It’s been a dispiriting week in Iraq. The largest Sunni Arab bloc quit the Maliki government. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was admittedly discouraged over the lack of political progress in Iraq and conceded the administration “might have misjudged the difficulty of achieving reconciliation between Iraq’s sectarian factions.” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs nominee Navy Adm. […]
The God Machine produced so many great religion-related news items this week, it’s hard to know where to start. Let’s kick things off with a fascinating item about how, and whether, a public university can accommodate the religious practices of observant students. When Majed Afana needs to pray while attending classes at the University of […]
Guest Post by Morbo James Dobson of Focus on the Family just can’t hide his disdain for the Girl Scouts. His propaganda arm, Family News in Focus, attacked them yet again July 31, claiming that girls are leaving the Scouts in droves for a Christian fundamentalist alternative called American Heritage Girls. Somehow I doubt it. […]
Guest Post by Morbo Here’s some embarrassing news: Low-paid Americans are being sent to Australia to warn workers there not to let their country become more like ours. The Australian Council of Trade Unions brought what were described as three “low-wage” workers Down Under to perform a sort of “scared straight” function. The workers warned […]
Guest Post by Morbo Although there has been much speculation about the health of Chief Justice John Roberts, I’m more worried about another member of the high court. Every day I wake up worrying that I’ll unfold the paper and see a headline reading, “Supreme Court Justice Stevens Announces Retirement.” John Paul Stevens is 87 […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * I’ve been reading tons of great items from all over about fascinating events at YearlyKos today, but in light of the conference, the Republican National Committee, which can level as ugly a smear as anyone in the business, has decided to turn its guns on DailyKos with a new […]
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamel al-Maliki in November 2006: [Maliki] told ABC News today that he is moving to disarm militias in Iraq, and expects his forces to be ready to take over from the U.S. command in June, 2007. “I can say that Iraqi forces will be ready, fully ready, to receive this command […]
Paul Krugman’s column today reminded me of a subject I haven’t written nearly enough about: tax rates on hedge-fund managers’ income. (I know it sounds dull, but it’s really not.) It’s a major topic of discussion in Congress right now, which is kind of a shame because the answer should be obvious. As Krugman noted, […]
At an event at the FBI building this morning, the president, who wants even more power under FISA, started giving Congress the hard sell. “The Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, has provided the Congress with a narrow and targeted piece of legislation that will close the gaps in intelligence. In other words, he’s working […]
Far-right commentator Neal Boortz was one of the lucky handful of Republican activists who was invited to the White House for a private, off-the-record audience with the president this week. Like the rest of the attendees, Boortz honored the agreement and didn’t report on what, specifically, was said in the meeting, but he dutifully explained […]