The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
This category is a main category for post dealing with political issues and politicians at any level of government.
Today is a day or ironies. George Bush is visiting Thomas Jefferson’s beloved Monticello on this the 232nd anniversary of our declaration of independence from a king named George. As Jefferson warned that Americans would have to be ever on their guard against those who might turn the presidency into the tool of their “elected despotism,” I doubt he would be greeting Bush. And Jesse Helms, father of the politics of division, died today.
Read moreWell, the McCain camp is all atwitter about Wesley Clark’s comments Sunday related to McCain’s status as a POW. They’re calling it “Swiftboating,” and condemning Obama for it. Of course, that didn’t stop McCain from putting the head of the original Swiftboats for Truth on a conference call run by his campaign.
Read moreIt’s not really surprising to find that a small group of Republican Senators re-introduced the Federal Marriage Amendment to write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution. After all, they are mostly behind in the polls, the base is distraught and disorganized, and even fund raising isn’t going so well. What you might find interesting though, is that two of original 10 sponsors is Larry “wide stance” Craig (R-Idaho) and David “I heart hookers” Vitter (R-LA).
Read moreThe New York Times is reporting that military trainers who came to Guantanamo Bay in December 2002 based an interrogation class on a chart showing various “coercive” techniques for use on prisoners. What the trainers did not reveal, and may not have known, was that their chart had been copied an Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain false confessions from American prisoners. Whoohoo, we’re on a roll now.
Read moreWell, it’s the day after the first full day that gay marriage was legal in California, and gosh darn it, the sun came up, birds still sang, children were born, people died, there were even some heterosexual marriages, and I still had to go to work. In other words, if God is mad about it, he sure missed that wrath thing by taking it out on the mid-west. This raises a lot of questions, such as what happens next in California, what does this mean to Florida’s Amendment 2 initiative (and see a possible connection), and what does it mean for gay people around the country.
Read moreI don’t get a ton of traffic on this site, and have always been disappointed with the lack of comments. I get a few, but I know I have opinionated friends, and would expect a little more from them. I suspect one of the reasons is that this blog is so far ranging in the topics I write about. I’ve read some good articles lately on blogging, and most say to narrow the focus of your blog. The people writing these articles do have very widely read blogs, so one must give them their props.
Read moreSomething for a good laugh.
Read moreHere are a couple of things to give the krazy kristian kook wing of the Republican Party pause.
Read moreCertainly there is a reason to celebrate the ruling by the California Supreme Court on Gay Marriage. Apparently four of the seven justices recognized that gender and sexual orientation, just like race, can not be grounds to deny rights to individuals.
Read moreThis is the final in the series analyzing the debate between John Stemberger and Nadine Smith at the Orlando Tiger Bay club luncheon. This debate was held on March 27, 2008. This will analyze the Question and Answer section, and the closing comments by Smith and Stemberger.
Read moreI’d written back in February about my relative indifference regarding Clinton and Obama, and had discussed the good and bad points of each. In balancing these back at the time, neither came out as a favorite. I have finally made a decision on who I support as the Democratic nominee. I am supporting Obama, but that support is less than dramatic than that expressed by many of his supporters.
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