The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Pre-Caucus Night Nap Time

The rented Mustang convertible I got for the price of a Toyota JOHNSTON, Iowa Just got back from the Stony Creek Inn, across the highway from my hotel, where they’re setting up for tonight’s big victory celebration for Rick Santorum. Just so you know: Election Night events are always billed in advance as “victory” parties, because […]

‘Occupy’ Protesters at Bachmann HQ: Proof That Gardasil Causes Retardation?

JOHNSTON, Iowa Michele Bachmann has taken a lot of flak for saying that she was approached in Florida by a mother who claimed her daughter suffered brain damage as the result of a Gardasil vaccination. You may sneer at that claim, but when I showed up at Bachmann’s Iowa campaign headquarters today for an scheduled […]

IOWA NOTEBOOK: Occupy Caucuses?

Rick Perry speaks at Smokey Row coffee shop Pella, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011 DAVENPORT, Iowa After days of chasing after campaigns, I find myself in the unusual position of waiting for the campaign to come to me. Rick Santorum will be here in Davenport this evening for a 7 p.m. event, and so I’m […]

Greetings From the Quad City

DAVENPORT, Iowa — Woke up late today — too late for the complimentary breakfast here at the Radisson Quad City Plaza — and thought, “Hey, no need to hurry today.” Monday I flew into Cedar Rapids and had to go halfway across the state to a Rick Santorum event, then back to Iowa City. Then […]

Fear and Loathing at BWI

BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT They’ll call final boarding in less than an hour, so there’s no time now for a lot of fancy stuff. I’m scheduled for a three-hour flight to Detroit, a one-hour layover and then a 40-minute hop to Cedar Rapids. The big headline on Memeorandum: Mitt Romney’s secret money What does it mean? Who […]

Memo From the National Affairs Desk: How’s the Weather Today in Vanuatu?

“Santorum is a social conservative, and everybody seems to have convinced themselves that social conservatives are a dead weight impeding the Republican Party and therefore no one should ever express support for any social conservative anywhere, under any circumstance.” — Robert Stacy McCain, “Slouching Toward Cedar Rapids” “How long, O Lord, how long? Where will […]

The Weird Turn Pro

“Some people claim that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world in 2012. While I am generally skeptical toward such doomsday prophecies, recent events have undermined my habitual skepticism and filled me with foreboding premonitions. If 2012 doesn’t bring the end of the entire cosmos, there are those who say it is […]

Slouching Toward Cedar Rapids

One of the hardest things about blogging is maintaining morale during times of discouragement. And so I’m grateful to the readers who responded to last night’s emergency request for contributions to the Shoe Leather Fund for my rapidly approaching Iowa trip: Jeff in Walla Walla, Richard in North Hollywood, and Glen in Dubai — yes, […]

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