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Obama's 2010 Budget: Class Warfare that Redefines Audacity
Tweet Share on Facebook February 27, 2009 Comment (104)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Wow. And we thought Barack Obama's speech on Tuesday night ("oh, and by the way, we're going to cure cancer") was audacious. Now we've had a look at the Audacity budget.
Holy Reagan and Roosevelt, Batman! Before this guy is done, we're gonna need new synonyms for "bold."
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The Death Penalty and Its Perils—A Story for Maryland, O'Malley and the Supreme Court
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2009 Comment (5)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The state of Maryland is debating Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to repeal the death penalty. And the U.S. Supreme Court will soon consider whether prisoners have a right to DNA testing that could prove their innocence.
So this seems an opportune moment to share a story from my upcoming book on Clarence Darrow. It's about the case in which Darrow worked as a prosecutor, and why the great defense attorney never forgot the lessons it taught him.
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The Pro-Republican Media Bias in the 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Campaigns
Tweet Share on Facebook February 24, 2009 Comment (1053)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
The media is biased—toward Republicans.
A new book by two Indiana University professors states that the coverage from the three TV networks—ABC, CBS and NBC—favored the GOP candidates in the four presidential elections between 1992 and 2004.
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No Supreme Court Term Limits—Even With Partisan Justices Like Scalia and Thomas
Tweet Share on Facebook February 23, 2009 Comment (112)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
I have always thought that term limits were stupid. Or, perhaps more accurately, that the underlying assumption of the term limits movement was that Americans are stupid—and can't be trusted to conduct the necessary political house-cleaning at the polls.
Then there was the coincidence that, as the Republicans got to majority status over the last few decades, conservatives lost interest in the notion of limiting terms—an idea they promoted so enthusiastically when Democrats were in power.
Now that the Dems are back, we'll no doubt be seeing a rebirth of the movement over on the Right. But before we do, I want to register my opposition to a new term limits proposal—for Supreme Court justices—that would benefit the Left.
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Sex of George Mason University Homecoming Drag Queen Is Good News
Tweet Share on Facebook February 20, 2009 Comment (50)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
To the students of George Mason University: I salute you. Some of you are worried, this morning's paper reports, about losing your coveted U.S. News ranking as the No. 1 "school to watch" among national universities in these United States. You have no cause for fear in this corner of the empire. We do not scorn the election of Reann Sassie D'Loceanono Ballslee as homecoming queen. We applaud it.
The photograph in the Washington Post was taken from a distance, but Reann appears to have the requisite trim figure, glittery clothes, wide red lips, and flowing curls of a genuine American homecoming queen. That Reann is a guy—a hard-working and skilled senior in drag by the name of Ryan Allen—seems irrelevant. What does a homecoming queen do, other than pout and smile and tease and wiggle?
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Anxiety on Afghanistan in General McKiernan, Senator Kerry, and Others a Worrisome Sign
Tweet Share on Facebook February 19, 2009 Comment (1224)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Hey, Rob. I agree. President Obama's decision to add another 17,000 troops to the allied forces in Afghanistan—with perhaps another 10,000 to 12,000 to follow later this year—is the big dog that ain't barking here in Washington this week.
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A Pro-Obama or Anti-Obama Opinion Piece or Editorial--A How to Guide
Tweet Share on Facebook February 18, 2009 Comment (6)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Charmingly obscure opening anecdote, best if featuring Churchill or Disraeli.
Explanatory paragraph, contrived to show that knowledge of said anecdote is result of extensive scholarship, as opposed to a quick thumbing of Bartlett's.
Sly, self-promoting reference to one's intimate relationship with influential political figure.
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7 Reasons Why Obama Bipartisanship Lives
Tweet Share on Facebook February 17, 2009 Comment (9)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
For all those who have their knickers in a twist because Barack Obama has not waved a magic wand and melted the hearts of Lindsey Graham and Eric Cantor, here are a few reasons why it's a bit too early to pronounce the death of bipartisanship.
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New York Times Is Overblown on Gregg Fallout for Obama
Tweet Share on Facebook February 13, 2009 Comment (3)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Jeff Zeleny is a very talented young reporter who works for a first-class news organization. But the notion that losing Judd Gregg is a "personnel crisis" for the administration is, well, silly. They could leave the post open for the next year and no one would notice.
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The Wall Street Journal Indulges Right Wing Fantasy About Obama Bias Toward Media
Tweet Share on Facebook February 13, 2009 Comment (9)By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
I don't generally read the Wall Street Journal editorial pages (except for darlin' Peggy) so it took me a day to pick up on their latest bit of idiocy, in which they whined that the White House had "screened" the reporters that Barack Obama called upon during his Monday night press conference, and alleged that the Lefty press would never have let a Republican president get away with this.
Gimmeabreak.
