Magazine > Politics
Why I Love Obama
(...But I Won't Vote for Him.) READ MORE >
Opinion > Politics
Pro-Life vs. Family Values? Is Newsweek’s Jacob Weisberg promoting eugenics?
The culture war is back, stronger than ever, with the liberal media completely flummoxed over how to handle Sarah Palin. But what’s really thrown them is Bristol Palin’s unwed teen pregnancy, and the Republican Party’s surprisingly warm-hearted, non-judgemental response to it. How else to explain Jacob Weisberg’s bizarre column, “Whatever … READ MORE >
Opinion > Politics
David Brooks explains the Republican Party’s Catholic problem
In a NY Times column today called ”The Social Animal,” David Brooks pinpoints exactly why so many Catholics hold their noses every four years as they vote Republican for president merely because of the party’s stance against abortion and gay marriage. As any Catholic who’s watched a Republican convention knows, the GOP is about individualism—“the … READ MORE >
Opinion > Politics
The Democrats are Blowing the Election—and the Catholic Vote
The best thing about how the Democratic Party is kicking away what should be an easy victory in the November presidential election is that it might force them to finally reassess their support for abortion and gay marriage, positions that are unpopular with working class voters, their natural constituency. A subplot here is how the Dems were … READ MORE >
Opinion > Politics
After Obama: Why Catholics should open a ‘second front’ in the Democratic Party
I have a commentary in this week’s National Catholic Register entitled “What Now? Will New Voters Refashion the Democratic Party?” I argue that the election had a silver lining for Catholics: the same voters who turned out in large numbers for Obama--blacks and other minorities--voted strongly for California’s Proposition 8, the ballot … READ MORE >
Opinion > Politics
Politics and Words
Image Journal’s website features a blog by Brian Volck on the slippery nature of words; more specifically, the language of this election season, and key words like “change.” Both parties claim to be the agents of change. What does it mean? How does a word or expression change in a given context? In politics, are words used to clarify or obfuscate? … READ MORE >
News > Politics
Is Political Bias Backfiring on Fox News?
"Fox News continues to embarrass itself with a type of journalism that nobody else in the industry would dare call professional… An all-out Fox News marketing blitz to label Giuliani ‘America's Mayor’ never got traction… In the meantime, the rise of Sen. John McCain and especially Mike Huckabee, with his populist streak, has caused all sorts of consternation at Fox News… And don't even mention Ron Paul's name to the folks at Fox News, who have stepped outside their role as journalists to try to kneecap the antiwar GOP candidate." READ MORE >
News > Politics
Why liberal bloggers don’t love Obama
“Obama is, in some respects, the ideal candidate of the Yearly Kos contingent--an insurgent who opposed the Iraq war, generated grassroots enthusiasm, and built a massive online fund-raising apparatus. But the bloggers who champion these things have not all rallied around Obama… Obama's readiness to embrace conservatives and chastise his allies on the left have caused many bloggers to wonder how strongly he would fight for liberal priorities as president.” READ MORE >
News > Politics
Obama vulnerable in November because of liberal policies
“The one thing that will keep Obama's appeal from translating into widespread support among Republicans is that he is, on almost every issue, a conventional liberal... politics is finally and fundamentally about ideas and philosophy… If he wanted to demonstrate his independence from liberal orthodoxy he could come out in favor of school choice for low-income families, which would both help poor families and demonstrate support for some of the best faith-based institutions in America: urban parochial schools. If Obama becomes the Democratic nominee and fails to take steps such as this, his liberal views will be his greatest vulnerability.” READ MORE >
News > Politics
Political Split Between Evangelicals and Their Spokesmen
“Should Obama earn the Democratic nomination, his message of hope and unity will appeal to young evangelicals… The successes of Huckabee and McCain show that evangelicals are open to a broader policy agenda… But their moderate economic policies also strain a delicate if formerly successful platform. ‘One conclusion that you could draw is a lot evangelicals are ready to move beyond President Bush…’” READ MORE >
News > Politics
Can McCain Win Over Right-Wingers?
"For McCain's critics on the right, the OSI funding implicates the Arizona senator in all the progressive and libertarian causes that the Soros foundation has supported -- including reproductive rights, drug law and sentencing reform, public financing of elections and abolition of the death penalty, to give a short list. If that sounds like guilt by association, McCarthy style, that kind of thinking is hardly alien to Limbaugh, Coulter and their fans." READ MORE >
Opinion > Politics
Sarah Palin Meets Woody Allen, Across the Great Divide
If you’re feeling down about the ever-widening gap between blue-state and red-state America (and the even wider gap between blue and red Catholics), you can find hope in Sarah Palin. Ironically, the woman who’s been blamed for single-handedly re-igniting the culture wars is showing signs that she can appeal across the cultural divide. … READ MORE >
