CATEGORY: American Politics

Criticizing our national politics is a great American tradition, and one I heartily enjoy. As I am about equally disenchanted with both of our major political parties, there is plenty of criticism to go around. One of the inspirations of the name "UpWord" was to indicate a direction neither "left" nor "right".

• Proposition 83A - For Our Children's Safety. Shouldn't we require Congressmen and priests to register their whereabouts and prohibit them from living near parks or schools?
• Log-Rolling Season. The Senate attempts to buy an estate tax cut with a minimum wage hike, while the LA City Council wants to dupe voters into extending term limits by log-rolling an "ethics package".
• Stem Cells and Animal-Rights Vegetarians. Reflections on the debate over the ethics of embryonic stem cell research, whether the feds should fund it, and how the same logic might apply to the meat industry.
• The Red-White-and-Blue Herring. Whew, the silly flag-burning amendment fails in the Senate.
• Marrying Snakes and other Pink Herrings. The so-called "Marriage Protection Amendment" fails (again).
• A Higher Ethical Standard. Thoughts on the removal of the soon-to-be-indicted Rep. William Jefferson from a House committee, and the White House response to Karl Rove's escape from indictment.
• If This Had Been An Actual Emergency... The WSJ lacks the common sense to distinguish between actual and metaphorical emergencies when deciding when to suspect the Constitution.
• House of Hypocrisy. Bipartisan House leadership can accept warrantless wiretapping, but suddenly the Constitution is being "trampled" when the FBI (with a warrant and probable cause) searches a Congressman's offices.
• May Day. Reflections on the raging immigration debate, inspired by the marches and boycott that occurred today.
• The Hammer Nailed. Good riddance to Tom DeLay, who's done more than anyone to poison American politics with corrosive partisanship.
• The Easy Path: The Gov and Congress But Not the Ayatollah. Thoughts on Gov. Schwarzenegger not granting clemency to Michael Morales, Congress getting on their high horse about a UAE corporation taking over operation of several US ports, and Ayatollah Ali Sistani urging calm in the wake of the bombing of a holy site in Samarra.
• Enough About the Hunting Accident. The press overreacting to Cheney's accidental shooting.
• Excluding One-Time Expenses. President Bush is pulling budget shenanigans that the SEC wouldn't allow corporations to get away with.
• Live Controversy. The irony of the Supreme Court not being allowed to rule on anything but live controversies, while Supreme Court nominees can only comment on dead controversies.
• Concerned Alumni of Princeton. Nominee Samuel Alito has a pretty odious organization on his resume, as I well know.
• 2005 Word of the Year. The most looked-up word on Merriam-Webster's web site in 2005 was "integrity". How telling is that?
• Happy Hanukkah, America. Why non-Jewish Americans might resonate with this holiday more than they might expect.
• Peres, Sharon, Schwarzenegger, and Kennedy. Some musings on the formation of a new centrist party in Israel, and whether it could happen here in America. Schwarzenegger makes a surprising anti-partisan move.
• Bad Day For Good Government. Some wistful post-mortem musings on why it is so hard to get reasonable redistricting measures passed.
• Voting Suspicion Over Reason. What motivates people to vote against an eminently reasonable ballot measure?
• NO on 78 and 79: The Initiative Process is No Place for Drug Plan Policy. More "prima facie" NOs.
• NO on 80: The Initiative Process is No Place for Energy Policy. A "meta-position" on this measure to re-regulate California's energy industry, and a "meta-philosophy" on initiatives.
• NO on 73: A Misguided Setback for Good Health Policy. A look at a proposition to require parental notification for minors seeking abortions.
• Prop 74: Important Problem, Incomplete Solution. A look at reforming the teacher tenure system.
• So What Does She Talk About Anyway? Harriet Miers, an amazing cipher of a person.
• YES on 76: Let's Live Within Our Means. An analysis of a complex proposal to bring fiscal sanity to California.
• End Gerrymandering: YES on 77. An appeal in favor of a California ballot initiative to take the partisanship out of redistricting.
• Bernanke is No Miers. The new (and imminently qualified) nominee for Fed Reserve Chairman makes Harriet Miers look even worse by comparison.
• Alaskan Pork: The Other Red Meat. Senator Coburn attempts to take down a couple of Alaska's obscene bridge appropriations.
• Harriet Miers. The conundrum of the Supreme Court nominee.
• The Hammer Gets Hammered. Tom Delay indicted. It couldn't have happened to a better guy.
• The Disaster Response Disaster. The government's appallingly incompetent response to hurricane Katrina.
• The Spirit and the Letter. Leaders should stick to the high road. Bush should fire Rove if Rove turns out to be the leaker, regardless of legal technicalities. Schwarzenegger belatedly recognizes an egregious conflict of interest.
• My Litmus Test. My qualifications for a Supreme Court nominee.
• Getting Cloture. The compromise to save the filibuster, and the new "inside-out" dynamics of the Senate.
• Reactions to the President's Speech. Quick takes on the energy bill, the balanced budget, CAFTA, social security, and prisoner abuse.
• Senatorial Game of Chicken. The battle of the filibuster is impending. Who will blink first? President Bush is the real obstructionist.
• Are Democrats and Republicans Obsolete? Are Republicans cracking up along conservative-libertarian seams? Are the Democrats in a persistent vegetative state?
• Ghosts of Majorities Past. Some advice from Britain's conservative minority leader, urging the perspective of their history. The British did away with the filibuster over 100 years ago, and when you're in the minority now, it truly bites.
• Principles vs Outcomes, Activist Judges and Terri Schiavo
• Filibuster: Deja Vu All Over Again. A selection of quotes from the 103rd Congress (1993-94) when the Democrats were in charge, and the filibuster was the Republican's best friend.
• No Deficit of Chutzpah on Capitol Hill. Congress urges fiscal responsibility with a new bankruptcy bill will showing no signs of fiscal responsibility in their budget.
• Procedural Activism. More on Republican's threats to dismantle the filibuster.
• Gas is Too Cheap by Half
• Supermajorities Rule. Why "supermajority" mechanisms like the filibuster are not just constitutional, they're a very good idea.
• Hitting the Numbers. Bernard Ebbers gets convicted for fudging the numbers at Worldcom, while President Bush does essentially the same thing with his budget.
• Are Democrats for Anything?
• NIH Cleans Up Its Act. NIH gets clear on conflicts of interest.
• Democrats and Republicans Do-Si-Do. Senator Clinton shifts right on abortion, while Republicans court blacks on Social Security, taking a move from the leftist identity politics playbook.
• Zell Miller and Amos. Senator Miller enlists an old testament prophet who railed against hypocrisy for some rather hypcritical ends.
• Happy New Year, now back to Partisan Shenanigans... on moves afoot to can the filibuster.
• Meanwhile Over in the House... House Republicans find ethics too constricting.
• Beyond Nuclear. Rehnquist on Congressional threats to an independent judiciary.