Politics
Susan Sarandon Sics Her Twitter Bullies on a Black Female Activist
The worst members of the Purity Left love insisting that they're being victimized (see: the Nina Turner donut incident) and then deny all wrongdoing when they're caught releasing the hounds on anyone who calls them out for exactly who they are. This happened yesterday when ...read more
MEMBERS ONLY: The Fascism of Stephen Miller
Benjamin Zuskin couldn't sleep. The year was 1952, and as a former member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee in Moscow, he knew that Stalin could come for him at any moment... To continue reading this article, please go here. A Banter Membership gets you access to the magazine ...read more
The Left Needs to Acknowledge Its Sexism, Part Two: Kamala Harris Edition
Note: the following is the second in an ongoing series about the sexism problem on the left. To read the first of these pieces, click here. I’ve been dissatisfied with Bernie Sanders’ supporters since he announced his campaign back in June of 2015, not because I was angry that ...read more
MEMBERS ONLY: What the Resistance Can Learn from Dunkirk
Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan’s magnificent new film that opened this weekend, is both the best World War Two film in years and a moment for the Democrats and 'The Resistance'.. To continue reading this article, please go here. A Banter Membership gets you access to the magazine ...read more
Bernie Sanders Has Been Right On Just About Everything
You can't walk 10 feet in D.C. without running into a high-minded centrist extolling the virtues of moderation and reaching across the aisle. This way of thinking casts itself as above partisan nonsense and cloaks itself in intellectual rigor -- real, in the case of The New ...read more
MEMBERS ONLY: Confessions Of a Disillusioned Politics Junkie
Every January, the President of the United States delivers the constitutionally-mandated State of the Union address, in which we are told -- surprise -- the state of the union is "strong." (However, Gerald Ford had the temerity to buck this convention in 1975, declaring that ...read more
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Multi Millionaire Mitt Romney is Now Concerned About Wealth Inequality
Under President Obama, the rich have gotten richer, income inequality has gotten worse and there are more people in poverty than ever before. Under this president, his policies have not worked. Their liberal policies are good every four years for a campaign, but they don’t get ...read more
BBC's Nick Robinson Shows How Real Journalists Should Talk to Politicians
This is how real reporters talk to politicians (h/t The Dish): Farage is gaining popularity in Britain on a platform of thinly veiled racism and outright stupidity. Thankfully, the British media isn't having any of it. US journalist - please take note. ...read more
The Top Political Fails of the Week
So much failure, so little time.... Groundhog Day Washington, DC Style The federal government has reopened and that is a good thing but as Congress has found a way to fund it for a mere 90 days, the champagne shouldn’t be broken out just yet.  With Heritage Action, Sean ...read more
My Advice for Anthony Weiner
I have been thinking about what counsel I would give Anthony Weiner about what would be his best move, politically (Other than stop sending pictures of yourself to women you don't know.  I mean you practically have to be brain damaged to believe them when they say they will ...read more
Washington, DC Is the Least Honest Place in the US
Washington, DC is not a popular place.  That's not really new.  For years I have been told that people "inside the beltway" are disconnected from the ordinary, hard working Americans that live outside of it.  New polling data released this week shows Congress' approval rating ...read more
The Right Doubles Down on Discrimination
While the American people support marriage equality, these members of the GOP have not gotten the memo.  Here's a roundup of some of the more ridiculous responses to the Supreme Court's decisions on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California's prop 8. Congressman Paul ...read more
Upper Body Strength in Men a Predictor of Political Leanings
An interesting study from Denmark has shown that upper body strength in men is a pretty good indicator of their political leanings. Stronger men are apparently more likely to be right wing, while weaker men tend to lean left. From the Daily Mail: Men who are strong are more ...read more
Shocking Charts on Spanish Economy Should Finally KO Austerity Philosophy
If you haven't already read it, check out Kojo Koram's excellent piece on the mythology behind collective debt. In it, Kojo argues that the concept of debt is ruthlessly used by those in power to maintain and solidify a massively stratified social structure based on ever widening ...read more
Karl Rove's Giant Delusion on George Bush's Legacy
Continuing in the longheld GOP tradition of making shit up, Karl Rove has come out swinging to defend George W. Bush's legacy as President. In a wide ranging interview, he made the following claims on an ABC interview: 1. “He kept us safe after 9/11," 2. "He moved to ...read more
Is it OK to Celebrate Margaret Thatcher's Death?
There's a big hullabaloo going on in Britain about Margaret Thatcher's death and the subsequent celebrations in pockets around the nation. In Glasgow's George Square (where protest about Thatcher's poll tax took place in 1989), hundreds of people gathered wearing hats, opened ...read more
Why is Anyone Interested in what Ann Coulter has to Say?
Numerous high profile sites have given Ann Coulter's latest offensive remarks about the President some serious press attention. Coulter referred to the President as a 'retard', inciting a huge backlash from the press, discerning liberals and disabled rights campaigners. The ...read more
The MSM and Election Cycle Madness
As much as Glenn Greenwald irritates me, his scathing break down of the US Presidential elections is right on the money: The reason I write so little about the presidential election is that it's the ultimate expression of the CNN-ization of American politics: a tawdry, ...read more
It's Not Over 'Til It's... Oh, Screw It, It's Never Over
By Chez Pazienza: Hungover from all that celebrating in the wake of yesterday's Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act? Well, with the cold light of a new day, hopefully, comes the realization that this little victory doesn't in any way mean that the overall battle ...read more
No Respect
By Chez Pazienza: So over the past week this site has turned into the "Let's Take a Few Shots at Glenn Greenwald" show, with two of its highest-profile columnists -- Banter founder Ben Cohen and blogging machine Bob Cesca -- penning pieces that take issue with Greenwald's ...read more
...And the Hits Just Keep on Coming
By Chez Pazienza: You know, at some point I want this little debate over "Marijuana the Amazing Wonder Drug®" to be over, I really do; the thing's been going on in one form or another for about two months now. But I guess I can't complain that I cross-posted the original Daily ...read more
Key to Getting a Media Career: Run For President
The Atlantic has a great piece on the very lucrative side industry of Presidential politics where candidates turn failure into a media career. The best (and worst) examples: Pat Robertson (1988): His Christian Broadcasting Network and its flagship show, The 700 Club, had been on ...read more
Ben Cohen Interview: Do Super PACs Spell the End of Democracy?
By Ben Cohen: I went on the RT network yesterday to discuss the insidious effects of Super PACs on the Democratic process with Elizabeth Wahl. It's a very troubling topic and one that deserves a lot of attention. The decision made by the Supreme court to allow PACs (Political ...read more
'Game Change' - The Sarah Palin Horror Movie
By Ben Cohen: The HBO movie detailing the rise and fall of Sarah Palin, 'Game Change', should be required watching for anyone with a passing interest in politics. The script was apparently vetted extremely thoroughly and is very accurate. Knowing that, it should strike the fear ...read more
Quote of the Day: The Fight Against Stupidity
Chez Pazienza outlines why the never ending fight against Republicanism is tiring, thankless task: How do you even begin to call out a movement which has made itself nearly bulletproof by virtue of its unwillingness to subscribe to facts -- facts that anybody not currently ...read more
Quote of the Week: Elizabeth Warren Responds to Heckler
The extraordinarily gracious Elizabeth Warren on the heckler who called her a 'socialist whore' at a campaign event: "I actually felt sorry for the guy. I really genuinely did. He’s been out of work now for a year and a half. And bless his heart, I mean, he thought somehow it ...read more
Chart of the Day: The 1% in Congress
A stunning chart that maps the financial wealth distribution in the US as a percentage of Congress and the Senate (via Andrew Sullivan): The notion that the US is a representative democracy is now something of a sick joke - it is a country run by millionaires for millionaires. ...read more
Quote of the Day: Why Left and Right Should Unite on Wall St Protests
Image by emilydickinsonridesabmx via Flickr Matt Taibbi on why the 'Occupy Wall St' movement should transcend traditional political labels: This is an issue for the traditional "left" because it's a classic instance of overweening corporate power -- but it's an issue for the ...read more
Solution to America's Problems? Get Money Out of Politics
The massive protests going on around the country and now the world are a sign that people have well and truly had enough of the deeply corrupt monetary system that benefits an extremely small minority of the population. The protesters refer to themselves as 'The 99%' - an ...read more
Quote of the Week: Planet Republican
Bob Cesca on the alternate universe created by the Republican Party: Their ability to shape their own reality -- to blame the president for the entire recession while simultaneously rigging the game against the recovery is unprecedented in American political history. It's ...read more
Quote of the Day: What Obama is For
James Fallows on the President's job speech: On both politics and substance, the President positioned himself in the only tenable way for the next months' deliberations with the Congress and next year's election campaign. Instead of asking vaguely for "consensus" or seeming ...read more
Hilarious Deconstruction of a Tea Party Nut
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
Quote of the Day: Republican Political Fantasy Land
Juan Cole rips into Rick Perry and the alternate universe he resides in: It used to be that political divisions were about the different methods proposed to deal with social problems by persons with different political philosophies. Nowadays, politics is about which ...read more
Republicans Can't Add Up: $350 Billion Hole in Debt Ceiling Plan
More proof that the Republican Party should not be allowed anywhere near the country's finances. From the Guardian: The US debt crisis has escalated after Republicans were forced to rewrite their proposal to lift the debt ceiling, because they miscalculated how much the ...read more
Quote of the Day: The Murdoch Strategy
Martin Lewis on Rupert Murdoch's motivation to build a reactionary Right Wing press: Murdoch's smarts told him that he could profit mightily if only there was a permanent Conservative government in power in the UK. But how to do that when working class people selfishly ...read more
Two Visions of America
Image via Wikipedia Check out this sparring session between Bernie Sanders, Al Franken and Rand Paul on healthcare for seniors. Sanders and Franken lay out a progressive vision for the country, articulating a government run approach to ensuring access to health care for seniors ...read more
Andrew Sullivan: Sarah Palin Could Still Become President
Image via Wikipedia Sarah Palin has been largely written off in intellectual circles mainly because of her inability to string a sentence together. But as Andrew Sullivan points out, she has other attributes that still present a serious political danger: Pundits speak of her ...read more
David Brooks on British Politics
Image via Wikipedia Light posting today, but here's an interesting quote from David Brooks on what he sees as the superiority of British political culture: British leaders and pundits know their counterparts better. They are less likely to get away with distortions and factual ...read more
Matt Taibbi vs Megan McArdle
Image via Wikipedia Video heavy day today, but this is definitely worth watching. While I try to remain objective about opposing arguments regarding the financial meltdown, it is difficult to do so when the evidence weighs heavily on one side. Libertarian Atlantic blogger Megan ...read more