Let’s return, once again, to the death of conservatism as a governing philosophy. It’s worked its way into the grave slowly, through expansion of federal influence over education, expansion of Medicare, expansion of federal law enforcement power (Patriot Act), and an expansion of federal transportation spending. We knew conservatism was really dead when Tom DeLay […]
When disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff needed access to the White House, he could generally count on David Safavian, the Bush administration’s top federal procurement officer, who is now facing multiple criminal charges as a result of his Abramoff-related work. But sometimes, Abramoff needed more access. He always took comfort knowing he could count on […]
In a January 2003 television interview, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said, “So as far as I know, I own no HCA stock.” Referring to his trust, Frist said, “I have no control. It is illegal right now for me to know what the composition of those trusts are. So I have no idea.” […]
I had more or less assumed that when Harriet Miers acknowledged that she had lost her law license twice and the Senate Judiciary Committee sent back her questionnaire because her first try was “insulting,” this nomination couldn’t get much worse. I was wrong. Over the weekend, there were a couple of interesting developments regarding Miers, […]
In addition to the embarrassing showing Kay Bailey Hutchison put on yesterday, there have been several interesting Plame-related developments since we last checked in. * Bob Novak apparently didn’t fight too hard to keep his secret sources confidential. A critical early success for Fitzgerald was winning the cooperation of Robert D. Novak, the Chicago Sun-Times […]
I can appreciate the difficulty in spinning a scandal as serious as the Plame Game, but when Republican senators are reduced to arguing that perjury is a trivial “technicality,” you know the party is bottoming out. And yet, that’s exactly what Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) did on Meet the Press yesterday. (C&L has video) […]
Upon learning that Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald had set up a website, a lawyer “involved with the case” said, “It sure doesn’t look like he’s folding up his tent and going home without some charges.” Given what little we know, it seems like a fair assessment. But it’s far too vague. No one outside Fitzgerald’s […]
When Harriet Miers sent over her responses to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s questionnaire, it included a glaring error on the equal protection clause. It was, in the words of one NYU law professor “a terrible answer…. If a first-year law student wrote that and submitted it in class, I would send it back and say […]
Guest Post by Morbo The competition for Biggest Religious Right Hypocrite just gained a powerful contender. It’s hard to beat guys like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, but the Rev. Louis Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) is determined to try. Sheldon’s latest antics were exposed in a lengthy article in The Washington Post […]
Guest Post by Morbo A professor at the University of Southern Maine announced this week a reward of $1 million to anyone who could provide a photograph that leads to the capture of Bigfoot alive. Loren Coleman, representing Duel Masters, a company that makes toys and trading cards, said the firm would fork over the […]