…instead of plugging in the headphones, entering an Internet-induced fugue state and quietly giving in to hopelessness, they used the Internet to find one another and take to the streets to insist on fairness and (in the Arab world) freedom.
WE ARE THE PERSON OF THE YEAR (via pimpradio)

Having long been ignored by the mainstream media, Ron Paul's campaign for the Republican party's presidential nomination appears to be surging in Iowa, just three weeks ahead of the state's 2012 caucuses on January 3rd.  Indeed, some polls are now placing the Texas Congressman in a statistical tie with the race's most recent front-runner, former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.

A highly contentious initiative blocking unions from making political contributions via automatic payroll deductions will be on the ballot in November 2012. In what promises to be a turbulent, divisive election year, this proposition will bring out the heavy artillery, as both sides will unquestionably raise and spend millions trying to defeat or pass it.

In yet another showdown between the Obama Administration and the states, which are already challenging President Obama's signature health care legislation in the nation's highest court, the Supreme Court announced Monday that it would also be taking on Arizona's controversial and tough immigration law, passed in 2010.

Cited by some activists as horsemen of the American Apocalypse, “big business” and “big labor” are none too popular in the  current political climate. On the other hand, a Gallup poll released Monday points to yet a third proverbial horseman in the form of “big government” and possibly reflects a distancing on the part of public from the two major parties in power.

DC Decoder: Newt Gingrich vs. Mitt Romney: How will delegate math impact the GOP race?

dcdecoder:

‎76% of registered voters say that most members of Congress should not be re-elected. However, 53% believe their own Congressional Representative deserves re-election. What do you make of these seemingly contradictory poll numbers?

The approval ratings of the federal government, and of Congress in particular, remain at an abysmal low.  A CBS News poll (.pdf) released on Friday found that just 11% of Americans approve of the way the Congress is handling its job while 82% disapprove.  This broad majority represents a veritable national consensus across all partisan lines.  Among those polled, 77% of Democrats, 81% of Republicans, and 87% of Independents expressed disapproval of