Three years ago, Josh Marshall wrote a terrific item highlighting a disconcerting trend: most of the Bush administration’s biggest blunders came at the direct hand of [tag]Dick Cheney[/tag]. And the article was written before the war in Iraq even began. I re-read the article last night after discovering that the Bush White House has two […]
I’ve had a couple of emails about the subject, so I thought I’d take a quick moment to talk a little about my approach to advertising. As a rule, I don’t reject submitted blog ads and, to date, I haven’t had occasion to do so. I don’t have a written policy per se, but my […]
The political world was taken a back a bit yesterday when a Washington Post/ABC News poll showed that Americans didn’t much mind that the government has kept a [tag]secret[/tag] [tag]database[/tag] that logs almost every [tag]phone call[/tag] made by every American. What’s worse, respondents were asked specifically if it would bother them if there was a […]
When the government asked AT&T, BellSouth, and Verizon to turn over telecom records after 9/11, they went along. When the Bush gang asked Qwest, the company and its then-CEO Joseph Nacchio said no. To be sure, as USA Today noted, the Bush gang used the hard sell, telling Nacchio that his decision could compromise national […]
Twenty years ago, Congress made it illegal for the [tag]telecommunications[/tag] companies to give the government [tag]records[/tag] showing who their customers had contacted. Oops. Legal experts said the companies faced the prospect of [tag]lawsuits[/tag] seeking billions of dollars in damages over cooperation in the program, citing communications privacy legislation stretching back to the 1930’s. A federal […]
In light of [tag]Michael Hayden[/tag]’s role in domestic [tag]surveillance[/tag], the [tag]Senate[/tag] should have plenty of interesting questions to ask him during his confirmation [tag]hearings[/tag] to be the new head of the [tag]CIA[/tag]. But will Dems show the necessary follow through? Apparently so. Senate [tag]Democrats[/tag] intend to use next week’s confirmation hearings for a new C.I.A. […]
This is my kind of [tag]poll[/tag]. In a new poll comparing President Bush’s job performance with that of his predecessor, a strong majority of respondents said President [tag]Clinton[/tag] outperformed [tag]Bush[/tag] on a host of issues. And by “host of issues,” CNN meant “all issues.” * Handling the [tag]economy[/tag] — Clinton beats Bush, 63% to 26%. […]
First up from the God machine this week is a frustrating item about one of my favorite obscure issues: military chaplains. This week, the House passed a $513 billion defense authorization bill with a little provision tucked into the legislation to make the GOP’s religious right base happy. The House passed a $513 billion defense […]
Guest Post by Morbo The Washington Post ran an interesting chart this week that every [tag]Democrat[/tag] should memorize. It shows your annual savings under the latest [tag]Republican[/tag] [tag]tax cut[/tag]. Here are the figures: $10,000-$20,000: $2 $20,000-$30,000: $9 $30,000-$40,000: $16 $40,000-$50,000: $46 $50,000-$75,000: $100 $75,000-$100,000: $403 $100,000-$200,000: $1,388 $200,000-$500,000: $4,499 $500,000-$1 million: $5,562 More than $1 […]
Guest Post by Morbo This week, an emotionally disturbed young man named Michael Kennedy put on a camouflage outfit and, armed with seven guns, among them an assault rifle, drove to a police station in Fairfax County, Va., where he opened fire in the parking lot. Before he was killed by return gunfire, Kennedy critically […]