In the annals of Republican corruption in Congress, this one is slightly more entertaining than most. It is no secret that campaign contributions sometimes lead to lucrative official favors. Rarely, though, are the tradeoffs quite as obvious as in the twisted case of Coconut Road. The road, a stretch of pavement near Fort Myers, Fla., […]
In light of Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) indictment, we’ve been hearing quite a bit, particularly from far-right bloggers and Fox News personalities, about the culture of corruption now having infected both parties equally. The Washington Post’s Jeffrey Birnbaum, a quality journalist for many years, really ought to know better. On the June 4 edition of […]
Former Deputy Attorney General James Comey reignited interest in Bush’s warrantless wiretap program and the propriety of Alberto Gonzales serving as Attorney General, but his stunning testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee a couple of weeks ago could only go into so much detail. Eventually, the committee ran out of time. So, Comey agreed to […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Details are still very sketchy, but the AP reports, ” Hundreds of Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq early Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas who attack Turkey from bases there, Turkish security officials said…. The senior security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to […]
Shortly after James Comey’s wild story about the showdown in John Ashcroft’s hospital room first captured the attention of the political world, the Center for American Progress’ Peter Swire, the Clinton Administration’s Chief Counselor for Privacy from 1999 to early 2001, noticed a problem: Alberto Gonzales may have lied under oath about it. In a […]
Fox News chief Roger Ailes is still a little peeved about Democrats treating his partisan network as a Republican propaganda outlet. (via Cliff Schecter) [Ailes] had some choice words for Democratic candidates who have decided not to debate on Fox. “The candidates that can’t face Fox, can’t face Al Qaeda,” said Mr. Ailes. “And that’s […]
I recently saw a good interview with Reza Aslan, in which he described the inherent problems with the Bush administration reaching out to reformers in Tehran. “This is the dirty little secret about Iran, that it is the most vibrant, the most robust, and the most successful democracy in the whole of the Middle East […]
During last night’s debate, a woman asked the candidates, “[W]hat are we going to do to make sure they have a government in place before we do pull our troops out and they’re able to help themselves?” It was hardly an unreasonable question (though none of the candidates really answered it). The White House, if […]
In last night’s debate, the very first question went to Mitt Romney, who was asked whether it was “a mistake for us to invade Iraq.” After some odd hedging, Romney argued: “[If] Saddam Hussein had opened up his country to IAEA inspectors, and they’d come in and they’d found that there were no weapons of […]
Given this week’s court ruling on Guantanamo detainees, opponents of the Military Commissions Act are on the move. A day after two military judges ruled against the Bush administration’s system for trying terrorism detainees, Democrats seized on the rulings on Tuesday as evidence that Congress should restore the right of those held at Guantanamo Bay, […]