Lawrence O'Donnell, Rand Paul, and Constitutional Pretzel Logic on Libya
Last night Lawrence O'Donnell practiced an amazing bit of constitutional pretzel logic. He fiercely (and rightfully) assailed one Republican lawmaker (Eric Cantor) for completely failing Constitution...
View ArticleJob Growth Continues Positive in March, But Do Public Sector Layoffs Threaten...
Employment had respectable gains in March, with all 216,000 new jobs coming from the private sector. The growth helped to extend a continuing decline in unemployment rates--both for new unemployment...
View Article"One Toke Over the Line" by Lawrence Welk
And now for your weekend viewing pleasure here is Lawrence Welk doing "A modern spiritual", One Toke Over the Line. Commentary by Mr. Welk following the number.
View ArticleA Hopeless Left, As Obama Launches Re-election Run
I recently had the lucky opportunity to attend talks by two well known and influential liberals who work in different fields--one of the many benefits of living in a town with a big university. The...
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Who Won the Budget Deal?
Two weeks ago, prior to much of the budget insanity we've been subjected to, Salon's Andrew Leonard wrote a piece titled How to tell if Obama is losing the budget showdown . It was subtitled "A...
View ArticleThe Next Disappointment: Obama to Back Simpson-Bowles as Budget Debate Starter
Booman:"I don't get disappointed by a whole lot because my expectations are so low."And when the president makes budget cuts at a time when increased federal spending is one of the only ways to reduce...
View ArticleHard Times
Washington's bipartisan response to joblessness continues down the wrong and damaging road of austerity strategies and budget cuts. I can't help but be reminded of Stephen Foster's classic "Hard Times...
View ArticleThe Conversion of Osama bin Laden
Neither the short- nor long-term legacy of America's killing of Osama bin Ladin are clear. Never the less, it is possible to make some fragmentary observations that I think will be relevant going...
View ArticleRick Perry's Climate-Science Whoppers Not Shared by Texas State Climatologist
Texas Governor and GOP Presidential front-runner Rick Perry:“I do believe that the issue of global warming has been politicized. I think there are a substantial number of scientists who have...
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The Pathetic Left
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/Pathetic, as in:"For green groups, President Barack Obama’s retreat on ozone standards is another reason to question how aggressively they want to support his reelection...
View Article"I've Got Nothing For You On That"
Thanks to Jake Tapper (ABC News) for asking:Let's face it. This administration simply doesn't get the civil liberties thing. And for any law students who were at Chicago when Obama was on the faculty...
View ArticleBarney Frank Blames Occupy Wall Street
Did you see this segment on Rachel Maddow last night? Check it out.I like Barney Frank, and I'm glad he said what he did. But his complaint that Occupy Wall Street (twitter feed #OWS) should have been...
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After Nine Years of War, Iraq Liberates the US
Source: http://hereinvannuys.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/protests/ As has been widelynoted, Obama's decision to remove all remaining troops from Iraq was the result of failed negotiations over legal...
View Article"Horse Race" Media Reporting Arrives at Occupy Wall Street
One way to avoid the laborious task of actual analysis of presidential candidates and their policies is to simply forego the "hard news" and instead focus on the "horse race"--who's ahead and who's...
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Listening to Occupy Oakland
Occupation Oakland encampment 10/31/11On October 31st I visited Occupy Oakland (OO, twitter feed #OO and #OccupyOakland). I wanted to listen to occupiers in order to find out what they were thinking...
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Listening to the Occupy Movement
Tag-clouds and word-clouds are probably used too much these days, but I think the format may be useful in presenting the "Occupy Movement" to the public. Word-clouds represent spoken or written speech...
View ArticleA Question of Federal Involvement in Occupy Wall Street (#OWS) Raids
(This story is developed further here.)Greg Lavine writes that Mayor Jean Quan of Oakland revealed that she had participated in a conference call among 18 mayors nationwide prior to her own raid on...
View ArticleDemocracy Now Swings and Misses on Federal Involvement in Occupy Raids
Democracy Now broadcast, yesterday:JUAN GONZALEZ: And I’d like to ask Chuck Wexler, this whole issue of the police chiefs trying to exchange information, was there any involvement of the Department of...
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The Corrupt Origins and Hidden Dangers of Pepper Spray (OC) Use by Law...
Technical Note: We've heard that some readers have had trouble posting comments at the blog. If you've had trouble commenting, please tweet me @Casual_Obs, and let me know what browser and OS you're...
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The Bombings Will Continue Until Morale Improves
(Update Below)No doubt the response from Obama administration officials will be something like "We understand their frustrations," but the insanity will continue to chase its own tail until it drops,...
View ArticleA Disturbing Account of DHS Presence at Occupy Los Angeles
There has been much interest and speculation regarding the role DHS and other federal agencies have had regarding law enforcement/surveillance activies surrounding the Occupy Movement. See, for...
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Karl Rove's Spectacular Lies
Photo credit: Rove Republican Racket. OK, so Turd Blossom is back and he's attacked Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, on the grounds that she is too close to Wall Street. It's the sort of...
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Christopher Hitchens and the Kings County Landfill
"It is only those who hope to transform human beings who end up by burning them, like the waste product of a failed experiment." --C. Hitchens, Letters to a Young...
View ArticleA Hopeful Note
If there's a hopeful note to be heard following the 2016 election, it may be in the upsurge of popular activism and protest this year, the first of Trump's term. Singer-songwriter Eliza Gilkyson has...
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