When Barack Obama ran for President in 2008, he repeatedly—and rightfully— denounced the Bush administration as “one of the most secretive administrations in our nation’s history,” and vowed that “as president,” he would “change that.” His campaign pledged to protect whistleblowers, exalting them as “the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government” and declaring “such acts [...]
Although the United States is no longer manufacturing powerhouse, there seems to be no end to services it can export. Campaign advisors are the latest product. The two political consultants who squared off in the 2012 election have been hired by campaigns around the world. David Axelrod, who lead the Obama campaign and has also advised Chicago Mayor Rahm [...]
Last Thursday, Penn College Republicans showed 2016: Obama’s America, Dinesh D’Souza’s new documentary inspired by his book The Roots of Obama’s Rage. The showing was part of Penn Political Action Week, a weeklong series of meetings, speeches and movies leading up to the election. Aggressive negative campaign tactics made an unexpected appearance. 2016 is not a disinterested exploration of Obama’s [...]
In Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom, the protagonist, Will McAvoy, is just tired of politics. So, channeling his inner Cronkite, he becomes the moderator of political discourse he thinks is lost by launching a “mission to civilize” the country. Unfortunately, there’s no parallel to fight against the “post-truth politics” in real life. Dave Roberts of Grist noticed this back when the major meme of [...]
Last night’s debate, according both to reputable sources (CNN’s flash poll, The Atlantic’s James Fallows, Bill Keller) and less reputable sources (my Facebook feed, my Poli Sci professor, my mother), was a clear win for Mitt Romney. President Obama, who top Romney aide Beth Myers said was “widely regarded as one of the most talented political communicators in modern history,” [...]
It is officially one month until Labor Day, the traditional start date for fall campaigns (an old custom that is no longer followed, much like other political traditions, e.g. compromise, cloture). Both presidential campaigns will pick up steam this month and continue until Election Day grants them reprieve. Donors across the political spectrum will keep these campaigns going. Unlike in [...]
My fellow Americans, we are faced with a time of moral crisis. Our misguided government is trying to help people who want to use contraception get their hands on it at little or no cost. Evil organizations like Planned Parenthood seek to use breast cancer screenings to trick us into thinking they care about women’s health, when really they just [...]
President Obama delivered his state of the union address this week, but I think he left some things out. His speech had lots of policies and ideas, but hardly any snarky reflections on the current state of political affairs. Yes, there was that one bit about Washington being disconnected from the rest of the country, but that wasn’t so much [...]
Today, we’re going to play a game I’m calling “Who’s That Candidate?” You might think the game is about Rick Santorum, because every time his name is mentioned that’s what people say. But actually, it’s a game where I describe a politician’s political positions and you guess who he is. Ready? Then let’s play WHO’S THAT CANDIDATE! (Imagine a studio [...]
Earlier this evening, Speaker John Boehner announced that House Republicans will support a two-month extension of the payroll tax cuts. With a call for a final vote Friday morning, Boehner and the GOP leadership have abandoned their current push for a one-year extension of the cuts in order to pass the stopgap provision and end the political battle in time [...]
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