A couple of days ago, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, raised a few eyebrows when he announced his intention to review confirmation-hearing testimony from Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito. Specter said he wants to “determine if their reversal of several long-standing opinions conflicts with promises […]
The God Machine had plenty to offer this week, so let’s get right to it. First up is a follow-up to a story from two weeks ago, when the Senate invited a Hindu leader to offer an official invocation for the first time in the chamber’s history. Three far-right Christian fundamentalists heckled the Rajan Zed, […]
Yesterday we talked about a new poll showing how the “progressive” political label has overtaken “conservative” in popularity among U.S. voters. It stands to reason, then, that conservatives, after having tarnished “liberal,” are going to have to take on the newer, more popular, label for the left. As Kevin Drum noted, NRO’s Yuval Levin got […]
Guest Post by Morbo Unless you’re from North Carolina, the name Coy Privette probably won’t mean much. Privette is yet another of the Religious Right’s moral crusaders, a fighter against vice and immorality in all of its forms. A rather severe Southern Baptist minister, Privette until recently led the Christian Action League, a statewide Religious […]
Guest Post by Morbo Everyone has the right to speak to the government. Elected officials should always listen politely — but should reject ideas that offend our constitutional values put forth by silly and not very bright people. Case in point: In Palm Beach County, Fla., a mom with kids in the public schools wants […]
Guest Post by Morbo I’ve taken a lot of shots at fundamentalists on this blog. I don’t mean to offend all people of faith, and if I’ve done so I apologize. In many ways, I admire people whose religion motivates them to help others and work for social justice. (Right-wing fundamentalists whose faith only motivates […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * How does John Edwards get some airtime in the midst of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama attacking each other? By attacking them for attacking each other. * Bill O’Reilly thought he’d flex his muscles a bit by berating JetBlue into canceling its sponsorship of YearlyKos. He probably didn’t think […]
The conventional wisdom, which I’ve regrettably internalized, is that the 110th Congress, which is getting close to its summer break, has been a let-down. Thanks to presidential vetoes and unprecedented Republican filibusters in the Senate, a Congress which had high expectations in January is ending July on a disappointing note. Now is probably a good […]
Kevin notes the latest Democracy Corps poll that suggests Bush has helped drive a generation of young people into the Democratic Party’s open arms. This is about what you’d expect, but Democracy Corps has released yet another survey demonstrating that the Republican Party is losing young people in droves. Among 18-29 year olds, 50% have […]
Today’s White House press briefing was a hoot. A few pesky reporters continued to push Tony Snow to rationalize what appears to be a fairly obvious lie from Alberto Gonzales. Q: Are you saying it was not about the wire-tapping that had already been acknowledged? Snow: I’m saying that acknowledged program, the program the president […]