Barack Obama has picked up support from Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, while Will.i.am put one of Obama’s speeches to music. Hillary Clinton appeared alongside Elton John at a concert in her honor, and relies on a Celine Dion song as a campaign anthem. John McCain, well, at least he has Orrin Hatch. Not content […]
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia usually shies away from media attention, but now that he has a book coming out, and interviews might help sell his new product, Scalia is opening up a bit. He chatted with “60 Minutes” and the discussion turned to “Bush v. Gore.” Scalia’s message? Critics of the ruling should just […]
Some very strange conservative activists, apparently with far too much time on their hands, launched an initiative last November to limit U.S. troops’ access to adult materials. It never occurred to me that policy makers would take this seriously, but apparently, they are. To quickly recap for those just joining us, Congress banned sales of […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Oh my: “Sales of new homes in March plummeted to the lowest level since the housing recession of the 1990s, the government said on Thursday, as inventories rose to the highest point in more than a quarter century. Buyers vanished from the housing market last month at a swift […]
Quick quiz: what does Iraq really need? If you said “political reconciliation” or “a functioning infrastructure,” you’re not thinking with the kind of outside-the-box creativity that Llewellyn Werner is. Llewellyn Werner admits he is facing obstacles most amusement park developers never have to deal with – insurgent attacks and looting. When you are building an […]
Roll Call noted today that Senate Democrats have some legislative priorities on the calendar, which the paper described as “red meat.” The rallying cry Wednesday was, “Equal pay for women.” Next week, it likely will be “Insurance companies play fair.” And in the next month it will probably be “Gay rights.” By design or happenstance, […]
We know that both of the Democratic presidential candidates have ambitious healthcare plans. What we did not know is that congressional Dems, who expect to be in the majority next year, don’t sound especially optimistic that sweeping changes to the existing healthcare system will be possible. It is still seven months before Election Day, but […]
Last September, in an incident Bush administration officials have been very reluctant to talk about, Israeli jets attacked a facility in Syria, destroying what was believed to be a nuclear site, created with apparent support from North Korea. Today, the WaPo had a front-page item about an explosive new video that would have a dramatic […]
There’s probably little point to arguing that much of the political media establishment is embarrassingly in the tank for John McCain, but the Washington Post has been especially frustrating this week. On Monday, for example, reporter Jonathan Weisman noted that McCain is faring well in national polls because he’s been “branded” an “independent maverick.” Suggesting […]
I’ve already done approximately 10 gazillion items about how and why abstinence-only programs — championed by the Bush administration and conservatives everywhere — don’t work, waste money, mislead young people about reality, and undermine public health. This is not another one of those posts. Instead, it’s about Republicans’ reaction to the evidence on abstinence-only programs. […]