Government

9 posts

An Open Letter to Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster

An open letter to Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, currently serving in the White House as National Security Advisor to the President of the United States.

H.R. McMaster, you should be ashamed to repeatedly stand up in front of reporters and lie for the President. You used to command the finest cavalry regiment in the US Army, a regiment I was proud to serve in for two years. Now, I am ashamed for you and the regiment every time I see you sell your soul for a president without basic human decency, judgement or probity. Continue reading →

The Charge of the GOP Brigade

Later today, the United States Senate will vote on and presumably pass a plan to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling. The legislation will then go on to the House, where it is expected to pass as well. It will end up on President Obama’s desk, who will sign it.

Congratulations everybody, we’ve just barely avoided complete and total disaster.

Now it’s time for the fallout. Continue reading →

US Supreme Court Healthcare Ruling OT


Today, the nation awaits the fate of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known to some people as “Obamacare.” Will we join other civilized societies and provide healthcare for the people of the United States or will we continue the broken system of for-an-insane-amount-of-profit privatized health care for the fortunate. Continue reading →

Mayor of Toronto Chases and Threatens Reporter

The Mayor of Toronto is a massive embarrassment to my city. Yesterday, one of the Toronto Star’s city hall politics reporters filed a story that Rob Ford wants to buy a slice of the park adjacent to his house so that he can build a bigger security fence. The reporter behind the story, Daniel Dale (and this is according to his own account, which differs from the mayor’s), went out to the park of which Ford wants to buy a piece and was taking pictures of the park and, it would seem likely, Ford’s fence, for the story. Continue reading →

Arresting Private Manning

After spending more than eighteen months of pre-trial confinement in a military prison, most of it under “maximum custody,” alleged WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning has finally begun the judicial process in a military court.

In the second day of his (UCMJ) Article 32 pre-trial hearing, it was revealed that the affidavit that served as the basis for his arrest appears to have been based in large part on unconfirmed or erroneous information.

Continue reading →

What Might a Liberal Tea Party Look Like?

“There must be some kind of way out of here”
Said the joker to the thief
“There’s too much confusion,
I can’t get no relief”

This week on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher did an extended monologue in the “New Rules” segment on what a Liberal Tea Party might look like. Maher may be a terrible person, but as a political comedian he’s top notch. Regardless, it got me thinking:  what might a real Liberal Tea Party look like? Continue reading →

Can Social Media Plus Celebrity Make a Real Difference?

Way back in May of this year, Conan O’Brien featured a sketch on his TBS show highlighting a small alley in an industrial part of Van Nuys, California. The purpose of the sketch was to jokingly ask the city of Los Angeles and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to change the name of West Raymer Street to Conan O’Brien Blvd.

In the initial sketch, he showcases the surrounding area of the dead-end alley, which is located next to some railroad tracks. What we see is familiar to anyone with experience in industrial or less wealthy neighborhoods in many cities. There is abandoned furniture, graffiti and what looks like an abandoned vehicle. It’s neighborhood blight. Continue reading →