Us Politics

When talk show host Stephen Colbert announced his quasi-bid for the US presidency, he presented American voters with an embarrassing democratic dilemma: How were they going to tell the mock candidates from the real ones?

Lovers of fine farce will be familiar with Colbert’s work. His hallucinatory satire is so formidable it can be seen from space (where a NASA astronautical treadmill was recently named COLBERT in his honour). 

On the off chance you aren’t a religious tuner innerer to the Comedy Channel at 7pm on weeknights, Colbert is the anchor for The Colbert Report. He’s a maniacal, semi-fictitious character who displays breathtaking audacity when it comes to speaking truthiness to power.

Continue reading "Colbert’s foray shows up the real clowns in the US circus" »

As is the rite of passage for all conservative politicians, Republican hopeful Newt Gingrich has found himself embroiled in a sex scandal. Wife number two claims Newt asked for an “open marriage”. She, shockingly enough, now considers him too much of a jerk for office.

In even more yawn-worthy news, fellow hopeful, Rick Santorum, has pounced on naughty Newt and determined that those extramarital hijinks raise questions about moral character. Moral character.

You know, the most fundamental of leadership qualities. Because, you might be the smartest, the wisest, the most hard-working of all politicians, but one sexual snafu and it can all end in a finger-snap.

Continue reading "Sex scandals should not render a leader impotent" »

Barack Obama was always going to have a tough presidency. He set the bar so high for himself during the arduous two year lead-up to his election that he was always at risk of sailing right under it when it came time to start enacting the “Change we can believe in”.

Indeed, back in 2008 there were times when it seemed his strategists took their cues from Napoleon Dynamite’s Pedro, as he essentially promised the electorate: “vote for me and all your wildest dreams will come true”.

In the nearly three years since he took office, he has made some important steps – passing a (slightly watered-down) health care package, most notably – but so many of his promises have gone unfulfilled and, although it pains me deeply to say it, his presidency thus far has been a bit of a wet firecracker.

Continue reading "Can Obama win the election? Yes, he can. Maybe." »

On Wednesday, Iowa voters were the first in the union to ink their index finger, so to speak, handing Mitt Romney a win with one of the barest margins in recent history - just eight votes - but for all intents giving Rick Santorum the decisive moral victory.

Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry rounded out the top five. A mediocre cache of candidates in 2012 for sure, but in a lot of ways that makes it all the more frightening, mainly (but not exclusively) for gays in America.

Some 60,000 people caucused for Romney and Santorum; the difference between the two was less than half a Duggar family. That’s the family famous for 19 Kids and Counting, the reality series about evangelical Christians Jim Bob (yes, really) and Michelle Duggar and their brood of nineteen children (yes, really really). Twelve Duggar children travelled to Iowa to support Rick Santorum, trumpeting his socially conservative religious views.

Continue reading "The GOP, God, guns and gays" »

When the Reverend Seth Kaper-Dale took over the running of the Reformed Church of Highland Park, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, he didn’t realise that most of his Indonesian Christian congregation was living illegally in the United States.

Now, after almost a decade of battles, a deadline is pressing hard on 73 members of his church, who are being told to go back to Indonesia.

This may seem like an old story; and one that is happening far from Australia. And it is, on both counts. But these Indonesians, living in fear in New Jersey, still somehow seem to me like Australia’s neighbours.

Continue reading "Our American dream, our American nightmare" »

Just when you thought the race for the Republican Party nomination for US president could not become more bizarre, Texas governor Rick Perry, 61, throws his hat in the ring.

As they say in Texas, Perry is “all hat and no cattle”. Politically he represents the frontier-style brand of bare-knuckle American conservatism that often surprises and puzzles overseas observers.

One respected Texas political analyst described Perry as “yet another small-minded, right wing, Texas governor” who on August 13 portrayed himself as THE Christian presidential candidate at a ‘Prayer-A-Palooza’ campaign launch at a Houston football stadium.

Continue reading "Presidential wannabe Perry is all hat, no cattle" »

“This is enough to choke a horse,” confided Bill Clinton - “this” being climate change, “one of the two or three biggest challenges in the world”. Clinton was speaking in April in a joint interview with New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Together, the “big dawg” former president and the diminutive, billionaire mayor have formed what amounts to an informal, two-man committee to save the world.

It’s not a new concept. The original ‘committee to save the world’ was conjured up in 1999 by the journalist Joshua Cooper Ramo, who appointed the then-Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, US Treasury secretary Robert Rubin and the man who would succeed him, Larry Summers.

Continue reading "Political dream team unite to save the world" »

The US is fighting three wars – give or take Libya. Unemployment just ticked up to 9.1 per cent. In coming weeks, the nation faces a critical decision to raise the $14 trillion debt ceiling. So why is America’s political class still squawking over Sarah Palin?

Last week, the former Alaska governor threw the 2012 Republican primary race into chaos - not by announcing her candidacy, but simply renting a bus and hoiking it on vacation. She rode in a bikie parade. She made a cameo at the National Archives.

Like the garden gnome in Amelie, her cherubic face popped up in a reel of happy snaps from Gettysburg to the Liberty Bell to New York’s Ellis Island.

Continue reading "Why Palin is poised to trump her opponents" »

They say there’s no such thing as a silly question - but sometimes it can be silly to answer one.

US President Barack Obama has finally put to rest to the allegations he wasn’t born in the United States (and would therefore be ineligible to be president) by releasing his long form birth certificate.

The conspiracy theories of the “birthers” have been dogging the political campaign for what seems like forever. Led by tycoon-turned-candidate Donald Trump they had finally reached a level where the president felt he had to respond.

Continue reading "The evil genius of Donald ‘the Birther’ Trump" »

Julia Gillard has teared up while heaping praise on America as the beacon of hope for humanity and the nation that can do anything it sets its mind on. You can watch the full speech here.

Only the fourth Australian PM to deliver a speech to a joint sitting of the US Congress, Ms Gillard charmed her audience which was bolstered with numerous school children and Congressional aides, drawing 16 sustained rounds of applause in all - two of which lasted into minutes, and six of which were standing ovations.

The delighted response came as the Australian leader repeatedly told US lawmakers that Australia stood with them, through thick and thin, war and peace, boom-time and recession.

Continue reading "Spoke brilliantly, looked great, channelled Howard" »

It took just hours for the media to finger the villain responsible for the shooting of US Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

It was Sarah Palin what done it, officer. And other Right-wingers just like that witch.

Such is the deranged hatred that so many on the Left feel for the former Republican vice-presidential candidate.

Continue reading "How the deranged Left pointed the finger at Palin" »

Think we’ve got a new paradigm? Get this: two comedians are positioning themselves as the voices of reason in American politics.

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show and his Comedy Central colleague Stephen Colbert have just announced they will hold rallies at the end of October in Washington D.C. calling for a return to common sense in debate in the US.

This is in response to last month’s rally led by conservative commentator Glenn Beck calling for a restoration of “traditional values” to American life. That rally, held on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, was well-attended by members of the Tea Party movement, a loose anti-taxation, anti-establishment grassroots movement which has just managed to get some of its members installed as Republican candidates for the US Senate.

Continue reading "A real paradigm shift: comics become political leaders" »

We are all familiar with the television debates between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition that occur in the lead up to a Federal election - but are Australians ready for online election debates?

Last month, NSW held what was billed as the first election debate on Twitter between NSW Premier Kristina Keneally and NSW Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell with mixed results including descriptions of it being chaotic, and confusing.

The increasing “US Presidential” style elections in Australia, with the focus almost entirely on the personality of the leader, suggests that other important developments in the US will be taking place here.

Continue reading "Leaders could face up to voters with a full web debate" »

From the country that gave us cigars in the White House pantry and the governor who went for a walk only to wind up in Buenos Aires doing the horizontal tango comes the latest proof that nobody does a jaw-dropping political scandal like Americans.

What began as a rumble about naked lobbying in the gym showers by Barack Obama’s chief of staff has turned into the cringe-inducing political wilting of US congressman Eric Massa, amid allegations of grown men in tickle fights, allegations of same-sex harassment and the spectre – raised by Massa himself – that there might be some unfortunate text messages on congressional staff phones.

After claiming just days ago he was pressured into resigning from Congress by Democrats, Massa, who is married with children, went on a highly-anticipated TV interview only to backtrack on his key allegations and then admit to all-in, all-guy tickle fights with staff.

Continue reading "Ticklegate: Only in America" »

Next month the American Presidency comes to Australia.

For all that is written about the American Presidency one of the aspects which is most intriguing is that its history can be condensed into the lives of four people: three who are known, one to be identified. Each person knew the next in line and together they may have known all 44 Presidents from Washington to Obama.

John Quincy Adams, the eldest son of America’s second President – John Adams, led a truly remarkable life.

Continue reading "The American Presidency: four degrees of separation" »

No doubt there will be swooning all round when President Barack Obama descends upon Australia next month for his first official visit “Down Under” since coming to office just over a year ago.

While the precise details of his itinerary are understandably a closely guarded secret there can be no such mystery as to what the reaction of much of the local media will be.

Breathless comparisons with the charismatic US leader and his young family to the photogenic heyday of Camelot are sure to be exceeded only by gushing commentary of his wife, Michelle Obama. And given our sunny climes are more accommodating of sleeveless gowns than chilly Washington DC, fashion observers might just be rewarded with a glimpse of the First Lady baring those famed biceps.

Continue reading "Hillary and Barack: a love story" »

The US Democratic Party is bewildered and spooked. One year after Barack Obama’s inauguration, a political asteroid struck yesterday, imperilling the road ahead for the President’s agenda, including his cherished healthcare reforms.

That Obama’s party could lose a Senate race in the liberal-left bastion of Massachusetts is proof that political hell has officially frozen over.

Republicans last held the seat in 1972. But to lose in a special election triggered by the death of Ted Kennedy?

Continue reading "Senate upset will teach us a lot about Barack Obama" »

You’ve just been elected to a powerful office in a stunning political upset. You’re making your acceptance speech with your proud family by your side. What do you say? Would, say, “My young daughters are available” be on your cue cards?

That’s what US Senator-elect Scott Brown, the Republican who has won the seat previously held by Democratic icon Ted Kennedy, managed to blurt out on TV when the eyes of the nation were watching. And he’s been given a welcome-to-the-jungle roasting by conservative pin-up commentator Glenn Beck, who says he wants to see Brown in a chastity belt. (Skip to the 1-minute mark in the video for the goods.)

“I want a chastity belt on this man,” Beck said, jocularly, on his radio show. “I want his every move watched in Washington. I don’t trust this guy. This one could end with a dead intern.”

Continue reading "What not to say in a speech: ‘My daughters are available’" »

UPDATE 2pm: It’s an epic upset and a disaster for Barack Obama and the Democrats: Republican candidate Scott Brown has won the Massachusetts Senate seat previously held by Ted Kennedy.

Jon Stewart on The Daily Show provides his customarily hilarious but incisive overview on an astonishing upset looming in the US: that the Democrats are in danger of losing the Massachusetts Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy. This would change the arithmetic in the Senate and possibly derail Barack Obama’s healthcare reform. Some links to more reading below; enjoy the clip.

There’s a wrap from Fox News here. George Stephanopoulos of America’s ABC News has called it the potential “upset of the century”. And there’s local coverage from the Boston Globe here.

Must-watch video of the day.  A passionate crowd of supporters gathered at Sarah Palin’s book signing at Borders bookstore in Columbus Ohio over the weekend. Intrepid reporters New Left Media took a video camera down to meet some of the people who consider her (among other things) “the rock star of the conservative party”.

In an effort to regain the momentum on health care reform, President Barack Obama gave a very good speech to the Congress yesterday.

I liked three aspects of it in particular. First, it had passion. Obama made the moral case for universal health care that liberals have been waiting for. He quoted a letter from the late Senator Ted Kennedy that asserted that health care goes to ‘the character of our country’.  The president’s remarks contained good lines and moving stories, including that of the Illinois man who lost his health insurance coverage during chemotherapy because he hadn’t reported gallstones that he hadn’t known about. It is remarkable that the most powerful country in the world is also the only advanced democracy to leave so many citizens uninsured.

Second, the speech showed strength. My principal criticism of Obama’s presidency so far has been his unwillingness to wade into debates, whether domestic or international, and use leverage and pressure to enforce his will.

Continue reading "Yes he can: Obama claims middle ground on health" »

In a telling post today one of America’s foremost conservative commentators, Michelle Malkin, has a two-thought article leading her site. Essentially it says Ted Kennedy is dead, please wait until the body is cold before kicking the almighty crap out of him.

As someone who has always been more interested in watching the bile spilling from dogmatic ideologues than actually agreeing with anything they have to say, I find this fair enough. Kennedy haters are champing at the bit. The last of the Commie-loving, big-spending brothers is dead.

But watch out. I’m about to use an –ism. It must be a red letter day.

Continue reading "What a great punk band" »