The White House today unveiled an ambitious plan to create a host of new rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered citizens of the United States, a constituency that has soured on the president during the run-up to the mid-term elections for his stance on "Don't Ask Don't Tell."

The… Read full post »

Back in the 1980s, there was a TV spot that ran a lot on WSBK out of Boston with a catchy jingle that began, "The spirt of Massachusetts is the spirit of America..." If you're a true Masshole, then you know what I'm talking about.

Well, that jingle was what I… Read full post »

Hi America! Your lower house of Congress here.

Look, I know you’ve been concerned–or “freaked out,” as my nephew likes to say (that scamp!)–about this whole health care reform thing. In the wake of my historic vote on Saturday in favor of the Affordable Health Care For… Read full post »

Nicky does it. Tinsley does it. Kim Zolciak is gonna do it with wigs! What am I talking about? Why "leveraging my brand," of course!

These days it's all about leveraging things--like being noteworthy for being tacky, or having children, or a couple of bucks--into other things--like fashionable access… Read full post »

Did anyone listen to Alan Cheuse's review of Ralph Nader's new novel, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us, yesterday on "All Things Considered"?

It seems scarcely possible that Nader's new book could be anything but tedious, given the insufferability of its author, a man who, among many other variously… Read full post »

Glenn Greenwald has a terrific audio post up on Salon.com today in which he interviews Jonathan Weiler, the co-author of Authoritarianism and Polarization In American Politics.

The interview is roughly 20 minutes long, and it's well worth listening to. But by the end of it, I was wondering when Green… Read full post »