In my post from yesterday, I already expressed my disappointment in Obama’s decision to sink us that much deeper in Afghanistan. Maybe I will be surprised when he actually delivers his speech and he offers a better glimpse of an authentic exit strategy…though I doubt it.  But let us not forget just how we got [...]

I hope that Tiger Woods decides to finally talk to the cops before Tuesday night  so that out exalted news media have some resources to cover President Obama’s speech from West Point on the coming escalation in Afghanistan.  If you ever wanted to know what the real news value was of an American soldier’s life [...]

I’m big on tradition. On this traditional holiday, this is my traditional blog post.

Unless you live in Southern California, you’ve probably never heard of Marshall Drummond. And if you do come from these parts, you’re still likely to shrug. In fact, you’re probably better off if you never heard of him. But the tale of his sudden departure as head of the cash strapped L.A. Community College District [...]

Marc Cooper (see Update at bottom of post) I’ve had a pretty busy couple of days so I thought I’d catch up here on a trio of subjects that I’ve been mulling during long drives up and down I-5: The not-so-good health care bill; the the bad news from Cuba where bloggers continue to be [...]

Marc Cooper You know that throughout the horrible years of the Bush Admin I poked fun at the progressives who staged something like 54,000 “Take Back America” conferences. My basic point was that taking back your democracy and electing Democrats was not always the same thing. Sure, you could argue that electing them was a [...]

I had been thinking about this all day but Andrew Sullivan beat me to it.  By the time I got home he posted it and saved me the trouble. Anyway, it’s an excellent point. Why continue to bat around the already batty Sarah Palin when it’s really John McCain’s fault that most of us ever [...]

The corpse in the middle, in the blue shirt, was a friend of mine. Spanish-born Jesuit priest Ignacio Martin-Baro. It was twenty years ago today that he and five other Jesuit clergy were dragged from their beds at the Central American University in San Salvador by national army troops and, in cold blood, were shot [...]

APB. Amber Alert. SOS. Oprah has disappeared. She was last seen early Monday hiking up into a dangerous Alaskan cave. If you have any information about Ms. Winfrey’s whereabouts please contact us at: softballs@whiff.com

Listening to the pureed pablum on Sunday’s CNN’s State of the Union with John King as the topic turned to Sarah Palin I came up with a handful of propositions.

A few years back, as a heat wave swept the California central valley taking the lives of three farm workers, I wrote a long feature piece lamenting how very little the plight of the Golden State’s campesinos had improved. The piece inevitably included some reporting on what is unquestionably the historic failure of Cesar Chavez’ [...]

The Senate is about to take up debate on the historic issue of health care but in case you haven’t noticed, next week will be  Sarah’s Week.

Neighboring San Bernardino County has just declared a state of emergency over the spread of Swine Flu and here in L.A. County several dozen people have already succumbed to the same. I’d like to give you the exact figure, but the Director of the L.A. County Health Department has decided to play hard to get [...]

I imagine sometime in the next few days we will find out the real reasons why Lou Dobbs has suddenly left his perch on CNN.  Or not.  What we are almost certain to learn is exactly what time slot he will be given over at Fox News. I think it is a near certainty.

Marc Cooper You’re literally starving and you have two choices. Take a half a loaf of bread that comes your way (so you can regain your strength and eventually get a real meal). Or stamp your feet, hold your breath till you turn blue and pass out, putting yourself out of misery. In the latter [...]

Now that was helpful, wasn’t it?  Rep. Dennis Kucinich took a knife-edged vote to pass historic health care reform and turned it into a razor-edge win by joining with knuckle-dragging Repubicans and shivering Blue Dogs to vote NO.    Dennis has a long and articulate justification for what was, in reality, an asinine vote.

Here’s the latest development from the First Free Territory in the Americas: Cuban security agents picked up prominent and dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez off the street and beat her when she resisted getting into the car.  She was later released but is still barred from traveling outside of Cuba. Sanchez is guilty, of course, of [...]

A team of our USC-based Neon Tommy reporters has produced a stunning, comprehensive package on the more than 50 people who have died from Swine Flue in L.A. County. This special report includes profiles of some swine flu victims, research into the legality of withholding death certificates from the public, copies of the certificates provided [...]

The biggest wingnut of them all, Michele Bachmann seems to have NOT gotten the message.  The Democrats took a hit in Tuesday’s election, for sure. But her tea-baggers got their butts kicked. Thanks to their antics, the Republicans lost the New York 23rd congressional district for the first time in a century. Indeed, the two [...]

Spin Tuesday’s election results any way you wish, tell yourself any fair tale you please, but the hard, cold truth is that the Republican victories in Virginia and New Jersey MUST be taken as a serious warning signal to Democrats.And more importantly, as a warning to the rest of us who are subject to the [...]