Michael Wolraich's picture

    Advice to Democrats: Divide and Conquer

    Putting aside anxieties over the economy and fury at Republicans, Democrats, the media, and whomever else makes us hopping mad, let's play a little game of political strategy.

    While House Speaker John Boehner's formidable skin-tone and Michele Bachmann's spine-chilling folksiness has driven many a Democrat to gibber in fear, it's helpful to remember that Republican power in Washington is not exactly overwhelming.

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    Revenge of the Bankers! and Other Tales from Under the Debt Ceiling

    Lo! The deadline approacheth! In New York, the bond traders shred their garments and gnash their teeth! In Washington, the Federal Reserve Chairman foretells a "huge financial calamity." The dollar is falling, the bankers are wailing, the President, it is said, is agitated.

    Michael Wolraich's picture

    The End of the Glenn Beck Story

    You'll notice a pattern in all stories: There are three kinds of characters: heroes, villains and there but for the grace of God go I.

    -- Glenn Beck

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    A Warm Welcome to Our New Rich Text Editor

    Dear readers,

    I am sad to report that dagblog has been forced to dismiss a member of our team after years of faithful service.

    You may not know TinyMCE by name, but she has served has our Rich Text Editor since 2008 when dagblog was founded. Every word that you have ever typed at dag has been tenderly processed and formatted by the indefatigable Tiny.

    True, she sometimes garbled the font and impulsively inserted extra lines between paragraphs. And yes, her spellchecker never worked very well. But she did her job every day without complaint and kept dagblog humming.

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    Debt Ceiling Dumb Show

    President enters stage left, beaming loftily at the Chorus.

    House Speaker enters right, arms crossed and scowling.

    President silently opens his hands as if presenting a gift. Speaker shakes his head angrily.

    President furrows his brow, points at his watch, and wags his finger. Speaker shakes his fist in the air and grimaces fiercely.

    Chorus members cover open mouths in alarm and look nervously at their watches.

    *    *    *

    It makes for good theater, and the audience is enthralled. Will Democrats cave to Republican demands for stiff budgets cuts as a condition for raising the debt ceiling? Will Republicans compromise on taxes? Are they actually crazy enough to drive the United States into bankruptcy?

    Given the breathless media coverage of the drama, you can be forgiven for thinking that you're witnessing a genuine conflict with serious economic consequences. In fact, what is you're watching is a charade--a dumb show, as it was called in Shakespeare's time.

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    New York State to Vote on Same-Sex Marriage

    While researching Blowing Smoke, I subscribed to a newsletter from the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, a non-profit organization "whose purpose it is to become the first-in-mind champion of Christian religious liberty, domestically and internationally, and a national clearing house and first line of response to anti-Christian defamation, bigotry, and discrimination."

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    Escaping Below the World

    There is much to be said for vanishing. Short escapes from the frenzied tumult of modern life help to calibrate the soul and maintain perspective.

    I've learned that proper escape requires more than disconnecting electronic devices and traveling to faraway lands. Though people may not follow you on your journey, your thoughts are more tenacious. Anxieties, memories, hopes, and fears stow away in your crowded cranium, accompanying you across the globe like irritating travel companions.

    But not under the water.

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    Why Americans Live Shorter Lives

    A new study reveals that US life expectancy is falling even further behind other industrialized countries. As of 2007, the life expectancy of Americans is 75.6 for men and 80.8 for women, which puts us in 37th place internationally. On average, Americans live three years less than citizens in the top ten longest-lived countries, and those countries pull further ahead of us every year.

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    Republican Debate Shocker! No One Turned Into a Werewolf


    Herman Cain discusses Islam

    Political experts across the nation burbled approvingly after Monday's Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire. The candidates surpassed expectations by maintaining human form and refraining from howling, salivating excessively, or biting moderator John King on the leg.

    Michael Wolraich's picture

    For congressional tweeting, Weiner's got competition

    This much we know. Over Memorial Day weekend, someone used U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner's Twitter account to publish a photo of an underwear-clad male crotch apparently in a sexually excited state.

    The New York Democrat denies posting the photo, claiming that his Twitter account was hacked, but he has deflected persistent inquiries into whether he is the owner of the offending (apparent) genitalia.

    "But Congressman, you would remember if you were to take a photograph of yourself like that," insisted MSNBC's Luke Russert in one interview. In another, CNN's Wolf Blitzer pressed, "You would know if this is your underpants."

    As journalists clamor for Weiner to come clean about his underpants, I was struck by an intriguing, if less titillating, question: What does Weiner usually tweet?

    Read the full article at CNN.com.

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    Bluffing for Dummies: Republicans Hit Their Heads on the Debt Ceiling

    Word to the wise: Don't bluff when your cards are on the table.

    (I learned that the hard way.)

    Apparently, House Speaker John Boehner has yet to learn the lesson. On Monday, he truculently pledged, "Without significant spending cuts and the way we spend Americans' money, there will be no debt limit increase."

    But there will be a debt limit increase. John Boehner knows it. Barack Obama knows it. Everybody knows it.

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    Republicans Back Away from Medicare Cuts

    Last week, I called the Republicans' budget "a dead plan walking." I was referring in particular to the proposal to "reform" Medicare by replacing direct payments with vouchers for private insurance. Most Americans are not pleased by this proposal, which they correctly regard as a benefits cuts, and many of them have said so angrily at town hall meetings across the country.

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    Dead Bin Laden Photos Surface

    In the wake of Osama Bin Laden's death, pictures of his corpse have become the most sought after photographs since Britney Spears sans panties.

    President Obama's arrogant, pussyfooting refusal to hand over the pictures to the deserving public has spawned a competition among the world's top news publications to obtain the photos.

    I'm pleased to announce that dagblog's crack paparazzi ninja-spy, William K. Wolfrum, with his trustee sidekick, his own ego, have succeeded where all others have failed. I hereby present to you the real dead Osama photos:

    Michael Wolraich's picture

    Republicans' Medicare Blunder

    In town hall meetings being held across the country during Congress' two-week recess, American citizens are filling the ears of Republican legislators with objections to the party's budget plan, particularly proposed changes to Medicare that would replace direct coverage with subsidies for private insurance.

    Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pennsylvania, quoted in a New York Times article Tuesday, tried to play down the objections, but his explanation inadvertently exposed the flaw in his party's political strategy.

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    And Now for Something Completely Different

    A few years ago, a friend of mine suggested that it would be nice to have a reference tool to find stuff related to other stuff. Type a movie title, and get the actors. Type a state, and get the capitol. Type in golf, and get a list of famous golfers.

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    In Israel, the Roadmap to Peace is Not Paved with Goldstone

    Israel supporters rejoiced on Friday after international jurist Richard Goldstone recanted some conclusions from his investigation into Israel's military actions during the Gaza war two years ago.

    "If I had known then what I know now," Goldstone wrote in a Washington Post op-ed, "The Goldstone Report would have been a different document."

    ...

    The Israeli government and its supporters have long denounced the Goldstone Report as deeply flawed and complain that it has tarnished Israel's reputation. On Sunday, in fact, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans "to reverse and minimize the great damage that has been done by this campaign of denigration against the state of Israel."

    But while Israel's supporters and detractors alike often take the importance of the Goldstone Report for granted, it's worth considering the extent of the "great damage" done to the state of Israel since the report was released and questioning what such investigations, accusations and condemnations actually accomplish.

    Read the full article at CNN.com

    Michael Wolraich's picture

    Middle East Out of the Box: Schrodinger's Cat is Dead

    There is a cat in a box with a flask of poison. The random decay of a radioactive isotope is rigged to shatter the flask and kill the cat. We don't know if the cat is alive or dead.

    According to the well-known quantum paradox of Schrodinger's cat, the cat is neither alive nor dead (or both alive and dead) until someone opens the box to find out, which disrupts the quantum uncertainty and resolves the cat's fate.

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    Michael Wolraich's picture

    Genghis on the Radio...Again

    Tomorrow, I'll be discussing Blowing Smoke with host Tim Danahey on Castle Rock Radio from 2 to 3pm ET, Wednesday, March 16th.

    Please listen in at http://castlerockradio.com.

    Also, for those of you who missed my television appearance on C-SPAN last month, you can watch it online at http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/BlowingS.

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