Giuliani’s race problem

TPM posted a clip on Friday of Rudy Giuliani screaming “bullsh*t” at a police union rally in 1992. Surprisingly, several leading conservative blogs complained bitterly, questioning the significance of the video. At first blush, the clip appears to reinforce concerns about Giuliani’s temperament, but even more important was the context in which the comments were […]

YearlyKos conference rattles conservative establishment

It’s hard not to notice that the conservative establishment seems to be having a bit of freak-out over progressive activists and bloggers getting together for the YearlyKos convention next month. Earlier this week, it was Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly who lashed out at DailyKos, which he called “one of the worst examples of hatred […]

Sunday Discussion Group

This week’s Senate drama, including an attention-getting all-night debate on Iraq, certainly ratcheted up the pressure on Republican lawmakers to possibly grow some backbone and take a stand in opposition to the president’s failed policies. I say “possibly,” of course,” because it obviously hasn’t happened yet. When the Reed-Levin amendment came to the floor, the […]

Giuliani plays the exploitation card

Rudy Giuliani delivered a speech in Iowa recently on “Restoring Fiscal Discipline and Cutting Wasteful Washington Spending.” Just two minutes and 14 seconds into it, the former mayor said, “I will continue to keep America on offense in the terrorist war against us, because I think that’s the overriding issue of our day.” Giuliani was […]

Blaming Reid

As Atrios noted, the latest Washington Post editorial is drawing the ire of nearly everyone, and with good cause; the piece is a mess, based on a misguided premise. The decision of Democrats led by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) to deny rather than nourish a bipartisan agreement is, of course, irresponsible…. A […]

Grand Obstructionist Party — Historical Edition

The conventional wisdom keeps insisting that Republican filibusters are just giving Dems a taste of their own medicine. When they were in the minority, Dems blocked legislative progress as often as they could, the argument goes, so they have no right to complain now that the GOP is doing the same thing. But this just […]

Clinton Derangement Syndrome – in print

When I worked at Americans United for Separation of Church and State for seven years, I read a lot of direct mail from bizarre religious-right groups. It was the ’90s, so most of it had a straightforward pitch: Bill Clinton will turn you into an atheist unless you send (fill in the blank) all of […]

When Fox News disparages its own viewers

It’s one thing for the reality-based community to cast aspersions on Fox News viewers; it’s another when the Republican network ridicules its own audience. For those of you who can’t watch online video clips, I posted a quick transcipt after the jump.

Kristol impugns the nation’s patriotism — again

Aside from the tragedy of the war itself, one of the more disconcerting elements of the ongoing political debate is just how little progress we’ve seen in nearly five years. Vapid arguments that were absurd in 2003 are still used routinely. Offensive talking points that were discredited before the invasion even began still appear in […]

The effects of the ‘surge’

Tony Snow told reporters yesterday that the administration has seen “a declining level in the overall pace of attacks” in Iraq. The reality, of course, is far different. Attacks in Iraq last month reached their highest daily average since May 2003, showing a surge in violence as President George W. Bush completed a buildup of […]