Referendum on America's Soul

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Wednesday November 07, 2012 · 9:24 AM PST

2012/11/07 · 09:24

Published originally 11-7-12 at Blogcritics

The results of yesterday's elections were actually cast two years ago when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stated that the Republicans' priority for the next two years was to ensure that Barack Obama was a one-term president. Instead of "now we have a majority in the House of Representatives, our bargaining hand is better and we can negotiate from strength," he said, "my way, or else, the country be damned." And he and his counterparts in the House set about to obstruct pretty much everything on President Obama's agenda.

sasmom

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Monday September 03, 2012 · 6:45 AM PDT

2012/09/03 · 06:45

Article first published as My Father Built This on Blogcritics.

My father was a construction electrician. Attending trade school after World War II under the GI Bill (he was in the Army Air Force, serving in North Africa), he then apprenticed through the electrical workers union, the IBEW (Local 134). He made a good wage, especially for a man with only a high school diploma.

sasmom

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Saturday September 01, 2012 · 1:51 PM PDT

2012/09/01 · 13:51

Article first published as The Wake-Up Call of Fail Safe in 2012 on Blogcritics.

I happened to be channel surfing this afternoon and landed on Fail Safe, the 1964 Cold War drama by Sidney Lumet and starring Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, and a very young Larry Hagman. It's an intense, chilling, and thought-provoking movie, and one that made a huge impression on me when I first saw it on TV as a kid.

sasmom

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Wednesday September 24, 2008 · 4:50 AM PDT

2008/09/24 · 04:50

We’ve seen this movie before. Different setting, more fantasy than reality (as this one appears to be). But the principle applies. Catastrophe looms. The president proposes an expensive plan with little or no oversight, essentially saying "trust me." He insists, as do his advisers that Congress needs to act immediately. Now! Approve the plan as written; there is no time to debate, to discuss, to modify, to amend. Trust us. We know what we are doing. And if you don’t do it, and do it now, you’re not acting in the best interests of the people.

sasmom

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Thursday August 28, 2008 · 1:37 PM PDT

2008/08/28 · 13:37

Originally published in my column at Blogcritics.org (http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/08/28/160409.php)

Four years ago, the Republican hatchet squad took a nuanced remark by John Kerry about his voting record on the Iraq war and labeled him "flip-flopper." Thus was born a nasty, schoolyard name-calling attack against Kerry that was used in advertisements, Republican talking points, and by right-wing (and even mainstream) hacks throughout the fall of 2004. It was used by John McCain himself, in attacking Kerry.

sasmom

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Friday August 22, 2008 · 7:33 AM PDT

2008/08/22 · 07:33

Nine, seven, four. What matter, anyway. Such a boring line of questioning. Did I mention, perhaps that I was a resident in the Hanoi Hilton? Five years. Oh, I did? What were you asking again? Houses. Well, they’re not mine anyway. Belong to wifey. The airplanes, too. By the way, Obama. What an elitist.

sasmom

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Sunday August 03, 2008 · 8:12 PM PDT

2008/08/03 · 20:12

McCain seems so very fine with his rounds of attack ads. Mr. "I'll take the high road," hasn't lasted very long, and he's shown his true colors.
Anyway, my 17 year old son was so incensed at the ridiculousness of John McCain's ads last week, he put together this video, which I invite you to view.

A few people have taken his satire the wrong way, but...

Obama in Berlin: Vision and Values

sasmom

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Thursday July 24, 2008 · 6:52 PM PDT

2008/07/24 · 18:52

There is much tongue clucking amongst the mainstream media gurus in the aftermath of Barack Obama’s speech in Berlin. Was it hubris? Arrogance? Too much from a United States senator, who is a presidential candidate, but not yet (or perhaps never) President of the United States? I say no.

sasmom

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Sunday July 20, 2008 · 5:46 AM PDT

2008/07/20 · 05:46

Barack Obama advocates engaging the Iranians diplomatically as a more useful strategy than saber-rattling and refusing to talk to them. Obama is called an appeaser and (much) worse with great disdain by both the administration and the McCain camp for daring to even suggest it. This week, the US sent a diplomatic envoy to the Iran-Europe talks as "an observer" for the very first time. Hmmm. You say coincidence?

sasmom

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Tuesday June 24, 2008 · 9:40 AM PDT

2008/06/24 · 09:40

Caveat emptor: buyer beware the lowly pay phone. Any of you use one of these lately? I have, and it’s certainly not my parents’ pay phone! And I don’t mean in a good way. Never the consumer's friend, the telecoms have really ratched up the rip-off sweeps, big time.

sasmom

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Wednesday April 30, 2008 · 8:36 PM PDT

2008/04/30 · 20:36

A conspiracy of "international bankers" was responsible for the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War II, and a host of other ills. Who said that? And who are those "international bankers," anyway?

sasmom

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Tuesday April 22, 2008 · 4:20 PM PDT

2008/04/22 · 16:20

There have been two time periods in my life during which I wore an American flag pin on my clothing. The first was back when I was in high school. In protest of the Vietnam War, I wore an American flag pin upside down, a symbol of distress. I wore it along with other buttons, badges and pins, including my home-made "I am an effete intellectual, nattering nabob, snob for peace." (It repeated the unforgettable adjectives for war protesters uttered by that paragon of virtue, Vice President Spiro Agnew). My wearing of the upside down flag pin got me kicked out of typing class during a mid-term exam, which resulted in my only "D" during my high school years (not that there were so many "A’s" either.)

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Referendum on America's Soul

Labor Day Reflection: My Father Built This

"Fail Safe" and the 2012 Presidential Campaign

Fool Me Twice, Shame on Everybody: Iraq and the Bailout

The Candidate Formerly Known as "Maverick"

Listening in on a McCain phone interview

YouTube commentary on McCain's anti-Obama campaign

Obama in Berlin: Vision and Values

And Who's Leading this Dance?

Buyer Beware the Lowly Pay Phone: It Preys on Thee!

John McCain, Rod Parsley and the Politics of Hate

Flag Pins and Patriotism