Roland “I am the Senator” Burris after Senate turned him away I’m starting to like this Burris guy. OK, so he’s Rod Blagojevich’s personal choice to fill Obama’s vacant Senate seat, which is a very, very bad way to start a Senate career.  Still, he’s showing himself to be smart, cool, dignified, and capable of [...]

Proving once again that he’s the wiser son, Jeb puts to rest rumors that he’ll run for the Senate. From AP: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Former Gov. Jeb Bush says he won’t run for the U.S. Senate in 2010 to replace the retiring Mel Martinez. Bush made the announcement Tuesday, saying “now is not the [...]

For those of you who use the microblogging service (I’m @jpgardner), you’ve probably heard about thousands of accounts being hacked. Now the President Elect has found himself in the middle of this mess and MSNBC has more… What’s funny is that Obama hasn’t posted anything since November 5th so the idea that he would just [...]

The announcement will come tomorrow, and the job description is all about reform: Go through the federal budget line by line and cut the fat. Hold agencies accountable. Restore fiscal discipline. In case you don’t remember, Obama outlined this as part of his reform agenda during the campaign… Barack Obama and Joe Biden will create [...]

What did Americans think in 2000 and what do they think in 2008? The difference is striking. From Pew: A mere 13% of Americans are now satisfied with the way things are going in the country, compared with 55% eight years ago. And while 61% applauded at Clinton’s curtain call, only 24% approve of Bush’s [...]

I’ve written at length about my opinions of extraordinary rendition, Guantanamo Bay, etc., but the idea that people will vigorously defend policies that put a completely innocent man through 6 years of hell still leaves me completely baffled. Seriously. This is one of those issues for me where there’s absolutely zero common ground because I [...]

I’ve been pretty harsh on philosophical neo-conservatism over the last year or so. In fact, it’s safe to say that of all the various (actual) political philosophies that form a significant portion of our governing political coalitions, I have consistently held neo-conservatism in by far the most contempt. And without a doubt, the basic tenets [...]

But only briefly. Here’s what he said… “I’m very concerned with the conflict taking place there,” Obama said. “I’m monitoring the situation on a day to day basis. “The loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel is a source of deep concern to me, and after January 20th I’ll have plenty to say [...]

So, maybe it will be the year of the moderate Republican. Here in Texas, longtime Republican Speaker of the House Tom Craddick has resigned his position due to opposition from the moderate wing of his own party. Poised to replace him is Joe Straus, a 49 year-old representative from San Antonio known for his willingness [...]

If I had to speak in public every day for eight years, I’d probably make a few verbal flubs. That said, few public figures have ever given us such malapropisms as has George W. Bush. Collected by the AP for your amusement, here’s a list of Bush’s most memorable misstatementizing. It’s good enough for a [...]

Folks on the left and the right of this issue discuss on CNBC… Of course Kudlow and Toomey were going to argue for lower corporate tax rates, but we’ve seen how many taxes corporations pay (hint: not much). But individual people and smaller businesses need the tax cuts and ability to write off debt, not [...]

Privatization sounds sexy in theory, but there’s a reason Social Security is called a safety net, and all you need to do to understand why faith in markets is a recipe for disaster is look to the current situation in Italy. From Bloomberg: The global market meltdown has created losses for those who agreed to [...]

It’s O-fficial. At least until it isn’t again. Al Franken will be standing – in a puddle of some controversy – along with appointed Illinois would-be Senator Roland Burris at the gates of that exclusive DC institutional club filled with a mixture of brilliant public servants and besotted stiffs (sometimes in the same person.) Which [...]

In one of the more, forgive me, torturous staffing processes, it looks like Barack Obama has finally settled on the last major appointment he had left to make, that of CIA director. Given that the Bush administration has done so much long-term, institutional damage to our intelligence superstructure, basic tenets of human rights and the [...]

“In 2006, when then-Sen. Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, he said, “Decisions about marriage should be left to the states.” He was right then; and as I have come to realize, he is right now in concluding that DOMA has to go. If one truly believes in federalism and the primacy of state [...]

I’m still not sure why this guy is trying to force his way into the Senate on the back of Blago, but he had to see this one coming. From CNN: Robert Baxter says Erickson rejected Burris’ appointment because it does not conform with Rule 2 of the Standing rules of the Senate, which specifically [...]

Me, elsewhere: Over the last few months, there has been much finger-pointing as to which particular sect of the old GOP coalition is to blame for the policy failures of the last 8 years and the electoral failures of the last 2 years…..I think these accusations are deeply misplaced – the problems have not been [...]

A little clip from way back shows us how different the George Bush of then is from the George Bush of now. Question: what if Obama had this foreign policy view? Wouldn’t he be viewed as a wimpy liberal dove? I’m just saying…

“Israel has a special place in each of our hearts. But we recognize that neither Israelis nor Palestinians have a monopoly on right or wrong. While there is nothing “right” in raining rockets on Israeli families or dispatching suicide bombers, there is nothing “right” in punishing a million and a half already-suffering Gazans for the [...]

Coleman will challenge this in the courts, but it appears as if Al will become the Senator from Minnesota. From CNN: The canvassing board on Monday will say a recount determined Franken won by 225 votes, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie told CNN. However, Coleman’s campaign, which contends the recount should have included about 650 [...]