After countless gun-related tragedies which include a massacre at an elementary school, the US Senate has arrived at a day of reckoning.
Today at 4pm ET, the senators are expected to vote on a gun control background check bill that would expand background checks to more gun purchasers, increase aid for school safety and strengthen existing gun trafficking laws.… [Read more]
It appears many of the Republican “true believers” aren’t observing Ronald Reagan’s famed Eleventh Commandment, “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” Add one more to the discarded pro-choice and sensible gun control missives of the Matinee Cowboy’s purged lines.
In the spirit of “Beware the Ides of March,” there’s a tempest in the G.O.P.… [Read more]
Those of us in the political pundit class tend to be big fans of Frank Capra’s 1939 Jimmy Stewart classic Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Some of us keep replaying the film often enough to keep the lines fresh among the decaying political plant fiber in the Washington swamp.
Before the fabled filibuster was reduced from rare drama to daily droll by Senate Republicans under Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), once upon a time, filibustering was a marathon talking event.… [Read more]
In that all too rare occurrence called “bi-partisanship,” the Obama Administration tried exercising it in its usual form, that of Secretary of Defense. Just when we thought we had found a passable fit in former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), the ugly head of “Party of No” obstructionism for its own sake rears its head. Oh, but don’t call if a filibuster.… [Read more]
A look back on this past week reveals another historical first – and we’re in only the second month of the year. By now most are aware that for the first time ever, a presidential cabinet nominee was filibustered. Republicans succeeded in blocking a man who happens to be a fellow Republican. What did that man, defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel, do to deserve use of this filibuster procedure that should be reserved for critical legislative actions?… [Read more]
On January 31, 2013, former Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) was questioned at his senate hearing as President Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Defense. The hearing proved interesting — not because watching senators take yet another of the president’s nominees and grill him like cheese is so fascinating — but, rather, because it’s more apparent than ever that these hearings are often nothing more than an opportunity for senators who seek to remain relevant to display their ruffled feathers.… [Read more]
In one of her last official acts as America’s most-travelled Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared Wednesday to testify about the tragedy in Benghazi which killed our Ambassador and three others.
Republicans were waiting to get their last licks in on Secretary Clinton (and pray she doesn’t run for President in 2016.) Complaints from the freshman cheap seats and from the past their ‘Sell By Date” fossil obstructionists didn’t stick, except perhaps in the muddled mouthpieces of Fox News.… [Read more]
After an election which raised the number of women in the Senate to a historical peak of 20, freshman Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) effectively cooked her own goose playing a third rate Ann-Margaret understudy in the latest Republican remake of Grumpy Old Men to block a highly qualified Susan Rice from a conjectural Secretary of State nomination to make political points.… [Read more]
“Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” ~ John Belushi (1949-1982), National Lampoon’s Animal House
Did the normally restrained President Obama learn some “ya wanna a piece of me” South Shore bluster from his pre-Election Day Hurricane Sandy bromance with Joisey Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.)? Or did our Chief Executive stand up for a competent staffer instead of throwing her under the bus for cheap political points?… [Read more]
I feel bad for the guy. I really do. “Gaffes,” “unforced errors,” and a general sense of meh…i guess have confounded his political campaign.
In fairness, it is true that Mitt Romney’s failings aren’t entirely his fault. It seems the modern GOP is in an ideological tailspin. At one end of the Republican spectrum is nostalgia for a bygone era where only white men enjoyed access to the full bounty of freedom.… [Read more]
“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”
~Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
And ‘twere ever thus, Mark Twain. With PBS as my portal, the strange, almost surrealistic Republican National Convention rolled across the digital infinity. One might be tempted to end this piece before it begins, with the obvious: “what sitting President with a pulse could lose a game of jacks, let alone his office to these conflicted maroons”, and let the loyal BNV readership return to its knitting.… [Read more]
So the pick is Paul Ryan, Ayn Rand’s not so secret lover and author of the budget that would gut several important social programs. I can’t say I’m shocked. For conservatives, it’s a pick to rejoice over. For liberals, it’s a pick to rejoice over. But game-changer? Eh…
As far as game-changing picks go, I think Sarah Palin still has that one covered.… [Read more]
I watched the HBO movie “Game Change” this weekend. I thought Julianne Moore did an outstanding job of capturing the essence of Sarah Palin, along with an almost uncanny resemblance. Woody Harrelson did a great job as her political Svengali, Steve Schmidt, but this is not a movie review.
I’ve read that Sarah Palin hated this film, and has done nothing but whine and play the victim since it became a reality.… [Read more]
Yesterday was Super Tuesday and it turned out to be a good day for Mitt Romney — hey, a win is a win, right? So what if he’s not liked enough to be anything other than the default candidate?
One race that caught my attention had nothing to do with the Romney vs. Santorum vs. Paul vs.… [Read more]
…who needs enemies? I’m betting that is what Mitt Romney is thinking. In addition to his prior (and completely unforgivable) blunder of unleashing the Hounds of Hell Sarah Palin and her family on the country, John McCain is on the ‘Support Mitt‘ tour. Or is he? Normally, it would be a good thing to have a senior statesman from one’s own party in your corner, right?… [Read more]
Polls have said for several years that the majority of Americans are against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We’re still a long away from peace but, for many, President Obama’s announcement that the troops will be pulled out of Iraq to come home in time for the holidays was a welcome announcement. Of course, we all know you can’t please everyone….… [Read more]
