On Friday, Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia, told McClatchy’s Ron Hutcheson, “It would be enormously problematic if, in fact, the Justice Department or the White House were trying to use U.S. attorneys for political purposes.” Hutcheson added that many in Washington “want to know whether Karl Rove, Bush’s […]
In our two-party system, there are bound to be divisions and conflicts between intra-party factions. For the Republicans, the most common is between social and economic conservatives. For Democrats, it’s not unusual to see flare-ups between labor unions and free-traders. But Democratic consultant Mike Lux wrote a provocative piece this week about a budding new […]
Every weekend, I look forward to reading the latest column from Fred Barnes, the executive editor of The Weekly Standard. There are plenty of Bush shills in the conservative media, but Barnes is in a league of his own. He seems to enjoy being an unpaid public relations rep for the White House. Barnes’ latest […]
Considering his 9/11 platform, Rudy Giuliani needs a fight with firefighters like he needs another sex scandal. And yet, his latest tussle with the International Association of Fire Fighters — and his campaign’s comically dishonest response — may prove to be quite embarrassing for the former NYC mayor’s campaign. At least, it should be. First, […]
More than any other candidate in the Republican presidential field, John McCain argues that his foreign policy “expertise” makes him qualified for the Oval Office. But when it comes to getting policy advice on international affairs, who does the senator turn to? None other than Henry Kissinger. The Associated Press reports that McCain let the […]
First up from the God Machine this week is a political battle for the future of the evangelical movement. For some, Falwell, Robertson, and Dobson have had their say, but Christianity is (or should be) about more than abortion and gays. A struggle for control of the evangelical agenda intensified this week, with some leaders […]
In retrospect, one really has to wonder who thought this was a good idea to begin with. Fox News co-sponsored a 2004 presidential debate and, predictably, did an awful job. And yet, there was the Nevada Democratic Party partnering with the Republicans’ news network to host one of the season’s major Democratic presidential debates in […]
Guest Post by Morbo This week the Carpetbagger had a short piece on outdoor writer Jim Zumbo, who fell victim to an NRA-sponsored search-and-destroy campaign after he dared to suggest in a column that it’s not very sporting to hunt prairie dogs with an assault rifle. The ‘Bagger linked to an item about this matter […]
Guest Post by Morbo A new book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know — and Doesn’t by Stephen Prothero argues that Americans are basically illiterate about the Bible. That’s not a surprise — but it ought to be. The United States, after all, is one of the most religious nations on the planet. […]
Guest Post by Morbo I was unable to write last week because I was in my Volvo driving back from San Francisco, where I had been attending a meeting of the Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy. It was a good event. Every day there was a nice spread of organic hummus, flat breads and salads along with […]