A couple of weeks ago, UP with Steve Kornacki ran a segment on unpopular opinions. As it happens, I agreed with most of those unpopular opinions - I also don't like term limits for legislators or balanced budget amendments and I'm glad President Ford pardoned Nixon. Read more about A Most Unpopular Opinion
I'm still deep in the weeds of the Wars of the Roses, not only reading Alison Weir's excellent history but also Philippa Gregory's series of novels, The Cousins' War. There's something disturbingly familiar about this 15th century story of warring factions that filled fields and rivers with blood. Read more about Red and Blue Roses
Its hour has come round again at last. William Butler Yeats could never have imagined his great beast materializing as a ravenous shopping spree. Or could he? Read more about Black Friday
Except for, you know, all the consequences, I'm almost happy that John Kerry lost that 2004 election. If he had won, it would be extremely unlikely that he would be Secretary of State today. The way things are going, he should be wearing spandex with the initials SoS emblazoned on his chest. Read more about Shut the Front Door!
Change you can believe in. That was President Barack Obama's promise to the nation.
I don't want my America to change, she wrote. Those may not be the exact words she used - I can't find the quote right now - but it's close enough. They were written at the end of a Facebook comment by a woman who lives further to the right along the spectrum of American politics than I do - much further. Read more about Resisting Change
In his lecture on the Early Middle Ages, Philip Daileader refers to the nobility as Those Who Fought. Very interesting take, I thought, because even though we may visualize the medieval nobility as knights in armor, shining or no, I don't think the designation Those Who Fought would spring immediately to mind. Read more about Those Who Fight
Last night on All In with Chris Hayes, an Ohio legislator put it on the line about his objection to expanding Medicaid in his state. In so many words, he worried that poor people who might qualify might then refrain from trying to make more money so that they can remain on Medicaid. Read more about Poppycock!
The other day, my friend Sheelah posted this story on Facebook: Read more about Paying the Bill
While we're all upset, in one way or another, about the government shutdown of the past week, let me remind you that we've had another shutdown of sorts going on for almost a year.
Who remembers sequestration? Did you think it had disappeared? Did you think that, in the face of a total shutdown and a possible default, that it no longer had any relevance? Any effect? You didn't notice?
Just for the record, here are a few people who noticed.
Read more about A Thousand Cuts