-
Search
-
Sign Up
-
More About John
FAVORITE MOVIES FAVORITE ALBUMS FAVORITE BOOKS SPEECHES -
My Columns
-
My Videos
-
Published Articles
Category Archives: Columns
Strengthening Job Market Lifts Economy, Obama’s Reelection Hopes – The Daily Beast
The U.S. economy is showing new signs of growth—and that’s great news for the country as well as President Obama’s reelection effort. Friday morning, it was announced that the economy added 200,000 jobs in December, lowering the unemployment rate to … Continue reading
Posted in Columns
Tagged 2012 Elections, Elections, President Obama, The Daily Beast
Leave a comment
Rick Santorum’s One Good Idea: No Corporate Taxes for U.S. Manufacturers – The Daily Beast
There’s a lot not to like about Rick Santorum on the social-issues front. He’s an anti-abortion absolutist, no fan of gay rights, and possesses politics so influenced by faith that even contraception remains controversial in his mind. But Rick Santorum … Continue reading
After Iowa, Can Mitt Romney Regain the Momentum? – The Daily Beast
Santorum and Romney. David and Goliath. Behind the virtual tie in Iowa—technically an eight-vote win for Romney—was a moral victory for Rick Santorum, surging from the back of the back despite being dramatically outspent by Mitt Romney. Now Iowa is … Continue reading
Youngstown Rocks: Is Fracking Causing Earthquakes in Ohio? – The Daily Beast
Youngstown, Ohio, had its 11th earthquake since St. Patrick’s Day on New Year’s Eve—a magnitude-4.0 on the Richter Scale, the highest to date. My wife and I were in town visiting my 96-year-old grandmother and felt the mid-afternoon rattle shake … Continue reading
Iowa Caucus — Myths and Reality – CNN
It has become a great American tradition, an act of small-town civics, an example of direct democracy in action where citizens get to meet presidential candidates multiple times. But it is also an overhyped media circus, which helps give Iowa … Continue reading
Celebrity Gossip Is Making Us Stupid – The Daily Beast
Bread and circuses were what Romans leaders used to subdue citizens for hundreds of years before their civilization’s fall. We have celebrity gossip. It is greedily consumed and takes on the dimensions of real news – banner headlines, magazine covers … Continue reading
Mitt Romney’s Humor Problem – CNN.com
“I live for laughter,” said Mitt Romney, unconvincingly. But there’s no question that highlighting Mitt’s alleged inner jokester is a now part of Team Romney’s charm offensive, designed to humanize their sometimes robotic candidate. This effort extends beyond the surgical … Continue reading
How Occupy Wall Street Flashed New York Back to 9/11 – The Daily Beast
Ten years ago, the streets of lower Manhattan were blocked off by barricades. The fires at Ground Zero were still burning. Streets were closed, guarded by police, as the recovery of body parts and cleaning up of ash from the … Continue reading
How Ballot Access Laws Hurt Voters – CNN.com
Only two Republican presidential candidates will appear on the ballot in Virginia next year, regardless of how many are in the race. Mitt Romney and Ron Paul will have the Dominion State all to themselves. Supporters of Newt Gingrich, Rick … Continue reading
Sen. Ben Nelson’s Retirement Signals Twilight of Blue Dog Democrats – The Daily Beast
The Blue Dog pack is thinning. Centrist Democrats saw their ranks cut in half after the 2010 midterm elections. Now, with Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson’s announcement that he will not seek reelection, an endangered species warning is appropriate. This is … Continue reading
Why Trump Can’t Run as an Independent – CNN.com
Among the political threats wielded by Donald Trump in his carnival barker quest for the presidency is that if denied the Republican nomination, he would run as an independent. As an independent myself, I usually cheer the prospect of any … Continue reading
The Postal Service Is Fighting for Its Life and Should Be Saved – The Daily Beast
A crowded post office is part of the scenery of the season-–long lines, arms full of packaged presents, spare Christmas decorations hanging under the humming lights.
Hey Ted Nugent: You’re No Rosa Parks – The Daily Beast
Honoring Rosa Parks is important, but when you cross over into comparing yourself with her, it’s time for a reality check. Strangely, this has become a particular twitch on the far right—folks who couldn’t be getting their history more wrong. … Continue reading
Posted in Columns
Leave a comment
Romney Embraces Center-Right Record as Gingrich Firms Up Conservative Cred – The Daily Beast
Mitt Romney’s strange tack in the final Iowa debate was to speak to a New Hampshire and national audience. For perhaps the first time in this campaign, he unapologetically framed his Massachusetts record as a center-right leader who could achieve … Continue reading
GOP, it’s time to give Huntsman another look – CNN.com
The “conservagencia” is starting to give Jon Huntsman a second look. He deserves it. But the stirrings of respect may be too little, too late. Too bad, because he might stand the best chance of beating President Barack Obama. RINO … Continue reading
Why Obama is listening to Teddy Roosevelt for 2012 – CNN.com
The town of Osawatomie, Kansas, was chosen as the location of a major speech Tuesday framing the 2012 election as”a make-or-break moment for the middle class,” what the president described as “the defining issue of our time.”
GOP Would Have Had Better Shot in 2012 With Center-Right Pols Like Christie – The Daily Beast
Imagine them all clustered in a roadhouse, having a beer around sunset, shaking their heads over the lost opportunity. There on the bench are Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, and my former boss, Rudy Giuliani. On TV … Continue reading
The GOP’s Supercommittee Backlash – The Daily Beast
Congressmen coming back from Thanksgiving break are hoping that a seasonal spirit of forgiveness—or the lingering effects of a food coma—will erase the supercommittee’s stain of failure. It won’t. There will be an enduring political price to pay for last … Continue reading
Michele Bachmann Fumbles the Facts – CNN.com
There’s an old saying that a lie can go halfway around the world while the truth is putting its boots on — and in politics, a steady drumbeat of misinformation and mischaracterization can too often shape the national debate. So … Continue reading
GOP Rivals Need to Get Real on Foreign Policy – CNN.com
“It would be an irony of fate if my administration had to deal chiefly with foreign problems,” said Woodrow Wilson during his presidential campaign 100 years ago. World War I soon intruded on his plans — and international conflicts have … Continue reading