News

Past And Present

On Fresh Air today, Terry Gross talked with New York Times reporter David Kirkpatrick, who has been writing a series of biographical profiles of Senator McCain. The whole hour is devoted to their discussion and they cover a lot of interesting ground. Mr. Kirkpatrick...

WWRNS?

Speculation regarding WWRNS --- What Would RN Say? --- is generally a mug's game.  (With, of course, notable exceptions.) That said, I can guarantee you that he would have said the following three things: (1) Whoever slipped Rudy whatever it was that resulted in that...

The “Do As We Say, Not As We Do” Party

One of the things that bothers me about the current Republican Party is their “do as we say, not as we do” philosophy. The latest case in point is the actions as Governor of the VP nominee. Now, we are all aware of the controversy surrounding Sarah Palin’s daughter’s...

It Didn’t Start With Palin

Sarah Palin hit a home run with her acceptance speech at the RNC Wednesday night. She was poised, confident, eloquent, witty, and her delivery matched that of any politico or communicator in recent memory. Fred Barnes of Fox News said it best, in his post-speech...

Bainesquo’s Ghost

John Taylor's post about the two Republican Presidents overlooked ---at least so far but don't hold your breath--- in Minneapolis reminded me of an article I meant to post last week --- from the Weekly Standard's "Scrapbook".   At least Republicans aren't the only...

Jerry Reed, 1937-2008

Word came today of the death of Jerry Reed at age 71, of complications from emphysema.  Born Jerry Reed Hubbard in Atlanta in 1937, he worked his way up the ranks as a musician and songwriter, penning songs for the likes of Gene Vincent and Brenda Lee, and attracting...

Vice Presidents And Precedents

In today's installment of "The Daily Politics" on the New York Daily News' blog, columnist Elizabeth Benjamin quotes a conversation with Ed Cox concerning Governor Palin's selection for the veep slot on the McCain ticket. Ed, of course, was RN's son-in-law. He is now...

The Post Cheney Vice-Presidency

Throughout our history the vice-presidency has been an evolving institution. For many years the vice-president served merely as the presiding officer of the Senate with little or no involvement with the Administration. Calvin Coolidge (1921-23) was the first...