True story: I once asked someone at a social function their opinion of the Koch brothers. Their repy, “I don’t know them, but I’ve been drinking Coke for years!” David and Charles Koch are businessmen/owners of Koch Industries, the second largest privately owned company in the United States. The company was founded by Fred C. Koch, a chemical engineer, who...

That’s the term used to describe undisclosed funds that are used to help pay for an election campaign without the voter knowing who donated the money prior to an election. A report from The Center for Public Integrity (Feb. 27), a non-profit investigative journalism group revealed that “Two of the tightest races for U.S. Senate in 2012 were in Nevada and Arizona....

Ted Nugent is a shameless hate-spewing demagogue. Nugent’s remarks – past, present and more likely future – are not poorly chosen, dumb or inappropriate. They’re dangerously wrong. Last month, Nugent defiantly called the president of the United States “a Chicago communist-raised, communist-educated, communist-nurtured subhuman mongrel.” This month, Texas attorney general and candidate for governor Gregg Abbott welcomed (that’s right, welcomed) the rocker to his...

Okay, I know it’s early, but I’m heading out of town for the holiday and wanted to get this posted. I also know this was posted prior to the last presidential election, but…hey, it’s about presidents, it’s funny, and I wanted to leave on a high note. So, enjoy! It’s hard to believe that the 2012 presidential campaign is at...

And the Gold medal for keeping the U.S. from another default goes to… House and Senate Republicans for voting for a “clean” debt bill! “The vote to suspend the debt ceiling until mid-March 2015,” The Wall Street Journal reported (Feb. 13), “with no policy measures attached – shows how the House G.O.P. has changed after three bruising years of budget brinkmanship, capped...

While part of Wednesday’s commentary brought out the fact that not all members of Congress are corrupt, the perception of political corruption continues. According to the results of a survey by the campaign reform advocacy group United Republic, 51 percent agree with the statement that “most politicians” are “corrupt.” I’ve quoted ethicist Michael Josephson in the past as well as crediting...

“If you ever do that to me again, I will throw you off this f…ing balcony.” That was United States Representative Michael Grimm bluntly threatening NY-1 political reporter Michael Scotto. After discussing Grimm’s reaction to the president’s State of the Union message, Scotto questioned the New York congressman about 2010 campaign violations. With that, Grimm abruptly ended the interview. However, immediately after...

On Friday, Texas Judge R.H. Wallace, Jr., ruled that Marlise Muñoz, a 33-year-old mother who has been on life support since November and pronounced brain-dead by doctors, should be taken off the ventilator that’s been keeping her alive for the sake of her unborn child. Spokesmen for John Peter Smith Hospital said that a Texas law dealing with life support...

Continuing my look back at some stories that were, initially, major political and media firestorms, but facts later proved them to be less reliable than first believed. More on Benghazi – Wednesday’s release of the long-awaited Senate Intelligence Committee report on the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya revealed more pertinent information. The Washington Post reported (Jan. 15) that “The...

Earlier this month, I revisited the case of NSA leaker Edward Snowden. At the time, I wrote, “There is a very real problem… when factual information is incomplete because a story is still evolving…” I thought I’d take a look at some past stories that were, initially, major political and media firestorms, but facts later proved them to be less...