Checking In After An Unexpected Vacation

Phew, kittens. Without going into a heck of a lot of detail, I did not plan on being silent for this long, but between the stress of starting a new class, very little going on in Washington for a while due to the massive snowstorms, and a malfunctioning fan that incapacitated my intrepid laptop, I ended up taking a hiatus that was completely unplanned.

Looking at what I’d like to post about next, I’m torn between two concepts I’d like to explain – the filibuster and socialism. Both are getting a lot of play by word-of-mouth lately in the news, and both are things I think warrant explanation, but we’ve got to start somewhere so I can collect research and start writing. Which confuses you more? Let me know so we can get back in the swing of things. And if there’s something you’re feeling baffled on besides these two subjects, let me know, as always, in the comments.

One day, I’ll get my act together, I swear.

Bring it On: The Obama Edition (Now Extra Wordy!)

On Wednesday morning, the Democrats were losing.

Never mind that they had massive majorities in both the House and Senate, as well as the presidency, they were losing. (And if anyone could figure out how to turn that situation into “losing”, let’s face it, it’d be the Democrats.)  Legislatively, this year’s been pretty dead – none of the massive change Obama had promised. All of the bills Obama supported would pass through the House to die in the Senate.  While it was true that for most of the year Democrats had a filibuster-proof majority in technicality, the reality was that the Democrats had so many diverse interests (this is called being a “big tent party”) that getting all sixty of them to agree was nearly impossible, and when they did, it was usually so watered-down in the hopes of getting the Republicans to sign on that the House and the court of public opinion would give it the big thumbs down. That is, if the Senate ever voted on it. Which they almost never did. All in all, this served to hold Democrats hostage to their own conservatives and the Republicans and make them look weak and ineffectual, and this reflected extremely poorly on the president. And then when Scott Brown got elected in Massachusetts, thus breaking the 2/3 Senate majority, everyone threw up their hands and went, “well, the Democrats are fucked”.

But what they forgot is that Barack Obama is a jedi master. Or, I suppose if you don’t like him, a sith lord. I don’t judge, I only judge if you’re not awesome enough to know what I’m referring to.

Rocking the Vote – Beantown Style

So remember how Ted Kennedy died? Well today in Massachusetts (ie: the most impossible state to spell in the union) is holding a special election to re-fill the late senator’s seat, and it’s close between Republican candidate Scott Brown and Democrat Martha Coakley.

To be quite honest, neither are dreamy candidates. Scott Brown posed naked for Cosmo in the 1980′s (google if you don’t believe me, and don’t say I didn’t warn you), said on television that Obama was a bastard born out of wedlock, has done some things as a state senator that weren’t very popular, and is kind of  a douchebag. Martha Coakley has the charisma of a wet paper towel used to clean the grimy build-up in your sink, said Kurt Schilling was a Yankees fan (gasp! If you don’t get how this is  a big deal to Bostoners, trust me – it’s a big deal), and has done some things as a state Attorney General that were not popular, and is kind of  a douchebag. Scott Brown astro-turfed and brought in all of his supporters from out of state to make his campaign seem like a giant groundswell. Martha Coakley went to special interests groups and lobbyists. They’re a real winning pair, the two of them.

But this is a big vote for both parties, because if Scott Brown wins, that ends the Democratic super majority in the Senate, which means the Republicans can (and probably will) delay the crap out of the nearly-finished health care bill (which, ironically, was Ted Kennedy’s life’s work)  and whatever else President Obama chooses to do in the future.

Honestly, what it comes down to is a simple, partisan vote, since it’s hard to vote for the better person. If you’re a liberal or a Democrat, vote for Coakley. She’ll get what you want done. If you’re a conservative or Republican, vote for Scott Brown. He’ll get what you want done. Either way, I know a lot of my American readership is Massachusetts-based, so brave that crappy weather outside, get to your polling stations, and cast yourself a vote. IF you don’tdo it for me, do it for that little otter voting for herring. Just look how cute he is. If you vote, you’ll be that cute too! I think that’s incentive enough for anyone.

Extra Reading for Voters: 7 Things At Stake In Massachusetts Senate Race (via NPR)

Just The Facts, Ma’am – A Comment from Your Editor

An edi-what? Opinions on this website? I know, I know, I promised myself (and you) not to insert my stance and remain as non-partisan as possible. I’m pretty sure, however, that I’m failing.

In theory, my job should not be terribly difficult. There are facts that cannot be contested because they happened. Opinions may differ, but the facts are what they are. When I started this blog, I had a starry-eyed ideal that if only people knew the facts of the matter and then were presented with the arguments for each side, they would form their own opinions and become better-informed voters and citizens. All I had to do was spell it out and point people in the directions their little political hearts took them! And, in a world where both sides adhered to the facts, this would totally work.

Sadly, we do not.

Jon Stewart Strikes Again (This Time: Yemen!)

Why do I bother explaining things to you guys when Jon Stewart always explains it on his show in a far superior manner the night after I post? Here. Learn everything you never wanted to know about Yemen.

more about “Terror 2.0 by Yemen – Sad Libs“, posted with vodpod

Great Balls of Fire! Christmas Bombers, Yemen, and (Almost) Everything Else We Missed

Yeah, yeah, I stole that headline from the New York Post (you guys stay classy!), but I just came back from holiday break. My brain’s a little slow, and I’ve got to clear up this whole thing with a guy named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who tried to use his underwear to blow up a plane.  (Get the great balls of fire joke now? Yeah, you laughed. Come on.) All I expected was to talk about Afghanistan and catch you all up on Peeps You Should Know Around Washington (segment name pending). And now this? This? Really, universe? Explosive underwear? Fine. Let’s go over the basics with Jon Stewart:

more about “Terror 2.0 by Yemen“, posted with vodpod

Afghanistan: The Need-to-Know Information

It’s a sad statement when I’m excited to have four people vote in a poll but dammit, I totally was stoked, you guys! That’s like mass participation around here!

Three out of the four of you asked for an explanation of Obama’s Afghanistan policy, which I will be happy to review for you next post. But first, I thought it would be helpful to perhaps answer some basic questions on Afghanistan, primer-style, before examining the pros and cons of what we’re doing right now. That’s how we roll – basic-style.

Getting Back in Business

Well, we’re not dead!

There were a few problems here at CfS HQ. First it was Thanksgiving,  so news was slow anyways, and then that weekend  my laptop charger died, which took a week to replace, and then the week after that I had to catch up on, you know, my real job. (Unforgivable, I know!)

As is my usual policy with planned or unplanned hiatuses, I tend not to go back in time and try to make up for what I miss, otherwise my brain tends to be in danger of exploding, but if there’s anything anyone’s desperately curious about, voice your opinion via this poll, which WordPress will not let me embed.

Giving A Post the Colbert Bump

Well what do you know, I post something and a few hours later Stephen Colbert is on my television talking about it. Is it too early to coin the phrase “giving it the Civics for Slackers bump”?

…Nah.

When Slow News Becomes No News Becomes Stupid News

There is a conundrum in our 24/7  news and blog world, and it is this – sometimes nothing actually is going on.

On one hand, this is a good thing, because often time when people say that there’s “news”, they mean “something bad has happened and people are going to get angry”, not “we just found a hidden stockpile of adorable puppies!” (It also gives me time to answer any burning political questions you readers may have. So readers – write in if you’ve got them! I need something to explain, already.)

On the other hand, it’s a bad thing for news networks, who will scramble to make anything into a story, and when news networks scramble, it is bad for our nation’s sanity.

Let’s take, for instance, President Obama’s trip to Asia. So far it’s been pretty low-key. He’s visited a fair number of nations, given some speeches, and generally behaved as most well-behaved politicians would, and everyone is being very cordial and getting along. And then this picture came out of President Obama when he was visiting Emperor Akihito of Japan this weekend.

Photo Credit: AFP

OH. HALE. NO.