Sen. [tag]Russ Feingold[/tag] (D-Wis.) likes to joke that the campaign-finance reform measure that bears his name is so well-known that a large part of the country thinks his first name is “[tag]McCain[/tag].” As it turns out, that may not be a problem anymore. The quartet of lawmakers behind every major federal campaign finance restriction in […]
First up from the God machine this week is an unusual trend in the field of religion and sports. Hand fans waved in southeast Atlanta on Thursday afternoon as they do at so many summer worship services in the South. Only this revival was at Turner Field, and Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz preached on […]
Guest Post by Morbo Fred Phelps, the Kansas minister known for his strident opposition to homosexuality, is widely acknowledged to be a moron. There’s a good reason for this: Phelps is a moron. Phelps’ entire family consists of morons. (I will exempt the young children, who appear to have been brainwashed.) But guess what — […]
Guest Post by Morbo Last week I criticized the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Washington Times for a strange column it ran about the rise in popularity of Mexican food. This week, in an effort to be fair and balanced, I’d like to give The Times a pat on the back for running an interesting story […]
Today’s White House press conference with Bush and British Prime Minister Tony “Yo” Blair was not particularly newsworthy, but there was one comment the president made towards the end of the event that bothered me. “[W]hat the world is seeing is a desire by this country and our allies to defeat the ideology of hate […]
Just to follow up for a moment on an earlier post, we were waiting to see what congressional [tag]Republicans[/tag] would tie to a [tag]minimum-wage[/tag] [tag]increase[/tag], if anything. GOP leaders could let Congress pass it straight, take credit for a popular move, and take a key campaign issue away from Dems. Or they could play a […]
I try not to link to every [tag]Paul Krugman[/tag] column, but today’s piece was especially strong, in part because Krugman seems equally disgusted with Bush and the news outlets who cover his presidency. Whatever the reason, the fact is that the Bush administration continues to be remarkably successful at rewriting history. For example, Mr. Bush […]
What drives conservative opposition to a minimum-wage increase? Occasionally, a Republican offers a glimpse into their motivations. Barry Bennett, chief of staff for Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, said, “Of all the things we get mail about from our district — immigration, the pension bill, Iraq — we don’t really hear a lot about the minimum […]
When Ezra said that TNR’s Lee Siegel blamed bloggers for the continuation of the war in Iraq, I thought maybe he had read it wrong. Alas, Ezra didn’t — Siegel actually wrote that. All the bite-sized thoughts, rapid disses, and inanely meandering threads make it hard to concentrate on anything for very long. Linking is […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * In the all-consuming Dem Senate primary in Connecticut, [tag]Ned Lamont[/tag] will pick up an endorsement today from [tag]Michael Schiavo[/tag]. As the Stamford Advocate reported, Schiavo will emphasize [tag]Joe Lieberman[/tag]’s support for the […]