Pity the history teachers of the future who must deal with the calamities of 2020. But the year’s politics may not be defined by a pandemic or the potential end of a shambling presidency; instead, the United States Senate is leaping toward the gaping maw of democracy, and our government may never recover. Former President […]
Archives
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2020: The Year the Senate Died?
03 Aug 2020
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If only all news coverage resembled Wes Anderson films. Here is CNN's take on the #SOTU in Anderson's style. https://t.co/jpatTzm2Oo — Mark Caleb Smith (@markcalebsmith) January 13, 2016 #SOTU always strikes me as too monarchical as we practice it. Far too much adulation of the president–any president–in this setting. — Mark Caleb Smith (@markcalebsmith) January […]
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I appreciate Marc Clauson’s take on P.M. Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. Let me add just a couple of quick notes. Netanyahu reminded me of Churchill, which makes Obama too much like Chamberlain. Winston Churchill, as a Member of Parliament before World War 2, thundered in the House of Commons about Hitler’s intentions. He warned the […]
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As homosexual marriage winds its way through the judicial system, President Barack Obama is likely to go down in history as a champion of gay rights, as the first president to endorse gay marriage. In reality, Obama’s position on gay marriage was cynical and calculated to maximize political results. Obama, famously, came out in favor […]
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News. News. News. January 12th Edition
12 Jan 2015
Obama a No-Show in Paris Neither President Obama nor his inner-circle attended the Hebdo inspired rallies in France. The Myth of Big Money Republicanism One of the persistent myths of American politics is that big money in America tilts to the right. After all, the argument goes, the wealthy favor lower taxes and smaller government because […]
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Obama’s Decision Puts GOP in a Box
21 Nov 2014
President Obama’s Executive Order (which essentially places about five million illegal immigrants beyond the reach of federal law enforcement) is now, it seems, a matter of history. The media have, for a while, fixated on how the decision might influence current political dynamics, as opposed to examining the propriety of the act itself. Now that […]
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Immigration: “Fixing” a “Broken” Government?
20 Nov 2014
President Obama has announced, via Facebook and other outlets, that he is going to issue an executive order that will, if sources are correct, shield at least five million illegal immigrants from law enforcement. The President, and others, are floating several justifications for the action. In his own video, Obama claims he is going to […]
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Obama, Immigration, and Presidential Power
17 Nov 2014
President Obama appears to be weighing the possibility of unilateral executive action to redefine the legal status of between 5 and 10 million illegal immigrants. His party’s defeat at the polls just two weeks ago appears not to have chastened the President, but has, perhaps, precipitated a constitutional crisis. Obama’s defenders are invoking previous Presidents […]
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Golf is Not the Problem. Leadership Is.
25 Aug 2014
President Barack Obama’s golf habits have garnered significant media attention recently. Politico ran a long story on the politics of presidential golf, and Chris Cillizza, in the Washington Post, argues that Obama’s disconnectedness, symbolized by his proclivities for short pants and long drivers, threatens the Democrats’ chances in the upcoming mid-term elections. Even Jimmy Fallon, […]