Daily Show viewers better informed; Fox News viewers less so

Go figure, watching Comedy Central’s fake news show helps you to be better informed about current events and politics. … “Daily Show” viewers know more about election issues than people who regularly read newspapers or watch television news, according to the National Annenberg Election Survey. Dannagal Goldthwaite Young, a senior research analyst at the Annenberg […]

‘Cheney was against getting bogged down in Iraq before he was for it’

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer appears to have the scoop-of-the-day. If it’s accurate, it may be a big one for the campaign. Dick Cheney appeared at a meeting of a conservative group called the Discovery Institute on Aug. 14, 1992. He was, at the time, still the Secretary of Defense, and was eventually questioned about the first […]

Zell picks up his 30 pieces of silver

Zell Miller was rewarded for his ugly Republican convention speech with a hero’s welcome and lavish praise from the far right. Back in DC, meanwhile, Zell was rewarded in a more traditional way. The Republicans are making sure that Sen. Zell Miller, who launched a withering attack on presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry last month, […]

It depends on what you mean by ‘democracy’

While pretending conditions in Iraq are improving, the Bush administration has emphasized the goal of democratic elections in Iraq in January. Giving Iraqis a direct say in choosing their own leaders, the argument goes, will help bring a semblance of stability to a country that is falling apart at the seams. But “democratic elections,” it […]

If all politics is local, Bush is in trouble — redux

Since Bush prefers to spend a lot of time in Crawford, Texas (by one estimation, 20% of his presidency), you’d think by now he’d have impressed the locals. As it turns out, not so much. In June, we learned that Bush’s local mayor wants to see John Kerry win in November. Crawford may be the […]

The back-door draft isn’t going very well

In June, the Bush administration’s back-door draft kicked into high gear by tapping the Individual Ready Reserve. Amid Congressional concerns that the military is stretched too thin, the Army is preparing to take advantage of a rarely used wartime program that allows it to recall soldiers who have left the service and did not join […]

Bush’s crowd control — Part IX

In August, Bush campaign officials insisted that anyone in Oregon who wanted to attend a presidential event had to “volunteer” at the local Republican Party. Want a ticket to see President Bush campaign in Oregon on Friday? You’ll have to put in a few hours working on the campaign phone bank first. Callers to the […]

Bush’s illegal Medicare scheme — Part III

Everyone’s favorite domestic debacle — Bush’s Medicare scheme — received yet another round of bad news yesterday, when the non-partisan Government Accountability Office said it illegally empowered insurance companies to limit patients’ choice of care. The Bush administration violated the law by allowing private insurers to limit choices of some patients in a small trial […]

Bush, on his best behavior

The LA Times’ Robert Scheer raised a point today that I’ve been thinking about for a while. Don’t say you weren’t warned. Yes, you, that otherwise reasonable centrist voter who might be tempted to cast a “what the heck” vote for George W. Bush. Don’t kid yourself that the Cheneys, Ashcrofts and Rumsfelds who mold […]

Indulge a little fact-checking

From the outset, let me make it perfectly clear that I know you know this. But sometimes, I just like to use The Carpetbagger Report as an outlet for my frustration, even though I’m certain that my readers already are well aware of the information. A few former co-workers of mine used to joke about […]