T-shirt trespassers file suit against Bush White House

Remember Nicole and Jeff Rank? They were the couple who were arrested at a Bush event — on the 4th of July, no less — for wearing T-shirts that criticized the president. (About the same time the Ranks were being dragged away, Bush was reminding the audience, “On this 4th of July, we confirm our […]

Republicans continue to endorse court stripping

In July, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay warned us of what to expect. Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) told reporters that he plans to use “jurisdiction stripping” measures to achieve other social policy goals as well. For example, he will push legislation to stop federal courts from hearing lawsuits related to the words “under God” […]

Does Cheney really understand the war on terrorism?

The other day, ABC News’ The Note reported on some comments from Dick Cheney in the wake of the Chechen attack on a school in Belsan, Russia. Try as I might, I don’t know what the vice president was talking about. I’m pretty sure Cheney didn’t know either. Cheney: “Russia of course did not support […]

NIE shows little reason for optimism

There’s Bush’s rhetoric… “General Myers, Vice President and Condi and I had a long-ranging discussion with our key members of the defense team about a variety of subjects. We talked about Iraq, the way forward in Iraq, the way to help the Iraqis get to elections. We’re making progress on the ground.” (August 23, 2004) […]

Worst…historical analogy…ever

One of the rhetorical high points of Bush’s stump speech seeks to encourage voters to be patient with the lack of progress in Iraq and points to 1940s Japan as a key analogy. Here’s Bush on the subject, just last night: “I believe in the transformational power of liberty. The wisest use of American strength […]

Democracy, schmocracy

In case you missed it, Glenn Kessler and Robin Wright had a great item in yesterday’s Washington Post — hidden deep away on page A17 — about Bush’s rhetoric about spreading democracy around the world and Bush’s real commitment to these ideals. Naturally, Kessler and Wright discovered that the two rarely meet, particularly as it […]

Hacked — temporarily

Yes, if you checked this site this morning, you saw that I was hacked. I’m not exactly sure how this happened — or who did the hacking — but the situation appears to have been resolved. Sorry for the inconvenience; now back to my long-winded tirades…

All of a sudden, House Republicans regain their interest in investigatory hearings

Quick quiz: Who offered this quote and what was the context? “This isn’t politics as usual. It’s dangerous and possibly criminal.” Was it a) Henry Waxman talking about the Plame Game scandal; b) me talking about the White House lying to Congress about the cost of Bush’s Medicare scheme; c) Joe Biden talking about the […]

Parody is dead

A few months ago, The Daily Show was mocking the administration’s spin on the prison abuse scandal, calling the torture delivered by U.S. troops “freedom tickling.” Of course, once again proving that parodying the Bush administration is virtually impossible, consider the names the Pentagon has come up with for camps that have replaced Abu Ghraib. […]

Plame Game leaker is identified — but we don’t know who it is

With all that’s going on in the political world right now, it’s easy to forget that the Bush White House is still under a criminal investigation — a fact that most voters seem to be completely oblivious to because the Plame Game scandal never generated the media attention it deserved. Nevertheless, there has been a […]