Category National Politics
The Phlip Side: Gun Politics
The massacre in Orlando has filled me with shock and sadness. I will never understand what would drive a human being to commit mass murder. I refuse to accept that it is ever okay, or acceptable on any level, to discriminate against people because of who they love. The thing that makes me saddest of […]
The Phlip Side: Bernie Sanders should be Pres. Clinton’s DNC Chair
There is no question that Bernie Sanders did much better with his campaign than anybody (himself included) thought was possible just a year ago. Although his campaign will inevitably fall short on Tuesday, when Hillary Clinton will officially become the presumptive Democratic nominee, the success he has had is an opportunity that should not be […]
Movie Review: All the Way (With LBJ?)
HBO’s new All The Way film which premiered last week is a look at one of the most important periods of Presidential leadership – the first year of Lyndon Johnson’s time in the White House and his complicated relationships with Martin Luther King Jr., Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell, J. Edgar Hoover and his wife Lady Bird […]
The Phlip Side: Proposed Democratic Presidential Primary Changes
We are at the tail end of the process of selecting the Democratic nominee for president, and while there are no serious flaws with the process there are some things that can be done to improve it. The biggest problem that needs to be fixed is a perception problem, especially with the Super Delegates. The […]
Interview: Robert Buccellato, author Jimmy Carter in Plains, The Presidential Hometown
Robert Buccellato the author of Florida Governors Lasting Legacies has penned another book this time about President Jimmy Carter and his hometown of Plains, Georgia. The new book Jimmy Carter in Plains: (Images of Modern America) is on sale now for release on February 1. The book is a unique look at the relationship between President Carter […]
Movie Reviews: Frost/Nixon and The Damned United
Peter Morgan’s back-to-back screenplays that were adopted films Frost/Nixon and The Damned United both had special appeal to me. As a junkie of American political history and English football (soccer) history, probably my two favorite topic areas were covered within a year in movies that starred Michael Sheen as the key men of the film – […]
Movie Review: Shattered Glass; Book Review: Unbelievable: Stephen Glass Wants a Second Chance
The New Republic has long been the bible or at least one of them for the center-left in the United States. As someone who has read the magazine on and off for over two decades, I have vivid memories of the Stephen Glass scandal. The embellishments of Stephen Glass which came soon after the plagiarism […]
Why MSNBC’s format change is good for the left
Many progressives are lamenting MSNBC’s format change which has emphasized hard news during the daytime rather than liberal commentary. The desire to mimic FOX News mindless commentary and selection of news (which is almost as bad as the commentary – see issues like Solyndra, Islam in America, Immigration and Benghazi) by many liberals to me […]
Pope Francis’ visit, the crisis of the left and American Secularism
Pope Francis visit to Washington was a sensation. A century ago much of this country was paranoid about the Vatican including our home state of Florida. A half century ago discrimination against Catholics was still rampant. Today, in 2015 we live in a far more secular and tolerant society than in the past. Still though, […]
Conservative media using incredible hyperbole on 9/11 & Iran
Conventional wisdom dictates that 9/11 is not something to be exploited. Yet conservatives have taken advantage of anniversary since the very first year when they used it to kick of electoral activities for the 2002 US Senate elections where control of the chamber was in the balance and the Iraq War authorization vote which was […]
The Florida Squeeze 