http://www.liberalwalrus.com Large Liberal Commentary Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:58:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Hello friends and readers.  I have been on hiatus for quite a long time now, but I am happy to report that I am back, and I hope to post insights and analyses of interest in the new year, and for years to come. http://www.liberalwalrus.com/2009/01/02/the-return/ As was reported earlier this month (for instance, in this New York Times story), Exxon Mobil made humongous profits in 2007, amounting to $40.6 billion. Higher prices for oil led to the increase, although Exxon has been making tons of money for a while. Two divergent responses to ... http://www.liberalwalrus.com/2008/02/13/exxons-huge-profits/ Another element in the developing debate over Bill Clinton's behavior and Hillary's campaign is the posture of transcendence that the Obama campaign has been adopting. Obama, the message goes, prefers not to get involved in politics-as-usual mudslinging. He would rather bring us together than divide us. This ... http://www.liberalwalrus.com/2008/01/28/bringing-a-knife-to-a-gunfight/ I love Frank Rich's columns in the New York Times. I look forward to them. But this week I was a little surprised by his thoughts on the role of Bill Clinton in Hillary's campaign for president. As I have written about, it seems weird to me ... http://www.liberalwalrus.com/2008/01/27/frank-rich-decries-billary/ In anticipation of the coming general elections, in which debate about abortion will no doubt figure prominently, I wanted to highlight and discuss two developing debates on that topic. In both cases, we see groups who do not believe that a woman should have the right to decide what ... http://www.liberalwalrus.com/2008/01/26/abortion/ Following on my recent post on biofuels, I want to mention this article from the Washington Post, which details a recent effort by the Bush administration to allow road-building and logging in pristine forest. This is essentially a similar problem: we have gotten used to acting as if the earth contains ... http://www.liberalwalrus.com/2008/01/26/more-logging-more-problems/ For many decades, oil was available to meet all of our energy needs. It flowed from the earth; the challenge was to extract and refine it. The supply itself has only recently become a problem, and governments and businesses are scrambling to find a new source of energy ... http://www.liberalwalrus.com/2008/01/26/biofuels-wont-fix-everything/ The economic stimulus package that Pelosi and Boehner agreed on recently has one flaw that I just can't get past. You'll find it, for example, tucked at the bottom of the first page of this Washington Post story, for example: The money would be borrowed and would increase the ... http://www.liberalwalrus.com/2008/01/25/sure-tax-rebates-are-nice-but/ CNN has developed a weird habit of reporting on the interactions of their reporters with Bill Clinton in terms that portray him as enraged, lashing out, angered, and just generally aggressive and scary. See, for example, this story, wherein Bill is described as visibly upset. When I watch ... http://www.liberalwalrus.com/2008/01/23/bill-clintons-supposed-rage/ According to a Washington Post article, House Democrats are laying out a "legislative agenda" as part of their "midterm election push." Of course, that is not unusual--it is Congress' job to make laws, after all, and any party that wants to control the House should have an agenda. The treatment ... http://www.liberalwalrus.com/2006/11/01/six-for-06/