A Little Late, Sandy

Ken AshfordHistory, Supreme CourtLeave a Comment

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the conservative retired justice who provided the fifth vote to install George W. Bush as president, is now having second thoughts about that decision: Looking back, O’Connor said, she isn’t sure the high court should have taken [Bush v. Gore]. “It took the case and decided it at a time when it was still a big election issue,” O’Connor … Read More

Obama Kills

Ken AshfordObama & Administration, YoutubeLeave a Comment

  Here are ten favorites: 1. On President Obama’s college drug use: President Obama got in a double jab at the changing media landscape and himself when he mused that “I remember when BuzzFeed was just something I did in college around 2AM.”  2. On CNN: CNN’s offered up some serious softballs this week, and both President Obama and O’Brien … Read More

Congress Fixes Flight Delays

Ken AshfordEconomy & Jobs & DeficitLeave a Comment

The budget sequester was designed to suck. And suck it did. But when it sucks for Congressmen and their wealthy donors, well, something has to be done: In a quick and unanticipated session on Thursday night, the U.S. Senate approved a resolution that would allow the Federal Aviation Administration budget flexibility to stop furloughing air traffic controllers. The measure, approved by unanimous … Read More

FCC Gives David Ortiz A Pass

Ken AshfordRed Sox & Other Sports, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

During the nationally broadcast pre-game ceremonies last week — the one where the Boston Red Sox had their first home game following the Boston Marathon bombing — Red Sox player David Ortiz took to the microphone and spoke from the heart, uttering these words: “This is our fucking city, and nobody’s going to dictate our freedom.” Now remember, the Second … Read More

Muslims Aren’t Inherently Evil

Ken AshfordGodstuff, War on Terrorism/TortureLeave a Comment

They're not.  Some of them get that way when they are bombed, their nations are invaded, and they live under dictators which the United States supports. That's the gist of this thoughtful article by Glenn Greenwald, excerpted here: First, some leading American opinion-makers love to delude themselves and mislead others into believing that the US is attacked despite the fact … Read More

Listen To Alexander Graham Bell

Ken AshfordHistoryLeave a Comment

Nobody today knows what Bell, the inventor of the telephone, sounded like — until recently. Alexander Graham Bell worked with sound, tinkering with gadgets to help his wife, who was deaf, communicate. He is known as the inventor of the telephone. He gave the Smithsonian more than 400 discs and cylinders of his audio experiments, but until recently there was … Read More

More Dirty Republican Deeds

Ken AshfordRace1 Comment

Colorado is currently considering a major piece of legislation to improve the state’s voting laws by implementing Election Day Registration, automatically sending mail ballots to every voter, and creating a real-time voter database to detect and prevent fraud. It passed the House last week and will now be taken up by the Democratic-controlled Senate. It's a good law and makes sense.  It's … Read More

Retaliation Against Judges

Ken AshfordGay Marriage, Tea PartyLeave a Comment

Republican politicians have no scruples. In 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously held that the Iowa Constitution does not permit marriage discrimination against gay couples. Four of the seven justices who reached that decision remain on the court today, and a pair of Iowa lawmakers have a plan to punish them four years after they extended the blessings of liberty to gay … Read More

RIP Richie Havens

Ken AshfordIn PassingLeave a Comment

Met him once.  He had a unique voice that was unmistakable.  Best known for improvising "Freedom" at Woodstock in 1969.  He was 72.