Screw Rock 'n' Roll

To the Liberal Party of John Howard, Turnbull is like a handsome stranger who turns up on a cruise boat. He’s charming, witty, erudite, and happy to buy the drinks. So why, oh why, do they hang back? It can’t be a “new money” thing. The Liberal Party does not have the same sensitivity to this as does the UK Conservative Party, where it was once disparagingly said of Margaret Thatcher’s challenger Michael Heseltine that he “bought his own furniture.”

It’s more a “new membership” thing. The Liberal Party is like a gentleman’s club. Anyone can join and be treated politely. But after a few years, when you notice you’re not getting anywhere, it might occur to you that you are not quite the ticket. To some in the Liberal Party, Turnbull is not quite the ticket.

Annabel Crabb, “Stop at Nothing: The Life and Adventures of Malcom Turnbull,” in Quarterly Essay 34.

The buying his own furniture line kills me. That’s some Blair Waldorf shit.

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Jun 06

Luda, this is a bit platitudinous, even if I did enjoy “Maybe I will run for President in 2012.” I mean, somebody’s gotta try to make them turn the lights out.

Even so, I did appreciate that a rapper got to talk to the National Press Club. But really, we all know Luda would have given a better speech if he’d got 16 bars in the middle of some other guy’s talk.

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Hip-hop Music Politics America Media

Oct 24

The [Howard government-era citizenship test booklet] starts its section on Australian government with a picture of the Queen. It argues the nation’s values are based on ”Judeo-Christian ethics, a British political heritage and the spirit of the European Enlightenment”. Most strikingly while there are nearly 100 pictures in the document, there are just a few pictures of Aborigines and only two other photos of non-Anglo Australians.

Dr. Lindy Edwards, Shared civic values can unite cultures, The Age

If ever you need reminding as to why I’m a republican…

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Politics Australia The Republic

Oct 25

Exile on Maine Street: Middle America takes a trip to the Pine Tree State

In the minds of most people, Middle America is that massive stretch of flyover country between the coasts; a land of baseball games and picket fences, hard working, religiously-devout small-town folk, and, in recent times, closing down factories and widespread unemployment. It’s made up of states like Ohio, where in the past two Presidential elections, the media have descended upon its towns and cities to watch average American swing voters decide the fate of the nation.

For the next couple of weeks, though, Middle America is a land less about cornfields and more about lobster pots and cold Canadian winds. The central battleground in American politics has shifted to the north east corner of the country. For the time being, replace “Will it play in Peoria?” with “Does it matter in Maine?”

The first story out of Maine is an old American tale that could, this time, have a new… [read more]

I’m still on my grizzy over at the USSC blog, talking today about how some of 21st Century America’s most contentious political debates are converging upon Maine this week. For one small moment, middle America is way over in the upper-right corner of the map. And once you read that, you might like to check out my fellow USSC blogger Erin Riley repping for Yale’s Civil War course on iTunes U and how the current US health care system forces hidden costs on women.

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USSC America Maine Politics

Oct 26

Just who is going to opt out of Opt Out?

I like maps like these, because they demonstrate the great diversity to be found within the United States of America, and how important regionalism is in the country. I posted it along with some commentary a couple weeks back on my other blog, but it originally comes from FlowingData.com. (Should you not like pictures, you can see the figures in table form over at Business Week.) The disparity should not be too surprising; the United States has a federal system of government, and while the Founding Fathers may not have intended for Hawaiians to live an average of eight years longer than… [read more]

As I tell y’all over at the USSC, the states that opt out will probably be the ones that could best benefit from the public option.

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USSC America Politics

Oct 28

All Mad Men are created equal: Glenn Beck’s common sense

I’ll say this for cable news programs: they really know how to up the ante. Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart pricked the absurdity of the relentless and frequently meaningless 24 hour news cycle, but he couldn’t match Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly. Then Stewart launched protégé Stephen Colbert and his wicked parody of the rabble-rousing, self-satisfied conservative anchorman, and the game seemed over. How could you top a man who accused reality of having a well-known liberal bias?

Why, with Glenn Beck, of course! A year ago, Beck was… [read more]

Didn’t get around to linking to this one… Me at the USSC blog on Glenn Beck, “Mad Men” and American nostalgia.

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America Politics Television Mad Men USSC

Oct 30

Electoral Maths vs Electoral Math

New post up at the USSC blog, this time examining how Australia’s mandatory voting creates different political outcomes to America, with its optional voting system. Has a bit of health care discussion, too. Basically, you should go read it.

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USSC America Politics Australia

Oct 31

So the big victory of the hard right in the U.S. summer was not to lift confidence in their own party, but to drag Obama down a bit. You know, “A wise man told me don’t argue with fools/Cause people from a distance can’t tell who’s who.”

(chart via Yglesias)

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America Politics

Oct 31

Democrats take health care one vote at a time

It wasn’t quite Grand Final day for health care reform today, but the excited atmosphere surrounding the U.S. House of Representatives’ vote was something close. Call it a semi-final, perhaps; one that ended with a 220-215 final score in favour of passing H.R. 3962: Affordable Health Care for America Act. 219 Democrats voted for the bill, and one Republican: Joseph Cao, a Louisianan representing a heavily Democratic district, who won election against an opponent who was under indictment on corruption charges at the time.

That makes it sound easy, but anyone who has heard the adage that watching the creation of legislation is like seeing a sausage get made can guess that something as contentious as health care reform was no cakewalk. As with a big game, it all kicked off when House Democrats were given a pep talk from Coach Barack Obama, who told his team, “When I’m in the Rose Garden signing a piece of legislation to give health care to all Americans, we’ll look back and say that was our finest moment.” I like to imagine his speech was followed up with one from Offensive Coordinator Rahm Emanuel, warning, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” (Or perhaps, “If you lose, you’re out of the family”).

I’ve had a great time watching the health care action on C-Span’s online feed (yes, really). You can read my wrap-up over at the USSC blog.

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USSC Politics America

Nov 07

If Republicans think this is a political problem for us - they’re sorely mistaken. the American people want reform and Republicans are standing in the way for the sake of partisan politics. That is a political problem for them. We are going to cause havoc for them.

A Democratic official, discussing health care

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Politics America

Nov 10

Posts tagged "politics"