December 2010

An Organization We Need to Succeed

Dear TPC members & fans,

I want to take this opportunity to tell you about a great new organization that America so desperately needs to succeed. 

I recently attended the launch of the political advocacy group "No Labels."  The official launch event took place on Monday, December 13th at Columbia University in New York City.  1,100 people from every state came together to help introduce this organization.  Journalists, political pundits, and politicians of all political stripes also joined us.  Some of those that attended included:

• American Politics

CNN Should Start Acting Like a Leader

A little off topic here. 

CNN calls itself “The Worldwide Leader in News.”  But have you noticed lately that it is acting less like a leader and more like an unconfident teenager who is trying to get attention and make friends?  I’m sure it has something to do with its ratings.  Between the first quarters of 2009 and 2010 CNN lost nearly 50% of its prime time viewers.  Since then they have been desperately seeking to mix it up and compete with the ideological propaganda machines of Fox News and MSNBC.  CNN has introduced new shows and experimented with new marketing.  However, they still can’t find their way. 

• The Media

Ideologues vs. Centrists

The centrist political pundit and author John Avlon once wrote that “centrism springs from the idea that neither party has a monopoly on good ideas.” That is why centrists like myself do not promote one ideology or one party, we focus on effective solutions. I don’t care if a solution is conservative or progressive as long as it is effective. And I know a solution can come from either end of the political spectrum, because no one party or politician has all of the answers. That’s just common sense.

• American Politics

Principle vs. Belief

I used to believe in the Tooth Fairy. That was until my father stepped on the Starscream Transformer lying on the floor of my bedroom in his bare feet, and the subsequent cursing that followed as he limped out of the room. You see, the Transformers action figures of 1984 were not the Transformers toys of today; they were made of metal as opposed to plastic and were not pleasant to step on. On this particular night, my dad was running a stealth mission which involved exchanging the tooth I had lost while eating an apple that day for a dollar bill, until one unfortunate step ended the lives of both this fictional character I envisioned procuring children’s teeth via Breaking & Entering AND Starscream (which really should have been taken care of by Megatron long before that).

• Policy