http://politicsandpress.com The interaction of the press and politics; public diplomacy, and daily absurdities. Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:41:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en "[McCain] hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded -- that wasn't a wartime squadron. I don't think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president." Retired General Wesley Clark set off a brief firestorm over the weekend ... http://politicsandpress.com/2008/as-the-general-speaks-his-mind-journalists-lose-theirs/ It's July 1, Canada Day, and my brother Doug and I have decided to finally give into the many annual requests from around the globe and, in our role of Canadian idols and icons, help the world celebrate the event. Canada Day, ... http://politicsandpress.com/2008/the-great-white-north-celebrates/ Sixty years ago, on June 24, 1948 Josef Stalin blocked all routes through East Germany into the divided city of Berlin in an attempt to force the Western powers (Britain, France and the U.S.) to give up their sectors of the city and turn all of Berlin over to East ... http://politicsandpress.com/2008/when-america-stood-tall-the-berlin-airlift-of-1948/ My brother Doug and I are suspicious of official apologies by governments who are convinced by election polls that they might win some ethnic votes if they recall how miserably a specific ethnic group was treated a century ago. But this week the Canadian ... http://politicsandpress.com/2008/an-apology-that-might-mean-something/ Our pals the MacKenzies have for some time tried to lure us north of the border but rumors of walrus blubber meals, national curling championships, screech cocktails, dollars called “loonies” and an insufficient number of liquor stores kept us for the most part happily ensconced well south of the 49th ... http://politicsandpress.com/2008/shipping-up-to-ontario/ The current European football championships offer a fascinating look at the changing demographics of nations both in and out of the European Union. Some of the countries offer team rosters in which every single player has a name that reflects the traditional ... http://politicsandpress.com/2008/sports-and-politics-part-four-demographics-and-football-teams/ Just when it seemed that the US Democratic primary campaign was going to sink into the quicksand of complete disinterest, Barack Obama has made a deft move that is sure to focus attention on more interesting topics than the exact delegate vote not including Michigan, American ... http://politicsandpress.com/2008/obama-speaks-at-wesleyan-as-belichick-joins-hall-of-fame-sports-and-politics-part-3/ My brother and I are afraid that our headline may not mean much to our wide readership outside of Canada and Bavaria. Therefore some background information. Michaelle Jean is the splendidly photogenic Governor-General of Canada, whom the separatist Parti Quebecois likes ... http://politicsandpress.com/2008/michaelle-jean-makes-a-visit-to-france/ Sunday’s NY Times carried an Op Ed piece by Elizabeth Edwards (Bowling 1, Health Care 0) on the role of the press in the campaign and it is a dandy. It is no secret that she is a smart and honorable woman who is widely admired by people on both ... http://politicsandpress.com/2008/campaign-%e2%80%9908-the-other-edwards-speaks-out/ A petty reason perhaps why novelists more and more try to keep a distance from journalists is that novelists are trying to write the truth and journalists are trying to write fiction. - Graham Greene Watching the first segment of House of Cards, a 1990 BBC series, recently I began to ... http://politicsandpress.com/2008/campaign-%e2%80%9908-a-house-of-cards/