Waco Farmer
My Obama Ambivalence
Shelby Steele:
“[T]he cultural and historical implications of [Barack] Obama’s candidacy are clearly greater than its public policy implications…his candidacy itself asks the American democracy to complete itself….”
I vigorously recommend Steele’s essay in last week’s TIME Magazine, which proved tremendously useful as I continue to wrestle with my ongoing ambivalence concerning Obama and his unlikely campaign.
As […]
Hillary and Obama in Iowa: an Overview, a Brief Review, and Some Perspective
From the Washington Post:
The top three Democratic presidential contenders remain locked in a close battle in Iowa, with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) seeing her advantages diminish on key issues, including the questions of experience and which candidate is best prepared to handle the war in Iraq, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News Poll.
The […]
Hillary’s Moment of Truth, and, Ironically, Bill is Both Her Biggest Asset and Her Biggest Liability
In 1962, Richard Nixon organized his autobiography into Six Crises, understanding his life up to that point as the product of six trials during his public life that defined him as a person. Nixon’s basic assertion was absolutely right to the extent that all successful public figures must overcome the “slings and arrows of […]
The Cost of Free Speech
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose,
freedom aint worth nothing—but it’s free
Kris Kristofferson
From the Washington Post:
[I]n Los Angeles earlier this month, [John K.] Tanner [voting section chief within the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ] said that voter identification laws primarily affect elderly people because they are less likely to have photo IDs, […]
Naomi Wolf, Book-TV, and BDS
Charles Krauthammer, the clinically trained psychiatrist turned conservative columnist, whimsically announced a new mental disorder back in 2003:
“Bush Derangement Syndrome.”
Krauthammer defined the condition as “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency—nay—the very existence of George W. Bush.”
Consider this recent example of BDS:
“I am writing because we […]
Journalism 101: All the News That’s Fit to Print
From Reuters via the Washington Post:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh raised $2.1 million for children of fallen Marines and law enforcement officers on Friday by auctioning off a letter from Senate Democrats denouncing him for a remark about “phony soldiers.”
An important story meriting prominent placement?
The Post did not think so; they chose to […]
The Making of an Entitlement
en•ti•tle•ment n.
1. The act or process of entitling.
2. The state of being entitled.
3. A government program that guarantees and provides benefits to a particular group.
From the Congressional Budget Office–May 2007:
The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to expand health insurance coverage to uninsured children in families […]
