Keystone Kaloogian

I really have to wonder when these guys will ever learn. You can’t get away with anything online anymore. A Republican congressional candidate in California posted a tranquil street scene he said he snapped in [tag]Baghdad[/tag] to prove the media are exaggerating the violence in Iraq. Trouble is, the photo was taken in [tag]Turkey[/tag]. Millionaire […]

Reestablishing Dems on national security

As Atrios noted, Bush’s rehashed rhetoric got blanket coverage for nearly two hours this afternoon, while the Dems unveiling a new national security strategy was barely a blip, but on the whole, I think today was a positive development for the party. [tag]Democrats[/tag] on Wednesday proposed a wide-ranging strategy for protecting Americans at home and […]

Abramoff sentenced in Florida

[tag]Jack Abramoff[/tag] is going to jail, but thanks to his cooperation in the federal [tag]corruption[/tag] investigation, his sentence in Florida was the minimum penalty. Jack A. Abramoff, the once-powerful Republican lobbyist at the center of a major corruption scandal, was sentenced in Miami today to five years and 10 months in prison for his role […]

It’s only a cancer-causing chemical in the nation’s water supplies

Stop me if you’ve heard this one… objective researchers find a public-health threat, new safety regulations were drafted, Bush gets lobbied, and the tougher regulations are weakened and ignored. In a story that should surprise no one, it’s happened again. After massive underground plumes of an industrial solvent were discovered in the nation’s water supplies, […]

‘Reflecting’ on why candidates don’t want to be seen with Bush

[tag]Reflections Photography[/tag], which made headlines in January when it scrubbed its site for pictures of the president and [tag]Jack Abramoff[/tag], also has rare pictures of vulnerable GOP incumbents hanging out with top members of the Bush gang, including the president himself. But, as Roll Call noted today, the company is keeping them securely out of […]

McCain, Falwell, and the ‘Federal Marriage Amendment’

To follow up on yesterday’s post about the [tag]John McCain[/tag]-[tag]Jerry Falwell[/tag] courtship, it’s also worth noting that McCain’s once-firm opposition to the right’s anti-gay constitutional amendment isn’t quite as clear as it was. When the so-called “[tag]Federal Marriage Amendment[/tag]” last came to the Senate floor, McCain joined Dems in defeating the [tag]gay-marriage[/tag] measure, calling it […]

Wednesday’s political round-up

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: * Rep. [tag]Katherine Harris[/tag] (R-Fla.) may have a good reason for holding back on spending her $10 million inheritance — she’s still losing badly. In a new Mason-Dixon poll in Florida, Harris trails […]

Devout DeLay defended — and deified

At the ever-entertaining “War on Christians” conference in Washington this week, [tag]Tom DeLay[/tag] was not only presented as a martyr, he was also compared to Jesus and designated God’s official lawmaker from Texas. At least according to [tag]Rick Scarborough[/tag]. “I believe the most damaging thing that Tom DeLay has done in his life is take […]

The State Department overlooks all the ‘good news’

The real problem with public perceptions on the war in Iraq, the White House and its allies argue, is that we’re all too focused on the negative. News outlets focus on violence, kidnappings, U.S. casualties, and a country on the brink of disaster. Conservatives have argued that the media is not only misleading the electorate, […]

FISA judges urge judicial oversight of searches

The [tag]Senate Judiciary Committee[/tag], in its latest hearing on the Bush White House’s warrantless-search program, heard from five former [tag]FISA[/tag] court judges yesterday, each of whom urged lawmakers to enforce the law and allow judicial oversight. In a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the secretive court, known as the [tag]Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court[/tag], […]