Posts tagged Politics

…(T)he fatiguing situation we have now with seven semi-announced candidates a year and a half away from the election running around the country Monday morning quarterbacking is also going too far. In my opinion, if the news media would quit trying to create false excitement by covering all potential presidential candidates in terms of a popularity poll, which is meaningless at this stage, they would be taking a giant step forward in journalistic responsibility.
Said by a media member or journalism professor to describe the run-up to next year’s election? Nope. It was future FOX News president Roger Ailes who uttered these words (and many more) back in 1971. Campaign regulation? A desire to eliminate poverty and pollution? Nixon-era Ailes and I probably would have gotten along. If only he could follow some of his own advice…
At Beck University, he offers a course titled “Presidents You Should Hate.” Part one focuses on Woodrow Wilson, part two on Franklin Roosevelt. Until those men rose to power, the political field belonged to politicians in the command of business.
Mind-boggling piece by Arthur Delaney and Ryan Grim of The Huffington Post on the right’s revisionist attacks against poverty and New Deal policies. Which experiences a more intellectually-dishonest existence: Glenn Beck or the supporters who don’t realize he doesn’t actually believe half of the stuff that comes out of his mouth?

Amen. Jon Stewart (and his writing staff) has been in the zone for the last couple of years. I sometimes wonder if ‘The Daily Show’ is my calling in life.

Even before his appearance on 60 Minutes, Nancy Pelosi warned that incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner is “known to cry.” I take no issue with Boehner getting dusty eyes from time-to-time (and appreciate that he’s reverted to a somewhat normal skin tone since the midterms). I just wonder what conservatives would do (WWCD?) if President Obama, Pelosi or Barney Frank expressed emotion in a similar manner. Double-standards are fun!

Oh, Bill. You always know just what to say (unless your wife is running for president) and how to say it. If only you’d exercised more self-control; I think you can make a pretty reasonable hypothetical argument that Dubya never gets elected if Monica Lewinsky is just a White House intern.

Oh, Bill. You always know just what to say (unless your wife is running for president) and how to say it. If only you’d exercised more self-control; I think you can make a pretty reasonable hypothetical argument that Dubya never gets elected if Monica Lewinsky is just a White House intern.

I can’t help but think of Jared Raymond on this day when our last combat troops leave Iraq. Jared and I worked together at Camp Rotary, went to the same school for a handful of years and were teammates (I’ll never forget the time when he flipped out after being pulled from the mound during a no-hit bid even though he had given up six runs on walks, hit batters and wild pitches in three-plus innings). He was a real good kid: the man of his house, always friendly and the type of person who stood up for his own. Even when I transferred to St. Mary’s, I’d still run into him at parties and around Swampscott, and it was always good to catch up. When I found out that Jared had been killed by an IED in Balad on September 19, 2006, I was sitting in the pre-production studio at WRGW. I never agreed with any of the different rationale presented for entering Iraq, but that wasn’t why I was filled with so much sadness and anger on that day almost four years ago. I thought about the personal impact - not just the loss of Jared’s life but the burden that his mother would now carry with her in an empty home. When I read that he was inspired to join the military after 9/11, I really lost it, as it had already become apparent that Iraq had nothing to do with the destruction of the World Trade Center, the attack on the Pentagon or any of the other awful things that happened on that horrible date in American history. May we continue to look after our soldiers and their families, both home and abroad and in times of war and peace, and may our leaders show more wisdom and restraint when it comes to sending our young men and women into harm’s way. Most importantly, let us never allow ourselves to forget about Jared and other real heroes like him.

I can’t help but think of Jared Raymond on this day when our last combat troops leave Iraq. Jared and I worked together at Camp Rotary, went to the same school for a handful of years and were teammates (I’ll never forget the time when he flipped out after being pulled from the mound during a no-hit bid even though he had given up six runs on walks, hit batters and wild pitches in three-plus innings). He was a real good kid: the man of his house, always friendly and the type of person who stood up for his own. Even when I transferred to St. Mary’s, I’d still run into him at parties and around Swampscott, and it was always good to catch up.

When I found out that Jared had been killed by an IED in Balad on September 19, 2006, I was sitting in the pre-production studio at WRGW. I never agreed with any of the different rationale presented for entering Iraq, but that wasn’t why I was filled with so much sadness and anger on that day almost four years ago. I thought about the personal impact - not just the loss of Jared’s life but the burden that his mother would now carry with her in an empty home. When I read that he was inspired to join the military after 9/11, I really lost it, as it had already become apparent that Iraq had nothing to do with the destruction of the World Trade Center, the attack on the Pentagon or any of the other awful things that happened on that horrible date in American history.

May we continue to look after our soldiers and their families, both home and abroad and in times of war and peace, and may our leaders show more wisdom and restraint when it comes to sending our young men and women into harm’s way. Most importantly, let us never allow ourselves to forget about Jared and other real heroes like him.

Maybe there’s some reason for hope (although he’s only able to say this because he lost, so maybe not). To be fair, both sides need to tone the rhetoric down, but D.C.’s current climate of constant politicking is too much. It was a fun distraction when times were good in the late-’90s and early last decade, but all the cable news mentality does is bog us down during this era of serious issues.

Maybe there’s some reason for hope (although he’s only able to say this because he lost, so maybe not). To be fair, both sides need to tone the rhetoric down, but D.C.’s current climate of constant politicking is too much. It was a fun distraction when times were good in the late-’90s and early last decade, but all the cable news mentality does is bog us down during this era of serious issues.

oME

Don’t watch this. It’ll make you sad. I warned you!

Interesting to see the party that praised the 9/11 responders (and wrapped the flag around itself) while seeking reelection in 2002 and 2004 not step up to the plate and protect those same heroes in 2010. This last decade-plus period of American history has been a real bummer.