The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

If You Don’t Like Avatar and Anderson Cooper, You’re a Kook

That’s the basic message of Jonathan Kay’s Newsweek column: Like all populists, tea partiers are suspicious of power and influence, and anyone who wields them. Their villain list includes the big banks; bailed-out corporations; James Cameron, whose Avatar is seen as a veiled denunciation of the U.S. military; Republican Party institutional figures they feel ignored […]

The Army of Davids: ‘All Is Proceeding As I Have Foreseen’

From my latest column at The American Spectator: The prime congressional target for Alabama’s Republicans is Rep. Bobby Bright, whose 2nd District encompasses the Wiregrass region where Odom’s group has become a force to be reckoned with, as has the Wetumpka Tea Party, led by Eric and Becky Gerritson. The anti-establishment mood represented by the […]

VIDEO: GOP Candidate Rick Barber Talks Tea Parties, Pool Halls and Blue Dogs

MONTGOMERY, Ala. Pubs and alehouses like Tondee’s Tavern served as meeting places where colonists planned the American Revolution, and that tradition is being carried on by Tea Party activists in Alabama. Every Tuesday is “Patriot Night” at Montgomery’s Deja Vu Billiards, owned by Republican congressional candidate Rick Barber: By the way, describing Barber as a […]

To Be Fair to Rachel Maddow . . .

. . . it was hard to tell exactly what the sounds coming from the MSNBC host meant. They were sort of a little bit muffled by, you know, the pudding in her mouth: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Maddow’s quote: Just for reference here, when Tom Tancredo talks […]

‘In Birmingham, They Love . . .’

. . . the next governor? Just returned from dinner with Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim James. Among the guests joining us at McCormick & Schmick’s was Judy Merritt, president of Jefferson State Community College. Dr. Merritt became Alabama’s first female president of a state college in 1979 when she was appointed by former Gov. Fob James, […]

LIVE from Birmingham, Alabama

Yes, that’s right, folks. Despite the law-enforcement dragnet across Virginia and Tennessee — “Be on the lookout for a black 2004 KIA Optima . . .” — I have arrived at an undisclosed location  in Birmingham. Political intrigue and shenanigans are afoot down here in God’s country, and I’ll be updating regularly. While en route — 785 miles […]

Alabama: ‘Things Going On’

I’m planning to leave late tonight or early Thursday for a shoe-leather reporting trip to Alabama. That rattling sound you hear is either the transmission of the 2004 KIA Optima or me shaking the tip-jar like Carmen Miranda’s maracas in a Cuban samba frenzy. This trip continues the Grassroots-vs.-Establishment theme I’ve been covering for the past few months. There […]

Illinois Update: Brady Leads in GOP Gov. Race; Kirk Wins Senate Primary

LIVE RESULTS Wednesday, Feb. 3, 12:15 a.m. ET: As disappointing as the Illinois GOP gubernatorial primary is for Andrzejewski’s Tea Party supporters, Mark Kirk’s win in the Senate GOP primary is much worse from a conservative perspective. Michelle Malkin notes the “hold-your-nose” factor as reflected in the ultra-low primary turnout. 11:55 p.m. ET: Bill Brady leads […]

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