This Week in God

First up from this week’s God machine is a story that reminds us that all that stuff in the New Testament about peace is still pretty important to some church groups. (thanks to hark for the tip) A coalition of American churches sharply denounced the U.S.-led war in Iraq on Saturday, accusing Washington of “raining […]

The right-wing sets traps; we are not obligated to walk into them

Guest Post by Morbo Some students at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania are upset because two weeks ago, in an effort to mock Black History Month, the College Republicans held a bake sale where they charged students different prices based on their race or gender. The Allentown Morning Call reported that 100 protestors held a march […]

Put your complaints on ice

Guest Post by Morbo I don’t know what’s worse — the fact that President Bush learned about the United Arab Emirates port deal from the newspapers or that his staff used that fact in his defense without shame. I planned to rant about it, but what more is there to say? This administration has so […]

The deal that touched a nerve

The Dubai Ports World controversy, whether the criticism has merit or not, has clearly become a pretty serious imbroglio for the Bush administration. For the NYT’s Tom Friedman and the WaPo’s David Ignatius, among others, White House critics are racist and oppose the UAE deal because of anti-Arab animus. There’s probably no point in denying […]

Port whine

The controversy over the Dubai Ports World deal didn’t begin in earnest until this week, so the pollsters have been a little slow in churning out data, but Rasmussen appears to be the first outfit to suggest just how unpopular the deal is. Just 17% of Americans believe Dubai Ports World should be allowed to […]

Debating abortion through choice of words

Particularly over the last week or so, there have been several national news stories about abortion, spurred by the Supreme Court’s announcement on Monday and the South Dakota legislature’s activities all week. AlterNet’s Deanna Zandt makes a good case that, at least as far as the politics goes, choice of words matter. It’s been frustrating […]

Losing the public-funding thing

To follow up on a series of posts I did last August, I’m pleased to report that an evangelical abstinence-only program, called the Silver Ring Thing, will no longer receive funding from the federal government. In the settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union, reached today, the Department of Health and Human Services agreed to […]

Friday’s political round-up

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 case there was any doubt that Rep. Katherine Harris’ (R) Senate campaign in Florida is in big trouble, the latest Quinnipiac poll should clear things up. Earlier this week, a Republican […]

Seizing the port

Call it opportunism, exploitation, or just common-sense politics in an election year, but the Dem campaign committees are milking the Dubai Ports World controversy for all it’s worth. Turning the Republicans’ mantra from the 2002 and 2004 campaign cycles on its head, the DCCC Wednesday blasted Republicans for being held to a “pre-9/11” mindset while […]

How could Blagojevich not know?

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) has had some ups and downs lately, but he still has a core group of advisors he can rely on to keep him on track, particularly in this re-election year. Unfortunately, none of them happened to mention what to expect from an interviewer from “The Daily Show.” Blagojevich says he […]