5:10 p.m.: Branford Marsalis, the second most famous of the Marsalis brothers, is playing the National Anthem on a soprano sax. Lovely articulation, warm timbre. After a moment, the C-SPAN sound people figure out how to give the singing crowd a little volume, so the sax rests upon a warm, soft bed of voices. Ghostly [...]
We’re back at the head-to-head matchups on day two, with a tied game following yesterday’s amazing 5-5 tie. In case you missed it, I’m looking at the final 10 speakers from each night of the convention, comparing their speeches, deciding who did better, and then adding up the scores and seeing who had the better [...]
At this point, complaining about Mitt Romney‘s inconsistency seems almost as fruitless an exercise as it is predictable. The GOP pick for the presidency routinely changes his positions in what can best be described as shamelessly pandering to voters. We know this — and we have known this since Mitt’s first White House bid. This [...]
There were hundreds of lies, large and small, told on the stage at the Republican National Convention. The lies listed below were uncommonly pernicious. They were told again and again in voice after voice, by speakers of differing ideological backgrounds and different political proclivities, suggesting that these are the lies with which Republicans hope to [...]
First, let’s consider some facts: Fact one: Paul Ryan is a liar. You can see recent evidence of that here, here, here, here, and here. Fact two: Paul Ryan is a Catholic — and touts himself as a devout believer at that. He made a point to go to a weekday mass after accepting the GOP’s vice [...]
Sure it’s an inflammatory headline, but it’s also accurate, which is more than I could say for the Republican vice presidential nominee’s speech last night. It should come as no shock that politicians of all stripes stretch the truth in their speeches. Some are quite good at lies of omission and exaggerations. (Hell, our current [...]
Note from the editor: In the tradition of “Congressman’s Corner,” Salty Eggs has invited Rep. Allen West to field questions from his South Florida constituents. Until we get a response to our query, we will do our best to answer questions on his behalf, based on what we know of his temperament and politics. Dear [...]
Remember, a few months back, when we were all nervously ROFLing about Rick Santorum? Sure, we were scared shitless. After all, Santorum said that abortion should not be permitted in cases of rape or incest. Instead, he told sexual assault victims to “make the best out of a bad situation” and called rape babies a [...]
So, I have been hesitant to say anything about Akingate because, up until this point, I wasn’t quite sure what I could say that wouldn’t just be an endless loop of “Seriously, America, WHAT THE FUCK?” Indeed, I knew what everyone else did: Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo), responding to a question about whether abortion should [...]
You already know this: while earning your college degree was informative and pleasant enough, plenty of us head in a different direction. Or maybe the experience wasn’t so awesome or helpful, but we’re sticking, steadfast and stubborn, to what we set out for in the first place. Joshua Miller, the executive director and founder of [...]
Venezuela has been in the media lately: following the death of Hugo Chávez, his chosen successor, Nicolas Maduro, beat challenger Henrique Capriles in the current election for presidency. It was a miniscule margin of a win—about 50.7%–and as of this write-up, a contested verdict. But if you’re the average United Statesian, you are less aware [...]
