One of my tasks seeking column material, when I’m not interrupted by pesky doctor appointments, PET scans and biopsies, is a path that routinely takes me to the Huffington Post. Now, the HuffPo is my source of amusement and entertainment and I admire its chutzpa as a model of economic success in a media world struggling for survival. If you want political balance, HuffPo is not the place to look. The ink in my journalistic juices is not dry and for whatever reason I felt today like Vince Lombardi...

It now appears certain that Republicans will gain control over at least one house of congress and maybe both. What can we expect from them in this new political environment, and how might their behavior differ from the behavior of Democrats after the 2008 elections? 1. Whatever their margin of victory, Republicans will proclaim they have a mandate for great change and act accordingly. They won’t compromise. They won’t desperately seek bi-partisanship. They will say that voters put them...

A Fox News anchor says “all terrorists are muslims” and a Fox bigwig tries to tell everyone he didn’t say what he said. But his statement was clear.

Apparently, the Israeli government’s decision to allow construction of 238 new housing units in East Jerusalem at the precise moment when peace talks are on hold pending word on whether Israel will extend its 10-month freeze on new construction on the West Bank means that Palestinians don’t want peace. It seems that Palestinian objections to building new Jewish settlements on land that does not belong to Israel (because it is territory captured in war and its ownership status is subject...

I’ve always liked Mitt Romney, even though I liked him in the days when he was a moderate Republican — before he woke up and discovered he was a conservative and put more fudge on his positions than Friendlie’s Restaurants put on their ice cream. But this is truly sleazy. And I’m sure some of the authors who write here on TMV would heartily agree.

RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

I was going to call Brian Kilmeade a moron, but Oliver Willis got there first.

“The past is a foreign country–they do things differently there” is the opening line of a 1950s novel and movie evoked by the mortgage mess splattering the American landscape now with greed, misconduct and, worst of all, a breakdown of social trust built up over more than two centuries. Bank stocks are plummeting as financial institutions, courts and endangered homeowners scramble to cope with the “near certainty that significant numbers of borrowers are being defrauded–charged...

Democrats should continue to dread election day or quadruple their efforts to stave off GOpers more than ever. The reason: The University of Virgnia’s Larry Sabato, arguably one of the most accurate forecasters of election results in the country, says the Republicans are poised to take over the House and possibly even the Senate: As alert readers of the Crystal Ball will note, we have not changed our projection of +47 Republican net House seats in many weeks. We made this prediction prior...

Reading Nathaniel Philbrick’s outstanding book, Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War, roused some thoughts in me regarding the separation of Church and State, something I see as a positive good. I posted about it over on my blog. Out of respect to those who adhere to religious beliefs other than my own, I’m not posting it here. Still, I felt that Moderate Voice readers of all stripes might be interested in a discussion of the roots of this important principle for the United...

To say that the Chevrolet Volt is the most anticipated new car in recent Detroit history is an understatement. How well the vehicle sells will speak volumes about the long-term viability of General Motors, which while technically out of bankruptcy is still not out of the woods as it struggles to present a cutting edge face while trying to get back some of the market share it squandered over years of shabby leadership and even shabbier vehicles. A key GM claim about the Volt — repeated over...

Military and Overseas Voters Are Still Routinely Disenfranchised by Mr. Anonymous MY FIRST EXPERIENCE attempting to vote from overseas, in 1996, was a failure. I was in the Navy at the time, and I received my absentee ballot the day before Election Day. It was delivered to my ship in the South China Sea, along with the rest of our mail, by an SH-60 Seahawk helicopter. The Seahawk had come from an aircraft carrier, which had in turn had received the mail from a C-2 Greyhound cargo aircraft,...

EDITOR’S NOTE: In 1974 when I was in New Delhi a best friend and mentor of mine was Gian Singh, an editor of The Hindustan Times Evening News. He told me about his uncle who he felt was a little eccentric, Naunihal Singh Layal, who had self-published a few volumes of poetry. Some of it was quirky. I met his uncle who gave me a book. I cherished that book. And today, as I among others feel the crush of the recession, I found the book I had lost so many years ago. I had it with me in a box sitting...

Asking hasn’t worked. Twitching her nose hasn’t worked. So now Tea Party favorite and Delaware’ Republican candidate for Senate Christine O’Donnell is using a threat to try and pry big bucks out of the Republican party establishment and big bankroll groups: she’s warning them that she has Fox News and talk show radio host Sean Hannity in her “back pocket” (literal words) and if they don’t cough up the dough she’ll go on his show and attack them....

I think the analysis is too positive for the GOP but it is interesting to note that he has both GOP and Dem pickups, including a few D pickups in places most people would not predict.

Sounds like an SNL skit but… Election

Some are calling it the worlds first billion dollar home, though the bulk of that price is land value so I think it a tad deceptive. However as noted in this 2008 article it is pretty over the top, even for the mega rich. The home features a 160 car garage, a 50 seat movie theater, *three* helipads (with ATC center of course), and will have a 600 member staff. The ‘home’ is ready for occupancy now and they are planning one heck of a party I bet. I wonder if they want someone from the...

Posting articles like these is no pleasure. But part of the practice of journalism is to alert the public to things they might not want to see or hear, and which, in our judgment as journalists, they ought to see or hear. Global reaction to how the United States government intentionally infected unknowing Guatemalans and perhaps even American troops – is one such occasion. Over the past 24 hours we have posted two additional articles about America’s STD experiments on unknowing Guatemalans...

Today’s lead story on NBC: Wall Street tells homeowners to pay their damn mortgages and stop whining about foreclosures even though the bank’s system of processing them is messed up. Me to Wall Street: Screw you. Deals can be struck. Meet Darrell. He is now working as a medical transportation driver before he lost his job. Three years ago, Darrell bought a new home in Riverside County, Calif., for $435,000. His mortgage payment was $3,000. A year and a half ago, Darrell lost his job and hooked...

One of the possible surprises of the 2010 campaign is the US Senate race in West Virginia. When Robert Byrd died and the special election was set most expected Governor Manchin to win the race with ease over perennial candidate John Raese. But polls have shown the race quite close, with Manchin trailing in some polls. Although there are obviously a lot of factors at play, I am wondering if Manchin is experiencing what I like to call the Weld Syndrome. In 1996 Massachusetts Governor William Weld ran...

Bill O’Reilly got Joy Bihar and Whoopie Goldberg so angry they walked off the set. He later apologized and they came back. The subject: the Mosque at Ground Zero:

Long-time admirers of National Public Radio (including moi) may be taken aback by a recent memo from Ellen Weiss, Senior Vice President for News: “NPR journalists may not participate in marches and rallies involving causes or issues that NPR covers, nor should they sign petitions or otherwise lend their name to such causes, or contribute money to them. This restriction applies to the upcoming John Stewart and Stephen Colbert rallies.” Jon will doubtless have some comment of his own on...

Tuesday, the President said we don’t need a moratorium on foreclosures. Indeed, the statement said the administration was concerned about unintended consequences. Wednesday, the states rendered his opinion irrelevant. Forty states — no, 49! — no, all 50!* — state Attorneys General have opened investigations into mortgage fraud. It should surprise nobody if one of the first things those investigations do is halt pending foreclosures. Ally has joined Bank of America in voluntarily...

Pollsters and election statisticians have turned an eye to registration numbers in an effort to keep their heads above water in the sea change that is taking place in American politics. More people are becoming independent, choosing candidates not parties. There’s chatter about a third party… And as Jackie Salit pointed out in her recent Report from the President at IndependentVoting.org “Right now, it’s very hard for the American people to express themselves. The media has molded...

In a surprising but heavily lauded move, Chilean officials are lowering the cast of Jersey Shore into the now vacant mine. If all goes well, the cast of Dancing with the Stars is soon to follow.

New York Tea Party movement favorite and GOP candidate for Governor Carl Paladino now seems to be someone who’s bringing him to together: it sounds now as if he could lose the gay and the anti-gay vote: Carl P. Paladino and an Orthodox rabbi from Brooklyn has fallen apart, with the rabbi denouncing Mr. Paladino on Wednesday for his apology over remarks he had made about homosexuality on Sunday. The rabbi, Yehuda Levin, who helped write those remarks, said Mr. Paladino “folded like a cheap...

Columbia University historian Eric Foner was a guest this week on Fresh Air. He discussed his new book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. Towards the end of the interview Terry Gross asked his opinion of the originalist interpretation of the Constitution: The originalists try to go back to the original Constitution, but they have little to say about the Civil War amendments, 13th, 14th and 15th, which actually fundamentally changed the Constitution by wrenching slavery out of...

The Washington Post has this fascinating piece about what has happened to Harry Whittington, the man then Vice Dick Cheney shot in the face in a hunting accident in 2006 — leaving Whittington with scars, a somewhat changed voice, and a huge relief that he no longer has to listen to late night comedians using Cheney shooting him as a punch line. What’s most glaring about the Post piece are the facts that (1) despite what we were told at the time, Whittington was not a Cheney best bud...

NEW YORK — Having long been one of the proud tough guys of New York politics, Andrew Cuomo, the state’s attorney general, finds himself with a Republican opponent in this year’s governor’s race who makes him look like St. Francis of Assisi. To call Carl Paladino brash and a loudmouth understates the case. The New York Daily News has taken to referring to the Republican nominee as “Crazy Carl,” and his latest series of outbursts demonstrated why. Appearing...

CNN was the most watched network for the Chile mine disaster rescue coverage during the first hour when some miners were brought to the surface.. CNN became big with its breaking news coverage. Could this be a harbinger of things to come under its new leadership?

….and seemingly heartless.

Washington and Change: Cash You Can Believe In by Michael Winship “Somebody once said the Washington was a city of Northern charm and Southern efficiency.” So John F. Kennedy famously remarked in 1961 and so the town seemed to remain when I first moved there in 1969 to go to school. Clerks in dusty stores moved with the majestic inertia of tall ships becalmed. You could count the number of good restaurants on the fingers of one hand — okay, maybe two hands. There was a rendering...

Aislin, The Montreal Gazette This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

In answering a question at her Delaware Senate debate tonight with Democrat Chris Coons Tea Party movement favorite Christine O’Donnell stumbled badly: This won’t help her in her race with Coons — who is some 19 points ahead of her. She had some other problems in the debate, too: O’Donnell said her controversial past statements, including that she had “dabbled in witchcraft” when she was younger, were not relevant in a campaign that should be focused on the...

Not exactly a pro GOP rag, they are calling for a 60-70 seat gain by the GOP in November. Of course one could argue they are highballing things to make it look better if the GOP gains 40-50 seats. I still remain in the camp thinking this sweep may not be as big as some think. Polls are often self perpetuating and people decide differently in the voting booth (or living room).

Rich Benjamin, a senior fellow at Demos, writing in USA Today: Every spring I pay a visit to Howard Carlin, my tax accountant, to settle my dues. Howard’s upbeat personality, peppered with quirky quips, lightens the proceedings. Click, click, click, go his rapid-motion fingers. The numbers whir on screen like a digital slot machine. Up pops a figure. “See?” Howard chimes. “That’s your tax burden.” I wrinkle my nose. This faux disgust is just a ceremonial knee-jerk...

In many news reports, blog posts and even yours truly in THIS COLUMN reporters and writers are basically saying the Democrats can’t put up or shut up on the issue of the Chamber of Commerce getting money from foreign sources in terms of specifics. Not anymore…

After wading through the annoying (expletive deleted) CNN TV ads promoting the Kathleen Parker loves Eliot Spitzer show, the Daily Beast website article on Tea Party hypocrisy caught my attention. The thrust is the Tea Party in its broadest form supports less government, lower taxes and reduced spending. Yet, some of the states where Tea Party sentiment runs high, so does government spending per capita. I assume the authors believe the Tea Party which is driving the latest edition of the Republican...

It’s a tongue-in-cheek – but an interesting idea to ponder: what if world leaders could run for office in other countries? In this article from France’s Le Monde, Robert Sole takes a humorous look at the fascinating possibilities. For Le Monde, Robert Sole starts out this way: The president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, has just received a very amicable governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, at his residence in Gorki, near Moscow. “I know you’ll soon be leaving...

The big political news yesterday was that the GOP’s Tea Party candidate in Nevada Sharon Angle, a polarizing figure if ever there was one, raised a whopping $14 million this summer. How did she do it? Read this roundup. Some are surprised. Why? Looney Tunes always grossed well.

The Full Gingrich by Tina Dupuy It takes a special kind of 3-D hyperbole to simultaneously curl your eyelashes and drop your jaw. Newt Gingrich’s declarations produce an Andy Kaufman type of discomfort, where I don’t know if what I’m hearing is brilliant, offensive or intentionally comedic. “What if [Obama] is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior, can you begin to piece together [his actions]?” Gingrich asked Americans to ponder last...

John Cole, The Scranton Times-Tribune This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

As a teacher of political science at a local university, and having a strong interest for Governor Ehrlich to win in November, I have been watching the gubernatorial campaign closely. According to a couple of polls (Rasmussen and The Washington Post), Ehrlich trails O’Malley by 8 to 11 points. This week, Ehrlich started his electronic media buys in the DC suburbs so that should level out the playing field but there a few suggestions i would like to offer… 1) Change the Mindset Within...

By virtually all accounts, the Democratic Party will be battered by a massive Election Day tsunami that will hand control of the House and possibly the Senate to Republicans. The scene: Election Day. The Character: A Democratic Party progressive pondering whether to vote. To vote, or not to vote–that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of an outrageous Republican victory Where we could lose the House and Senate Or to take arms against a sea of political...

A GREAT comprehensive new daily news roundup from Barcelona-based Barcepundit (and yes it is in English).

New York Tea Party movement Republican candidate for Governor Carl Paladino is quickly proving to be the most reprehensible candidate in this election cycle – and one now taking on baggage faster then a conveyor belt. And the news with his name on it doesn’t stop. The latest is news from both the New York Post (a Rupert Murdoch owned paper that he chose to go to war against) and the New York Daily News. Despite his comments about gays (he tried to backtrack from them and created new...

Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

Democrats must be feeling like the Chilean miners except that, after being buried alive for months, there is no end in sight. Now Obama supporters are selling raffles for a chance to meet the President backstage in Las Vegas while industry lobbyists grovel to get back into the good graces of the GOP for having cooperated on health care last year. How bad can it get? Even worse, it seems, as the majority party goes into full triage mode to save Democratic seats once considered safe. The coming electoral...

He’s exactly right when he observes that the Right is better at it than the left — “see Matt Drudge, aggregation; Rush Limbaugh, talk radio; Sarah Palin, Twitter” — and that the policing of disinformation should serve as a strong model of journalism. But when he observes that “recent disturbances in politics and the media feel like symptoms of a larger epistemological, even civilizational, rot” it’s worth remembering that feelings, ahem, aren’t...

Perhaps the most pleasant memory of my college years is walking home under brilliantly sunny skies amidst the sights and smells of a glorious autumnal leaf display after the home football team vanquished an opponent before a sellout crowd. Well, it happened again on Saturday. * * * * * Actually, there was a difference or two. Back in my undergraduate days Joe Biden was an upperclassman. On Saturday he was the vice president dude sitting in the university president’s box on the 50-yard...

According to the President, lifting the moratorium on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is “safe” because now we have rules about worst-case scenario planning and a requirement of third-party verification (McClatchy). The rules are only two weeks old so (a) how the heck have the companies had time to develop worst case scenario plans and (b) how have third party companies had a chance to verify that “blowout preventers and other equipment work properly”? It turns...

Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV in full. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

Down underground, looking like Velsaquez paintings of the workers of their time, the men have waited, no doubt with many stories to tell now. The first fellow’s been brought up. Now two, now three, now four, now five… May all others travel topside safely. Florencio Avalos was the first of 33 trapped miners to reach surface after being trapped half-mile underground for 69 days. His first name and surname could loosely be translated as ‘flowers floating downstream’…...

The first couple test runs in the Chilean mine rescue have been successful ! They are now sending down the rescue vehicle to pick up the first miner It is expected to take about 30 minutes or so round trip God Bless the miners, their families and all involved in the rescue

With no compelling message to sell voters on rewarding them with a continuation of their power, Democrats have seized upon an Internet meme and seemingly transformed it into their campaign theme. ThinkProgress, a liberal-leaning blog, published a post a few days ago speculating that the US Chamber of Commerce was using foreign money to spend during the midterm elections. The story has since been co-opted by the DNC and broadcast by President Obama, Vice President Biden, and White House political...