RFK and the Drone Strike White Paper
As we all know, NBC released a leaked white paper on the Obama WH's drone strike policy on Tuesday. That white paper has been addressed here at considerable length, but one snippet from it still jumps...
View ArticleDid we elect Barry Goldwater last year?
In all of the hue and cry about chained CPI in the president's proposed budget, one item has escaped scrutiny. The budget considers selling part or all of TVA, the country's largest publicly owned...
View ArticleWe Didn't LITERALLY elect Goldwater
Our president, however did become the first national political figure in 49 years to touch a 3d rail in American politics in the same budget where he is touching an even more visibly charged 3d rail....
View ArticleRFK Speaks to Us About Violence Today
On April 5, 1968, RFK only had one speaking engagement. He made no other public appearances on the day after the MLK assassination. He spoke to the Cleveland City Club on that dark day about The...
View ArticleOur 2004 Nominee and Current SoS on Terrorism
Most of us recall the firestorm that circulated around our presidential nominee in the wake of his 10/04 NYT Magazine interview, where he said the following: When I asked Kerry what it would take for...
View ArticleVisiting the Ghosts of Dems Past at Arlington
I was lucky enough to make a pilgrimage to the graves of the 3 Kennedy brothers at Arlington today. As is common knowledge, the JFK gravesite features the eternal flame. It also features excerpts...
View ArticleNYT: "The Fed, Summers and Money"
The FP of today's NYT print edition contains a detailed profile of Larry Summers and his activities since he left the WH at the end of 2010. Surprisingly enough, this story has yet to be diaried. I...
View ArticleWas Anyone from NYT Detained Due to Pentagon Papers?
How about the WaPo? Those 2 outlets, after all, initially published the Pentagon Papers in 1971: The study comprised 3,000 pages of historical analysis and 4,000 pages of original government documents...
View ArticleWhat would Founders say about black budgets?
Has anyone on either end of PA Ave ever bothered to read Federalist #26? Does anyone understand why Article I, Sec. 8 contains the following limitation on military expenditures: To raise and support...
View ArticlePBS, JFK, and why I'm a Dem
Like, I suspect, many of us here, I just finished watching the American Experience documentary on JFK. I have neither the time nor the inclination to address all the reasons why that film struck me so...
View ArticlePierce's Thanksgiving Post
Charles Pierce, as usual, offers cogent commentary on Thanksgiving. On a holiday that seems to have morphed into a celebration of shopping, eating, and corporate sponsorship, it's good to be reminded...
View ArticleWhy Doesn't President Remind Neocons Who Was Right on Iraq in 2002?
During the rush to war in 2002, an IL state senator said the following: I don't oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the...
View ArticleUS combat operations extended in Afghanistan
into 2015 as per the lead FP story in today's NYT: President Obama decided in recent weeks to authorize a more expansive mission for the military in Afghanistan in 2015 than originally planned, a move...
View ArticleTorture does not stop at water's edge
Charles Pierce, as usual, gets it here: But this is what can happen if you normalize torture in the public mind the way that the Avignon Presidency and its acolytes did and then, when a new...
View ArticleReagan Republican Bankrolls Rahmbo
The lead story in today's NYT business section baldly sets forth the real stakes in the upcoming Chicago mayoral run-off. While the story's headline (which describes Rahmbo and billionaire GOP...
View ArticleThomas Merton has long been a hero of mine
While Pope Francis's address to Congress (and his greeting of John Kerry) today has so many aspects worthy of detailed analysis, there is one aspect of it that touched me above all others. MLK has...
View ArticleRFK advocated gun control in Roseburg, OR
During his ill-fated campaign in the 1968 OR primary (the first election ever lost by a Kennedy), RFK spoke in favor of gun control during a campaign stop in Roseburg: On May 27 1968, Sen. Robert F....
View ArticleDems Hide Lamp Under Bushel Basket by Limiting Debates
All 3 of the synoptic gospels contain a stern admonition against hiding one's lamp under a bushel basket. It might be nice if the Dems took that admonition to heart.Putting aside horse race...
View ArticleIA J-D Dinner Shows Need for More Debates
As a quick perusal of the Rec list will show, the remaining presidential candidates all spoke at last night's J-J Dinner in IA. There are already ample diaries addressing the speeches themselves. No...
View ArticleIndonesia is on Fire
This Charles Pierce piece must be read in its entirety, but here's a choice clip: What I'm discussing is a barbecue on a different scale. Fire is raging across the 5,000km length of Indonesia. It is...
View Article
