Tricky Dick: now you see him, now you don’t

Watergate scarred Dick Cheney for life. Sort of like getting a load of birdshot right in the face. All that silly to-do over breaking and entering, bribes, dirty politics, Oval Office lies to cover it up, the dreaded I word, taught the young right-wing politico a hard lesson: Congressional oversight is more trouble than it’s worth. [...]

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Obama, Coal and Sustainability: an Update

Several weeks ago, I criticized Obama’s support of liquid-to-coal technology as an indication that he might not take climate change as seriously as he should. I wasn’t alone – my peers at itsgettinghotinhere.org put on the pressure, and a petition from the U.S. Climate Energy Council and the U.S. Climate Action Network was widely circulated. [...]

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The Golden Rule and a New Kind of Politics

In the past week, I’ve had one question on my mind: how would Jesus vote? 
That is the question theologian Linda Seger asks in her recent book Jesus Rode a Donkey: Why Republicans Don’t Have the Corner on Christ. Seger wonders, if Jesus were alive today, would he feed the poor or cut free school lunch [...]

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JUST BREATHE…

Fascinating. It’s been that kind of week. The Clinton-Punjab/Obama Memo provoked more than the press. It provoked tempers, panic, a flurry of emails about who was to blame and what to do about it. Finally, this message went out: “Wait a minute–everybody take a deep breath here…” and the internet chatter turned to our methods of [...]

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A New ‘Generation’ of Politics: Millennials, the Common Good, and the True Progressive

Cross-posted at Future Majority.
This blog is drawn from some writing I have in the mix for an upcoming article and was also prompted by a post at Future Majority this past week titled Consensus, Millennial Politics, and the Common Good.
The author Bergerc84 kicked things off with the following line:
 

“Peter Levine blogged about consensus today, and [...]

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Pampers, Huggies and Baby Wipes… the real reason we can’t get out of Iraq

Disposable diapers, I’ve whined for years, have ruined this country.
I was joking. Sort of. I was referring, in the main, to an ever-accelerating divorce rate. But those diapers remain an issue.
My first child was born in 1970. Pampers were fairly new. Huggies and “wipes” hadn’t even come along yet. The whole idea of disposable diapers [...]

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A brief note to everyone in the Barack the Youth Vote community

I just wanted to leave a quick note for the online community here at Barack the Youth Vote. Due to a sudden death in my family yesterday, I will not be able to make a new post today. In the days to come, I will be traveling to be with family for the funeral services [...]

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“America’s Mayor” — Rudy-Tootie, Fresh and Fruity

There is no doubt that, on 9/11, while thousands were dead and dying, while smoke and ash, unimaginable debris, filled the air and the streets of New York, only one duly elected leader was visible to a stunned and grieving nation.
Our president, after hearing we were under attack, looked like nothing so much as a [...]

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Obama, Coal, and Politics as Usual?

On Earth Day, I made a call to Obama to step it up on environmental issues, especially those having to do with climate change. The senator’s support in January of the Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Promotion Act of 2007 generated the ire of many environmental groups and raised skepticism that Obama might not be the “new kind” [...]

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A Horse is a Horse…of course, of course

In 21st Century America bad luck, bad health–or an accident–can kill ya.
Despite multiple surgeries and an extended stay in the spa-like University of Pennsylvania animal hospital, thoroughbred racehorse Barbaro died. A Kentucky Derby winner, a sure thing to win the Preakness, he suffered three broken bones in his right hind leg. Most horses are put [...]

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