The Carpetbagger Report

The Des Moines Register’s David Yepsen, arguably most respected political voice in Iowa’s media, has been closely monitoring the first caucus state’s landscape and noted one surprising trend: John Edwards’ support is collapsing. (via Ron Chusid) Yepsen: “I think if you’re John Edwards, you’re thankful this is going to be over with on January third. […]

Last month, during a Republican debate, Ron Paul was asked whether he promised to support the GOP nominee next year, no matter who emerges from the primary process. “Not right now I don’t,” Paul said, “not unless they’re willing to end the war and bring our troops home.” Apparently, in the ensuing weeks, “not right […]

It may have been a fairly slow news week in light of the holiday, but the God Machine had plenty to offer. First up is a new poll that will be of great interest to the “war on Christmas” crowd. A new survey found that 67 percent of American adults prefer the holiday-specific greeting in […]

Guest Post by Morbo I really feel sorry for the children in Polk County, Fla., where the elected school board consists largely of idiots. The state of Florida, in an admirable attempt to stagger into the 21st Century, is attempting to approve new science standards that name evolution as one of several “big ideas” that […]

Guest Post by Morbo A few years ago, my daughter and I read “The Golden Compass,” the first volume of British author Philip Pullman’s trilogy titled “His Dark Materials.” We moved on to the second book but never finished it. Now I’m thinking we made a mistake. A movie version of the first book opens […]

Guest Post by Morbo I get press releases from the Libertarian Party in my spam folder. I’m not sure why. One that arrived this week was typical: Party official bragging about how 2008 will be their breakthrough year. “I believe 2008 will be a special year for Libertarians everywhere,” says Wayne Allyn Root, the party’s […]

Today’s edition of quick hits. * Bloodshed in Baghdad: “Two bombs exploded hours apart Friday in a central Baghdad pet market and a police checkpoint in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing 26 people and wounding dozens, officials said…. The blast in the capital’s popular weekly al-Ghazl animal bazaar occurred just before 9 a.m., […]

McClatchy has a good item today about the odd nature of the fight among Republican presidential hopefuls over immigration — we’re watching candidates who embraced relatively progressive policies attack each other while moving to the hard-right. [Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney] each ran a jurisdiction that’s arguably among the nation’s most tolerant, where cracking down […]

We’ve learned quite a bit the last few years about the Bush administration tapping Americans’ phones. And reading their emails. And accessing private information, including medical and library records. But we didn’t know cellphone-tracking powers were on the list, too. The Justice Department’s own internal recommendation say that officials seek warrants based on probable cause […]

When a presidential candidate misspeaks and commits a dreaded “gaffe,” it’s embarrassing. When a candidate commits a gaffe that feeds into existing concerns, it tends to have a far greater impact. So, in 1992, when Bill Clinton said he “didn’t inhale,” it reinforced the narrative that he liked to try and have things both ways […]