“I don’t want to be melodramatic but I do want to be truthful. I believe without a shadow of a doubt this is the last election. This is it. This is the last election... It’s a math problem of demographics and a changing United States. If you look at the numbers of people who vote ...read more

As a Brit I have always been confused by what Americans regard as 'right' and 'left'. Having followed politics closely in this country since the late 90's, I understand that in America Bill Clinton is considered liberal while George W. Bush is considered conservative.  In ...read more

Addendum added below In case you haven’t heard, Christian conservatives pose a greater threat to the United States than Islamic radicals such as members of the Islamic State. That’s the conclusion of C.J. Werleman, who previously argued that ISIS isn't motivated by Islam -- at ...read more

You might recall that certain faction of the GOP supports abolishing a menu of government departments and agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service. You might also recall how the GOP in general supports lower taxes and smaller government. And you might recall how Rep. ...read more

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is mercifully retiring from Congress in January after somehow being elected and reelected four times by the voters in Minnesota's sixth district. She is exiting the House just as she entered it: in a spectacular blaze of ingloriousness. On ...read more

If you thought Megyn Kelly's interview with Dick Cheney on Fox News last week was a fantastic example of a network host challenging a Republican icon, then you haven't seen today's clip of Fox News' Neil Cavuto just digging into Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) over Speaker John ...read more

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) appeared on CNN Thursday and complained that she's going to lose her insurance because of Obamacare. This has been part of the law since 2009 when, yes, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced an amendment mandating that members of Congress, along with ...read more

The tea party put on quite a show on Sunday. Billed as the "Million Veterans March," roughly 300 people turned out to hear Sarah Palin and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) deliver brief remarks about "the Obama shutdown," followed by a ceremonial gathering of government barricades from ...read more

"Your listeners, U.S. taxpayers, are now paying to give arms to terrorists including Al-Qaeda. This happened and as of today the United States is willingly, knowingly, intentionally sending arms to terrorists. Now what this says to me, I’m a believer in Jesus Christ, as I look ...read more

The debate over the government shutdown over Obamacare has provoked some pretty serious debate on these pages, with readers weighing in with their thoughts on the gigantic clusterfuck in Washington. We get some great insights from readers in the comments section here at the ...read more

"I think the reason is because President Obama can't wait to get Americans addicted to the crack cocaine of dependency on more government health care. Because, once they enroll millions of more individual Americans it will be virtually impossible for us to pull these benefits ...read more

In politics, it's often difficult to know whether someone is crazy or just behaving in a crazy way for career and financial reward. Are they crazy or are they deliberately saying crazy things as a means of pandering to crazy voters. There's a continuum for evaluating this ...read more

When the Republicans determined that ACORN had somehow helped President Obama win the 2008 presidential election, and following a heavily-doctored video prank by James O'Keefe and Andrew Breitbart, the Republicans began a legislative witch hunt that ended with the total ...read more

Step aside, Louie Gohmert and Michele Bachmann. I believe we have no choice but to crown the new chairperson of the House of Representatives' Crazy Caucus. Incidentally, the crown is more like the creepy wire mask worn by Hannibal Lecter. You know, to prevent spitting and ...read more

Bill Maher explains why Romney lost the election: Mitt Romney lost because of the Republican brand and Republican policies. There are other reasons, of course, like Mitt being unlovable to anyone not named Ann Romney, but nothing trumps the idea that 2/3rds of America thinks the ...read more

1. Look for Mitt Romney to attempt a 'game changer' during the debate. This could come in several forms - trying to look human, attacking Obama for his association with Rev. Wright (yes, really), or a revelation that he has black ancestry.... 2. How many times will President ...read more

By Bob Cesca: Something hilarious and weird happened yesterday. No sooner had I posted my column here about the Republican Medicare Scam, but Mitt Romney surrogate John Sununu returned to CNN, clipped on a microphone and shouted down Soledad O'Brien with the same ...read more

Mitt Romney's choice for his VP running mate really tells you all you need to know about the choice this year for the Presidency. Paul Ryan is about as far right as you can possibly get on the economic spectrum - a hardcore Ayn Rand ideologue who's policy proposals consist of ...read more

Welcome to this weeks edition of The Daily Banter Mail Bag where Bob, Ben, and Chez answer reader's questions on a variety of Banter worthy topics!! Today, we discuss John McCain's partial redemption, Romney's retroactive retirement, and Anthony Weiner's proposed comeback to ...read more

By Chez Pazienza: A few weeks back I banged out a column for this site that took issue with what I called the misguided, "pipe-dreamy idealism" of Aaron Sorkin's new HBO show, The Newsroom. After watching only the season premiere I didn't necessarily claim to know whether the ...read more

One of the memes I often have to repeat is, simply put, the Republican and conservative leadership routinely lies to its followers. I mean, outright lying on just about every issue. They tell their people that President Obama has doubled the deficit (he's reduced the deficit), ...read more

By Bob Cesca: I've made this confession before, but it bears repeating given the subsequent quote from Michele Bachmann. When I was in high school, I was a very serious Republican. In fact, I was the founding president of my high school's Republican club. In addition to that, I ...read more

By Ben Cohen: Last Friday one of our readers asked why the Republican party is so extreme. I answered in the mailbag that the financialization of the economy and  wealth inequality was one of the major factors behind the militancy seen in today's Republican party: I’d argue ...read more

In this weeks mailbag, we talk about the reasons behind the Republican Party's extremism, the implosion of Newt Gingrich and who we'd rather be stuck on a desert island with - Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin or Ann Coulter!! The questions: Why do you think the Republican Party ...read more

Alyona Minkovski interviews Rocky Anderson, the former Mayor of Salt Lake City who is running as a third party presidential candidate for the Justice Party: And while you might laugh about the viability of a third party candidate, Gary Younge of the Guardian reminds us that in ...read more

Every time I put aside an evening to watch the GOP debates, I find myself unable to muster the strength to sit through 90 minutes of one of the most embarassing spectacles in US political history. I must confess that I have only seen segments of some of the debates - all of ...read more

Chez Pazienza on the unfortunate reality Herman Cain is now facing: A gaffe-prone black guy won't win the GOP nomination if there's an equally conservative gaffe-prone white guy to get behind. And a cartoonish pizza salesman with zero governmental experience who in the span ...read more

According to a Quinnipiac poll, Obama is now matching up rather nicely against the current GOP field: 47 - 42 percent over Romney, compared to a 46 - 42 percent Romney lead October 5; 52 - 36 percent over Perry, up from a 45 - 44 percent tie last month; 50 - 40 percent over ...read more

Image via Wikipedia Paul Krugman compares the Right's nonsensical arguments against global warming and economic inequality: Think about climate change. You have various right-wingers simultaneously (a) denying that global warming is happening (b) denying that anyone denies ...read more

Seriously: The notion that a poorly funded nationalist movement in Lebanon whose stated aim is to reclaim land stolen by Israel would attack the world's largest super power through a desperately impoverished island nation is, quite simply, insane. Unfortunately, this is US ...read more

Well known scientist and HPV expert Michele Bachmann told the Today Breakfast Show yesterday that: I had a mother last night come up to me here in Tampa after the debate. She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental ...read more

Image by david_shankbone via Flickr There are many people who believe Obama is in deep trouble when it comes to the 2012 election. They point to his low approval ratings, a tanking economy and an inability to get anything serious past the Republican congress. While this is ...read more

A Tea Party member left the following rant on one of Chez Pazienza's pieces about the lunacy of GOP economics (a piece well worth reading by way): One common thread seen in liberal blogs is confusion and rage. I felt that way too in my twenties when I had no idea how the ...read more

In the ever splintering cultural landscape of American politics, politicians believe it is their right not to talk to press they don't like or answer questions they find difficult. Sarah Palin essentially set the precedent for this behavior after joining McCain on the Republican ...read more

The trench warfare between Democrats and Republicans in Washington occurs over a very small piece of land, and the Democrats have been retreating off of it for about 30 years. Little by little, the Democrats have ceased to represent working people and now only offer up tidbits ...read more

I have been highly critical of Obama's Presidency on a variety of issues, mostly out of frustration with his negotiation tactics and not his general politics. On far too many issues Obama has staked out a centrist position then allowed the Republicans to pull him further and ...read more

Set aside a portion of your day to read Matt Taibbi's hilarious and frightening piece on the GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann. Money quote: Bachmann is a religious zealot whose brain is a raging electrical storm of divine visions and paranoid delusions. She ...read more

Chris Hedges on the abysmal treatment of Muslim Americans post 9/11: We no longer have freedom; there is only the appearance of freedom. We are consumed by an endless and vague war on terror in which the perfidiousness of our enemy, whose number, location and nature are never ...read more