5
POPSWho Stands With The Freedom Fighters of Iran? Iran's dictatorship is the heart of much of Islamic terrorism and violence throughout the Middle East and the world. Ridding the world of that evil transcends the more narrow concerns about Iranian nuclear development! President Obama, behind the curve of even Democrats in his own party in the House who voted unanimously for a resolution sponsored by Mike Pence, (R-IN) to "Condemn the ongoing violence against demonstrators by the Government of Iran and pro-government militias," finally some additional fortitude Saturday afternoon and released the following statement: The statement above is a subtle shift from Obama's statements earlier in the week where he repeated the phrase "respect Iranian sovereignty" which is code for respect the dictatorship of the Mullahs. Today's phrase "If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community" is a subtle, but significant shift.
2
POPSObama's bitter comment: wrong on every count What Obama did was just parrot the conventional wisdom about small-town, working-class Americans. As political scientist Larry Bartels points out, the CW is wrong. Mr. Obama’s comments are supposed to be significant because of the popular perception that rural, working-class voters have abandoned the Democratic Party in recent decades and that the only way for Democrats to win them back is to cater to their cultural concerns. The reality is that John Kerry received a slender plurality of their votes in 2004, while John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, in the close elections of 1960 and 1968, lost them narrowly.
3
POPSDemocrats not very democratic The Obama supporters have been up in arms about the Clinton plan to try and win the primary by picking up more of the super delegates at the convention. They say doing so is thwarting the will of the people by trying to use back room politics to win the nomination. Yet this is exactly what the Obama camp is celebrating right now. Their candidate will likely win more delegates in Texas even though Clinton won the popular vote. This clearly shows that caucuses don't always reflect the will of the people. So without counting Michigan and Florida, and with Obama wining many if not all of the caucuses, who is to say what the will of the people is? Is Hillary right or wrong for taking this primary all the way to the convention? I don't know (and don't care for that matter), but I do know that she would have no more stolen the nomination if she does pull of the win than Obama will have stolen it if he wins.
7
POPSThe Devil & Reverend Falwell I offer the late Reverand Falwell the best eulogy I can craft for him: He was a great man, who accomplished much. He opposed civil-rights. He opposed gay rights. He opposed women's rights. He opposed all independent political thought beyond his own opinions. He united thousands of otherwise well meaning Americans behind an agenda of hate and intolerance. He wanted to destroy anything that was different, and pushed our government from defending liberty into attacking it. I have seen people enobled by the purity of their faith, but he was not one of them. He became as grotesque and monstrous as the venomous ideas he believed in. The greatest tragedy is that he died without ever using his power and influence for the good of mankind, and instead expended that precious capital on petty politics.
3
POPSThe Case Against Impeaching Bush we are trapped in a constitutional iron cage devised by eighteenth-century Framers who, however wise, had no conception of the role the presidency would come to play in American (and world) politics. The US President should be treated as what Ross Perot aptly called an "employee" of the American people, vulnerable to being fired for gross incompetence in office. Instead, he is given the prerogatives of a feudal lord of the manor who owns the White House as his personal property until the end of the presidential term, with almost dictatorial power over decisions of foreign and military policy. However divided we might be, most Americans might be persuaded that we would all be better off if future Presidents could face the possibility of a Congressional vote of "no confidence" that would trigger eviction from the White House. ... Via David Corn
3
POPSWhen Hamas Learns How to Adapt Argues that Hamas is more interested in pursuing patronage politics than in resisting the Israeli occupation & settlements. Via Amal A at Improvisations
10
POPSChange in food prices, 1985-2000 The prices for fruits, vegetables, and cereals has gone up, while the prices for sweets, fats, and soft drinks has gone down. I wonder what free-market advocates would make of this pattern. Taken from a factsheet published by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
7
POPSCNN - hard-hitting news I bet Britney Spears timed her divorce so it wouldn't be a major news story on an election day. Big mistake! CNN is always there, focused enough not to let trifles like an election get in the way of the really important stuff.
4
POPSRick Santorum "wrestling" ad Eve Fairbanks calls this the worst political ad ever: What is the most wrong image you could imagine pairing with the virulently anti-homosexuality, pro-family-values Santorum for a campaign spot? Jacked, glistening men in Speedos lustily wrestling each other, you say? Well, that's exactly what we've got here!
2
POPSIntellectual dishonesty in politics Of all the things Bush did and said during the 2000 election crisis, this having-it-both-ways is the most corrupt. It was reported before the election and is uncontested, but no one seems to care, because so much of our politics is like that. And no electoral reform can fix this problem. Intellectual dishonesty can’t be banned or regulated or “capped” like money. The only way it can be brought under control is if people start voting against it. If they did, the problem would go away. That’s democracy. Via Brendan Nyhan
1
POPSHarvey Pekar on David Letterman Everyone seems to be in love with David Letterman nowadays because he has spoken out against the Bush administration and Fox news. But here he comes off not good at all. (Hervey Pekar is the author of the American Splendor comic; he antagonized David Letterman for criticizing GE for its anti-union activities on his show)
Newest Clips
see Newest Clips
18
Latest Pops
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Tags
Print
Save
Turn on live update