As Morbo mentioned last week, he’s in France this week and won’t be sharing his words of wisdom today. He will be returning for his usual stint next Saturday. But never fear, I’ve found a very capable sub for today. Ed Stephan, whom you all know and love from the comments section, has graciously agreed […]
The thin ice upon which Karl Rove walks cracked a little more today with a key Washington Post article about his role in the Valerie Plame scandal. As the Post’s Dan Balz explained, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald may have put Judith Miller in jail this week, but he’s clearly still interested in Rove. A fast-moving series […]
Maybe I don’t travel in conservative circles enough, but I had no idea that the right looks lack on the failed 1987 nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court as an example of right-wing martyrdom. Apparently, it’s the case. To the right, “Borking” has become a verb to describe a practice whereby ideologically-rigid Dems […]
I realize that the constitutional amendment banning flag burning has been pushed to the back burner in light of recent events, but it’s still coming up and I wanted to note that a leading Republican opponent of the measure has offered a viable alternative. U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, a longtime opponent of amending the Constitution […]
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: * Former Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.), after flirting with the idea for a few weeks, announced yesterday that he will not take on incumbent Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) next year. Roemer said a […]
Almost immediately after Sandra Day O’Connor announced her retirement from the Supreme Court last week, the Republican base has focused its criticism carefully. For far-right activists it was a three-pronged approach: argue that O’Connor was horrible because she was insufficiently right wing on social issues; insist that Alberto Gonzales would be worse; and explain to […]
Way back in January, prosecutors investigating whether corporations illegally financed Tom DeLay’s Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) struck an important deal as part of a “kingpin strategy.” Prosecutors already had the goods on the corporations making improper donations, but negotiated agreements whereby the businesses would get immunity in exchange for cooperation with the investigation. […]
In recent weeks I’ve noted that a Republican president and Republican Congress are burdened by multiple political scandals, but let’s not leave Republican governors out of the fun. In Ohio, Gov. Bob Taft (R) is overwhelmed by charges of corruption; California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) seems to have become a magnet for controversy, and former […]
How about a little Friday diversion from the usual political news? My friends at the World Stupidity Awards emailed this week to let me know about their third annual ceremony to be held in Montreal on July 22nd. The show will be hosted, appropriately enough, by Lewis Black (of Jon Stewart fame). There are some […]
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Ben Adler’s piece in The New Republic on how many of the nation’s leading conservative thinkers and pundits describe their beliefs about evolutionary biology. It’s one of those questions I’ve always wanted to ask these guys, so I found this utterly fascinating. Admittedly, it’s kind of […]