Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

11 Aug 2010 11:12

tags

Politics: Happy birthday Charlie Rangel! Ethics trials are good presents

  • Strangely enough, some guests can’t attend his party. Rangel, who turns 80 today, plans to have a $200-a-plate dinner gala tonight, with the proceeds going to Rangel’s ethics-stained reelection campaign. He has invited a number of political bigwigs who may or may not show up – including Bill Clinton (can’t make it), David Paterson (not confirmed), Charles Schumer (not confirmed) and Michael Bloomberg (not confirmed). Worst of all, the night’s entertainment, Aretha Franklin, can’t make it either, due to a rib injury. The 20-term congressman recently made a passionate speech about his plight. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Aug 2010 10:39

tags

Politics: Newt Gingrich’s perceived racism: Esquire writer’s opening salvo

  • Just before he made the jump-shot crack, one member of the audience called Obama ‘the Kenyan.’ Gingrich said nothing. Another complained about all the shiftless people living on welfare in New Orleans. Gingrich didn’t say anything then, either.
  • Esquire writer John H. Richardson • In an essay about former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who is expected to make a presidential run in 2012. Newt was speaking amongst a group of Southern conservatives, and had made a quip about his basketball prowess: “The more angry we get, the worse it is for Obama. I don’t care how many three-point jump shots he makes.” He was discussing a pickup basketball game he played in Kuwait over two years ago. Richardson uses this lead-in to set up the 8,000-word article he wrote about Gingrich, which, based on that introduction, should make Newt feel like he’s being attacked. (Hat tip Mediaite) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Aug 2010 00:19

tags

Politics: Max Headroom: Ted Olson has all the answers on gay marriage


  • Ted Olson just gets itChris Wallace is having trouble keeping up with the former Solicitor General, whose handiwork in the suit ensured that it would pass muster. Chris Wallace throws talking points, and Olson just swats them away like they were softballs.

  • John Boehner’s fake tan Dude, did you seriously do the whole spray-on thang? Whether or not Boehner got a fake tan, the lighting during his conversation about birthright citizenship makes him look like he got on the air after a long night of drinking.
  • Olbermann’s new gameIt is a slightly sad time for Keith Olbermann, who won’t be featured on NBC’s “Football Night In America” anymore. But that’s OK; he has another game. The game? Making Sharron Angle look like a freaking idiot. LOL.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Aug 2010 11:38

tags

Politics: No, the Boy Scouts don’t really hate Obama, Matt Drudge

  • No, they weren’t booing Obama because they dislike him so much. They’re upset because he didn’t show up at their annual jamboree and sent a pre-taped message instead. A bunch of conservative bloggers would have you think otherwise. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2010 14:53

tags

Politics: Dear AlterNet: Good job uncovering that Digg conspiracy

  • Digg’s prone to this kinda thingLook, there’s a reason why Digg is last year’s social media model. This, honestly, is why. It’s too easy to influence the results via collusion. And while AlterNet obviously leans left, the level of research into the story definitely leaves no doubt of a massive right-wing conspiracy to influence what gets on the front page of Digg. As they point out, this is actually a scandal, whereas the Journolist thing had the hype of a scandal but wasn’t anywhere near this bad.
  • The influence game Look, we have no real interest in Digg. We think human aggregation is more interesting than thumbs. But we have to say – in the game of influence, there’s a big difference between having an opinion and forcing an agenda. The journalists on Journolist? Their big crime was having an opinion. The guys at DiggPatriot? They forced an agenda and acted like they did nothing wrong. Which one is worse? It seems obvious now, doesn’t it? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2010 14:39

tags

Politics: Political “tracker” tries to nail Media Matters for America, fails

  • Remember the dude who tracked Rep. Bob Etheridge and got accosted by the guy, getting way more than he bargained for? This is the antidote to that. This dude tried to do the same thing to the liberal-leaning Media Matters for America, only to find himself completely outmatched by the guys he’s trying to vilify. LOL. Poor Spencer. His obsession with George Soros ended in tears.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

06 Aug 2010 12:12

tags

Politics: Rep. Maxine Waters to Congress ethics types: BRING IT ON!

  • She and Charlie Rangel are tag-teaming it. California Rep. Maxine Waters, currently facing ethics charges over her husband’s ties to a bank that she worked with, wants Congress to give her hell before the midterm elections. “I have made a very public request to come out with the formalized charges and to set up a meeting to hear them,” she said. “Let’s hope that they do it.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

06 Aug 2010 11:58

tags

Politics: And here’s a pretty depressing quote to add to the mix

  • The president does oppose same-sex marriage, but he supports equality for gay and lesbian couples, and benefits and other issues, and that has been effectuated in federal agencies under his control.
  • Top White House adviser David Axelrod • Saying – somewhat unbelievably – that Obama still opposes gay marriage. Wasn’t this supposed to be the president that was going to stand up for gay rights? What the hell kind of standing up is that? While Obama opposed Prop 8, according to Axelrod (because it was “mean-spirited”), that still doesn’t take back the fact that the president has provided lip service and little else to the gay rights movement. Yes, it’s a political football. Yes, it’ll be hard to deal with among certain bases. But how can he, at this point, not support gay marriage? Unbelievable. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 7 Comments • Permalink

04 Aug 2010 21:03

tags

Politics: Marriage ban overturned: Other key storylines in the Prop 8 case

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Aug 2010 20:33

tags

Politics: Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision tightly-written, well-considered

  • Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same-sex couples.
  • Judge Vaughn R. Walker • In his decision on same-sex marriage. To put it simply: Prop 8 made gay people second-class citizens. No mincing words. Walker says that the law violated the plaintiffs’ due process and equal protection rights, which overall locks up the ruling tightly. Of course it’s going to get appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, but it’s worth noting two things: First, Walker, who is gay, was assigned the case randomly. And second, lest you think he’s an activist judge, he’s actually a right-leaning George W. Bush appointee. Bush, as you might remember, was a hard-left liberal. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>