The civil libertarian in me knows full well that there’s nothing wrong with those accused of wrongdoing hiring legal representation. The partisan in me, however, finds it entertaining to see Tom DeLay hire a team of lawyers to help get him out of his current predicament(s). House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has beefed up his […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * Polls showing Pennsylvania Treasurer Bob Casey Jr. (D) leading Sen. Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum (R) last month were no fluke. A new Keystone Poll shows Casey leading 44% to 37% among […]
After 50 years of defrauding the public and poisoning their customers, the tobacco industry was poised to pay dearly for their crimes. Government experts had concluded that the nation’s largest tobacco companies should pay $130 billion, partly as punishment, but mostly to help reduce smoking in the U.S. Yesterday, however, we learned that the Bush […]
With all the talk lately about corrupt lobbyists’ relationships with lawmakers and a culture of arrogance in which public officials hand lobbyists their bills in restaurants, it’s encouraging to see Dems seize the opportunity and hold themselves out as leaders for reform. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) plans to introduce a bill to overhaul lobbying laws, […]
Like a lot of people, I got an email yesterday about a new initiative from the guys who put together the Stop Fake News.org campaign. This time, they’ll working on a consensus candidate for the Supreme Court. I don’t think this work, but it’s worth talking about. The idea is to “draft” 5th Circuit Court […]
I’m not surprised that Janice Rogers Brown was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit yesterday. She was part of the Gang of 14’s “compromise” deal and, in order to defeat her nomination, opponents would have needed every Dem vote plus six Republicans to break ranks with their party. That wasn’t […]
Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly had what he thought was a good idea: set up one of those celebrity cruises, charge his die-hard fans a bundle of money, and enjoy the adulation while doing his schtick on the open seas. There was only one problem: no one’s interested. O’Reilly’s cruise would have cost participants between $1,099 […]
(Editor’s Note: The Carpetbagger Report, as regular readers know, has joined the Coalition for Darfur, a bi-partisan online initiative created to raise awareness and resources to address the crisis. This is the latest in a series of posts from the Coalition.) The big news regarding Darfur this week is that the International Criminal Court has […]
I’ve been hesitant to weigh in on Howard Dean and his more colorful comments of late, but the problem doesn’t seem to be going away and I want to add my two cents. I’m not prepared to blame Dean, but I believe it’s up to him to make this situation better before it becomes an […]
In 2002, the Bush administration announced that it would buy oil and gas rights on a large section of land in the Florida Everglades. At the time, this seemed like a good move. Environmental groups such as the World Wildlife Fund, which is not always fond of the administration’s policies, endorsed the proposal and Interior […]