Better Angels

In 1994, I covered the mid-term elections from cheesy hotel ballrooms in Boise, Idaho, before running back to a drafty office to input my thoughts on an ancient Mac. I was stunned at the march of Newt Gingrich and his Contract With America crew across the whole country. I was in Washington D.C. the night [...]

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This Fucking Election.
Hold your nose and vote. For better or worse, it’s almost over.

Why I Back Barack

I’ve been watching the conservative movement — which has ruled the public discourse in America for most of my life — completely melt down over the past few days. There are insane predictions, vicious slanders, and of course, comparisons to Nazi Germany.
All because Barack Obama is probably going to be elected President.
(Note: this doesn’t mean [...]

Heavy Chatter

In 1995, I still lived in Boise, Idaho, at the height of the militia movement. I listened, every day, to AM talk radio. Aside from the usual right-wing blowhards — many of whom are still with us — there were a couple local hosts who were big fans of the militias. One in particular could [...]

Everyone Wants To Be Trendy…

First it was Christopher Buckley. Then Christopher Hitchens. Now that Colin Powell and Scott McCellan have joined the Obama bandwagon, there’s a stampede of conservatives who want it known they’re endorsing the Democratic nominee for prez. Including one guy who was a McCain adviser and a former Reagan administration official.
This week, Fried announced that he [...]

Count The Blinks

One thing to consider regarding McCain’s debate performance: he who blinks the most, loses.
From the International Journal of Psychophysiology:
For eight U.S. presidential elections during the period 1960–2004, the rapid blinker during debates received fewer overall votes than his opponent. In seven of these eight elections, the rapid blinker also lost the electoral vote and was [...]

Mining For Comedy Gold in Alaska

This is starting to get really funny.
McCain spokesman stumped when asked why Sarah Palin is qualified to be Commander-In-Chief:

“Can you name just one decision she made as commander of the Alaska National Guard?”
Attention Gen Y — those MySpace pages will come back to bite you in the ass:
On his MySpace page, [...]

Inexperience

All this talk about McCain’s choice for veep has raised the question again of who’s got the experience to be President.
Which leads me to ask:
Would you choose a candidate for President who had less than 8 years in public office? Who, during that time, spent 3.5 hours every day playing video games and jogging? Who [...]

More GOP Crime and Punishment

Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi has just been indicted for allegedly profiting from a crooked land deal.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Rick Renzi was indicted Friday on charges of extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and other matters in an Arizona land swap scam that allegedly helped him collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in payoffs.
A 26-page [...]

Law & Order: Special Republican Unit

Fred Thompson may play a tough, no-nonsense prosecutor on TV, but when it comes to his campaign supporters… well, not so much. From the Washington Post:
Republican presidential candidate Fred D. Thompson has been crisscrossing the country since early this summer on a private jet lent to him by a businessman and close adviser who [...]