Recent Politics Commentaries

Featured image for “2013 Year-End Review, Part II”
2013 Year-End Review, Part II
Loveable Duck Dynasty graybeard Phil Robertson has had his “indefinite suspension”… suspended! After Robertson came out in a GQ interview describing homosexual acts in crude terms and labeled it sin, A&E officials suspended him “indefinitely” after the patriarch’s comments embarrassed the cable channel, sponsors and offended much of the L.G.B.T. community. Upon hearing of the suspension, the remaining “cast members” of the Dynasty clan,...
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December 30, 2013
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2013 Year-End Review, Part I
Remember these guys? Did they rise to the top of the bottom of the barrel? A look at the Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous over the past year. By the numbers – The Center for Public Integrity offers up a few items from the ridiculous: Number of bills passed by Congress this year that have been signed into law: 58 Number of bills passed in 1948,  » Read more...
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December 27, 2013
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The Exeter Four
There’s a moment in the Tom Hanks film Forrest Gump where Forrest does something incredibly dangerous. He repeatedly puts his life at risk to save five members of his unit in Vietnam. “Are you stupid, or something?” a military official asks. In a line that is repeated throughout the film, Forrest answers, “Stupid is as stupid does, sir.” I thought of that...
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December 18, 2013
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Miracle on First Street, SE
The last time I remember a miracle of this magnitude happening it was 1969. Dubbed the “Miracle Mets,” the New York ballclub never finished higher than ninth place (in a ten-team league) in their first seven seasons. With help from the gods, the Mets defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series in an astonishing five games! The gods must be in...
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December 13, 2013
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Hubris vs. Wisdom
Last week a decision was made that could lead to important changes in Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. The first-step in A Joint Plan of Action on Iran’s Nuclear Program appears to have been agreed to. As stated in the preamble to that agreement: “The goal for these negotiations is to reach a mutually-agreed long-term comprehensive solution that would ensure Iran’s nuclear...
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November 25, 2013
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November 20, 1963
“Students,” Mr. Morales said in his unmistakable Chilean Spanish accent, “…take out a neat, clean, leaf of paper.” As a freshman high school student in New York, those words clearly meant that we were about to receive a snap Spanish quiz. But I know what you’re thinking. Why does he say “leaf” instead of “sheet” of paper? I asked that question once....
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November 20, 2013
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November 18, 1963
Fifty years ago no one had a clue how the week would end and how it would change us forever. Fifty years later, the mythology surrounding President John F. Kennedy has only grown. In a recent Gallup Poll (Nov. 15), Americans gave Kennedy their highest approval rating, 74 percent, over any of the last 11 presidents since Eisenhower. “That includes,” Gallup writes,...
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November 18, 2013
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Sign Here…
Last Friday, October 11, a full-page ad appeared in most national papers. Printed on a graphic of a paper coffee cup were these words: Sign the Come Together Petition  To our leaders in Washington, D.C. now’s the time to come together to: 1. Reopen our government to serve the people 2. Pay our debts on time to avoid another financial crisis....
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October 16, 2013
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Loose Lips, Conclusion
In 1898, an exchange took place between Frederic Remington and his boss, William Randolph Hearst. Hearst had sent the artist to Havana to sketch pictures of hostilities purportedly taking place in Cuba. Remington wired, “Everything is quiet. No trouble here. There will be no war. I wish to return.” Hearst responded, “You furnish the pictures… I’ll furnish the war.” While...
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October 10, 2013
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Give ’em Heck, Barry!
“I fired him because he wouldn’t respect the authority of the President. I didn’t fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that’s not against the law for generals. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail.” Harry Truman was well known for telling it like it was regardless...
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October 9, 2013