Yesterday was a remarkable day. It was terrible to see rioters storming the Capitol, interrupting democratic processes. It was horrifying to hear there was loss of life, and injuries. It was eerie when a curfew was put in place in our town, a few miles across the river from the District. But it was also…
e voted yesterday, along with everyone else, but I did not stay up to watch the returns come in. I can’t stand the overly-hyped coverage on TV these days. Plus, the fact of the matter is that either way the election went would have affected me, personally, very little. That said, I do have a…
cannot wait until this election is over. We live in a swing-state (Virginia) and both parties have launched on all-out assault on voters. It’s not just getting out to vote, naturally, it’s getting out to vote for them. We probably received 30 calls this weekend–no exaggeration–from various politicians, parties and PACs, reminding us to vote, and…
I am just catching up on some debate-related news. I know–I am days behind. I lead a busy life, what can I say. I caught Mitt Romney’s comments on PBS and Big Bird and it got me thinking about cute animals and politics. Despite the notion that most Americans are issue-voters, it seems to me…
The transcript goes something like this: ME: Hello? CALLER: Hello, Mr. Rubin, this is [name redacted] from the [political organization redacted]. As I’m sure you know this is a tough election year and–“ ME: Let me stop you right there. I’m not taking calls from political campaigns. CALLER: I understand, Mr. Rubin, and I won’t…
Over the last few years, the bickering in Congress has pretty much ruined politics for me. Not long ago, I got a call from the Democratic fund-raising machinery asking me for money. I’ve given them money in the past, but I refused to do it this time. When asked why, I told them that I…
At this point, I’d be happy to trade in my $1,000 tax break for a new Congress. One that, you know, has something resembling a spine running down its back and guts that aren’t quite so yellow. One that makes it clear they do what’s best for the people and not what’s best for the…
I remember a graph from my political science days which had security on one axis (low to high) and freedom on the other (low to high). As security increases, freedoms necessarily decrease and vice versa. I was thinking of this as I read that President Obama will sign the Levin/McCain detention bill into law. This…
So I voted, despite being utterly fed up with the current state of politics and politicians in the country. I would have felt guilty if I hadn’t voted. But the truth it, I completely forgot it was an election day, until I saw the tweets start coming in on Twitter this morning. That’s how much…
With everything going on in the world right now, I think we need a national Rosie’s Bar day. What is a “Rosie’s Bar day”? It comes from the M*A*S*H episode “A Night at Rosie’s.” Hawkeye decides to quit the war and goes to Rosie’s bar for a drink. Colonel Potter sends someone off to find…
I saw late last night that a deal was reached on the debt ceiling. I’m not particularly relieved by this deal, nor do I think the people involved deserve applause for getting this deal done. It should have been done a long time ago without the petty bickering and childishness that took place over the…