So President Obama is a power hungry statist who intends to euthanize disabled children and grandmothers. I’m aware.

And Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is proposing a “strongly anti-democratic” new initiative.  But I’m not worried about him euthanizing grandmothers.

No. Be… Read full post »

I’m not the Secretary of the Treasury, or the Speaker of the House, or the secretary of speaker of anything. So I don’t have the expertise or access to know whether our… Read full post »

Friday begins the set of presidential debates, that quadrennial series of high-profile, low-standard television artifices, the final opportunities for our candidates to directly reach massive audiences.

A good article in the Atlantic this month reminded me that there were 47 primary season d/… Read full post »

Really, I mean it.

I don’t want to have to argue about pig lipstick, or how close Russia is to Sarah Palin’s house, or which foreign country John McCain fundamentally misunderstood this week. I don’t want to argue about these things even though in these and many cases, my guy… Read full post »

Think about this: It’s election day. Barack Obama has a one or two percentage point lead in national polls and similar leads in the key states, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. You vote. I vote. Everyone votes. We go home and turn on our TV’s, maybe make some popcorn. And then the numbe… Read full post »

I live in Wisconsin, a state that was to be won easily by Barack Obama until John McCain and Sarah Palin started lying about everything that exists, often more than once. The complete dishonesty is something that Wisconsinites will soon get past, like Ned Yost.

But in the meantime, which… Read full post »

Allow me to offer my oversimplification of the McCain campaign's recent resurgence: Sarah Palin is new. 

Now if that sounds poorly reasoned, petty, and again, oversimplified, remember that it is the habit of our media to provide coverage that is poorly reasoned, petty, and again, oversimplified… Read full post »

I don’t expect Barack Obama to raise my taxes. But, as one American, I’m not a majority of Americans.

A Gallup poll on the issue has 53% of Americans expecting their taxes will increase during an Obama presidency. But as his campaign has made clear, Obama does not intend to… Read full post »

I need your help.

Can you please explain to me why someone being a community organizer is funny? I think I’m going to need to know soon, because in the next few weeks, its hilarity, like legislation that helped develop the Internet, is going to be a given.

And if I… Read full post »

Well, this is difficult. 

This post is the result of a lost wager with Skeptic Turtle over Obama’s choice for Vice Presidential nominee. And praising Governor Palin has led me to my first real Open Salon writer’s block. It’s not that I can’t be open minded about a Republi… Read full post »

Have the Democrats found their voice? Don't get me wrong, the Democrats have always had a voice. But it’s been subsonic like a whale's voice, cryptic bellows audible only to other whales.

My impression from watching the convention is that the Dems are communicating their values in a straightfo… Read full post »

Conventional wisdom says that a large majority of Americans support opening U.S. coastal waters to offshore drilling and that Democrats who oppose it are either acting on principal, wrongheaded, or both. Or more recently, that Democrats willing to compromise on the issue are doing so to gain politica/… Read full post »

To the contrary. 

Elsie, who I am dogsitting this week, isn't planning to vote this November, because she is a dog. And as a dog, Elsie can neither vote nor plan to do things. 

Even still, she was excited to attend the Milwaukee County Obama Headquarters opening last night. Unfortunately, s… Read full post »

Hey guys. You know how everybody’s waiting to find out who Barack is picking to be his running mate? Well, he’s going to announce it soon, and I’m going to be first to know.

Yeah, that’s right, he promised he’ll text it to me.

Barack is a huge celebrity, you know.… Read full post »

When Senator John Kerry and Senator Lindsey Graham were on ABC’s This Week, discussing the candidates’ tax plans, Graham tried to make the point that the U.S. has the second highest corporate income tax rate in the world.  “Not the effective rate,” Kerry interrupted, poin/… Read full post »

"Why are the Olympics on Oxygen?" my dad asked. 

"Because four companies own all of the media in this country, so when one has the Olympics, it’s on a lot of channels," I said. That was an exaggeration, it’s really fifteen companies. 

I like the Olympics. I thought parts of… Read full post »

On Meet the Press yesterday, the featured guest and roundtable of commentators ruminated on the impossibility of major changes being made by the federal government. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson spoke at length about the subprime mortgage crisis and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. His interview with T… Read full post »

Okay, no punches were thrown, and that’s a good thing.

On July 4^th, I was with some friends at a Milwaukee bar. One friend and I were discussing Middle East politics (yes, this is my idea of a fun night out), when a gentleman a few stools down overheard and butted/… Read full post »

I can’t comment on every ridiculous thing the McCain campaign does or says, or I would be both very busy and very sad. But this relates to my last post on the politics of a Senate energy compromise.

As you’ve probably heard, Barack Obama said that keeping your tires properly… Read full post »

You know why you know that expanding offshore oil drilling is a bad idea. Maybe it’s because of the unknown environmental costs, or the questionable economic impact. Or maybe you’re just holding out for a gas tax holiday to ease your mental recession. 

But that was what you thought b… Read full post »

I ordered two bumper stickers from BarackObama.com this week and managed to give more money to UPS than to the Obama campaign. I am, of course, at least partly to blame.

I chose $7.87 UPS ground shipping to deliver my $5 worth of vinyl, adhesive, and paper. Later on, when I… Read full post »

Total Nonsense has been seen frequently on the campaign trail with Senator McCain since June, and his selection as the Republican’s Vice-Presidential running mate has been predicted by insiders. McCain is to make the announcement shortly.

Total Nonsense will balance McCain’s reputa… Read full post »