We can be afraid, or we can be informed.

Post-Election Thoughts

Seeded on Wed Mar 5, 2008 2:34 PM EST (openleft.com)

Chris Bowers at OpenLeft reflects on the March 4th Democratic primaries.

election, clinton, democrats, politics, mccain, obama, primary

McCain Channels His Inner Hillary

Seeded on Sun Mar 2, 2008 9:50 AM EST (The New York Times)

Frank Rich points out some similarities between the Clinton and McCain campaigns. From the article: What repeatedly goes unrecognized by all of Mr. Obama's opponents is that his political Kryptonite is the patriotism he offers in lieu of theirs.

election, clinton, politics, mccain, republic, obama, democrat

I'm Not Running for President, but ...

Seeded on Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:56 PM EST (The New York Times)

Michael Bloomburg is ready to announce his decision on whether or not to mount an independent run for the Presidency. In doing so, he makes some very interesting and valid points. It'll be interesting to see whether or not he winds up playing a big role in the election.

economy, election, politics, democratic, republican, independent, partisanship, bloomburg

Blamed for the Debacle in Iraq?

Seeded on Sat Feb 23, 2008 2:22 PM EST (Rockridge Nation)

Republican framing of the inevitable problems inherent in the Bush/McCain occupation of Iraq is already taking place. The groundwork is being laid for after the election of a Democratic administration to blame Progressives for Bush's failure.

politics, conservative, occupation, frame, betrayal, lakoff, rockridge

Broken Borders and Dover Sole:

Seeded on Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:31 AM EST (The New York Times)

A luncheon conversation with Lou Dobbs can reveal a lot about his stand on immigration. From the article: Among people whose immigration views I admire, Mr. Dobbs has a reputation as a hopeless blowhard. I did not dwell on that at lunch.

immigration, racism, us-news, opinion, lou-dobbs, broken-borders, elitism, nativism, blowhard, gasbag

Romney Camp Laments

Seeded on Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:10 PM EST (ABC News Blogs)

In the smoldering remains of the Romney Presidential Campaign, there seems to be a certain amount of regret about the timing of the release of the New York Times story about John McCain's relationship with a Washington lobbyist.

campaign, election, 2008, lobbyist, politics, mccain, republic, reform, finance, lobbying

'End the War in 2009'

Seeded on Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:32 PM EST (The Nation)

Barack Obama faces a tough challenge from neocons and from the nutjobs in the rightwing echo chamber regarding his positions on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and the so-called "War on Terror." Depending on just how badly George Bush and Dick Cheney manage to create a difficult situati …

iraq, iran, terror, election, clinton, politics, mccain, obama

A Vast Right-Wing Hypocrisy

Seeded on Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:44 AM EST (The Latest From VanityFair.com)

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, etc. etc. etc. From the article: Richard Mellon Scaife, billionaire bankroller of conservative crusades, spent heavily to expose Bill Clinton's "Troopergate" misbehavior.

politics, divorce, hypocrisy, rightwing, scaife

Seeds of class war sprout in Kenya's crisis

Seeded on Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:56 AM EST (Reuters)

In Kenya, as in any other part of the world where the economically advantaged use the power of the government to advance their own interests at the expense of the rest of the population, violent uprising seems more and more likely.

terrorism, taxes, hunger, africa, kenya, world-news, class-war

Hunger's attacked at the ground level

Seeded on Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:34 PM EST (portlandtribune.com)

An important program, helping people to help themselves. From the article: What if those who can't afford to buy food at the store could grow some of it at home?

food, oregon, hunger, portland, poverty, us-news, garden, vegetables, gardening, sustainable

Passing Judgment

Seeded on Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:13 PM EST (MotherJones.com)

Mother Jones provides some reasons for Americans to take heart with regard to the nomination of Christian fundamentalist Richard Honaker to the federal bench. From the article: George Bush thinks trial lawyers are the root of all evil.

constitution, court, politics, wyoming, law, nomination, 1st-amendment, seperation-of-church-and-state, christian-nationalism, americans-united

Seth Swirsky: While Bush Fights for America, The Democrats Fight Bush

Seeded on Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:09 PM EST (The Huffington Post)

Desperate Republicans just can't give up this tired talking point, regardless how obviously deceased the poor horse may be.

bush, politics, liberal, conservative, liberal-bashing

Fox News faces wrath from right and left over debate footage stance

Seeded on Fri Nov 2, 2007 10:53 AM EDT (Ars Technica)

In what must surely be a sign of the apocalypse, right-wing weblog Redstate.com has joined forces with Moveon.org to demand that Fox News cease and desist from sending cease-and-desist letters to presidential candidates who use the network's debate footage in their ads and on the …

politics, fox-news, fair-use, moveon-org, lawrence-lessig, redstate

Larry Craig's Bathroom Behavior And The Right Wing - Then And Now

Seeded on Wed Aug 29, 2007 2:45 PM EDT (Salon.com)

The American Right Wing - they're nothing if not inconsistent and hypocritical. When it's convenient, soliciting sex in public bathrooms is so irrelevant as to be not worth reporting on. When, however, it becomes a Big Issue, they can't condemn it fast enough.

politics, republicans, hypocrisy, sexual-conduct, bathroom-sex

U.S. Counterinsurgency Manual At Amazon? Where's The Outrage?

Sat Aug 25, 2007 6:21 PM EDT

Seems the rightwing can't whine fast enough when the New York Times points out that the United States government monitors the financial transactions of terrorists, claiming that by telling "the terrists" something they doubtless have known for years, the New York Times is committ …

Continue reading this entry ...

army, terrorism, us-news, hypocrisy, rightwing, wingnuts, counterinsurgency, fake-outrage

There is no immigrant crime wave - Jeralyn Merritt

Seeded on Fri Aug 24, 2007 2:26 PM EDT (Examiner)

Jeralyn Merritt addresses the rightwing's recent handwringing about the supposed rampant criminality of America's immigrant population. Needless to say, the facts don't exactly back up their breathless assertions.

bush, immigration, racism, us-news, republican, rightwing, xenophobia

America and the wars in Iraq and Vietnam | Fearing a bloody exit

Seeded on Fri Aug 24, 2007 10:23 AM EDT (The Economist)

Predictably, The Economist gives George Bush more credit for his thoughtfulness and courage than he deserves with respect to his ridiculous comparison early this week between Vietnam and Iraq.

bush, iraq, vietnam, us-news, idiocy, inappropriate-analogies

Katrina: On The Question Of Patriotism

Seeded on Mon Aug 20, 2007 11:06 AM EDT (Today's Ideas & Actions | OurFuture.org)

Rick Perlstein, writing at Campaign for America's future, discusses a phenomenon which unfortunately rears its ugly head around Newsvine from time to time. From the article: A moral vacation, I mean.

katrina, us-news, patriotism, wingnut-brigade, rwnm

The Padilla Precedent

Seeded on Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:08 PM EDT (LewRockwell.com)

Jose Padilla, convicted criminal, is an American citizen. Prior to his conviction, he was entitled to the exact same rights as any other American citizen. Until, that is, the "decider" decided to declare him an enemy combatant, based on intelligence gained through torture.

bush, terrorism, torture, us-news, padilla, gwot, newsvine-wingnut-brigade

Rudy Giuliani Spent 29 Hours At Ground Zero In Three Months

Seeded on Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:50 AM EDT (Talking Points Memo)

Here's what Giuliani previously said about the time he spent at Ground Zero after 9/11: "I spent as much time here as anyone...I was here five, six times a day for four months. I kind of thought of it as living here." Apparently, he may have exaggerated just a bit.

giuliani, election, politics, lying, republican, primary, conservative

A prelude to war: What's really behind Bush's Iran move

Seeded on Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:57 PM EDT (attytood.com)

Is the Bush administration, led by Dick Cheney, implementing a plan to backdoor Congress and the American people in order to launch an attack on Iran? Maybe. Will Bunch, writing at Attytood, thinks so.

bush, iraq, cheney, congress, iran, us-news

The "September Report?" The White House Will Write It, The President Will Interpret It

Wed Aug 15, 2007 12:35 PM EDT

Although anyone with a lick of sense has assumed that that report to be made in September would be heavily influenced by the Bush administration, it's confirmed in this article in today's LA Times, titled "Top general may propose pullbacks." The article is full of interesting tid …

Continue reading this entry ...

bush, iraq, war, surge, us-news, escalation, petraeus

An Alternative to Impeachment: Transitional Justice for the Bush-ites

Seeded on Thu Aug 9, 2007 6:16 PM EDT (tpmcafe.com)

Mark Schmitt discusses another way to deal with the "alleged" high crimes and misdemeanors of various members of the Bush Administration.

bush, cheney, politics, gonzales, transitional-justice

Possible design flaw found in collapsed U.S. bridge

Seeded on Wed Aug 8, 2007 5:49 PM EDT (Reuters)

Perhaps it wasn't a lack of maintenance that caused the 35W bridge to collapse, after all.

bush, minnesota, engineering, us-news, ntsb, pawlenty, bridge-collapse, asce

Why Terrorists Aren't Soldiers

Seeded on Wed Aug 8, 2007 2:53 PM EDT (The New York Times)

I wrote an article back in the day which made the same point. President Bush has handed terrorist groups like Al Qaeda their greatest wish by granting them the status of "warrior," rather than simply treating them like the filthy criminals they are.

bush, soldiers, us-news, republican, war-on-terror, al-qaeda, wes-clark, gwot

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Comments & Feedback

Brad shows an unique ability of being able to discern the truth quickly and the talent to write about it in a way that makes it seem obvious to his readers. He doesn't pull punches either. I guess you can call that integrity. Something that we need more of in this world.
— Dan Hallo, aka, Zoilus

brad farris is one of the most precise and reasonable contributors to newsvine, and i'm not just saying that because he made me feel right at home right away or because his avatar reminds me of james joyce. brad is the kind of steady hand we need on the pulse of things. this is not a blurb. this is a bow and a kiss on the hand.
— firsty

Brad wrote the best article I have ever read on Newsvine. In that very liberal mind the principle of conserving truth and civility is locked. One of the people who make you see that civility and decency are not old-fashioned.
— Oluseye

I can't believe I haven't left a comment for you before now, Brad. I really thought I had...what a horrible oversight.
Brad is one of the most level-headed, intelligent contributers on the 'vine. His seeds are interesting, his articles profound, and his comments polite, logical, and valuable. One of my favourite contributors. Thank you!
— Celestina

Brad Farris, the man who gave me my first personal comment. I have put off too long saying thanks to Brad and to the World, Brad is one of the last, true, blue Americans. Thanks for being here Brad.
— oldfogey

I have yet to agree with Brad on anything. This doesn't mean that I don't like him. In fact, Brad is probably the most pleasant liberal on Newsvine. He's one of those few libs I actually don't mind getting into a debate with; I love the guy! Keep rockin' the free world man.
— Edward Sebastian

Brad has a way of defending his opinions and facts that is both firm and polite. His comments are always a welcome addition to a debate.
— Behind My Screen

I enjoy all of Brad's contributions. I wish he had more time to focus on his writing so we could all read more from his insightful mind. From his picture, he reminds me of this kooky, 47-year-old guy that lived with his mother in the apartment below me. He had the wildest mustache. It was broken into three different sections, each of a different color and texture. Anyway.... keep it up, Brad.
— Colin R Williams

A truly thoughtful contributor, Brad tactfully takes on controversy at every turn with a liberal and open minded perspective. Good insight this one has, though proudly conservative he is not :-)
— TopJedi

I have to agree with a couple of the folks here. It did take me a while to discover Brad, but that's probably because he's not particularly loud and doesn't get into any altercations. Rather, Brad is a very level-headed contributor, who I can picture stepping into my shoes and keeping things civil around the Vine. I appreciate his commentary because it is both insightful and serves to remind folks that we're all here because we have more in common than not. If Farris were a blend of tea, I'd say he'd be Chamomile.
— Calvin Tang

Brad posts exactly the kind of stuff that more Americans need to be reading. I get a lot of useful info from his posts!
— HelpMeImpeachBush

Brad and I don't always see eye to eye on most things. But I respect his views and always enjoy the interactions we have. He is very insightful and always seeds and writes his comments in a very intelligent manner. I have learned a lot from his stuff. If I had to pick a liberal to sit down and have a beer with Brad would be that guy.
— Rob Ballew