No Labels is a new grassroots movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels, merely put them aside to do what’s best for America. No Labels Radio will offer a weekly dose of news and interviews with the policymakers who are working to find bipartisan answers to the otherwise intractable problems our country faces.
Our primary guest is U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who will discuss the work being done to forge a bipartisan solution to the nation’s fiscal problems.
Here’s your chance to suggest a question for one of the most prominent politicians of the past decade.
Want me to ask him about the budget debate? The 2008 election? His service in Vietnam? His choice of Sarah Palin? His appearances on Saturday Night Live?
Make your suggestions in the comments section below. And then tune in tomorrow to see if I used it.
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Jun 13, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET
A few weeks ago, I experimented with opening up the site to our readers for their Memorial Day tributes to beloved veterans.
It proved to be one of my very favorite days in the long, storied history of The Recovering Politician.
Well, there’s one job that a man can hold that’s even more important than military service. And we celebrate those men every third Sunday in June.
It turns out that Fathers’ Day coincides this year with what would have been my own father’s 73rd birthday.
So to celebrate both milestones, this Sunday, we will open up the site to your tributes and remembrances to your fathers. Whether you’ll be spending the day with dear old dad, or his memory will comfort you through the weekend, we want to hear your stories about your father.
We also want to see pictures. (No, not those kinds of pictures, Washington insiders!). Send us a photo of your dad. Better yet, a photo of you with your dad. Best yet, a photo of you and your dad when you were a kid.
The deadline for submissions of a short essay (100-1000 words) on your father and accompanying picture is this Friday, June 17 at 10:00 PM EDT. Send them to Staff@TheRecoveringPolitician.com.
Let’s make Fathers’ Day an even more rewarding day at The Recovering Politician. Share your stories and honor your father even more. Thanks.
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jun 9, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET
This week, The Recovering Politician published three pieces in which contributing RPs Jeff Smith, Artur Davis, and I weighed in on the John Edwards investigation and trial. If you missed them, here they are:
These articles certainly touched a nerve. I received several dozen emails from our readers, each giving their own take on the controversy.
Below I run a sample of the readers’ letters. Since I did not ask explicitly for permission, I am not using the authors’ names. However, if I used your email, and you would like to be identified, please let me know.
And of course, as always, we encourage you to comment below.
Is what John Edwards's campaign did against the law? That's the
question, right? It's not about the character of John Edwards, or at
least shound't be. And as for the poor first-time candidate worried
about taking it on the chin because he copped a few free haircuts or
some used clothes, wouldn't he want to know one way or the other
whether it's okay before he takes a gift? The commentary I have seen,
like that cited on your blog, doesn't say one way or the other whether
what happened here is or isn't (or should or shouldn't be) against the
law, but rather (i) leave the poor guy alone and (ii) what's the big
deal? History is full of powerful people who left the stage in shame
and then still had to suffer being investigated, sued, and/or
prosecuted. It's a risk that goes with being a public person with
something to hide. In Edwards' case, these were large donations (not
free haircuts), and if whether they should have been disclosed because
they served a political purpose is an open question, then let's get
the answer. Doing so would hopefully shed some light on what is
obviously a murky area, and may help deter some future shenanigans.
Someone will always be ready to push the envelope. If the edge is not
well defined, or worse, the signal is sent that we won't pursue cases
of apparent wrongdoing that are near the edge, we open the door to
even worse behaviour in the future.
John Edwards’ approval ratings are between 2 % and 3%. I hope he will never be considered for public office again. I think he is lower than dirt for his arrogant, narcissistic, dishonest acts against his dead wife and his children. His character is too low for him to be considered for any responsible government job. If he has broken laws in his covering up his out-of-wedlock child and lover, I would not shed a tear if he went to jail or was forced to do public service for indigent wives whose husbands have left them for the healthy, years younger model. I sent money to this man’s campaign, and it was NOT sent to support a mistress and baby outside of marriage! Poverty for John Edwards seems to me the best punishment.
Numerically, the Republicans seem to be cranking out more reprobates, liars, adulterers, thieves, and liars, but Democrats had better police their own if they want to count themselves as those taking the “high ground.”
Read the rest of… The Edwards Affair — Our Readers Weigh In
We’ve been so snowed under with responses to this week’s commentary on John Edwards’ investigation and potential trial that we’ve decided to print some tomorrow. Tune in at 8:30 am to read a wide variety of opinions, and we hope you will join the fray in the comments section.
By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Jun 8, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET
Today marks the 43rd anniversary of one of the most touching eulogies in American history: Senator Ted Kennedy’s poignant speech at the funeral of his fallen older brother, Robert F. Kennedy.
I shared my thoughts upon the anniversary of RFK’s eulogy to Martin Luther King a few months earlier — which I believe is the greatest speech of my lifetime.
But today, I will let the late Senator Edward Kennedy’s words speak for themselves:
The RP started the discussion this afternoon, and the battle is engaged.
Jonathan’s piece opposing John Edwards’ prosecution has stirred a real debate at The Recovering Politician. Tomorrow, you will hear from a few more contributing RPs, including a former federal prosecutor and a former federal prisoner. (Hmmm… I wonder who that is?)
In addition, our own RP staffer, Kristen Hamilton, debuts her first full essay on her pet passion — the politics of fashion. Read how Michelle Obama makes the careful balance between political leader and fashion icon.
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Jun 6, 2011 at 2:15 PM ET
John Edwards’ indictment last week is an issue that will occupy the blogosphere and the political chattering class for months.
And it’s one to which we will be devoting considerable attention here at The Recovering Politician.
For the Edwards affair touches on a significant number of issues that are of primary concern and interest to our contributors and our readership: the privacy rights of public figures; the criminalization of politics; the special responsibilities of our state and national leaders.
My take on the issue is fairly simple. While I have never been much of a fan or supporter of Edwards, and while I find the cover-up scheme for which he was charged to be reckless, irresponsible, and farcical; I oppose his prosecution, and I am hoping that he will escape criminal punishment.
I published an essay on my views in today’s Huffington Post. Here is an excerpt:
I really wanted to like John Edwards. I just couldn’t help myself.
From the time of his first presidential bid, Edwards’ focus on poverty reduction and his sublimely poetic identification of “two Americas” perfectly captured my own communitarian vision of politics and public service.
But I couldn’t support him. There was just something about him.
I wish I could say it was because I suspected the arrogance and recklessness that led him to risk the Democratic Party’s fortunes – indeed, the fate of the country — on an implausible scheme to cover-up the paternity of his child. But I wasn’t that insightful.
Only recently, upon reflecting on my own political career, did I understand what it was.
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Jun 2, 2011 at 5:00 PM ET
I’m thrilled to report that our highest profile contributing RP yet, Evan Bayh, will be joining the team tomorrow morning at The Recovering Politician.
For those of you who don’t follow politics or read the newspaper, Evan Bayh is the former two-term Governor and two-term U.S. Senator from Indiana, who chose not to run for a third term in 2010 because he had tired of the hyper-partisanship and polarization in Washington.
Tomorrow morning, we will have a special, personal episode of RPTV in which Bayh and I discuss his post-politics life, his reflection on the merits of public service, and his judgment on today’s great budget debates.
I hope you will join us first thing tomorrow morning for Evan Bayh, and stay with us the rest of the day for our usual feast of civil dialogue.
As we previewed a few hours ago, the RP, contributing RP Lisa Borders, and a bipartisan group of national leaders, committed to promoting civility and bipartisan solutions to the nation’s toughest problems, have launched No Labels Radio.
No Labels is a new grassroots movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels, merely put them aside to do what’s best for America. No Labels Radio will offer a weekly dose of news and interviews with the policymakers who are working to find bipartisan answers to the otherwise intractable problems our country faces.
Our very own contributing RP, Andrei Cherny, recent launched an initiative to focus attention on small business development in Arizona. He wrote about it in an op-ed in the Arizona Republic:
As a businessperson, I’ve seen Arizona fall behind our economic competitors – around America and around the world. As chair of the Arizona Democrats, I’ve made it a priority for us to offer leadership that will help turn our economy around.
That’s why we recently held the first meeting of our new Business and Entrepreneurship Council, a group of Arizona business leaders committed to pushing new ideas that will bring back jobs and spur economic growth.
As I looked around the room at the start of our meeting, I saw businesspeople ranging from leaders of Arizona’s largest businesses to entrepreneurs of high-tech startups to owners of “mom and pop” small businesses. The people there were Democrats, Republicans and independents alike.
