Politics Elevated

photo credit: kevindooley
In an interview this week about his forthcoming book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, Mitt Romney was asked what he meant when saying that America need not apologize. He responded as follows:
While we’ve made some mistakes, we have a record of promoting freedom, peace, and prosperity throughout the world. There is [...]

Photo Courtesy of Nature.com
Some terms I seem to hear more often from man-made global warming alarmists these days are that man is “very likely” causing global warming, and that it may be at a “tipping point”.  Both phrases indicate a sense of desperation.  Maybe the whole idea of man-made global warming itself is very likely [...]

photo credit: The Library of Congress
The theory of congressional stagnation refers to the high rate of retention for Congresscritters seeking re-election. In the 2008 election, for example, 94% of members of the House were re-elected, and 83% of incumbent Senators retained their seat.
The prevalence of this pattern has created an environment in which it has [...]

There’s a new strain of Potomac Fever spreading through Washington. Democrats seem to be most susceptible to the disease. Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) is the latest victim to succumb in a string of illnesses.
Potomac Fever is usually associated with the love of Washington; the love of power and politics. This new strain of the bug, [...]

photo credit: Keven
Elected leaders in our republican representative system face a quandary when considering how they will vote on an issue. Many of them are unfortunately unaware of (or intentionally ignore) the standard by which their votes are to be cast, and thus proceed in blatant disregard for the proper process of deciding upon an [...]

photo credit: mkandlez
Jane Hamsher wrote about the 11 Dimensional Chess approach to health care legislation that the Obama administration tried. That sent me back to some earlier thoughts I had shared about how we visualize the political spectrum. The simplest way to view things is one dimensional. Like the opening image here it breaks down [...]

photo credit: lamsonlibrary
Given the resurgent popularity of the Constitution in many conservative political circles as of late, ideological opponents have taken to looking for weaknesses in position and policy that are susceptible to attack. One of the more tiresome and ignorant retorts deals with the desire by some proponents of the Constitution to amend it.
The [...]

One of the grossest distortions in American history is the claim that Herbert Hoover was a much different kind of president than Franklin D Roosevelt. He wasn’t. In reality, FDR picked up his interventionist government policies right where Hoover left off–with the same sorry results.

photo credit: Skrewtape
For some time I have been internally conflicted on the issue of congressional earmarking. Many people, including such diverse characters as President Obama and Congressman Chaffetz, have been vocal about calling for an end to earmarks. Others such as my own Congressman, Rob Bishop, reply that earmarks are not an addition to the [...]

photo credit: © Giorgio
While candidate Mike Lee acted like a senator on the issue of confirming Ben Bernanke for another term as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Bob Bennett acted like a marionette under the control of the mystical wizard of Washington D.C. With a short press release and a predictable vote, our “Senator” [...]