Party like it’s 2008!

Guest Post by Morbo James Dobson and his merry band of theocrats are furious at the idea that the Republicans might nominate a known abortion advocate, gay symp and cross-dresser like Rudy Giuliani. This week, they let it be known that if that happens, they will jump ship to a third party. Writing about a […]

Football coaches: Bad sources for theological advice

Guest Post by Morbo A federal appeals court in Philadelphia this week heard arguments in a case involving a public school football coach who wants to pray with his team. Marcus Borden of East Brunswick, N.J., claims he just wants to show respect for his players by going down on one knee and bowing his […]

Governor, you’re no Jack Kennedy

Guest Post by Morbo On Thursday, the Carpetbagger had a short item on Robert Novak’s recent column about Mitt Romney. Novak argues that Romney is getting clobbered over the Mormon issue on the campaign trail and urges him to address it in a major speech. Wrote Novak: Although disagreement remains within the Romney camp, the […]

Friday’s Mini-Report

Today’s edition of quick hits. * Good news this morning in the House: “Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Majority Leader, postponed a press conference announcing new reforms of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after progressive lawmakers banded together and said they would fight any legislation that did not include a set of eight principles […]

Republicans, Alabama, and ‘selective justice’

Harpers’ Scott Horton sets the stage nicely for a Republican scandal that we’ll be hearing quite a bit more about. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” remarked a nationally known print journalist in a conversation three weeks ago. “Everything I’ve been told by the convicted defendants checks out as the gospel truth. And everything […]

Adm. Mullen has no use for ‘Global War on Terror’

Still new to the job, Adm. Michael Mullen, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has already made an interesting rhetorical shift. Seems the incoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Michael Mullen, has banned the use of the phrase “Global War on Terror” (GWOT) and has prohibited using it “in any future […]

Bush sticks to the script: ‘This government does not torture people’

With the debate over U.S. torture policy back on the front page, the president took a few moments this morning to address the controversy. He made four general points. * First, Bush is detaining bad guys: “[W]hen we find somebody who may have information regarding an — a potential attack on America, you bet we’re […]

Republican phone-jamming scandal getting another look

For a five-year-old scandal, it’s amazing just how many important unanswered questions there are surrounding the Republicans’ New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal. For those just joining us, in 2002, New Hampshire was home to a very competitive U.S. Senate race between Jeanne Shaheen (D) and John Sununu (R). The morning voters headed to the polls, Democratic […]

Reaganites to revitalize ‘Citizens For The Republic’

With the Republican Party struggling, and the conservative movement rudderless, a 1970s-era conservative group is about to shake the dust off and get back into the game. Fed up with neocons, theocons and convict cons, a group of former aides to Ronald Reagan want to reanimate the Republican Party by reviving the organization that brought […]

Chris Matthews claims White House leaned on MSNBC

Just two weeks ago, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric said her former employer, NBC, discouraged her from challenging the Bush administration. “I think there was a lot of undercurrent of pressure not to rock the boat for a variety of reasons, where it was corporate reasons or other considerations,” she said. Yesterday, Hardball host […]