The Fireside Post

White House: Blame Dems if no Big 3 help

by Frank James The White House is trying to shift blame to congressional Democrats if the auto industry doesn’t get the financial bailout it’s seeking, saying Democrats appear unwilling to loosen restrictions on $25 billion that’s already been approved to help the industry retool to make their vehicles more fuel efficient. White House spokeswoman Dana […]

Detroit Bailout – an Ethical Conundrum

This writer has often defined self as being an economic conservative and a social liberal.  Normally there is not much conflict in that ideology.  I will help my neighbor as long as I don’t have to borrow money in the endeavor.  I will not enable my neighbor to continue poor behavior by bailing him out […]

Mission Endeavour

(Update: 8:25 p.m. EST) Space Shuttle Endeavour lit up the sky at the Kennedy Space Center as it launched tonight, racing up the east coast of the United States on its way to orbit Seven astronauts are on board.  Their flight is scheduled to run just shy of fifteen days. By space shuttle standards, the […]

Huckabee’s Choice Words for Romney

By Michael Luo Ah, memories. Among The Caucus’s favorites from campaign days gone by were those from the bitterly cold days of December 2007 preceding the Iowa caucuses, when the silver-tongued Mike Huckabee and his indefatigable sparring partner, Mitt Romney, circled and slashed at each other from dawn until dusk. The episodes are now in […]

Drive Free, Retire Rich

Dave Ramsey has good advice for managing the expense of owning an automobile in America today.  Check him out at Drive Free, Retire Rich We Love Our Cars The normal way of thinking Dragging a Payment What they don’t tell you After Six Years What if… Let’s Think Differently A Major upgrade Let’s keep going […]

Obama Mixes the Personal and Political on ‘60 Minutes’

By Michael Falcone President-elect Barack Obama said in an interview on the CBS program “60 Minutes” on Sunday that one of his top priorities will be to “restore a sense of balance” to the regulation of financial markets, but rejected the idea of a so-called “new New Deal” for America. Mr. Obama acknowledged the parallels […]

Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage

By JESSE McKINLEY and KIRK JOHNSON Published: November 14, 2008 SACRAMENTO — Less than two weeks before Election Day, the chief strategist behind a ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California called an emergency meeting here. “We’re going to lose this campaign if we don’t get more money,” the strategist, Frank Schubert, recalled telling leaders […]

Obama Announces More White House Picks

Two of these we sort of knew: Ron Klain will become Vice President Joe Biden’s chief of staff and Valerie Jarrett, longtime friend and confidante of both Barack and Michelle Obama, will have the title Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison (which looks like a very broad troubleshooting […]

The Right to Privacy – The 9th Amendment – Gay Marriage

Our Founding Fathers were masters of compromise.  Some wanted specific rights established in the form of a Bill of Rights.  Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Assembly, Freedom from search and seizure, Freedom to bear arms, Freedom of speech, we become redundant – suffice it to say that some rights were considered so important that […]

Palin as Paris Hilton Celebrity

Sarah Palin is continuing to drag down the Republican Party.  The other Republican Governors know this – but they cannot openly say so.  When Palin talks she sounds less oriented than a wild and crazy Paris HIlton.  At least Paris HIlton knows she is just a celebrity – she knows she is not taken seriously.  […]

George Winston – Contemporary Piano Master

George Winston is arguably the greatest piano virtuoso of our time.  Winston plays a particular type of music – often referred to as “New Age” music.  “New Age” conjures images of incense, beads, and meditation – but don’t be distracted by the labels.  Listen to his music and judge for yourself. This writer is biased […]

Palin Soaks Up Media Spotlight

ABC’s Kate Snow reports: Bill McAllister is suddenly a very busy man.  As spokesman for the Governor of Alaska, his role was pretty much taken over in an instant last August — the moment Governor Sarah Palin was selected as John McCain’s running mate.  The McCain campaign quickly selected a brand new team of communication […]

The G.O.P.’s Five Stages of Grief (Video)

Grief is an emotional response to loss. Our original curiosity was around the five stages of grief after the election – but the folks who produced this video recognized the grief began before the cancerous terminal patient died. Curiosity drove us to enter “Election Grief” in the youtube search engine.  This one video stood out […]

Bush officials moving fast to cut environmental protections

By Renee Schoof | McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — In the next few weeks, the Bush administration is expected to relax environmental-protection rules on power plants near national parks, uranium mining near the Grand Canyon and more mountaintop-removal coal mining in Appalachia. The administration is widely expected to try to get some of the rules into […]

John McCain with Jay Leno

Why does this happen.  After an election we see the real charm of the candidates who lost?  We sincerely wish McCain has just been himself during the campaign – America deserves a healthy dialogue on issues.  Check out McCain with Jay Leno – this is pretty good:

Why John McCain lost the White House

By Jeff Mason – Analysis PHOENIX (Reuters) – Republican John McCain lost Tuesday’s presidential election because he could not overcome a hostile economic environment, distance himself from an unpopular president or convince voters he could lead them out of the crisis. As the blame game began, analysts also said McCain’s choice of inexperienced Alaska Gov. […]

Obama’s “number 1 priority”

– Peter Barnes is an entrepreneur and writer whose books include Who Owns The Sky? and Climate Solutions: A Citizen’s Guide. The views expressed are his own. – By Peter Barnes A few days before the election, Barack Obama told Time’s Joe Klein: Finding the new driver of our economy is going to be critical. […]

To the Victor goes the Spoils

Sarah Palin: Obama articulated change

Posted November 11, 2008 9:45 AM by Mark Silva The view from Sarah Palin’s kitchen: She would have been happy to speak out for herself more during the presidential campaign. President-elect Barack Obama did “a great job” of speaking for himself, the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee said in an interview with Matt Lauer of […]

The Early Word: A Party Asks, ‘What Now?’

By Michael Falcone Updated It’s been a difficult week for the Republican Party, whose leaders have had to contend not only with defeat in the presidential election but also in key House and Senate races as they watch the public transfer of power to President-elect Barack Obama. Today The Times’s Adam Nagourney reports on the […]

A Brief History of the “F-Bomb”

A Brief History Of The “F-Bomb” By M.J. Stephey Monday, Nov. 10, 2008 Comedian George Carlin performing his infamous 1973 monologue “Filthy Words” “The F-word is one of the most graphic, explicit and vulgar words in the English language,” U.S. Solicitor General Gregory Garre proclaimed last week during a Supreme Court hearing on the First […]

USMC Birthday

In a small Philadelphia tavern (called Tun Tavern) on November 10, 1775, the United States Marine Corps was born. What a way to get folks signed up; join the Corps get free beer. Sign me up! Throughout the history of America they have proven to be a fierce defender of her freedoms and can be […]

GOP Wilderness

Tom Toles, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1990, is the editorial cartoonist for The Washington Post. His cartoons appear in the newspaper and on its Web site every day except Saturday, and are syndicated in nearly 200 publications nationwide. Read Full Bio Here

Rahm Emanuel: Middle-class tax-cut near

by Mark Silva Rep. Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama’s designated chief of staff, asked how his reputation for rough, partisan political warfare will square with his role in the new president’s White House, promised that Obama will set a bipartisan “tone.” Obama also is intent on delivering tax relief for the middle-class, Emanuel said today, […]

Catholic Socialism

I was driving home when I heard on my car radio a minister say that “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” was a Looney-tune idea. I don’t make a habit of speaking back to the radio, but I couldn’t help but scream, “It’s in the Bible!” Acts 2: 44-45 […]