Placebos are getting stronger and more effective against a wide range of ailments.

“We’ve debunked about a dozen myths so far — from the outlandish ‘Death Panel’ claims to the idea that we’re eliminating Medicare benefits. But the biggest myth of all is that our health insurance system is just fine, that there is no serious need for reform. I heard one opponent of reform in congress say [...]

Independent voters Unrest among voters has implications for midterm elections; Watch those polls – but watch those polls carefully! Obama Caught Up in the Washington Blame Game-The rancorous atmosphere in Washington has spread to healthcare town hall meetings (By Kenneth T. Walsh, US News & World Report) There is a real danger here for the [...]

” I think the interrogations were in violation of the Geneva Convention against torture that we ratified under President Reagan. I think that these interrogations, once publicized, helped al Qaeda recruit. I got that from an al Qaeda operative in a prison camp in Iraq who told me that. I think that the ability of [...]

Poli-Tea author Damon Eris, independent political blogger, talks with The Hankster about independent and third party politics, the rise of independent voters in the face of an entrenched political duopoly, and what it all means to American politics circa 2009 and beyond. Click here to sign in to the show. You’ll be able to access [...]

Equal parts touching, sad and inspiring. Definitely worth a watch. And here’s the text… Mrs. Kennedy, Kara, Edward, Patrick, Curran, Caroline, members of the Kennedy family, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: Today we say goodbye to the youngest child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy. The world will long remember their son Edward as the heir [...]

General Tony Zinna was on The Leonard Lopate Show Tuesday promoting his new book Leading the Charge. Now, there’s a haircut you can set your watch to. The man is thoughtful and well-spoken. He says what he means and means what he says – Orwell would be proud. Listening to him was a pleasure. Particularly [...]

Everybody’s abuzz about the new Wash Post story today that starts off with the idea that Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) was turned into some type of “terrorist professor” because he was waterboarded. And away we go… The debate over the effectiveness of subjecting detainees to psychological and physical pressure is in some ways irresolvable, because [...]

Yes, he’s a man of many words…but he needed a few more this time… And yet this will become the highest rated show on cable television. Guaranteed. *sigh* Updated: Some folks in the comment section have told me that he was just playing a joke, misspelled it on purpose, etc. Yeah, that’s why in the [...]

All of the above are tweets from Andrew Breitbart’s Twitter feed. Here’s the deal: you don’t speak ill of the dead, especially when the body is still warm. Now, before any of the conservatives in the audience get all pissy with me, you should know that I did not always agree with Ted Kennedy (and [...]

Independent Voters Independents are playing a key role in the debate on health care. Centrist commentator John Avlon says indies are social liberals/fiscal conservatives; James A. Morone, seeming to speak for the Demo-(We-Are-Not-Socialists)-Crats says indies are moderate, fence-sitting, frightened and don’t vote in midterm elections… Independent strategist and public philosopher Fred Newman, PhD says “the [...]

Justin Gardner (Donk Quixote) and Mike Wallach (Phanto), endeavor to tilt at windmills (With apologies to Miguel de Cervantes). Justin is a registered Democrat, considers himself an independent but views the world from the left side of the political spectrum. Mike most recently registered as a Republican, but considers himself primarily a fiscal conservative, deficit hawk, and a libertarian leaning independent. They find common ground in the Health Care Reform debate.

Just got word from the net that they bumped it up given Teddy’s death last night. If you want to see a preview, click here.

Hello everyone! After a vacation in the Heartland, here are some highlights of news for independent voters from the past week or so: Independent Voters Who’s Got the Power? Progressives find themselves outmaneuvered on healthcare reform. (By David Moberg, In These Times) More importantly, longer-term possibilities have been created by the failure of the Bush [...]

I know that Justin already posted about this, but I wanted to add my two coppers. I didn’t always agree with Senator Kennedy — both in politics, and in personality — but I have a respect for the man and what he accomplished in his many years in public service. Politico: His career spanned almost [...]

Listen, I truly hope that the Dems don’t use the reconciliation process to try and get the health care reform bill passed. Why? Well, it seems if they took this path they’d have to break up the legislation in two pieces, the budget portion and the insurance reform portion. The budget they could do via [...]

The brain cancer finally caught up with him at age 77. Some more from ABC: Kennedy was first elected to the Senate in 1962, at the age of 30, and his tenure there would span four decades. A hardworking, well-liked politician who became the standard-bearer of his brothers’ liberal causes, his career was clouded by [...]

Whether you love them or hate them (it’s hard to be indifferent), there’s no doubt that the Kennedy brothers are still the people you think of first when talking about political dynasties. MSNBC has put together a documentary of John, Bobby and Teddy and it’s set to air soon. Here’s a preview of some of [...]

Here’s what he had to say today about the prospects for getting this bill passed… From Lakeland Times: “Nobody is going to bring a bill before Christmas, and maybe not even then, if this ever happens,” Feingold said. “The divisions are so deep. I never seen anything like that.” Feingold reiterated his appraisal a bit [...]