Cut-and-run nation

There are a handful of interesting national polls out today from a variety of news outlets, including NPR and NBC/Wall Street Journal, but I think Greg Sargent found the most important polling numbers of the day from the new CBS/New York Times poll. As Greg noted, it inexplicably didn’t make it into the Times’ article […]

Has the right’s war on the judiciary inspired genuine threats?

In recent years, conservatives have targeted the federal judiciary as an enemy of all that is good in the world. Even among elected officials, the rhetoric can sometimes push reasonable boundaries of civil discourse. Tom DeLay, for example, made some veiled threats against judges after the Terri Schiavo controversy. Shortly thereafter, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) […]

Thursday’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: * Michigan Gov. [tag]Jennifer Granholm[/tag] (D) is the most vulnerable Dem incumbent governor in the country, but she may finally be fighting herself off the ropes. Though several recent polls have shows Amway […]

The ‘spiritual battle’ behind global-warming

Most days, it’s tough enough to talk about [tag]global warming[/tag] with unhinged lawmakers, confused presidents, and spectacularly dumb commercials from the oil industry muddling the discussion. But when we inject some far-right theology into the mix, it’s bound to get worse. James [tag]Dobson[/tag]’s [tag]Focus on the Family[/tag] sent an item to its membership yesterday, touting […]

Hardly the way to dispel the ‘puppet of the U.S.’ charges

Who wrote Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s speech before a joint meeting of [tag]Congress[/tag] yesterday? It’s probably safe to say the wordsmiths at the [tag]Bush[/tag] [tag]White House[/tag] had a hand in the writing. It’s also worth remembering that this wouldn’t be the first time. To be sure, [tag]Maliki[/tag] stuck to the points the administration […]

End-times ‘expert’ talks to CNN — and who else?

Just to follow up on yesterday’s item, [tag]CNN[/tag]’s interest in characterizing recent world events as some kind of Biblical [tag]apocalypse[/tag] is quickly becoming ridiculous. As Media Matters noted, the network’s coverage is enough to wonder if it’s CNN or CBN. For the second time in three days, CNN featured a segment on the potential coming […]

‘Big Box’ store employees to get raises in Chicago

The growing “[tag]living wage[/tag]” movement, championed by unions and groups representing the working poor, scored a pretty significant victory yesterday in [tag]Chicago[/tag]. After months of fevered lobbying and bitter debate, the Chicago City Council passed a groundbreaking ordinance yesterday requiring “big box” stores, like [tag]Wal-Mart[/tag] and Home Depot, to pay a [tag]minimum wage[/tag] of $10 […]

‘It just feels like we’re driving around waiting to get blown up’

The Washington Post’s Joshua Partlow got the chance to spend four days with the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division in Baghdad recently and came away with a key observation: there’s a serious morale problem among U.S. troops. Army Staff Sgt. Jose Sixtos considered the simple question about morale for more than an […]

Michael Steele, what a kidder

I was kind of curious about how Maryland Republican Senate candidate Michael Steele would explain his comments that bashed the Bush White House and condemned this political party. In fact, I was just about convinced that the whole thing was a set-up. Steele made controversial comments he knew would generate lots of attention, with the […]

Let’s drop the ‘maverick’ nonsense, shall we?

I know there are still a few Dems out there who like [tag]John McCain[/tag]. They see him on [tag]The Daily Show[/tag], they find him charming, and they hear the far-right complain bitterly about him, and these Dems are left thinking, “McCain isn’t like his [tag]GOP[/tag] colleagues.” In case it wasn’t abundantly clear before, it’s well […]