In the president’s first term, John McCain was unusually responsible when it came to taxes. When Bush’s costly 2001 tax cuts went to the floor, McCain was one of two Senate Republicans to vote “no.” He said at the time, “I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the […]
It’s as if politicians never learn. The old Watergate adage, “It’s not the crime; it’s the cover-up” became a cliche precisely because of its political salience. And yet, even now, leading Republican presidential candidates seem oblivious to the lesson. In Rudy Giuliani’s case, the Shag Fund scandal continues to dog the former mayor, not just […]
Rudy Giuliani and George W. Bush have more in common than just mendacious, authoritarian streaks; they also employ the same strategy when facing a scandal: ignore it and hope it goes away. Yesterday, for example, we learned about the latest in a series of lies regarding the Shag Fund controversy. In response to the revelations, […]
Yesterday we learned that the CIA had videos of its “enhanced interrogation techniques,” which it hid from lawmakers, federal investigators, a federal court, and the 9/11 Commission — and then intentionally destroyed to cover up its culpability. The agency treated the elimination of incriminating evidence as a rather routine decision, but the NYT reports today […]
First up from the God Machine this week is an aggressive push-back in some religious circles against “The Golden Compass,” a new children’s film starring Nicole Kidman, based on Philip Pullman’s “The Northern Lights,” an award-winning fantasy novel aimed at teenage readers. Apparently, Pullman, a professed agnostic, includes subtle anti-religious themes** in his “Dark Materials” […]
Guest Post by Morbo As the Carpetbagger mentioned on Thursday, the city of Philadelphia has denied the Boy Scouts access to a building where the Scouts have for years enjoyed a sweetheart rental deal. The Scouts have been meeting in the municipal Beaux Arts Building since 1928. They lease it from the city for the […]
Guest Post by Morbo In the wake of the 2006 Democratic sweep of the congressional elections, self-appointed media pundits started telling us that the Religious Right is dead. They’ve kept up that drumbeat for more than a year. I wonder how this dead movement has managed to resurrect Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign? As columnist Ruth […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * This was way overdue: “State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, under scrutiny for his brother’s link to the Blackwater security firm, has decided to resign, U.S. officials said on Friday. Krongard, the State Department’s top investigator, has been accused by current and former subordinates of thwarting probes into waste, […]
In recent years, as a result of a variety of jaw-dropping scandals, officials at the Bush White House has made it clear that they believe the president has the authority to decide for himself whether his own conduct is constitutional. Forget the judiciary, checks and balances, co-equal branches, etc. — Nixon once said, “[W]hen the […]
Following up on an earlier item, it’s pretty difficult for the CIA to destroy interrogation tapes, eliminate incriminating evidence, orchestrate a cover-up, and not have Congress take note of the problem. Congressional Democrats Friday demanded a full Justice Department investigation into whether the CIA obstructed justice by destroying videotapes that documented the harsh 2002 interrogations […]