I decided to celebrate President’s Day weekend by ranking the 43 U.S. presidents as drinkers. My main source material was Mint Juleps With Teddy Roosevelt: The Complete History of Presidential Drinking, by Mark Will-Weber[1]. The primary factor in a president’s rank is the amount he put away. We’re talking life

The latest blatant falsehood from the right-wing noise machine is about “no-go” zones: communities inhabited by violent, America-hating Muslims. Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council[1], said the other day that Dearborn, Michigan, is such a zone, a place where sharia law is in effect. Really? That would

Have you ever heard of the Democratic Majority PAC, and Ali Lapp? Unfortunately, I have. The PAC, and Ms. Lapp, have been regular invaders of my e-mailbox for months. She’s a spammer. Surely you’ve seen her spams. The subject line says “Breaking,” “Urgent,” or “Personal” (one said just plain “Hey”;

Every New Year’s Day since 1976, Lake Superior State University in Michigan has come out with its list of Banished Words on account of “Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.” Over the years, I’ve submitted numerous words for banishment, and I’ve seen my name in lights twice, for “First Dude” (2009)

Readers of a certain age might remember Esquire magazine’s Dubious Achievement Awards. Sadly, the annual feature was discontinued for good in 2008; but fortunately, other publications and websites carried on the tradition. My version, which concentrates on political dubious achievements, was originally intended as an end-of-the-year column. However, the Republicans

It’s the dead of winter, the time of the year for baseball “fantasy camps.” Located in warm-weather locations like Florida and Arizona, these camps allow fans to take part in baseball drills, meet current and former players, and play ball while wearing their favorite team’s uniform. What you might not

Every New Year’s Day since 1976, Lake Superior State University has come out with its list of Banished Words on account of “Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness.” Over the years, I’ve submitted numerous words for banishment and, in 2009, finally got recognized for one of my contributions. It was “First

Many of us on FDL knew from the beginning that the Affordable Care Act, which I prefer to call “The Rube Goldberg Health Insurance ‘Reform’ Act of 2010,” was a bad law. To begin with, it was overly complex and clotted with industry terms of art. The only part of

Mrs. Tiger and I are Affordable Care Act outliers. We can afford to pay more for lousier coverage. And we’re selfish and whiny, and repeating Republican talking points to boot. At least that’s how the pro-ACA cheerleaders characterize us. Perhaps they’ve had better luck with ACA than we have. For

For nearly ten years, I had the misfortune to be a constituent of Thaddeus McCotter. For those who aren’t familiar with thin-skinned Thad, he’s the snotty self-acclaimed intellectual who misuses big words and speaks like a constipated Snidley Whiplash. In all probability, the next congressman from my district will make