Karl Smyth - openDemocracy

Smoke over the Vatican

update: the BBC's North American editor Justin Webb has since blogged about this subject here Reports emanating from Italian sources earlier this week suggesting that the Vatican has

By Karl Smyth

/ 16 Apr 2009

Jindal only offers more of the same

On paper, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal would appear to be the perfect candidate to help shepherd the Republican Party out of its post-election mire. A Rhodes scholar of Indian descent,

By Karl Smyth

/ 27 Feb 2009

The peril of parodying Obama

Political cartoonists find themselves in uncharted waters when poking fun at America's first black president

By Karl Smyth

/ 22 Feb 2009

"If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press"

It appears that MSNBC may have finally made their much-anticipated decision as to who will succeed the late Tim Russert as the next host of Meet the Press: the most

By Karl Smyth

/ 3 Dec 2008

The week of pragmatic transition

The significance of the transition period for an incoming presidential administration cannot be overstated: not only does it offer the opportunity for the President-elect to identify the priorities within his

By Karl Smyth

/ 16 Nov 2008

2006: McCain 510-Obama 28

The Huffington Post is carrying an intriguing story regarding a survey conducted exactly two years ago by polling company SurveyNow, gauging the balance of voter support across the country in

By Karl Smyth

/ 4 Nov 2008

2008: The fifth 'pivot point' in US history?

Given that the barriers of race and gender have been progressively eroded throughout the prolonged campaign season, many people have argued that this year's general election is something

By Karl Smyth

/ 2 Nov 2008

Howard Dean's "Democratic revolution"?

In a piece noting how Howard Dean's career has turned around since becoming Democratic National Committee Chairman, J. Patrick Coolican argues that the Democrats' bright electoral fortunes

By Karl Smyth

/ 28 Oct 2008

The GOP's return to McCarthyism

The communist witch-hunt headed by Senator Joe McCarthy in the late 1940s and early 1950s represents one of the darkest periods in American history: an era of frenzied paranoia and

By Karl Smyth

/ 19 Oct 2008

The Supreme Court and the candidates

The impact the result of this year's general election will have on the activism of the United States Supreme Court in the years to come has been all

By Karl Smyth

/ 18 Oct 2008

This debate matters most

Those of us who are expecting some last minute drama to emerge from tonight's debate - the third act of what so far has been a relatively lacklustre

By Karl Smyth

/ 15 Oct 2008

Why Troopergate matters

The continued salience of the financial market meltdown may mean that the intensity of the media's spotlight will not burn quite as bright, or be as probing, as

By Karl Smyth

/ 11 Oct 2008