Michael Tomasky's Blog, page 69

Michael Tomasky: Are the Republicans this stupid?

TPM is bannering the idea, based on some comments over the weekend by the GOP House and Senate campaign leaders, that the Republicans will be happy to fight it out this fall over the legacy of George W. Bush. From the article:

Republicans and Democrats alike seem content to let the November elections hinge on a question the answer to which once seemed obvious to voters: Was the Bush era good for the country?

Though for most of President Obama's tenure Republicans were eager to run away from...

Michael Tomasky: Sarah Palin, Manhattan expert

As you may have read, there's a proposed mosque that appears to be on its way to being built right near ground zero, in Manhattan. It's already been the subject of intense controversy, obviously, and today, that great urban planning expert from Wasilla, Alaska has weighed in, tweeting:

"Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing," she tweeted Sunday.

As Palin statements go, this one isn't actually s...

Michael Tomasky: The seathog crisis

Let's start the week out with the really heavy stuff. The WashPost runs today (finally) with something that's been on my mind ever since I moved to this city, and in fact going back to my New York days as well, which is the problem of passengers who take up two seat on a crowded subway or Metro car.

Few things piss me off more. You have 20 or 30 people standing in a car, and there's someone who has sprawled his gangly body across two seats, or has defiantly placed her purse on the seat next...

Obama's untold story | Michael Tomasky

Democrats are failing to convince voters that their efforts have made the economy stronger

Finally, the old wheel of fate cut Barack Obama a couple of breaks last week. Within hours of each other on Thursday, BP capped the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and the Senate passed the financial regulatory reform bill. The former brought an end to three months of political agony for the White House as Americans watched those daily video feeds of crude oil gushing into the sea. The latter mercifully c...

Michael Tomasky: The mine disaster investigation

Remember the explosion that killed 29 miners in West Virginia earlier this year? Sure you do. Now the investigation is proceeding apace.

Remember back when it happened that many miners and family members of those miners who died were quoted saying things like Massey Energy, the owner, put profits ahead of everything, even their safety and lives, and the miners weren't surprised in the least that this sort of thing happened, and Massey denied all this and thundered that nothing came before...

Michael Tomask: The mine disaster investigation

Remember the explosion that killed 29 miners in West Virginia earlier this year? Sure you do. Now the investigation is proceeding apace.

Remember back when it happened that many miners and family members of those miners who died were quoted saying things like Massey Energy, the owner, put profits ahead of everything, even their safety and lives, and the miners weren't surprised in the least that this sort of thing happened, and Massey denied all this and thundered that nothing came before...

Michael Tomasky: Beyond words

The other day I offered a mild criticism of the NAACP's resolution on racism in the tea party movement, writing that it had a right to discipline its members privately or publicly as it saw fit.

I still believe that, but now, just for a little context on this whole thing, let's look at this "letter to Abraham Lincoln" "from the NAACP" written as a parody by tea party activist Mark Williams on his blog.

Before this, Williams had accused the NAACP of being racist because it has the word...

Michael Tomasky: Obama legacy, you choose

Kevin Drum offers a mordant observation in the wake of finreg passage:

Here's the good news: this record of progressive accomplishment officially makes Obama the most successful domestic Democratic president of the last 40 years. And here's the bad news: this shoddy collection of centrist, watered down, corporatist sellout legislation was all it took to make Obama the most successful domestic Democratic president of the last 40 years. Take your pick.

In any case, I think this probably marks...

Michael Tomasky: Friday quiz: great discoveries

At 5:05 am today, as my wife and I were up doing guess what, the Washington area experienced something really weird and kind of scary: an earthquake. We felt the house shake. I'm happy to report that my first instinctive thoughts were about protecting the baby, so some biological urge kicked in at the proper time. Then I ran toward the front of the house to see if it was shaking too. The whole thing lasted maybe 12 seconds, we reckoned, which is kind of a long time to have your house...

Michael Tomasky: Let's talk 2012 already

One of the great tragedy/farce aspects of American politics is our presidential nominating process, which as you will recall from 2007-2008 is about as long as the gestational period of the female elephant, and far less attractive.

At least both parties are aware of how ridiculous it has become, so they tinker with reforms. Last time around, they added more early states to compete with Iowa and New Hampshire. Now, reports Dan Balz of the WashPost, they're going a bit further for 2012:

Once...