Democrats have rightfully complained about the “culture of corruption” led by Republicans. Now, the very blue state of California, Democrats have a chance to do something about it. The nurses’ union and some consumer advocates have qualified a ballot measure that would bring public financing to state elections. This an opportunity for Democrats to put [...]

The forecast for the next period through the Independence Day Holiday is for light to non-existent postings; perhaps an occasional shower or two of words. But mostly quiet until a.m. hours of July 5. See you then

Here’s the bad news. A move in the Senate Tuesday to pass a constitutional amendment banning flag-burning failed to gain a necessary 2/3 majority by one vote. Out here where I live, on the northern slope of the Santa Monica mountains facing the San Fernando Valley. this news was received with great dismay. The current [...]

There’s an inverse relationship between the popularity of a national administration and the level of its attacks on the media. The more a White House blames the nattering nabobs of negativity in the news business for its problems, the more trouble it’s in. With Bush struggling to stay in the 30′s favorability wise, scapegoating the media has predictably escalated. The [...]

One of the few and unexpected pleasures of covering the early 2004 presidential primaries was discovering John Edwards. When I headed off to Iowa in the closing week of the caucuses, I knew little about him. I had sort of written off Edwards as one more DLC-type Southern Dem, a kind of Clinton Lite.  What [...]

Time out for a little summertime Lefty Inside Baseball. If you don’t know the difference between the Second and Third International or you’ve never been in or denounced someone who was a member of this or that faction of the Fourth, you’re probably better off tuning out for this one. Ok, now that we’re alone… [...]

$10,700 per year. That’s how much somebody makes if he or she earns the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. That’s $6,000 below the Federal poverty line for a family of three. And that’s before payroll deductions. So figure take-home pay at about eight thousand per year. $150 a week. For a 40 hour week. Makes [...]

I’ve gotten a record amount of private email response to my post last week about the soldier I met at a casino in New Mexico. The overwhelming response was a positive one, with many correspondents pointing to the surreal atmosphere we’re currently living in. We have an administration in power that justifies all of its [...]

The fundamentalist faction among House Republicans have gotten their way. On Tuesday, they effectively killed off any last hope of meaningful immigration reform — at least for this year. Instead of going into conference that would have tried to reconcile the more liberal measure passed by the Senate with the restrictionist bill passed last year by the House, the [...]

What does the Democratic Party and loser-gamblers have in common? Well….. Last week when I was in the Sandia Canyon casino outside of Albuquerque, I was watching a mark play the roulette wheel in the most bizarre fashion. He had bet just about everything available. He was sure to get paid off each pass of [...]

I have to give credit to the Republicans. They are a tenacious bunch, aren’t they? They’ve single-mindedly embarked on an electoral strategy to produce good news out of Iraq by simply insisting it is so. Too bad so little of it is true. The killing of Zarqawi and the formation of a fullly-staffed government cabinet [...]

I guess it really must be time to sell-off the L.A. Times. The standards have fallen so low that I have two different pieces in this Sunday’s paper: My review of Clancy Sigal’s startling-good memoir of his indefatigable, radical mom. And my op-ed piece on the this year’s Season of Death now commencing on the [...]

I don’t know exactly what got to me last night but I was really haunted by the young soldier sitting across from me at the Blackjack table. Let me explain: After nearly 20 days straight of work without a real break, I took the night off and went to play cards at an Indian casino [...]

I couldn’t help but noticing the speaker line-up at this week’s Take Back America confab in Washington. When these progressive gatherings first started up, the dais was usually reserved for a Kucinich or a Conyers. But as the liberal left got ever more lathered up over the Bushies, and though they claim to be reforming [...]

Don’t know what’s come over me, but I’m still out on the road working. This week I’m in New Mexico reporting on one of the hottest House races this fall: Democrat Attorney General Patricia Madrid challenging incumbent Republican Heather Wilson. As all journalism is derivitive, all blogging is plagiarism. So I will brazenly rely on [...]

Watching the frothy antics of a twisted element like Ann Coulter is one of the few things that leaves me speechless.  My first instinct is to say or write nothing about her — not wishing to as much as validate her existence. I don’t find her dangerous or threatening — only disgusting and appalling. How she [...]

Las Vegas Saturday Evening I’m still at the YearlyKOS blogger convention and have been run ragged. A parade of politicians — from Wes Clark to Barbara Boxer to Mark Warner and Harry Reid (among others) –  has turned this event into the sort of mini-Democratic convention that some of us had predicted. The politicians are [...]

I’m back from the border and now headed off to do some reporting on the YearlyKos convention in Las Vegas; and from there on to some reporting in New Mexico. So my blogging time remains limited (contrary to popular belief, I’m not raking in mountains of dollars by shilling for Ann Coulter’s new book via the web ads [...]

Altar, Mexico I crossed the border Monday throuh the Arizona town of Sasabe — on the same day that the first contingent of National Guard were deployed a few hundred miles to the west. As I and several colleagues and editors on a USC border fellowship bumped along the 65 mile long dirt road south [...]

Back in a day or two.