…possible the greatest thinker of our modern era--left us this past week. It saddens me that I only now learn how great a thinker he was, for I met Christopher Hitchens--twice, in fact--but I did not really know him or his writings at the time, and I'm afraid I misjudged the man, sold him short.…
…- but obviously there's a lot more going on. And this is before the central bank sanctions of Menendez-Kirk begin to bite. It really may be possible to change Iran without war.
…are the embodiment of Wall Street insiders---they make Mitt Romney look like a secretary at the Merrill Lynch branch office in Fargo, North Dakota. Many of Obama's top advisors come from the world of Wall Street. Any attacks on Romney's Street connections immediately open Obama up to the…
…workers. Senate Democrats wanted a series of pin-prick upper-income tax increases, including an end to the tax deductibility of corporate jets. Because the "pay for" could not be agreed, the Senate passed a stopgap holiday. Because the House Republicans think the stopgap holiday is stupid,…
…Chu, or Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke--the latter of whom Governor Rick Perry threatened to "treat pretty ugly" should he ever find himself in Texas. Surely none of those Administration officials believe themselves to be easy targets due to their being African-Americans---with nary an…
…pain of death. While the new “Kim” on top -- Kim Jong-un -- is unknown, odds are he’s as nutty as his dad. On second-thought, maybe not. He’s got generals around him who’ll curb (or try to curb) any excessive loony tunes emerging. Dear Leader dad was one for the ages. Reality is,…
…but wonder, however, just what Mr. Gingrich said--from a historian’s perspective, of course—about one of the most consequential events in our nation’s history, the 1803 Supreme Court decision known as Marbury vs. Madison . It was that landmark case wherein Chief Justice John Marshall,…
…with renewed vigor as the death toll from driving-while-texting mounts. So the question becomes, why should the NTSB even propose a ban it is powerless to enforce? Republicans should answer this arrogation over state responsibility. Mind your own affairs, Secretary LaHood. Don’t you have…
…for almost everyone: there are lots of not-so-skilled (but, in many cases, decently paid and unionized) jobs cleaning rooms and serving food. Skilled craftspeople like carpenters also have a place in hotels. And not all hotel jobs are blue collar either: white collar conference…
… still plague our economy. What is less-often discussed (until recently) is the role that inequality played in making the Great Recession and the subsequent slow recovery happen in the first place. Inequality has been rising for decades for most Americans in the form of stagnating…
