Willard Mitt Romney's team has been prepping him with "zingers" and one liners in advance of the first Presidential Debate.  This past weekend, we got a look at the RomneyBot V72.1 pre-release.  Unfortunately, technicians behind the scenes at RNC Labs™ privately admit that they… Read full post »

President Obama's closing speech at the DNC last night was a great stump speech and review of his first four years.

President Clinton's speech on Wednesday night was a lesson, wrapped in facts, figures, and parables.

Bill Clinton was the teacher.

Barack Obama was the evangelist.

What bookends to a great… Read full post »

The contrast between the GOP convention debacle last week and the first night of the Democratic National Convention this week couldn't be more striking.

The RNC was all about fear, anger, and negativity.  Not one of the speakers at the RNC in Tampa spoke of a positive vision for America.  No… Read full post »

Paul Ryan has been trying to distance himself from Ayn Rand.  He can't.  There's no daylight between Ms. Rand and Congressman Ryan's objectivist, individualistic "every man for himself" philosophy.  He said it himself.

Why is this important, you might ask? … Read full post »

Conservative Christian leaders agree: Ayn Rand’s economic and moral philosophy of objectivism is completely antithetical to Christian values.  But Congressman Paul Ryan sure likes him some objectivism and Ayn Rand.  How much so?  Listen to the audio file at the bottom of this Atl… Read full post »

What words of wisdom would Jimmy have given me about the fight for marriage equality?  After much reflection, I think he would have told me that this is a fight that we simply can not afford to have this year.

I've been thinking about this all day.  Even as I type these… Read full post »

 If Google actually reads / scans the content of emails to your gmail.com account to determine what advertisements they're going to serve to you, who else is peeking at your correspondence?  Answer: Just about everyone.

I've always been somewhat hyper vigilant about my online privacy… Read full post »

In another forum that I frequent, someone asked the question, "Where were you when we killed him?", referencing the first anniversary of the Seal Team 6 operation that took out Osama bin-Laden.

I thought about it for a moment.  I pretty much know where I was.  Though the operation was annou… Read full post »

I received a zombie lie chain email from a county veteran's rep a little while ago regarding an alleged ACLU suit against the Department of Defense to "to end prayer from the military completely".

The bogus email continues:

They're making great progress. The Navy Chaplains can no longer mention Jesus'… Read full post »

Income inequality.  Check.  Wealth distribution.  Check.  Class envy. Check.  Only discussing these delicate matters in quiet rooms while holding a brandy snifter and smoking a Macanudo.  Check:

...That makes Mr. Romney and his party vulnerable, as he clearly knows. He… Read full post »

I've bain thinking about this since I first viewed NewtPAC's scorched-earth video destruction of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital.

Romney's brand of vulture capitalism (love that term!) was the natural progression of the corporate run that started at the outset of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term.… Read full post »

The last thing that I want to do is harsh anyone's pre-Christmas mellow.  I've been pondering this story since I first ran into it on Thursday, and was not even sure that I wanted to deal with it.  Here's a sterile synopsis:

Stanley Gibson was trying to find his way home.

The

… Read full post »

Where's a home improvement toy nut supposed to shop this Christmas?

First, we have Lowes pulling their ads from a TV show that depicts American Muslims in a "Clint Huxtable" sort of fashion, and the resultant progressive outrage.

Then we have Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus characterizing the 99%… Read full post »

The number of open VA disability benefit and pension claims is approaching one million.  Of that number, nearly two thirds (63 percent) have been backlogged for more than 125 days, according to official Veterans Administration figures (click on image for larger chart): 

The reality… Read full post »

From the Arab Spring, through Zuccotti Park and the streets of Athens, there is change in the wind.

Maybe it's from the near-dawn of the year 2012, which is more eagerly anticipated in apocalyptic circles than the millenial rollover in 2000.  Or perhaps -- no, probably -- it's the awakenin… Read full post »

Maybe the "black helicopter conspiracy nuts" were just ahead of their time.  When local U.S. law enforcement agencies start time sharing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with the Department of Homeland Security, perhaps it's time to pay attention.

Things are getting more than a little weir… Read full post »

The environmental impact of producing and consuming energy seems to be a constant source of debate, with global warming deniers chanting "drill, baby, drill", energy companies pushing desperate measures such as Keystone XL, and ongoing efforts to open up federal lands and pristine arctic regions to m… Read full post »

The effects of the Bush recession wear on.  In 2009, Rutgers University commissioned a study not just of unemployment statistics, but real world impacts of the recession, job layoffs, and personal economics of those impacted.

It's difficult for anyone who has retained a decent job through… Read full post »