It’s fairly obvious which story dominated the political landscape this week, but let’s take a step back and consider exactly what the Foley scandal will mean in the midterm elections. The answer may seem obvious, but there are some competing possibilities, and a reasonable case could be made for each. * The Foley scandal will […]
I thought some of the polls taken early last week were bad for the GOP. A Newsweek poll, released this afternoon, is much worse. For the first time since 2001, the NEWSWEEK poll shows that more Americans trust the Democrats than the GOP on moral values and the war on terror. Fully 53 percent of […]
That was the headline this morning on CNN.com: “GOP presses Dems on [tag]Foley[/tag].” I assumed, naively, that CNN had simply erred, like their colleagues who had identified Mark Foley as a Democrat. Alas, it was no mistake. Congressional Republicans, in the kind of move only they would try to make, are trying to turn the […]
Over the last week, one of the problems for House Republicans was that the Mark [tag]Foley[/tag] scandal was unfolding slowly. New details emerged, bit by bit, with every new revelation exacerbating an already scandalous situation. It’s why crisis management dictates getting all the bad news out at once; it’s preferable to slowly bleeding to death. […]
Republicans nationwide have been donating funds from Mark Foley to charity at a blazing speed, apparently seeing no upside to having contributions from a scandalous sexual predator. Go figure. But the National Republican Congressional Committee, whose chairman, Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), is up to his ears in this mess, continues to have one principle that […]
In Shenandoah Valley, Va., a high school without any appreciation for irony has banned a display of banned books. A display at Harrisonburg High School of books that have, at some point in history, either been banned or challenged was ordered removed last month by Harrisonburg Schools Superintendent Donald Ford. The display, which Ford ordered […]
First up from the God machine is, coincidentally, a machine for God. Well, sort of. It’s a machine, which is becoming increasingly common, and which will take your money at convenient locations in the name of God. (thanks to reader B.T. for the tip) The LA Times ran a fascinating feature on an evangelical congregation […]
Guest Post by Morbo Imagine what the Religious Right’s reaction would be if a Democratic House member were caught sending sexually explicit messages to a 16-year-old congressional page. It would be round-the-clock outrage and a TV preacher-driven media circus. Thus I waited for some Religious Right leader somewhere to say something about the appalling behavior […]
Guest Post by Morbo A Virginia-based Religious Right legal outfit called the Rutherford Institute has sued the public school system in Prince George’s County, Md., claiming that a vice principal there ordered a 13-year-old girl to stop reading the Bible during her free time. I am little suspicious of this claim for a few reasons. […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * That Iraq NIE still needs to be released — voters’ sake, before the election. * In New Jersey today, Senate candidate Tom Kean, Jr. became the first Republican candidate for federal office to call for Hastert’s resignation. * Considering that ABC News brought to their attention a sexual predator […]