This is beyond frustrating. The only major political party in America where rationale allegedly rules is coming up woefully short. I know it's early but if the voters who routinely support the Democratic Party were what we say we are our undisputed front-runner would be Senator Elizabeth Warren. Yet, the rank and file political actors... Continue Reading →
Coming out and saying something unpopular cannot be nearly as hard as coming out of the closet as homosexual- but they both have their risks and benefits. In both cases, the "coming out" provides a relief of not having to pretend anymore- of just being authentic and letting the chips fall where they may. That... Continue Reading →
Let me get this straight: the most openly racist president since Andrew Johnson is running for re-election in 2020 and suddenly- in the middle of 2019- a debate about slavery reparations breaks out? Let's add a little bit more spice to this stew: the most racist president in the last 150 years is also the... Continue Reading →
Its hard to believe but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was sworn in just three months ago. But already, she is by far the most famous member of Congress elected in my lifetime- and I go back a while. I crashed this party way back when Richard Nixon was wandering around the White House at night in a... Continue Reading →
The incredible story of Theranos has been all over the media lately. And with good reason. The 10 billion dollar fraud that was Theranos is the best microcosm of American culture since the O.J. Simpson trials. Both of these irresistible flashpoints in contemporary American life exposed design defects in our culture that we love to... Continue Reading →
Barack Obama was fond of reminding his talented, young, energetic, enthusiastic and idealistic staff members that "Better is good." He made a habit of doing so because quite often the incremental solutions that the administration was able to get through the broken machinery of D.C. politics seemed far too mild to tame the beasts they... Continue Reading →
You really can’t blame us for getting something so big so wrong the first time out. This whole thing started in the mid-20th century when black folks decided they really didn't like being called "nigger" 17 times a day- at work, at school, or just trying to buy a carton of milk at the grocery... Continue Reading →
I've said it in this space many times before but it bears repeating for purposes of this discussion: I listen to a great deal of right-wing talk radio. Because I am actively engaged in political discourse I have to know what is being said by the opposition opinion makers in the media. And fuck what... Continue Reading →
MSNBC's Morning Joe occupies an important space in political-news-talk television. That is why so many rational people with an insatiable appetite for political discourse watch it almost daily. The alternative is to watch Fox & Friends but then the likelihood of a rational person choosing to watch that shameless, brainless propaganda-fest is pretty slim. In... Continue Reading →
In a year chock-full of crazy stories the one that has been gnawing at my mind since it broke late last fall was a short-lived little item about race, greed and graft in a Louisiana charter school. In an odd way, I am actually glad that the egregious case of fraud and abuse at T.M.... Continue Reading →
Americans have every reason in the world to be clear-eyed about what is happening to us right now. We know how this “world domination” thing usually turns out- and we’ve been riding it hard since the end of World War II. Eventually, it always comes to an end. We know this because we have institutions... Continue Reading →
Steve Kornacki has left the building- or the big board at MSNBC anyway. After three weeks of counting, re-counting, conceding and congratulating, the 2018 midterm election is finally over. We already know the home-team won but now we can really see clearly what it actually means. Because in case you haven't noticed, Trump has blown... Continue Reading →
When the news broke that Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the Supreme Court it was treated as a shocking development by mainstream news outlets. But was it all that shocking that an 81-year-old man who has been in a job for three decades was ready to hang it up and take a permanent vacation? ... Continue Reading →
Donald Trump has no political strategy. Talking heads on every station spend hours and hours every day trying to understand, analyze and explain why Trump does the things that he does. The presupposition that Trump has a cogent strategy or logic to what he does is why the value of their assessments is mainly limited... Continue Reading →
“The Un-Suppressible Voter” is a brand new phrase I just I invented- and I love it. I hope it catches on and becomes a real thing because we really need it to be. We’ve turned a corner in American politics where voter suppression is no longer something nasty that creeps around at night- like possums... Continue Reading →
Let’s get this said up front: America does not have a problem with “Voter Fraud” it has a problem with “Election Fraud” and they are both creations of a panicked Republican Party. “Voter Fraud” is fake but “Election Fraud” is as real as it gets. Progressives have to be innovative and aggressive in attacking it. ... Continue Reading →
Most people who register as “Independents” and fly under that political flag are misleading their friends and colleagues a little bit. I know this because I’m one of those people. What we tend to be in reality are deeply frustrated Democrats or Republicans who support the policies but object to the politics of the party... Continue Reading →
When I was a young lawyer I had a mentor who gave me a warning that I’ll never forget. He issued the warning in surprisingly stark and simple terms that could only have come after a third round of drinks during a working lunch. After a long slow swig on his scotch on the rocks... Continue Reading →
Democrats should have been more honest in 2016. A lot of us bought into the limp-d*ck loser mentality of letting the opponent dictate the rules of the fight. Looking back on it we were probably beaten before the bell rang for the first round and didn't even know it. Somewhere along the way we... Continue Reading →
Actually, Mike Barnicle drew the connection on MSNBC's Morning Joe the morning after Kavanaugh's nomination was announced by Donald Trump. And in fairness, Mike didn't mention Adlolf Hitler directly (or at all) on Morning Joe when he was pontificating about what an appealing, attractive and mild-mannered family man Brett Kavanaugh appeared to be during his... Continue Reading →
Cynthia Nixon is best known for playing "the smart one" on the ultimate chick-com Sex In The City. She played that role for so many years that she finally graduated to a much bigger stage and is now playing "the smart one" in American politics. All things considered, her upgrade in roles has been remarkably smooth and... Continue Reading →
MSNBC USA Today Entertainment
