In case you missed it over the weekend, the Bush administration’s Nixonian passion for penalizing their enemies has reached almost-comedic levels. The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meets three times a year in various cities across the Americas to discuss such dry but important issues as telecommunications standards and spectrum regulations. But for this week’s meeting in […]
Bill Frist, as scheduled, shared his thoughts on the federal judiciary during yesterday’s controversial “Justice Sunday” rally. But Frist seemed to take inordinate joy in reminding anyone who would listen that his remarks were less-than radical. Without mentioning DeLay, Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said, “Our judiciary must be independent, impartial and fair. When we think […]
There are any number of amusing angles to the latest Tom DeLay revelations, but the scandal-ridden Majority Leader’s response to the whole mess was my personal favorite. It’s a keeper. The airfare to London and Scotland in 2000 for then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was charged to an American Express card issued to Jack […]
Two weeks ago, I noted the way in which Republicans, who had come up with the “nuclear option” phrase in 2003, had bamboozled the media into changing its reporting and use of language. Despite having created and used the phrase repeatedly, the GOP decided (thanks to polling data) that, forever more, it was the “constitutional […]
Guest Post by Morbo I’m fascinated over how the two wings of the Republican Party — business-oriented, free market conservatives vs. fundamentalist Christian social conservatives — continue to exist alongside one another. On some issues, they just don’t get along. Fundamentalists are appalled by pornography and want the Justice Department to shut it down. Free-market […]
Guest Post by Morbo I know that Halloween is more than six months away, but if you want a good scare right now, read Jeffrey Rosen’s article “The Unregulated Offensive” in last week’s New York Times Magazine. Rosen examines a fringe legal theory held by members of an extreme Libertarian sect called the “Constitution in […]
Guest Post by Morbo Here’s a follow-up to last week’s post about attorney David C. Gibbs III and his accusations against Michael Schiavo. Last week, the Florida Department of Children and Families issued a report finding that none of the 89 complaints of abuse levied against Michael Schiavo since 2001 is credible. According to a […]
Chuck Grassley, in explaining why he’s abandoning efforts at bi-partisanship in dealing with Social Security, told the New York Times, “I’m going to put together a Republican-only bill as a first step to getting bipartisan support because I can’t lose time waiting for the Democrats to come to the table.” The funny thing is, Dems […]
I’m very sorry for the technical difficulties this morning. I realize that almost everything is not functioning right now (links to individual posts, the comments section, the archives, the search feature) and am pulling out what’s left of my hair over it. If you’re a regular reader who’s lost count of how many times I’ve […]
Bill Frist’s religious-right friends, with whom he’ll be spending time this weekend, have quite a wish list when it comes to the federal judiciary. Evangelical Christian leaders, who have been working closely with senior Republican lawmakers to place conservative judges in the federal courts, have also been exploring ways to punish sitting jurists and even […]