Political History

The 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19 brings memories of a terrible time in American history, one we would hope to never be repeated. But in 2010 the threat of another murderous event seems all too possible.

One of the factors that fueled the resurgence of the Democrats in the 2006 midterms and particularly President Obama's 2008 campaign was the enthusiastic backing of the "Millennial" generation -- voters between 18 and 29 years old.

By January, he will have accomplished more than any first-year president since Franklin Roosevelt.

Nov 28, 2009

Hundreds, if not thousands, of lobbyists will be ejected from federal advisory panels as part of a little-noticed initiative by the Obama administration to curb K Street's influence in Washington.

November 29, 2009

Let's keep up our guard!

From Washington Post blogs, June 18, 2009

Finally, a Limbaugh caller who breaks through to him on his support for torture. Here's a part of this immensely satisfying conversation:

LIMBAUGH: We're going to go to Chicago. This is Charles. Charles, thank you for waiting and for calling. Great to have you here. Hello.

CALLER: Thanks, Rush. Rush, listen, I voted Republican, and I didn't -- really didn't want to see Obama get in office. But, you know, Rush, you're one reason to blame for this election, for the Republicans losing.

Conservative David Frum gets it:

All you can say is: unbelievable. Except she is the vice-presidential candidate of a national political party. Palin tries to defend the foreign policy “experience” she gleaned from being Governor of a state that’s close to Russia.

This video has now more than 4 million views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSOLz1YBFG0

In his recent remarks in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, Biden said, "John McCain has confessed, and I quote -- I want to make sure I get it right -- he said, 'It's easy for me to be in Washington and frankly be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have.'

"Well, he's right. He's right. If all you do is walk the halls of power, all you'll hear is the wants of the powerful. Ladies and gentleman, I believe that's why John McCain could say with a straight face as recently as this morning, and this is a quote, 'the fundamentals of the economy are strong.' That's what John said. He says that we've made 'great progress economically' in the Bush years.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I could walk from here to Lansing, and I wouldn't run into a single person who thought our economy was doing well -- unless I ran into John McCain."

He added, "What is John's response to the state of the economy? Let me quote him: 'A lot of this is psychological.' Let me tell you something: losing your job is more than a state of mind. It means staring at the ceiling at night thinking that you may lose your house because you can't get next month's mortgage payment.

"It means looking at your pregnant wife and not knowing how you're going to come up with the money to pay for the delivery of your child, since you don't have health care anymore. It means looking at your child when they come home from college at Christmas and saying 'Honey, I'm sorry, we're not going to be able to send you back next semester.' It's not a state of mind; it's a loss of dignity."

Obama's "Fundamentals" ad highlights how disturbingly out of touch John McCain is with what's going in the lives of ordinary Americans. On a day when Wall Street was in crisis John McCain continued to insist that the "fundamentals of the economy are strong."