Fascism?

THIS IS SPARTA!

Posted at June 27, 2008 7:12 PM in response to Brits Call For Financial Restructuring; LaRouche Says "This Is Fascism"

Don, you would be right, if only Gibbons weren't a member of the so-called "party of family values". When you stand with people saying that what goes on in a person's private life does matter in politics and government, then yes, your own private conduct becomes fair play.

Especially when it exemplifies the real Republican motto: "Good for me, but not for thee".

Posted at May 30, 2008 12:36 PM in response to Today's Must Read

Who knew Freamon and Prez had Italian cousins?

Posted at May 29, 2008 3:54 PM in response to American Spies on Trial in Italy

Issa keeps getting elected primarily because his district leans so strongly Republican. Take a look at the map. The way it's gerrymandered, it carves out much of rural north San Diego county (don't let the "San Diego" on that map fool you--that's calling out the county, not the city,) Vista and Oceanside (heavily populated with military families) and a section of southwest Riverside County from Temecula to Lake Elsinore to Perris, which for nearly all intents and purposes is an extension of Orange and suburban San Diego counties. These are regions that just don't vote Democratic--that party didn't even run an opponent in 2002.

One has to remember, with the exception of districts already controlled by Democrats, the Democratic Party does not exist south of the Los Angeles-Orange County line. They abandoned this region long before I ever moved here. So long as that holds true, Darrell Issa will get re-elected as long as he wants to.

Posted at May 21, 2008 3:40 PM in response to Johnson's Stonewalling Drives Waxman to Gavel-Pounding Distraction

coonsey's right. Tony Rezko contributed to any pol he thought could advance his business interests. By and large, it seems he struck out. But it's clear to me the man understands Chicago politics. As Mike Royko distills it: Ubi Est Mea? "Where's Mine?"

Here's my gut feeling: Look at all the Illinois pols falling to corruption charges. Ex-governor George Ryan is already in the clink. The sharks are circling Rod Blagojevich and his hair. The Hired Truck and city patronage scandals. Mayoral scion Pat Daley indicted in a sewage contract scandal. Tony Rezko is just another crook being turned into a tool. What we're seeing is the biggest prosecutorial chess game Chicago has seen since Capone's days. The endgame is Mayor Richard Daley. Mark my words, when this is done, we'll see Da Mare indicted, and if it isn't the biggest thing since Operation Greylord, it'll be bigger.

And really, I don't have any problem with that.

Posted at April 23, 2008 2:53 PM in response to Get Fitzgerald!

I'd love for Hillary to devote her life to service the way Bill has, to run Children's Defense Fund or something similar.

I'd love for Hillary to stay in the Senate. Sure, she could do a lot of good running an NGO, but nowhere near what she can do in the federal legislature. On many issues, I think she's done well there. She's intelligent, capable, and usually informed. Yes, her ambition has clouded her judgement and fatally damaged her presidential campaign. But continuing to serve in this capacity is an opportunity to learn from those mistakes and redeem herself. And also for her egregious failures in voting to authorize force, and to pass the Patriot Act.

Hey, I'm Catholic, I'm supposed to believe in redemption.

Posted at April 7, 2008 4:47 PM in response to Okay, I Was Wrong and I'm an Obamanoid Now.

Anybody got friends on Spitzer's staff? He might want to practice indignantly shouting "Sheeeeeeeeeit!"

Posted at March 12, 2008 1:31 PM in response to Today's Must Read

So the Clinton campaign is rejecting Ferraro's claim that she's being attacked because she's white.

Did I miss them rejecting her initial claim that Obama's only succeeding because he's black? Or is that still okay with them?

(Assholes...)

Posted at March 12, 2008 1:22 PM in response to Wolfson On Ferraro's Latest: "We Have Made Clear That We Reject Her Remarks"

Hey, wait a minute.

When did Josh sell TPMedia to the Onion?

Posted at March 10, 2008 8:39 PM in response to Sinbad WILL NOT pipe down!

Yet the underreported shift of those Mainline churches toward greater tolerance and tangibly more progressivism, not less, has been ignored

Sure. With few exceptions, the "mainline" churches and their members do nothing to call attention to themselves. We carry our faith and let it guide our choices and actions without wearing it on our sleeve or shouting from a hilltop about it. How much does that differ from evangelicals, who are driven to--imagine this--evangelize! They hold big, stadium-filling rallies. They invite the press to cover them. Their leaders stand in pulpits and champion political views, and recommend political candidates. Who do you think is going to get more coverage? Who do you think reporters will attribute greater influence to, when considering the effect of religion on politics and government? That community got up and voted in droves, and let people know about it. My fellow Catholics didn't present like that. Did your fellow Episcopalians?

Why did that conservative religious agenda fail to take firm hold? Because candidates saw that evangelical community as a "base" they could take advantage of. They said what that community wanted to hear, assuming (correctly) that it would buy them votes. "I'm a good Christian, just like you! I stand for what you stand for!" But it was just a sop, it was never serious. Politicians (as is common) made promises they had no intention of keeping. Look at our policies over the last eight years. How many of them represent "good Christian values", by either evangelical or "mainline" standards?

No, the evangelical community was used. I'd be furious if I belonged to it. And I think a lot of them are, if the rumblings are true that many of them might stay home this November, rather than vote for a Republican nominee who doesn't speak to them.

Posted at February 12, 2008 3:50 PM in response to Washington’s God Story—and America’s