TALK / TALK
A fun, feisty, and philosophical dialogue among two leading independents as they reviewed the week's top political news.
ARCHIVES: 2006 ‐ 2010
For years, Fred Newman and Jacqueline Salit ‐‐ two leading activists and intellectuals within the independent political movement ‐‐ watched the political talk shows and discussed them over coffee. In early 2005, they began transcribing these conversations and distributing them to their friends and followers. Over the years, their "talk about the talk" developed into a popular weekly missive distributed via e‐mail to tens of thousands of readers worldwide. Making ﴾Non﴿ Sense of an Irrational World is a compilation of some of their most popular and thought provoking discussions from the last five years.
Obama’s Vacuum.
(September 16, 2007) I'm going to give you a compressed characterization of the debate between John McCain and John Kerry on the war policy and ask for your thoughts.
The Politics of Certitude.
(September 9, 2007) General Petraeus came back from Iraq to testify before Congress and give his report on the status of the surge.
Fred’s In, John’s Up.
(September 2, 2007) Thompson's coming in (to the presidential race) and his hope is that he shakes up the race.
Politics of the Absurd.
(August 26, 2007) Senator John Warner has come forward with a proposal to begin a drawdown of American troops in Iraq.
Karl Rove and the Dialectic of History.
(August 19, 2007) Today was "Karl Rove Day" on the talk shows. Rove resigned his position as Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House last week.
Fights, Comebacks and Asterisks.
(August 12, 2007) "Meet the Press" featured a dialogue between Harold Ford, Jr. of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) and Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos, billed as a debate between the centrist wing of the Democratic Party and the liberal wing of the party.
Getting Past the Pros.
(August 5, 2007) There were three views offered on the remarks Obama made about Pakistan in a speech he gave at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in D.C. this week.
Is There a Big Bopper in the House?
(July 29, 2007) The lead story on every show was the Hillary/Obama fight at the CNN/YouTube debate and the follow-up rounds in the days after the debate. This is one description of what the fight was about: New vs. Old, continuity vs. change, war vs. anti-war. How would you define what the fight's about?
Check Your Analysandum.
(July 15, 2007) John McCain's campaign was a topic, since there was a lot of news this week about changes in his staff.