Alabama ponders segregation — again

Alabama legally mandated segregated public schools long before the Supreme Court struck down “separate but equal.” After Brown, Alabama didn’t have a choice about the law, which the state could no longer enforce, but it remained on the books. Its presence was a moot point, but was an ugly reminder of the state’s racist policies. […]

Sinclair continues to get hit where it hurts

Keep it up, everyone; it’s working. WGME’s plan to air a documentary critical of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry prompted three Maine companies Thursday to pull their advertising from the Portland TV station. Hannaford supermarkets, the Lee Auto Malls, and the law offices of Joe Bornstein withdrew their advertising indefinitely from WGME [Channel 13, in […]

Dems fight back over Education Department stunt

We learned earlier this week that the Bush administration is using our money to create fake-news ads (you remember, “I’m Karen Ryan reporting…”) touting its education policy and “ranking” reporters on whether they made Bush look good or not. Yesterday, Senate Dems started fighting back. Two Democratic senators have asked for an investigation into whether […]

Bush raised taxes 63 times — this week

When the Bush campaign first started throwing around the “350 tax increases” nonsense earlier this year, the estimable Michael Kinsley explained: The best way to see the absurdity of saying that John Kerry voted for higher taxes 350 times is to apply Bush’s madcap logic to Bush himself. Every year, in the president’s budget, there […]

Return to the Battle of the Bulge

At this point, I should probably just move on to other topics, but one thing about the mysterious bump on Bush’s back in the first debate is still bugging me. First, for those who thought that perhaps the individual snap shot I posted the other day was a random misrepresentation, you can check the video. […]

Christian Coalition tries, in vain, to flex its campaign muscles

The Christian Coalition unveiled its 2004 “voter guides” this week, supposedly a sign of the faltering group’s reemergence. Instead, the new drive was met with a combination of pity and laughter. First, the funny part. These guides are supposed to be non-partisan because the Coalition is mysteriously still tax-exempt. With this in mind, the campaign […]

Republicans block Christopher Reeve Paralysis Act

Republican lawmakers are so concerned about election-year appearances that they’re even blocking popular bills with broad bi-partisan support named after national celebrities. Salon’s Geraldine Sealey noted an LA Weekly report, which suggests GOP lawmakers started playing games with the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Act immediately after the actor’s death. For all the bad rap that Hollywood […]

It’s all about the Midwest

The Washington Post/ABC News daily tracking poll showed Kerry seizing the national lead from Bush for the first time yesterday, which included data from before last night’s debate. That’s good news, but the interesting part was the regional breakdowns. The Post/ABC data doesn’t show support by state, but it does break the numbers down by […]

James Baker’s painfully obvious conflict of interest

I know the Bush administration holds itself to a pretty low standard for law and order, but this sounds like one of the more blatant cases of influence-peddling in a long while. In meeting after meeting, President Bush’s special envoy, former Secretary of State James Baker, has lobbied world leaders to reduce the crushing debt […]

The flu shot shortage is the trial lawyers’ fault

Republicans must really be getting desperate — their arguments are getting more reckless and absurd. On CBS’ “Early Show” yesterday, BC04 Campaign Manager Ken Mehlman blamed the lack of tort reform for the flu vaccine shortage. “With respect to the flu vaccine, it is a very important issue, and it’s another example of this medical […]