What better way for a political blog that mostly talks about movies/TV to transition back into politics than to cover the ridiculous GOP debates which have become entertaining side-shows… 4:01–What a sad second-tier stage as only Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, and the recently-demoted Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee are on it. Poor old Lindsey Graham…
Category: Larger Editorials
Why Paula Patton and Robin Thicke Should Stay Together
I love media and pop culture, but it’s not often I really get too invested in celebrity couplings. “Hollyweird” marriages aren’t built to last, and there’s no sense getting too attached to them, is the general thinking. Except that the marriage of Paula and Robin actually was. Theirs was a real, pre-fame relationship that’s been going strong…
“Pandora’s Promise” Will Change Your Mind About Nuclear Power
It’s exceedingly rare to watch a documentary that can actually change your mind about an issue. I would say that even documentaries that I love (most of them left-wing “issue” docs but some are about larger than life individuals or bizarre true-crime cases) aren’t giving me a world information that I didn’t have before. So…
Goodbye and Good Riddance Mayor Bloomberg! The Top 5 Reasons I Don’t Like Him
This week, NYC elected it’s first true Democrat in two decades, and I’m happy to welcome Bill de Blasio to the office of mayor. NYC is one of the wealthiest cities in the world but it’s one that desperately needs new ideas and more opportunities for its millions of poor residents. And it became clear…
The Latest People to Mock the U.S. Gov. Shutdown? The Taliban
The U.S. government shutdown has lowered congress’ approval rating to single digits. Just how bad a public relations debacle is the U.S. government shutdown? There’s a new critic of U.S. political dysfunction: the Taliban. http://news.yahoo.com/taliban-mock-us-over-government-shutdown-064323672.html They released a statement about the U.S. government shutdown, and described how US institutions were “paralysed,” the Statue of…
Anatomy of a Fake Outrage: Brit Hume Got Me Hated by Conservatives for 15 Glorious Minutes
Thursday Afternoon: I see a story about the stray shots at the Capitol Building. Realizing that anyone who thinks they can seriously harm congress by doing a drive-by on one of the most heavily guarded buildings on the face of the Earth is not exactly a criminal mastermind, I (correctly) assess that no congressmen/women were…
In Syria, Let’s Do What We Do Domestically: Nothing
Let’s not bomb Syria. Wouldn’t that be great? What if——and I know this will sound so radically crazy it will be hard to comprehend at first—–the United States did nothing in Syria? What if we didn’t take the bait every time? What if we remembered that we’ve been involved in a war for 217 out of our 237…
Live-Blogging the “Real Time” Season Finale @realtime #realtime
All year long, I’ve been struggling with a case of political fatigue. I just can’t get too excited about the same issues as last year (Republican’s blocking Obama, drone attacks, the endless debate about the economy) without the stakes of an imminent election. That’s why most of the articles this year have been geared more…
Larger Editorial: Why, Sadly, George Zimmerman is a Symbol of Our Times
By now, everyone and their brother has weighed in on the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman “incident” (or hate crime, depending on your perspective) and I wrote more than a couple articles about it all those months ago when it was just getting started. Since then, Zimmerman has been officially acquitted, the stand your ground law isn’t…
Larger Editorial: The GOP’s New War On…Overtime Pay?
One of the big issues people aren’t even aware of (it’s not entirely their fault, it’s not getting nearly enough media coverage) is the GOP’s plan to radically change the way you receive Overtime Pay. They’ve proposed a bill that would give employees a choice (and anytime they want employees to have a choice…it’s between a…
Why It’s a Mistake for MSNBC to Deep-Six Ed Shultz
Tonight, will be Ed Shultz’s last show in his 8 p.m. eastern weeknight time slot. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Ed is fired, as he’s moving to weekends in April, but there’s no question it’s a step down. Sure, Ed has framed it as a positive thing, and even said he volunteered for it. [I think the…
Alabama Liberal’s 2nd Birthday
The site was started on February 7th, 2011, and I’m a proud father again today as we enter the third year. I won’t get overly nostalgic, but it is worth pointing out. Honestly, it’s survived a lot longer than most blogs, and two full years is especially unusual for small, independent political blogs. Small political…
Dumping on Lance Armstrong Reveals America’s Real Favorite Sport: Feeling Superior to Others
I know the Lance Armstrong story was really more last week’s top news moment, and that’s okay because this is really more about the reaction to that story than anything Lance did or didn’t do. See, watching him crucified, vilified, and thoroughly raked over the coals made me wonder just what the outrage was about. Yes, he lied…