Obama still pushing back on pins, patriotism, and politics

In my heart of hearts, I don’t really believe there are any Americans who would base their presidential vote on flag pins and the Star Spangled Banner. People can and do back (or oppose) candidates for some pretty superficial reasons, but no one’s that dumb. My hunch is that voters, when it comes to Barack […]

The law should probably be followed — on a case-by-case basis

John Yoo may no longer be in the Bush administration, but his arguments for letting administration officials break the law when they think they should have apparently lingered inside the Justice Department. The Justice Department has told Congress that American intelligence operatives attempting to thwart terrorist attacks can legally use interrogation methods that might otherwise […]

McCain’s principles are leaving, on a jet plane

John McCain, back when he was a champion of campaign-finance reform, fought for a measure requiring presidential candidates to pay the actual cost of flying on corporate jets. Around the same time, McCain also vowed not to rely on his wife’s considerable personal wealth to finance his presidential campaign. It looks like both of those […]

Just what CNN needed, a Bush sycophant

For reasons that I’ll probably never quite understand, CNN invited former White House press secretary Tony Snow to join what the network bills as the “best political team” on television, overlooking Snow’s record of, well, being something of a Republican hack. Snow made his debut yesterday on the “Situation Room.” How did it go? Well, […]

Putting ‘guilt by association’ back on the table

About a month ago, lobbyist Charlie Black, John McCain’s senior campaign advisor, said the McCain campaign would not go after the Democratic candidates on the basis of guilt by association. The Dems might try it with McCain, Black said, but that’s just not the way McCain operates. “What Senator McCain has said repeatedly is that […]

McCain’s tour highlights those he doesn’t plan to help

We’ve all heard the expression, “90% of life is just showing up.” It seems to be the basis of an LA Times editorial today, praising John McCain’s week-long tour of small towns, urban areas, and other communities that have struggled economically for years. McCain appeared in impoverished areas in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Ohio, and […]

This Week in God

First up from the God machine this week is an update on a report from February on the uncomfortable intersection of religion and the U.S. military. One soldier who is not religious has faced considerable pressure from those who are. When Specialist Jeremy Hall held a meeting last July for atheists and freethinkers at Camp […]

Maybe there’s just too darn many of us

Guest Post by Morbo It isn’t considered polite to mention population control these days. For years, advocates of hyper-free market capitalism argued that the more people we had the better. We need them to drive the economic engine of the world. Occasional food shortages were blamed on distribution kinks or unstable political situations. There was […]

Why does Falwell hate America?

Guest Post by Morbo The Rev. Jonathan Falwell is proving to be a real chip off the old blockhead. The son of the late Jerry Falwell, Jonathan took over Thomas Road Baptist Church and the television ministry after his father died last year. (Another Falwell son, Jerry Falwell Jr., is chancellor of Liberty University.) Anyone […]

Run, Alan, Run!

Guest Post by Morbo Everyone is so caught up in the drama of the Clinton vs. Obama battle that they’ve overlooked an important political development: Alan Keyes appears to have locked up the Constitution Party’s nomination for president. The party has been holding its national convention in Kansas City this week. Many of the delegates […]