With the media focused on a presidential election that is now five months away, any jobs data is going to be viewed from the standpoint of its possible impact on the campaigns. Today’s dismal report that only 69,000 jobs were created last month, with jobs data for the last two months revised downward and the [...]
Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Bad Weather On The Jobs Front
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, Joblessness, Mitt Romney, Politics, President Obama, The Economy, Unemployment on June 1, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Drip, Drip, Drip
Posted in Politics, America, tagged Politics, America, race, Race in America, United States Senate, Massachusetts, Native Americans, Elizabeth Warren, Cherokee, Public Relations on May 31, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Any public relations professional worth her salt will tell you: when you are dealing with an unfavorable news story — one that you know is going to have a negative impact — the best approach is to get ahead of the story, get all of the information out, and at least avoid the possibility that [...]
None Of The Above
Posted in America, Politics, tagged 2012 Election, America, Democratic primaries, Democrats, John Wolfe, Keith Judd, None Of The Above, Politics, President Obama, Protest votes on May 23, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
What are we to make of the recent Democratic primary results, in which unknown candidates — including a current prison inmate — have managed to secure 40 percent or more of the vote in races against President Obama? In the West Virginia Democratic primary, a Texas convict named Keith Judd won 41 percent of the [...]
My Thoughts On “The Age Of Innocence”
Posted in America, Politics, World, tagged America, David Brooks, Europe, John F. Kennedy, Kennedy Inaugural Address, News media, Newspaper columnists, newspapers, Politics, The Age of Innocence, World on May 20, 2012 | 3 Comments »
David Brooks’ column The Age of Innocence is interesting, both for what it says and for what it means. What it says is that the American political system is broken. What it means is that even a columnist at one of the most powerful newspapers in the world lacks the gumption to make his point [...]
Answering Andrew’s Request
Posted in Blogging, Family, Politics, tagged Blogging, David Brooks, Family, New York Times, Politics on May 20, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Our bright and gifted nephew and godson, Andrew, put up a Facebook post stating that the David Brooks’ column The Age of Innocence in the New York Times was “great fodder for Webner House.” I agree. In fact, I’d like to try a kind of experiment with Andrew’s suggestion that we really haven’t done before [...]
Masters Of The Obvious
Posted in America, Humor, Politics, tagged America, Gallup, Humor, News, Politics, polls on May 17, 2012 | 1 Comment »
If you’ve watched many TV “news” shows lately, you know they don’t really report much traditional news anymore. You don’t see footage of reporters on the scene interviewing witnesses or the newsmakers themselves. Instead, you see a suit in a studio, discussing the “news” with a suit in another studio. Virtually everything is filtered through [...]
California On The Brink
Posted in America, Politics, tagged America, California, Chris Christie, Jerry Brown, New Jersey, Politics, State Budgets on May 15, 2012 | 1 Comment »
California is teetering on the precipice. Yesterday Governor Jerry Brown said the state is facing a $16 billion budget deficit. He proposed some spending cuts to make up the shortfall and asked voters to vote to raise taxes, “temporarily.” If I were a California voter, I’d be a bit skeptical of Brown’s budget figures. He [...]
Ron Gone
Posted in America, Humor, Politics, tagged 2012 Republican presidential race, America, Borders, Doggerel, Federal Reserve, Gold, Humor, Mitt Romney, Poetry, Politics, Ron Paul, Washington on May 14, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Texas Congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has announced that he won’t be spending resources to contest Republican primaries in any states that haven’t yet voted. It’s just another reason why Mitt Romney is now described as the “presumptive” Republican nominee. Paul always seemed like somebody’s batty uncle. Now that he’s called a kind [...]
Mitt’s High School Days
Posted in America, Growing Up, Politics, tagged America, Cranbrook School, Dogmeat, Growing Up, High School, Mitt Romney, Politics, President Obama on May 11, 2012 | 2 Comments »
The news media is now reporting on Mitt Romney’s high school days. The lead is about a 1965 incident where Romney allegedly led a pack of Cranbrook School students who tackled a new, long-haired student and forcibly cut his hair. Romney says he doesn’t recall the incident, but has apologized nevertheless. We should all follow [...]
In Favor Of “Flip-Floppers”
Posted in Politics, America, tagged Politics, America, President Obama, gay marriage, President Lincoln, Mitt Romney, Abraham Lincoln, Same-Sex Marriage, Emancipation Proclamation, Flip-Flopping on May 9, 2012 | 6 Comments »
Today President Obama announced that he has changed his mind about gay marriage and now favors it. Opponents of the move called him a “flip-flopper.” Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney has modified his position on certain issues over the years. He’s been criticized as a “flip-flopper,” too. I don’t get the “flip-flopper” criticism. I think [...]
Firing The Lugar
Posted in America, Politics, tagged America, Indiana, Politics, President Carter, Republicans, Richard Lugar, Richard Mourdock, United States Senate on May 8, 2012 | 3 Comments »
In our neighboring state to the west, Indiana voters have decided that Senator Richard Lugar has served long enough. The networks are calling his primary race and have concluded that he will lose to fellow Republican Richard Mourdock. I don’t blame Indiana voters for giving the 80-year-old Lugar the boot. He has served in the [...]
Teetering On The Brink, And Stuck In The Mud
Posted in America, Politics, The Economy, tagged America, Mitt Romney, political campaigns, Politics, President Obama, The Economy, Unemployment, Voters on May 4, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Today the April unemployment report is released. It probably will be read more closely in the lobbying offices on K Street than in the trading pits on Wall Street. Americans vote with their pocketbooks. For all the recent talk about Mitt Romney’s roof transportation of a family pet years ago, President Obama eating dog meat [...]
The Uncomfortable, Untenable Weirdness of Discussing A Candidate’s Self-Identified Minority Status
Posted in America, Politics, tagged America, Cherokee, Elizabeth Warren, Native Americans, Nazi Germany, Politics, race, Race in America, Race in politics, Scott Brown on May 2, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
The race for U.S. Senate has taken a weird turn in Massachusetts. It’s making me very uncomfortable, and I bet I’m not alone in my reaction. The Democratic candidate is Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor. At times in the past, she identified herself as a minority in a directory of law school professors, and [...]
Wasting Tax Dollars — High-Speed Edition
Posted in America, Politics, tagged America, Capitalism, DesertXpress, Government spending, High-Speed Rail, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Politics on April 30, 2012 | 2 Comments »
They’re talking about building a high-speed rail connection between Las Vegas and Victorville, California. Of course, they’ve been talking about that idea for years. The difference now is that our government is seriously considering making a $4.9 billion loan — that’s billion — to help finance the project. Amazing, isn’t it, that after the disastrous [...]
