Glenn Greenwald Blasts the Main Stream Media

This interview of Glenn Greenwald is a must listen. Greenwald blasts the mainstream media for their failures and their cozying up with politicians and celebrities. The Bush administration is also faulted for their tragic actions and the terrible consquences that have flowed. Read a full description of the show here.

Glenn Greenwald is right on

Glenn Greenwald's new book "A Tragic Legacy" is spot on in its detailing of the tragic failure of G. W. Bush. Bush's moral framework that he mentions so often is meaningless when reality is compared with rhetoric. Read an excerpt from Greenwald's book on Salon.com: http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/06/20/greenwald/

Obituaries, the New York Times and What it All Means for America

What can the obituaries of Martin Meyerson, Arnold Lappert and Jim Clark, all of which appeared on the same page of the June 7^th The New York Times tell us about the state of the media in America? Do the media glorify the deeds of hate mongers like Jim Clark by giving them top billing, spread across the upper third of a page of America’s most prominent newspaper? Read Lawrence Velvel’s answers at his blog www. velvelonnationalaffairs.com.

The Fall of America

Lawrence Velvel writes in his blog http://velvelonnationalaffairs.com:

"the liberal wing of America does seem united in feeling that America cannot act the hegemon, cannot impose its views all over the world by force or otherwise, and must work with other countries (or we will increasingly face a whole world arrayed against us); that the increasing discrepancies in wealth, medical care and education are intolerable; and so forth. This societal and economic point of view has been given a new and powerful impetus by the delinquencies of the Bush Administration, an impetus augmented by books documenting these delinquencies and/or comparing modern America to prior, fallen empires like those of Rome and Britain."

This is why liberal politics are so necessary. America's standing is plummeting in the world to all time lows. But with all the politicians in the hands of big business what possibly can we do? Our nation is in dire straits. If anyone has ideas that we cheer me up please send them along.

The Problem with the Democrats

Why can't we just get a real candidate. It just seems that the candidates running are empty suits (or in Hillary's case empty pant-suits). John Edwards is the worst in this regard. An Edwards presidency would be as bad a Bush presidency. Admittedly, Edwards is definetly smatter on the intellectual side but their is no doubt in my mind that GW is a better politician. I'm glad the Edwards candidacy is nearly overly- his numbers are plummeting and I think he is about to fall out of the big three. We've all got to keep in mind that the numbers for democrats have been horrible. The 2006 elections weren't a big democratic victory- they were pretty standard results for the 6th year of an incumbent president iraq war or not. Harken back to before John Kerry and Al Gore squared off against the idiot GW- when dems were faced with the added burden of challenging republicans that weren't as stupid and ignoran- the dems couldn't crack 50% of the vote. Think Clinton. Think Dukakis. Think Mondale. Think Carter in 80. This country is going republican. If I had to bet I would bet a republican wins 52%-48 in 2008.

Bob Shrum's Book is a Knockout

Bob Shrum has written the best political book to come along in a long time. The stories, the drama, the tension is all there. Being a campaign consultant is a strange experience. A lot of time is spent flying around the country- thus much business is conducted on the campaign plane. Thus, Bob has lots of stories set on a plane. In the future I will elaborate on why this is such a great book- but suffice it to say that if you are interested in campaigns and elections this a book for you. Where have all the George McGovern's gone?

Jean Edward Smith's new biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt is Masterful

Rarely does a biography merit as much attention as Jean Edward Smith's new biography of FDR does. The prose is simple, clear, lucid and ultimately graceful as it propels the reader onward. Heading into the book my own feelings on FDR were mixed- but when Smith quoted Churchill as saying FDR was the "greatest man he had ever known," I knew I needed to re-evaluate the man. Like all biographers, Smith clearly gets a little too hagiographic about their subject matter - but- I couldn't help but think after reading this work that FDR was perhaps the best American politician to ever have lived. He knew how to delegate, he knew how to pick subordinates, he knew how to massage egos and finally his presence commanded attention despite his physical condition. This book is one of the best, smoothest flowing biograhies I have ever read. Highly recommended.