I've updated it slightly to make it current with the times... [Read more]

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Men of Honor

by Michael Wolraich 9/25/2008 - 9:16 am   |

America is fortunate to have a choice between two men of honor this election year. In another election, the candidates might have tried to exploit the financial crisis for petty political gain. But not this year. John McCain has gone so far as to propose delaying the first debate with Barack Obama so that they can solve our crisis: [Read more]

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BREAKING: McCain denies deal with the Devil

by Michael Wolraich 9/24/2008 - 12:00 am   |

The blogosphere is abuzz with rumors about a secret deal between John McCain and Satan. A contributor to popular political blog, TPM Cafe, first broke the story last week in a post entitled, Lady MacDeath - A Faustian Bargain of Sinister Deception. According to blogger TheraP, who does not quote any sources, Satan promised John McCain the Presidency in 2008 in return for sacrificing his soul and selecting Sarah Palin to be his running mate. [Read more]

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I Say, Let 'Em Crash

by Michael Wolraich 9/23/2008 - 8:56 am   |

Oh things are going well my friends. This stock market crash could not have come at a better time. Just look at John McCain squirm. All we need are a few more major bankruptcies, and we'll have the election locked up. As a special bonus, the greedy bankers are getting screwed too. [Read more]

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Rope-a-McDope

by Michael Wolraich 9/19/2008 - 6:55 pm   |

Back in the doom-and-gloom days of...um...last week, there were a number of stalwart cheerleaders at TPM Cafe who airily assured us that Obama had everything under control. While I wasn't particularly concerned about the polls--I've seen enough elections not to get my knickers in a twist over weekly fluctuations--I had the sense that at least some of those cheerleaders would insist that all was well up to the moment of crushing defeat. The knowing assurances that Obama's hesitance to attack was part of his rope-a-dope strategy seemed the most suspect. [Read more]

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(What a) Wonderful Veep...

by Michael Wolraich 9/11/2008 - 7:23 pm   |

with apologies to Sam Cooke

She don't know much about history
She don't believe in biology
She wants to change the science books
She wants to fire the White House cooks
But she does know how to speak on cue
And she knows if she makes fools of you
What a wonderful veep she would be

She don't know much about geography
She don't know much foreign policy
Don't know much about George Bush's war
Don't know what a VP is for
But she knows that one and one is two
And if McCain just tells her what to do  [Read more]

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Governor, you're no Hillary Clinton (or Dumb and Dumber)

by Michael Wolraich 9/11/2008 - 7:19 pm   |

Those who know my writing here are aware that I have little love for Hillary Clinton. Had she won the nomination, I would have voted for her but not happily. But whatever her flaws, Clinton is extremely intelligent. She has a better command of public and foreign policy than any other candidate who participated in the primaries. Barack Obama, of course, is brilliant in his own right, as is Joe Biden. [Read more]

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About Face!

by Michael Wolraich 9/4/2008 - 11:23 pm   |

Sometimes I feel as if we're all participating in some kind of psychology experiment and that any minute now, an old guy in a white coat will peer down from the heavens and tell us that we can remove our armbands and go home. Recent political events seem designed to expose our rational failings and prove that in the end, we're all just rats in a maze.
 [Read more]

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Obama the Celeb?

by Michael Wolraich 8/8/2008 - 11:23 pm   |

From Greg Sargent at Election Central:

The McCain campaign triples-down on its "celeb" sneer, releasing a
third ad on the topic that hits the theme even harder than the last
two...Clearly, the McCain camp thinks this is working, and they're going to keep hammering away at it for weeks, if not months.
 [Read more]

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McCain Ups the Ante

by Michael Wolraich 7/24/2008 - 11:23 pm   |

Two month ago, John McCain challenged Barack Obama to visit Iraq, expecting him to decline, but Obama called the bluff. He saw McCain's Iraq and raised him Afghanistan, Israel, and three European nations. Never one to fold easily, McCain raised Obama right back. [Read more]

When the War Began

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