Voting sucks. There are a lot of reasons for this beyond the obvious, and I won’t spend time delving into the philosophical underpinnings of an election. You’ve certainly heard the two-wolves-and-a-sheep quote from Franklin and the conversation-with-the-average-voter quote from Churchill. All of those things are true, but they deal more with the fundamental flaws of […]
Today, I, like thousands of others, saw the viral video of the violent arrest of Debra Sue Hamil, a self-proclaimed “country girl” who doesn’t like being man-handled by police. Many are framing her behavior as that of a privileged white woman, but I’d like to approach this from a slightly different angle. Regardless of your […]
I finally got time over the holidays to sit down and watch Laura Poitras’s latest documentary CitizenFour. We have talked about Edward Snowden on the show quite a bit, and for anyone who followed the story as it was unfolding, there really aren’t any surprises in the film. I’m also a bit reticent to heap […]
The South Bend Uniform Co., is a police outfitter owned and operated by a member of the Mishawaka Police Department, so it’s understandable why the company would show its support of law enforcement officers. The means of showing that support, however, is somewhat provocative: they are selling t-shirts with the design shown above. This is […]
Our very own co-host Rob provided his review of the top stories of 2013 in rap battle form, complete with video. Will Jerry or Jeremy take up the challenge and respond in kind? Stay tuned in 2014 to find out…
In this recent episode of The Daily Show, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said (at 4:40 in the clip above): “Some issues are not Democratic issues or Republican issues. Sometimes you just have to do the right thing.” And although her quote received enthusiastic applause from the audience, it is, unfortunately, dead wrong. I’ll admit […]
This is a crass advertisement disguised as a blog post. But I figure that’s okay because there is plenty of drivel out there disguised as political discourse. If you’re like me, you cannot even stand to watch the talking heads on cable TV anymore — the token left-winger screaming at the token right-winger is supposed […]
I’m glad to see my scolding four years ago had some effect, but come on, New Hampshire! Twenty-three percent is all you could manage? It’s a damn sight better than the measly nine percent you gave the man last time, but it’s still pitiful. I repeat, you’re a fraud, New Hampshire. You don’t care about […]
Earlier this year I wrote about the nascent Arab Spring and how I was hopeful that this movement, and this desire for freedom, would continue to spread. Stories like this one today continue to fuel my hope that this is true. The tangled web of government (in every country) has become so heavy, so onerous, […]
Three thousand people died on 9/11 as a result of the worst terrorist attacks in US history. But ten times that many people die every year in traffic accidents, and I don’t hear anyone calling for an outright ban on automobiles. So this has clearly never been just a public safety issue. Maybe a 9/11-style […]
As a kid I remember collecting Susan B. Anthony dollar coins when they first came out in 1979. This attempt to resurrect dollar coinage in the United States was an unqualified failure — for a number of reasons. The most important being that it was something new and people are resistant to change (no pun […]
After last year’s McDonald v Chicago decision by the Supreme Court, I wrote about how the tide seemed to be turning with respect to recognition of our basic human right to self-defense. I guess I should have known that just because the Supreme Court decides in your favor does not mean your opponent will acquiesce. […]