tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7121168087734744782024-03-05T12:38:54.477-05:00Between the ColumnsBecause a New Era of Politics requires a <br>
New View on PoliticsJon a.k.a. "Our Karl Rove"http://www.blogger.com/profile/07897027916290412548noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-71128239413330827352020-03-09T15:56:00.000-04:002020-03-09T16:14:11.452-04:00Who is Most Likely to Beat Trump in 2020 - Biden or Bernie?
Super Tuesday has come and gone, and Democrats are now at a crossroads.
There's Joe Biden, the 77-year old lifelong Senator, two-term Vice President, and three-time Democratic candidate for President who, until February 29, 2020, had never won a single presidential primary or caucus. Why? Well, let's just say he's had some challenges communicating this ideas effectively. He's considered the "Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-60642124826760103402017-01-19T22:06:00.001-05:002017-01-19T22:07:19.783-05:00It's the End of the World as We Know It, and I Feel Fine
Donald Trump: Political wrecking ball? Or Presidential innovator?
Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/donkeyhotey/
On January 20, 2017, Donald J Trump will be inaugurated as President of the United States. This very fact has about half the country in hysterics. This reaction is understandable -- Trump represents a substantial shift not just in policy, but in soul.
It's the soul bit that Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-44183950071843158652016-11-19T13:53:00.002-05:002016-11-19T13:53:44.358-05:00Donald Trump Won: Here are the Five Things You Need to Know
Since the presidential election that led to Donald Trump's victory, we've learned that Democrats are apoplectic, establishment Republicans are aghast (but slowly coming around to their new party leader), and millions of Americans are elated that someone from outside the political establishment is going to shake up a broken political system, one way or another.
The mainstream mediaJonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-31124118921852813382016-07-22T16:23:00.002-04:002016-07-22T16:49:34.949-04:00OMG, Donald Trump Thinks He's Batman
Why is the Batman franchise so successful? It tells a compelling story of individual heroism versus systemic and environmental evil. The story is told on a backdrop of American society that is bleak, dark and grim; ripe with corruption in law enforcement and general malaise. If you looked at any big, modern American city through a strictly cynical lens, you could see Gotham City.
The Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-59674424609724812302016-06-25T13:57:00.002-04:002016-06-25T15:20:57.004-04:00Dear David Cameron: Be a Leader, Not a Quitter
Dear David Cameron,
While it's true that Thursday didn't go so well (and let's be honest, Friday went even worse by most things that are measurable), it was very clear from the outset that you've been dealing with this crisis as a dyed-in-the-wool Brit.
From the American point of view, this is meant to be a back-handed compliment.
You gracefully fell on your sword by Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-3688905157148077362016-06-17T21:36:00.002-04:002016-06-17T21:48:34.512-04:00Yeah, About That Second Amendment
The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
While there have been countless debates, tests and judgments that have defined and re-defined how to interpret this amendment, the current prevailing interpretation and belief Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-59310021421108845762016-06-11T14:37:00.001-04:002016-06-11T15:26:30.793-04:00No, Donald Trump Isn't a Racist
Contrary to popular belief, Donald Trump is not a racist. According to Google, the definition of racist is "a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another."
Trump's charge that Judge Curiel cannot fairly adjudicate the Trump University lawsuit is based on his belief that Curiel's Mexican heritage creates a natural bias against a presidential candidate Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-84372856712362562962016-05-13T18:49:00.001-04:002016-05-14T11:44:38.954-04:00Could The Transgender Bathroom Debacle Been Avoided?
Shocks And Aftershocks Rock Politics
The latest shot across the bow in the transgender bathroom access debate was the Obama administration telling schools and colleges nationwide that they must allow transgender students access to bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. This action, while in line with evolving social justice mores, doesn't appear to take into consideration Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-4398995523580637142016-05-06T16:51:00.001-04:002016-05-06T17:49:20.837-04:00No, That Anti-Trump Ad Is Not Brutal
Donald Gets Campaigns. Does Hillary?
Mother Jones recently posted an article entitled "Clinton Releases a Brutal Anti-Trump Ad." Take a look:
I can just imagine the ear-to-ear grins in the Clinton camp when they saw the Mother Jones headline, thinking, "yeah, we nailed it."
The problem, for Mother Jones and the Clinton campaign, is that the ad isn't the slightest bit brutal. Sure, Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-83146946520310129552016-04-22T14:52:00.000-04:002016-04-22T14:52:59.102-04:00Yes, the primaries are rigged, but they can be rigged better
Swing States, USA
There has been much scuttlebutt this election season about how the primary process isn't democratic enough and how it's "rigged" to benefit establishment figures over insurgents. Here's the hard truth:
Primaries are rigged by design.
They are setup this way because the only objective of a political party is to have their nominee win the national election, Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-27510209339726365012016-04-18T13:19:00.001-04:002016-04-18T13:48:55.192-04:00New York Democrats: Why You Should/Shouldn't Vote for Bernie Sanders
source: Donkey Hotey
New York Democrats,
You are in the enviable position to help determine the trajectory of the Democratic nomination process (Trump appears to have the Republican race in NY locked-up, so no drama there). If Bernie wins, he gains significant momentum and energy, even if he still doesn't have the math to technically win enough delegates. But momentum and energy do matter, Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-75569426846500243312016-04-04T16:51:00.000-04:002016-04-05T23:11:36.493-04:00The 2016 election: Why it's so different
The 2016 election cycle in America has been unique, even by American standards. We are all witnessing the fascinating results of this unique political dynamic: a 74-year-old democratic socialist that is killing it with young voters, and a 69-year-old nationalist "billionaire" who poor and under-educated people trust to represent them the best in Washington.
Further, while Bernie Sanders and Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-17731979353435644202016-03-26T20:58:00.006-04:002016-03-26T21:00:01.307-04:00With Donald Trump, deal-making drives policy
In The Trump Diagnostic, I determined that deal-making is at the core of Donald Trump's value system. Unlike most candidates running for public office, Donald Trump doesn't have a political ideology that translates into policy; rather, it's a deal-making ideology that translates into policy.
In a recent interview he gave at the New York Times, Trump solidified just how much deal-making is at Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-14326296727210992822016-03-17T20:42:00.000-04:002016-03-18T15:01:46.349-04:00The Trump Diagnostic"Trump is a bully!" "Trump is an outsider" "Trump is an authoritarian!" "Trump can't be bought and sold!" "Trump is a racist!" "Trump is authentic!" "Trump is a con artist!" "Trump is Hitler!"
There is no shortage of blistering critiques and hopeful opinions of Donald Trump as a presidential
candidate. But what there is a shortage of is a diagnostic of Trump Dynamics - analyzingJonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-50569654858938400412015-07-26T20:15:00.000-04:002015-07-26T20:15:32.917-04:00Donald Trump is a Mushy ModerateAnyone who has seen Trump's "The Apprentice" should already know what I know: That, despite his bloviating and general lack of language discipline (intentional or not), he is in his heart a reasonable business guy. Yes, he prefers to make big, bold, and often controversial proclamations to make his point clear -- and to create a power advantage in negotiations. And, yes, when he's Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-61976523913123208432015-07-20T18:06:00.000-04:002015-07-20T19:59:50.550-04:00The Iran Deal Controversy is About the DoctrineThe heated debate ensuing around the Iran nuclear arms deal is partially about party distrust (with Republicans reflexively not trusting Democrats with foreign policy negotiations), but the more thoughtful and reasonable minds that disagree appear to disagree not on the deal itself, but the fact that there would be a deal at all.
The debate appears to be carved into the etchings of either Obama Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-4456383989808836472015-06-14T16:12:00.002-04:002015-06-17T10:20:35.237-04:00Off to the Races
The 2016 Presidential Race is just starting to heat up, in the heat of early Summer of 2015 (heck, technically, it's still Spring). It goes without saying that when Capitalism becomes the religion of a nation (and of the High Court), markets and the multitude of industries that benefit are going to push to expand the multi-billion dollar enterprise of elections as much as possible.
EveryJonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-76271406060040681372013-09-01T14:41:00.000-04:002013-09-02T09:12:44.893-04:00Attacking Syria: President Obama Strikes the Right PosePresident Obama has appeared to be weak-kneed in a lot of ways, but one could make the argument that he has been a forward-leaning and assertive foreign policy President, following - ironically - in his predecessor's footsteps. Examples of his foreign policy assertiveness include his doubling-down on Afghanistan, his push to overturn Gadaffi in Lybia, and of course his independent, personal Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-56388433446891969682012-10-17T09:29:00.001-04:002012-10-18T10:05:31.441-04:00It's Time to Give Fact Checking a Front Row Seat in PoliticsOn the heels of the second Presidential debate, I was fairly pleased by how I -- a fairly informed voter -- watched the entire debate and only a precious few times felt that something being said wasn't completely true.
And then I saw the FactCheck.org report:
Obama challenged Romney to “get the transcript” when Romney
questioned the president’s claim to have spoken of an “act of terror”
Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-7360892154229720422012-10-09T11:18:00.000-04:002012-10-09T11:18:13.113-04:00Selective AmnesiaFor those of us who tend to follow and care about political discourse, it may seem bizarre and depressing how quickly people can forget lessons we've learned as a society. Progressives face-palm whenever they hear Conservatives complain about too many regulations, and Conservatives cringe when they hear Progressives talk about providing additional services to the poor and needy.
Before we Jon a.k.a. "Our Karl Rove"http://www.blogger.com/profile/07897027916290412548noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-19605655375065800802012-09-21T14:16:00.000-04:002012-09-22T10:33:47.646-04:00Flights of FantasyAs I listen closely to the arguments being made by the two major candidates for the Presidential election this fall, I'm hearing two very distinct visions for how America can "get back to work:"
Increase taxes on the richest Americans (i.e., increasing revenue)
Reducing taxes on all Americans and businesses (i.e., freeing up money for investment)
Neither of these visions come close to resolvingJonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-80975007007924050012012-08-28T17:28:00.001-04:002012-08-28T17:28:06.528-04:00Fighting for the PastIn thinking about all the issues swirling around our national political discussion (yes, discussion is a generous term), I think I've stumbled upon one of the root causes of our collective inability to work together across political divides, and to increasingly distrust each others' political perspectives:
The direction we're fighting over.
Over time, as America has come off it's "high" of Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-70630192664303794772012-04-04T20:10:00.000-04:002012-04-04T20:10:33.992-04:00On Defending the Individual Mandate: Why getting to the meat of the issue is categorically the wrong approach to the argumentWhile much discussion and hang-wringing has ensued after hearing Solicitor General Veriilli's lacking performance in defending the individual mandate to the Supreme Court, a far deeper issue lurks beneath these arguments that needs to be discussed and resolved. There seems to be an orientation and approach to arguing cases like this, where at least a part of the argument is based on Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-32161564434010204742012-03-21T17:16:00.000-04:002012-03-21T17:16:06.229-04:00A Problem for "Progressives"A recent NPR article What Americans Do for Work outlines a troubling trend for "Progressives" and a "told ya so" moment for Conservatives. Over the past 40 years, the shift of employment has moved from making things to governing things. Meaning, government workers are now the highest percentage of workers in America.
Now, there are plenty of caveats that ensures this is not Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07623614052620183865noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-712116808773474478.post-39665376480420424242010-03-21T23:17:00.007-04:002010-03-22T15:36:08.054-04:00Democrats usher in new era of freedom and security (at the expense of constitutionality?)Note: As you read this, you may be tempted to call me partisan or left-leaning. However I respectfully ask you to withhold the urge to slot me into a simple political perspective as you read through this. This analysis is my best attempt to look at the health care reform bill on the merits and demerits, with my personal bias towards proactive problem solving, as well as my bias for Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05811046697755785750noreply@blogger.com0