Who, the People?

I try to remain relatively sanguine about our government. Perhaps naively, I have genuinely believed that our politicians do their best to represent their constituents. Our country is so divided, that must be why it seems so hard to get anything done in Washington these days. But, It’s days like today that remind me how wrong those beliefs are. Congress is party to an oligarchy, not a democratic republic. Groups like the National Rifle Association have far too much power; a black mark from them is a political death sentence in many parts of our country. The results of this imbalance are situations like Wednesday, when a bipartisan “gun control” bill could not muster the 60 votes necessary to break a threatened filibuster.

The Unforgettable Influence of Roger Ebert

I didn’t know much about Roger Ebert as a man, but now I wish I had.  On a list of famous people I would have liked to meet he would have been an underrated choice.  Just getting a better understanding of somebody that thoughtful, that curious and that worldly would have been unforgettable.  Mostly, I would have loved to say thank you.

As an amateur writer by any definition of the word, I love writing, but I also love reading the work of those I admire.  And when I really think about it, there aren’t many writers I read more frequently than Roger Ebert.  I’ve read his review of pretty much every movie I’ve seen in the past several years.  I’ve read his review of movies I never saw but wanted to know more about.  I don’t put a lot of stock in individual movie reviews–everybody has their own distinct opinion and generally I see movies I want to see regardless of what the popular opinion indicates.  But I found Ebert’s take, whether I agreed or not, was always fascinating.  Simply put, reading Roger Ebert’s work has made me want to be a better writer.  I’m not sure there’s a better compliment I can give him.

The State of the Union: Senator Marco Rubio’s Response

After President Obama’s solid but somewhat by the numbers State of the Union address, it was time for Senator Marco Rubio to take the stage. The Republican rising star and not-so-secret 2016 presidential hopeful came across as genial and trustworthy in his speech. Unfortunately, the words he spoke did not always match up with his tone.

Zero Dark Thirty: Questions, Not Messages

The first time I saw Zero Dark Thirty was the day after its release at 9:30am.  Why 9:30am? Because every other showing was sold out a day in advance–in an admittedly small theater, but still. Maybe it didn’t have the broad appeal of, say, the Avengers, but to a certain demographic, I think few films were more highly anticipated.

Undeniable: VAWA and The Democratic Party’s Shrewd Push For Progress

There aren’t too many things Americans agree on these days. It seems the list gets shorter and shorter by the week. Amidst raucous debates regarding abortion (an old time favorite), marriage equality (a hot new topic), and now gun control, one thing has never been in question: violence against women — really against any innocents — is abhorred by the vast majority of Americans.

Passed in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act has been renewed in 2000 and 2005 with bipartisan support. After expiring once again, the bill came back up for reauthorization in April 2012. This time it was met by a great deal of conservative and Republican pushback. Two versions of the bill have been passed — Democrats pushed theirs through the Senate and the Republicans did the same in the House —and the reconciliation between the two is currently far from assured. Naturally, this has been subject to outrage and has led to continued cries that the GOP is waging a “war against women.” I’m not sure what will come of this bill — the Democrats may bully the Republicans into accepting the Senate version or the two sides will have to come to some sort of compromise — but I do know one thing: this is one of the single most brilliant pieces of political maneuvering the Democrats have pulled off in years.

Let me explain myself.

On Marriage Equality

So, an astounding step forward for human rights was taken today. Westminster approved marriage equality, or at least the House of Commons did which is all that matters. I don’t have much more to say on the subject then “Well done, England. You finally got something right.” Quickly though, I want to mention two things.

The Politics of the Superbowl

I usually like to write about electoral politics but today I want to talk a little about the politics surrounding America’s signature spectacle – the Superbowl. The NFL championship game should really be about deciding which team gets to hold up the trophy at the end of the season and which players are able to achieve their lifelong ambition in winning the game’s greatest prize. This is never the case though. As Jonah Keri writes on Grantland another sport, baseball, which is meant to be America’s pastime is one of the least fair games for many reasons but most of all because of scheduling, concluding that the reason the MLB scheduling is so off-kilter is money.

Up is Down, and Left is Center-Right

I’ve been meaning to post for a while now but I haven’t gotten around to it. I’d like to be able to say I’ve been to busy the whole time but that wouldn’t be the truth. I haven’t been posting more out of laziness than anything else. That, and I really felt like nothing I was writing was good enough or interesting enough. So there’s that, but I looked through all the subpar posts I’d been writing and realized one thing: the overall message of all of it would make a really nice post of its own.

So the message I found in all those worthless drafts is that the Democratic party isn’t as left as many people think. In fact, I’d say the President’s party is hardly left at all. I’ve been disappointed with the Democrats as long as I’ve been interested in politics, and even more so since I figured out exactly where I am on the political grid myself. In this post I’m going to lay it out there with no reservations, although my language might be edited a bit. I have issues with both the Democratic party and American “liberalism” and I’d like to spell out exactly what they are before I lose the motivation to write it.

On the Newtown Tragedy

My next story (after an admittedly too long break following the election) was going to be about Bob Costas’ reaction to the Belcher tragedy. Well, it seems that has been outdone tenfold. Yesterday we saw one of the greatest tragedies in recent memory. In the wake of the news I saw ghosts of Columbine, of Virginia Tech, even of Aurora, but this feels worse. This was a tragedy in which the vast majority of the victims were children. These were innocent kids. Their greatest offenses were pushing someone down on the playground or not eating their vegetables. They were on the wrong end of a disturbed 20 year old with a pair of automatic handguns.

Kevin Clash Scandal

Yes, I realize that nobody cares that Kevin Clash, who played Elmo on Sesame Street, has been accused by four men of having sex with them when they were minors. But that’s kind of the point.

I’ve had to explain to several people the reasons that this should be bothering, or even upsetting them. Clash has been accused by four men of abusing them as minors over the course of at least a decade. So far no criminal charges have been filed, and Clash seems to be eager to settle out of court. That’s all fine: he’s innocent until proven guilty.