News & Media

The Precinct I watched today went 409 for Obama, 77 for McPalin, 1 for Nader, 1 Write-In, and 1 undervote.

Shoichi Yokoi was a Japanese soldier who was sent to Guam during World War II. When U.S. forces recaptured the island in 1944, Yokoi went into hiding where he remained until 1972. Even when he was discovered, it took some work to convince him that World War II was over. Alex Koppelman at Salon opines that Sarah Palin may be the Shōichi Yokoi of the culture wars. Only she and her ideologically blinded supporters, like Japanese soldiers found in uniform on a deserted island years after the war is over, seem not to know it. However, in this story, John

By Jessica Christensen, Employment Law Correspondent The fact that Barack Obama has run a good campaign doesn’t mean he will be a good president. So says Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard. Fair enough. Running a good campaign doesn’t, in and of itself, mean that Obama will necessarily be a good president. I’d argue he has many other qualities that recommend him for the job, but as a matter of logic, Kristol is correct on this point. Case in point: many on both sides say George W. ran a good campaign, and look how that turned out. What Kristol seems

If by a “Liberal” they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people – their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties – someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad; if that is what they mean by a “Liberal,” then I’m proud to say I’m a “Liberal.” – John F. Kennedy 35th President of the United States Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid

In The Triumph of Ignorance: How Morons Succeed in U.S. Politics, George Monibot attempts to figure out what perplexes the rest of the world. How can a country with the strongest collective brain trust in the history of man be constantly led by such idiots? From Reagan to Bush, Quayle to Palin, being an idiot seems to be no impediment to political power. How was it allowed to happen? How did politics in the United States come to be dominated by people who make a virtue out of ignorance? Was it charity that has permitted mankind’s closest living relative to

Glen Greenwald writes about how the far-right has become the victim studies department: As [the Right has] ruled the country, it’s been driven into the ground on every level. The President they revered and endlessly glorified is the most unpopular in modern American history. They’ve ushered in disastrous wars, virtual economic panic, state-sanctioned torture and astonishing debt. Their leaders have been exposed as bloated, corrupted criminals and hypocrites. Their current candidate chose as his Vice President someone who can barely string together a complete sentence or opine on the simplest of matters, and himself acknowledges that he’s been joined at

Image by Zina Saunders Video Says a Million [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrzXLYA_e6E]

YOUNG WOMAN: Are we getting closer and closer to, like, socialism and stuff?. . . CANDIDATE: Here’s what I really believe: That when you reach a certain level of comfort, there’s nothing wrong with paying somewhat more. Quick… which candidate was that? Yes, that’s right… John McCain, before he sold his soul to Rove and Co. (source () The Republican argument of the moment seems to be that the difference between capitalism and socialism corresponds to the difference between a top marginal income-tax rate of 35 per cent and a top marginal income-tax rate of 39.6 per cent. The latter