The Mythology of Obama’s Obstacles

Certain quotes take on a mythical quality. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell entered that pantheon when he said, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” On “60 Minutes” Sunday, the president observed, “When I first came into office, the head of the Senate Republicans […]

 


Get Rid of the Death Penalty, Get Rid of Plea Bargains

Recently, editorial page editor John Diaz asked Mark Klaas whether he expects to feel closure if California executes Richard Allen Davis, the man who kidnapped, toyed with and then killed Klaas’ 12-year-old daughter, Polly, in 1993. A jury found Davis guilty and sentenced him to death in 1996. From the early days after Davis snatched […]

 



Price of Obama’s ‘College Affordability’

“No family should have to set aside a college acceptance letter because they don’t have the money,” President Barack Obama told the Democratic National Convention as he accepted his party’s nomination in Charlotte, N.C., this month. That sentence — key in Obama’s “college affordability” agenda — says everything about this administration’s approach to selling itself […]

 

Arab Spring, American Winter

They don’t fear us, and they don’t respect us. That’s the only message you can take away from an Egyptian mob’s attack on the U.S. Embassy in Cairo during which rioters scaled embassy walls and tore down the American flag on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. President Barack Obama helped ease out Egyptian President […]

 

Tampa vs. Charlotte

Tampa, Fla., was like the Republican National Convention delegation — older, more experienced, less excitable. Tampa has hosted the Super Bowl; the city had lots of space and nothing to prove. There was a been there/done that feel to the entire affair. Tampa Bay is used to welcoming visitors and has plenty of nice hotels […]

 

Barack Obama, All In

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — “First shot, straight through, that’s how you perform under pressure,” Barack Obama said in 2008. They played the quote with a video clip of Obama making a basket at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday. Obama knew how to make it look easy, even though it wasn’t. When he spoke at the […]

 

Barack Obama, All In

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — “First shot, straight through, that’s how you perform under pressure,” Barack Obama said in 2008. They played the quote with a video clip of Obama making a basket at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday. Obama knew how to make it look easy, even though it wasn’t. When he spoke at the […]

 

First Lady: You, Too, Can Be Mitt Romney

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michelle Obama connected with voters during her moving opening night speech of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday. She was smart, extremely likable and the perfect spokeswoman for the American president as she talked about “the unflinching sacrifice” her parents and husband’s family made so their kids could have the “chance to […]

 

Dems Ask, Where Are the Women?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — “The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.” So reads the 2012 Democratic National Committee platform. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi […]

 

Democrats Won’t Admit Their Side Lies

“They lie, and they don’t care if people think they lie,” California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton told reporter Joe Garofoli before a state delegation breakfast Monday. Burton even brought up that “as long as you lie, Joseph Goebbels, the big lie, you keep repeating it, you know.” First off, Nazi analogies are obnoxious; they […]

 


Documentary on Obama a Balancing Act

TAMPA, Fla. — You could say that the film “2016: Obama’s America” is the GOP equivalent of Michael Moore’s “Roger and Me.” The documentary is based on conservative firebrand Dinesh D’Souza’s 2010 book, “The Roots of Obama’s Rage.” As the film’s narrator, D’Souza argues that Barack Obama’s philosophy is “anti-colonialist,” a legacy passed on from […]

 

Dirty Harry Meets Clean Mitt

TAMPA, Fla. — Clint Eastwood put on an odd skit Thursday night at the Republican National Convention. It was awkward to watch and hard to hear, but I have to hand it to Eastwood. He achieved the impossible; he made the gaffe-prone Mitt Romney come across as supremely tactful. Four years ago, when Barack Obama […]

 

How Real Can Romney Be?

TAMPA, Fla. — What do you think of the media coverage? That’s what I asked California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro. “I’m weathering it,” he quipped. For the second time in a row, weather caused the Republican National Committee to cancel its first night. Some delegates believed that certain reporters wanted nothing more than […]

 

A Good Night for Real Contrast

TAMPA, Fla. — Tuesday night was Good Cop/Bad Cop night at the Republican National Convention. Ann Romney played the good cop; the keynote speaker, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, played the bad cop. Where Mitt Romney comes across as remote, his wife exudes accessibility. Democrats have devised a talking point about the Republicans’ so-called “war […]

 



Stark’s ‘Second Litter’ Subsidy

Rep. Pete Stark, 80, has seven children; three are minors, the product of his third marriage. He once told the Los Angeles Times that he calls the three youngest his “second litter.” Lucky Stark. Thanks to a dated Social Security system, he enjoys a “second-litter” subsidy. As Carolyn Lochhead wrote in The Chronicle, Stark has […]

 

Todd Akin: When Dumb Talk Is Inevitable

There are two sides within the anti-abortion movement. On one side, stand men and women who care deeply about human life and fear that abortion devalues society by creating a caste of disposable people. On the other side, lurk crabbed adults who think women should be punished for having extramarital sex and that pregnancy is […]

 


Obama-Biden: Hope and Chains

Vice President Joe Biden played the race card this week when he drawled Southern-style to a racially mixed audience that if Mitt Romney takes the White House, he’ll “unchain Wall Street. They’re going to put y’all back in chains.” Last week, a super PAC run by a former aide to President Obama released an ad […]

 

The GOP’s ‘Hunger Games’

Mitt Romney is a bit of a sci-fi buff. He not only took his grandkids to see “The Hunger Games” when the movie came out but also read the Suzanne Collins trilogy. I wonder whether he was thinking about the books when he picked Paul Ryan to be his running mate. On the surface, Romney […]

 

The Death Penalty and Jared Lee Loughner

Jared Lee Loughner pleaded guilty Tuesday to 19 counts involving a 2011 shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that left six dead and 13 others, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, wounded. As part of the deal, Loughner will receive a sentence of life without parole. Victims’ families have been spared the rigors of a trial, and prosecutors can […]

 

Harry Reid’s Big Mouth

Whenever a name Republican says something stupid or indefensible or arguably both, for the next three days folks will open a conversation by asking me (the only Republican they know) what I think about the latest GOP gaffe. That standard does not apply when Democrats talk out of turn — even when they make unsupportable […]

 


Bill Clinton’s New Best Friends

It doesn’t matter who wins in November; Bill Clinton will end this year on top. The former president will introduce Barack Obama on the penultimate night of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. That’s prime placement for the man who dismissed Obama’s campaign as “a fairy tale” four years ago. In the new USA […]

 

As Sacramento Dawdles, District Attorneys Revolt

California’s death penalty has been in limbo since 2006, when a federal judge stayed the execution of Michael Morales, who was sentenced to death for the brutal 1981 murder and rape of 17-year-old Terri Winchell. The judge was fearful lest the state’s three-drug lethal injection protocol would cause Morales undue pain. Since then, a number […]