There is little question that political discourse in the United States in the early 21st century will never be confused with the Lincoln-Douglas debate. Political combatants take an unseemly delight in characterizing opponents as enemies of the state, and reasonably decent public servants can expect to be labeled as pinheads and traitors, puppets of capital Read More
MSNBC host Keith Olbermann donated a total of $7,200 to three different Democrats prior to Tuesday's election. NBC, like many other news organizations, has a policy against its employees making political contributions.
Olbermann gave $2,400 apiece, the maximum allowable by law, to Arizona Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords, and to Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Read More
The week sure started strong.
The Journal's cheekily named new section -- "Greater New York," that's some kind of pun, no? -- arrived on Monday, followed on Tuesday by a hotly-anticipated Senate appearance for Lloyd Blankfein, Fabulous Fab, and the rest of the Goldman gang. Both were, to be honest, a bit of a Read More
Brendan Scott captures the moment when the Chairman of the Assembly's Ethics Committee decided to vote for the controversial ethics reform bill. Eliot Spitzer's appointments so far have not been confirmed by the Republican-controlled state Senate. The Jewish Press thinks Spitzer is too hard on Sheldon Silver. The snow storm has Newsday Read More
Atlantic Yards photo of the day (VV)
All of us have access to a set of cocktail-party facts that it seems like we were just born knowing. Mine tend to be seasonal. Winter: Snizzle is a kind of slow-falling hail. Autumn: Historically, more serial killers have struck in the fall than any other season. Summer: Ice cream makes you hotter. Actually, I Read More
John McCain was back in town yesterday for a Irish-American event at the New York Yacht Club. Niall Stanage has the details: Senator John McCain stored up some ethnic backing for a possible 2008 presidential bid last night, stressing his support for immigration reform - and recounting a story about a pair of drunken Irish Read More
Stagecoach is to American movies what The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is to American literature. It’s a work deep in the national character, and, like Huck Finn, its meaning is often taken to be its exact opposite. John Ford’s 1939 western, the story of a thrown-together band of travelers braving an Arizona stage ride through Read More
“We have to win,” said Senator Charles Schumer, banging a table with his fist at a diner close to his Park Slope home on Monday morning. “You have got to be strong and focused. If you get thrown off course, you lose.” Like Atlas with a drab tie and a Brooklyn accent, Mr. Schumer carries Read More
“We have to win,” said Senator Charles Schumer, banging a table with his fist at a diner close to his Park Slope home on Monday morning. “You have got to be strong and focused. If you get thrown off course, you lose.”
Like Atlas with a drab tie and a Brooklyn accent, Mr. Schumer carries Read More
After Congress passed a set of weak lobbying reforms following the Jack Abramoff scandal, Senator John McCain said, “The good news is there will be more indictments, and we will be revisiting the issue.” Meanwhile, the best way to rein in the army of 34,000 lobbyists in Washington was urged by John Edwards and Dick Read More
Well, today's McCain story has generated quite a lot of letter writing from addresses we usually don't see here at the li'l old Observer. Most of the e-mails coming in are from conservatives west of the Hudson River, and they argue that McCain's moderate stance on domestic issues does not represent their values. Many Read More
Forget immigration, global warning, Donald Rumsfeld and abortion rights. The hot issues of today will quickly fade away if the current surge in gasoline prices and home-mortgage rates continues unabated. And all indications are that both the price of gas and the cost of borrowing are moving in one direction only: north. In fact, the Read More
Forget immigration, global warning, Donald Rumsfeld and abortion rights.
The hot issues of today will quickly fade away if the current surge in gasoline prices and home-mortgage rates continues unabated. And all indications are that both the price of gas and the cost of borrowing are moving in one direction only: north. In fact, the Read MoreI experienced a little frisson of excitement this morning when a quick crawl through the Federal Election Commission website turned up a presidential fund-raising committee for one Hillary Rodham Clinton. Was this the smoking gun? The proof that reporters have been looking for? As I suspected -- and an FEC spokesperson confirmed -- it Read More
