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 […]
Archives
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Why conservatives would generally hold their nose if Mr. Trump is the Republican nominee and vote for him
18 Dec 2015
There are many attributes of Mr. Trump to praise and condemn. His willingness to take on the crazy political correctness of the left today is both. In some ways, he’s like Ross Perot of 20+ years ago; about half of what Mr. Perot said was so dead right on that it was incredible. Unfortunately, the remaining […]
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Ohio: Common Sense or Marijuana?
31 Oct 2015
I am reminded of a story, possibly apocryphal, from the Constitutional Convention. One of our Founders proposed an element to the Constitution that would prevent the young republic from ever having a standing army larger than 5,000 men. This suggestion has to be understood within the context of the recent past where American colonists believed […]
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Reefer Madness in Ohio – Issue 3
28 Oct 2015
As goes Ohio, so goes the nation. On Tuesday November 3, Ohioans will go (hopefully flock in droves) to the polls to vote either for or against ballot initiative Issue 3. Issue 3 is a proposed constitutional amendment calling for the legalization of marijuana for medicinal and recreational use. There are many reasons why you might want […]
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Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade was once a staple of male youth. The poem is both an anthem to the glory of military sacrifice and an ode to the brutality of battle. It is […]
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Secret Service Codenames?
17 Sep 2015
For some silly reason, CNN’s Jake Tapper decided to ask the candidates what their Secret Service codename would be if they won the presidency. Rarely funny, and generally painful, their answers didn’t exactly jump off the page. Here are my offerings: Carson–Scissorhands or Scalpel Trump–Bombast Christie–StayPuft Paul–EyePatch Fiorina–Stiletto Rubio–Hobbs Jeb–Eggo Huckabee–Gantry Kasich–Marbles Cruz–Pyro Walker–Cheesehead
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Dr. Ben Carson is not your typical presidential candidate. The fact that Donald Trump and Carson are well ahead of the pack in the Republican primary battle suggests that American are pining for a non-traditional candidate to support. Carson is a retired pediatric neurosurgeon who, in 1987, became the first doctor to successfully separate Siamese […]
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Seventeen Republicans have thrown their tam o’ shanters into the presidential ring and as we just passed Labor Day, the race is still in flux. Expect it to stay that way at least until January, and even then, there will be movement and surprises. The figure above is a rough sketch of average polling […]
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Donald Trump sits now where he is most comfortable–at the center of reality. Like sunflowers craning toward the daylight, it seems our body politic is bent toward the billionaire carnival-barker turned politician. This “Trumpotropism” is unsettling to our political class, especially of the genus Republican. The disquiet is deafening. There is good reason for concern. Trump […]
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The “Debate” & What it Means
08 Aug 2015
I finally watched the Fox presidential debate. Let me admit a few things up front.* Debates are excruciating. Anyone who cares deeply about our nation, and grasps at all the complexity buried in most of our important issues, can only recoil at a format that allows 60 seconds for answers and 30 seconds for follow-ups. […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach