Deadly serious politics

The best answer to a bad guy with political power is good guys and girls with political power. To beat the bad guys, you need to understand how political power really works. The NRA’s real power doesn’t come from the money it gives to politicians. The New York Times’s lead story Sunday spelled it out:…

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What happens in Vegas…

As the N&O editorial aptly noted, this American carnage won’t end now, especially with Trump and the Republican Party safely locked away by the NRA. By now the pattern is familiar. First, shock and horror. Then frustration and anger over the predictable response by Republican politicians. Thoughts and prayers are sent. Mental illness is blamed.…

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Who’s being weak here?

It damn sure isn’t President Obama, who is unafraid to show his grief, anger and determination to combat gun violence. No. It’s the cowardly Republican politicians who are so scared of the NRA they react hysterically over the smallest steps to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. The NRA…

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Terror and the Oval Office

The political significance of President Obama’s speech last night wasn’t what he said, but why. Obviously, our famously no-drama Commander-in-Chief felt the seismic shift after the California killings. Weeks ago, he calmly assured us that ISIS (why does he say “ISIL”?) was “contained.” Last night, he sternly assured us he takes the threat seriously. Forget…

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