Posts tagged as:

Republicans

STRAW POLL: an unofficial survey to determine preferences

August 13, 2011

With all the media focus on the event in Iowa today, it occurs to me that some may not know the meaning of  a straw poll. This is not an official, unbiased caucus or election.   Those are run under scrutiny by agencies which have oversight for legally-constituted elections.   There are rules, regulations and statutes which [...]

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CHICKEN: a dangerous game in which opponents “stare down” each other

July 14, 2011

Who can forget the scene in Rebel Without a Cause in which James Dean, playing the lead character, is speeding head-on toward his rival in souped-up cars?  They are playing “chicken” to see which one of them will blink first before the cars smash into each other, probably killing both of them.   The basic principle [...]

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TANTRUM: a childish fit of rage

July 13, 2011

Every parent or child care-giver knows what is meant by the word tantrum.  It’s that irrational, unpredictable, and exceedingly childish emotional moment when a kid lets everything go.  Immaturity reigns.  Not having any other kind of adult, reasonable, rational, intellectual means of making a point or winning an argument, a child stomps (her) foot, turns [...]

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POLITICAL DENIAL: rejecting a previous action to gain voter support

May 13, 2011

There is an onerous practice among professional politicians which I call political denial.  It takes place when a politician running for office denies a legislative success, speech, or other public action which characterized (his) previous political life, but which is currently embarrassing.  It represents a “flip flop” in principles and is employed primarily to gain [...]

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LEFT/RIGHT: designation of political ideologies

April 10, 2011

I had a great conversation on Saturday with a new friend who is a retired History teacher and a Democratic Party activist.   She was talking about the terms “Left/Right” as relates to the designation of political ideology, Left being the term for liberals and Right being that for conservatives.  At least, that is the shorthand [...]

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STATE OF THE UNION: bring on the clowns.

January 25, 2011

By now you are probably as tired of the pre-State of the Union Address conversation as I am.  Every political and news pundit has anticipated the content of the speech, analyzed the impact of it, and made suggestions for future speeches.  And the speech hasn’t even been given yet! For the most part, these speeches [...]

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DISINGENUOUS: Insincere

December 27, 2010

Disingenuous is a confusing word.  It almost seems to me to be a word that is redundant, in that ingenuous ought to be enough to make the point, but that adding the dis to it takes it over the top. It is a word that is usually used in a form that begins, “It would [...]

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TAX BREAK: a generous occurrence by the government in giving people relief from higher taxation

December 6, 2010

The lines being drawn in the sand in Congress as we speak are not difficult to understand. Several years ago President Bush led Congress in giving sizable income tax breaks to alleviate economic stress. Among those breaks were tax relief for lower income, middle income and upper income people. 85% of those receiving those tax [...]

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LIBERTARIAN: one who supports the doctrine of free will

December 3, 2010

For the past several years I have been confused by the intermittent role the Libertarians have played in American government.   I first began to hear about Libertarians in any kind of grand publicity when Ron Paul became a serious candidate for office on a national level.  His snarly commentary (not mean-spirited, mind you, but irritating) [...]

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MIDDLE GROUND: like an option strategy in football?

November 29, 2010

I have to begin this posting with an acknowledgment that I am no football expert.  I watch football games (mostly NCAA/Big East) but I’m really not sophisticated in football knowledge, statistics, strategies, etc. However, I do know what it means for a quarterback to access an option mentality.  It means that he is open to [...]

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