Perhaps I’m treading on already trod ground, but the I have to wonder how much of the controversy over the not exactly Ground Zero, not exactly Mosque is really just another proxy battle of misunderstanding between urban Americans and suburban/rural types. The distance of a few blocks is too far to walk on a 100 degree day during my lunch hour, and I love walking. It is also billions of dollars away. If I really want a morning cup of coffee, I’ll go to the coffee shop next door, not 2 1/2 blocks away. For suburbanites, however,...
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Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin clearly doesn't want you to know which party she's in
Seriously, if you didn’t know already, after watching this ad, you’d have no idea that Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is a Democrat. “No matter which party is in charge, I do what’s right for South Dakota.” That’s the sound of selling out.
Continue reading...Sounds familiar…
There was a cool story in the Times yesterday celebrating the history of women’s suffrage. Definitely recommend reading it. One part of the story really speaks to my 2010 self. Doesn’t this sound familiar? That year (1918) the 19th Amendment passed the House. It stalled in the Senate — blocked by conservative Southerners — but Wilson muscled it through in 1919.
Continue reading...Republicans Supporting Non-Republicans
Interesting news from the Pennsylvania senate race today: Former Senator Chuck Hagel will endore Joe Sestak. Hagel was a Republican; Sestak is a Democrat running against Republican Pat Toomey. Hagel told The Associated Press on Monday that Sestak has demonstrated during his two terms in Congress that he puts what’s best for the country before the interests of his party. He said Sestak’s courage and integrity as a legislator are qualities the nation needs more of. This just shortly after we’ve learned that Bob Dole, former Republican senator and presidential candidate, has thrown a $1,000 check to...
Continue reading...Why didn't the stimulus work as expected?
With 500,000 new people applying for unemployment last week, the most number since November, it appears that the economy, propped up by temporary census workers and last year’s stimulus package, is falling again. The Right is saying that the stimulus was a waste of money, the Left is saying it wasn’t big enough. The truth is, even if it helped a little, it’s not doing enough. Eric Martin at Obsidian Wings does a great job of pointing out one of the most important reasons: Further weakening the effort, a self-styled group of “moderates” in the Senate pared...
Continue reading...Mea Culpas
There were two interesting confessions yesterday. First, Jon Stewart admitted that he was wrong in criticizing the National Rifle Association for keeping to their plans to have a conference in Denver immediately following the Columbine massacre in 1999. Additionally, Matt Yglesias wrote an admirable post admitting he was wrong in 2003 when he supported the invasion of Iraq and explaining how his thinking has changed since then. Yglesias does worry that by admitting error and explaining why he could sound like he’s making excuses: “I’m not a huge fan of this kind of exercise because I think...
Continue reading...The kid who sold crack to the president
(Apologies for the terrible video, but it\’s all I could find.) There\’s a great post on MetaFilter right now about the story behind President George H. W. Bush’s “This is crack cocaine” address to the nation. \”This is crack cocaine,\” Bush solemnly announced, holding up a plastic bag filled with a white chunky substance in his Sept. 5 speech on drug policy. It was “seized a few days ago in a park across the street from the White House . . . . It could easily have been heroin or PCP.” In 1989 the White House came...
Continue reading...Private buses and the government as a business
Yglesias suggests that the future maybe should involve privately-owned intracity bus lines: Bus lines don’t have the power to transform neighborhoods that rail construction possesses. But buses are by far the cheapest and simplest way of adding mass transit, and municipal leaders should always have their eyes on potential ways to improve things. One possibility that naturally suggests itself is to let entrepreneurs start private intracity bus lines just as we have inter-city buses running from New York to DC, Philadelphia, Boston, etc. Unlike the barbering field I would want to see regulation of this kind of activity...
Continue reading...Why Muslims
Mark Silk knocks it out of the park: In recent years, the wise guys in the Republican Party have cottoned to the fact that the U.S. of A. has become a good deal more Latino than it used to be, and that it might not be such a good idea for the future of the GOP if it embraced (at least publicly) such anti-Latino-immigrant laws as Arizona passed a few months ago. Why not find a less politically potent body of Americans on which to vent one’s nativist animosity? I give you: The Muslims. Unlike the Latinos,...
Continue reading...Happy Anniversary, Women's Suffrage!
On this day 90 years ago, Tennessee became the final state to ratify the 19th amendment, finally giving women the right to vote. If you haven’t yet, go read Gail Collins’ excellent column last week describing the circumstances leading up to that historic vote: My Favorite August. I was thinking about how to best celebrate this occasion, and I think it’s in the spirit of gratefulness. Granted, that’s not my usual mood, particularly when it comes to women’s issues. As you know from my repeated rants, being a pro-choice feminist can be frustrating. When it comes to...
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