Geek Soap Box

I stayed away from opining on the entire Shirley Sherrod/Andrew Breitbart fiasco because it felt like a convoluted mess where all sides emerged tainted by association with it — the Obama Administration, the NAACP, the right-wing blogosphere, and the mainstream media alike.  Well, that and because I am extremely lazy and unmotivated to blog more [...]

In the gentlemanly world of good social graces and proper political discourse, it is a show of class and respect to not speak ill of recently deceased members of the opposition party.  This is a fair and laudable endeavor, but in times such as these, a closer inspection of the legacy left by former West [...]

Hi, my name is Ted. If you are reading this Web site, you probably already know me. If not, or even if you do, allow me to reintroduce myself. Like I said, my name is Ted, and I am a member of the working poor. You don’t hear a lot about us in the mainstream [...]

It’s no secret, dear reader, that I blog lately with about the same frequency as appearances of the asteroid Apophus. Fortunately, I have buddies such as the Cranky Conservative to pick up my slack and churn out content that usually matches what I would have said anyway with far greater frequency and intellectual quality. Heck, [...]

“I, [name], do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God.” It’s a simple and elegant turn of phrase, actually, and succinctly sums up the essence [...]

There exists a phenomenon among New York City subway riders that astounds and confuses me.  When I first noticed it, I reasoned that it had to be a mistake, a one-time example of poor attention to detail.  Then I realized that I have seen it reoccur approximately one time every month, if not far more [...]

There is perhaps no greater sign of impending demise in a nation than the pragmatic acceptance of the mantra “good enough.”  Rome met its end soon after its citizens stopped building great roads and aqueducts and instead focused on childish entertainment and sport, and it is a worrisome observation that the United States, poisoned by [...]

Blog Maverick: Tax the Hell Out of Wall Street and Give It to Main Street It should always be the natural reaction of any lover of freedom and liberty to be inclined towards opposing any new proposed tax, especially those proffered in the name of the public good.  This blog post from Mark Cuban, though, [...]

Wow, I completely missed this until alerted to it by Paul’s comment in the post below.  Did President Barack Hussein Obama really have the audacity to refer to limited-government, fiscally responsibly activists as “tea baggers” — a very real and grotesque sexual slur — and only a short while later lament the lack of civil [...]

While on vacation this past week, I happened to become involved in conversation with an individual of, shall we say, a different political persuasion.  Now, this is rarely a big deal for me; growing up and living my entire life in a supermajority left-leaning region, I know how and when to pick my fights and [...]

The story of Joseph Stack is a tragedy, of an extremely confused and disturbed man who sought to terrorize innocent civilians and employees of the government in the interests of his own sick, twisted agenda.  It’s also, paradoxically, a tale of incredible fortune and serendipity. Unfortunately, it also seems to be an opportunity for partisans [...]

I could see the smoke from miles away on the Whitestone Expressway, a thick acrid black shroud of destruction tearing its way through a commercial strip in my hometown Jackson Heights.  In the aftermath, it would turn out to be a  four-alarm fire of questionable (or at least “unknown”) cause and all storefronts on the [...]

When you are faced with a career in the political arena — filled with countless public appearances and speaking engagements — suffice to say you are going to have more than a few gaffes.  However, when these misstatements come in the biggest, most carefully vetted speech of the year — such as in the State [...]

On behalf of the voters of New Jersey and now…Massachusetts???

Let’s face it, our lives are pretty decent, and for that we should consider ourselves blessed.  We in the United States and other nations of the “West” are not torn apart by political strife, genocide, or cataclysmic natural disasters.  For the most part, we all are able to wake up each morning, safe and sound, [...]

Hey, can you do me a favor?  Can you remind me just which American political party is the one that’s always portrayed in the media and during debates as the one filled with horrible, filthy racists and elitests?  I don’t see any Republicans making the news lately for absolutely beyond-the-pale outrageous statements aimed towards President [...]

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution clearly states: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be [...]

With so-called comprehensive healthcare reform all but passed in the United States Senate, it seems certain that our nation will soon nationalize a major segment of our economy and place it under strict, socialist government control.  I will spare you for now a thorough discussion on the merits and demerits of such a system, aside [...]

Fresh off the humiliating election of woefully over-matched President Barack Hussein Obama — accompanied by nearly filibuster-proof majorities for the Democrats in both houses of Congress — this year’s Election Day turns our focus to more local, personal roots, as several notable contests are underway in both the Empire and Garden states.  These campaigns, though, [...]

If you ever wanted a clearer picture of the perils of one-party ideological rule in a jurisdiction, look no further than the continued reign and candidacy of New York’s own Napoleonic Mayor, Mike Bloomberg. Mayor Mike, as he likes to be called, was a lifelong Democrat until political expediency (avoiding a crowded primary battle) saw [...]

(A post in which I “mash-up” my two favorite topics: politics and association management…and in the interest of full disclosure, this is NOT about anything happening at my own association, just one of those random things that can come only to me while reading a wide array of blogs related to both news and my [...]

(Inspired in large part thanks to a similar post on The Cranky Conservative…) – It’s hard for someone as humble as me to admit it, but turns out I was way ahead of the curve in declaring President Barack Hussein Obama the Anti-Christ: a solid nine percent of the residents of the fine state of [...]

I’m a few days behind on my news, but that really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that has ever read this site with any regularity.  Anyway, I wanted to make a comment on a certain meme that went around Twitter and Facebook this week; a little sweet-sounding, simple, and very effective slogan promoting healthcare [...]

A post in two parts: I remain forever amazed at how little the politically devout actually know about marketing and messaging their platforms to the larger masses.  Without question, politics inspires a certain form of relentless passion in engaged individuals, but that passion often creates a sort of “mandatory call to action: you must agree [...]

I know I couldn’t have been the only one who immediately thought of a certain song when hearing of President Barack Obama’s plan to indoctrinate — uh, I mean, address — all of America’s students next week. HEY, OBAMA!  LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE! Nah, I think it’s actually kinda cool that the President could potentially [...]