Vernon Hunter served two tours of duty in Vietnam and returned only to serve his country for many more years, as part of that most hated of federal institutions — the IRS. He had a wife who worked for the same agency, as well as six children.
The Modest Observer
Mario Morales, former author of the CT's "The Education Blog," brings to you this blog that highlights a satirical moment from each week, putting U.S. politicians on the hot seat for their often not-so-thought-out candor. It is published bi-weekly on Fridays.
Filial Piety
February 26th, 2010 by Mario Morales
The “R” Word
February 13th, 2010 by Mario Morales
It’s not often that I pass up an opportunity to rip on Sarah Palin, but she’s right that the word “retard” shouldn’t be thrown around. The problem is that she’s definitely not the right messenger.
Martha, Martha, Martha
January 29th, 2010 by Mario Morales
Sure, some of the Brown voters were disenchanted Democrats who are annoyed with Governor Patrick, or President Obama’s actions, or lack thereof, or whatever — but most of the blame for Martha Coakley’s loss should be placed squarely on her shoulders.
Huckabee’s courage
December 4th, 2009 by Mario Morales
Clarence Darrow, during his final summation at the trial of Leopold and Loeb, asked the jurors to “temper justice with mercy.”
I choose to begin with this quote because, for once, I’m not handing off the award for stupidity or unintentional candor, but for courage, and I’m crossing the metaphorical bench to do so. Former Arkansas …
Texas’s Marriage Mishap
November 20th, 2009 by Mario Morales
Two weeks ago I highlighted Maine in my blog for voting affirmative on Question 1 and repealing the state’s legalization of gay marriage. This week, I’m awarding the proud citizens of Texas with my attention for doing such a good job of banning gay marriage that they may have inadvertently banned all marriage in the …
Disagreeing with Maine
November 6th, 2009 by Mario Morales
After a few years spent up here in the States and taking an almost-daily news bath, very little surprises me about American politics. I expected Owens would beat Hoffman, Bloomberg would beat Thompson, Christie would beat Corzine and McDonnell would trounce… that dude with the weird name who ran against him.
Of course, if nothing surprised …
Excuses, Excuses
October 23rd, 2009 by Mario Morales
This Wednesday, the Senate voted 47-53 to block a ten-year freeze of cuts to Medicare payments given to doctors; the entire Republican conference, twelve Democrats and one independent voted in favor.
The vote itself isn’t what wins my attention this week, though — no, the winner this time around is Harry Reid, who blamed the American …
The Politics of Rape
October 9th, 2009 by Mario Morales
The more news-infused among you may know that Senator Al Franken (D-MN) recently proposed an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that would punish contractors who restrict their employees “from taking workplace sexual assault, battery or discrimination claims to court.” The same people will probably know that 30 senators, all male, voted against the amendment …
Selective Respect
October 9th, 2009 by Mario Morales
Y’know, when I started this column, I didn’t expect to be awarding these little “moments of the week” to people with whom I actually agreed with on anything. Yet that’s exactly what the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) managed to do this week, issuing a press release that suggested General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. …
Glenn Beck, the Amazing Mimetic Invertebrate
September 25th, 2009 by Mario Morales
Reference-only biologists and Trekkies stand aside, for one thing has recently become clear about Glenn Beck: He needs to decide whether he’s a conservative, a libertarian or plain ol’ crazy. I’m all for good political discourse, even if it’s not always constructive — otherwise I wouldn’t have this column — but you’d think the people …