What, if anything, are Democrats to do about Bubba? Bubba, of course, is the name strategists Steve Jarding and Dave “Mudcat” Saunders gave to the white male vote in the U.S., sometimes referred to as “NASCAR dads.” Bubba hasn’t voted Democratic for about a generation (or two), and with 2008 plans in the works, some […]
U.S. urged caution on Syrian strike
Following up on a post from a couple of weeks ago, the details are still sketchy, but we know that Israel decided to attack Syria on Sept. 6, hitting a suspected nuclear site that may have been launched with help from North Korea. ABC News reports today that the Bush administration knew about the plans, […]
O’Reilly compares White House press corps, cancer
Having watched the clip, via ThinkProgress, I suspect Bill O’Reilly was kidding, but am I the only one who finds his eliminationist rhetoric kind of creepy? For those of you who can’t watch clips online, Tony Snow mentioned that he’s interested in writing a book about how to deal with the unexpected, building off his […]
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw lapel pins
It would be my sincere preference that our political discourse not delve into who does and does not wear American-flag pins, with every presidential candidate’s lapel suddenly drawing sharp scrutiny. That said, if we are going to go in this direction, we might as well highlight hypocrisy when we see it. Discussing an interview in […]
Bush’s flexibility on S-CHIP is empty rhetoric
Under the headline, “Bush hints at spending more on children’s health bill,” I think the AP is misreading the president’s weekly radio address a bit. President Bush signaled a willingness Saturday to spend more than what he had recommended for a popular children’s health program, but provided no specifics on how much higher he would […]
Censure and move on
Senate Republicans can’t force Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) to resign, they don’t have the votes to expel him, and an embarrassing ethics investigation may prove more embarrassing to the caucus than the senator. What’s left? Apparently, a censure. Sen. Larry Craig is likely to be censured by the Senate – but not expelled – for […]
A shameful way to ‘support the troops’
The 2,600 members of the Minnesota National Guard recently ended a 22-month tour of duty in Iraq, the longest deployment of any ground-combat unit in the Armed Forces. Many of its members returned home, looking forward to using education benefits under the GI bill. For example, John Hobot, a platoon leader, said, “I would assume, […]
Scandal rocks Oral Roberts University
It’s been weeks since a prominent conservative institution has been rocked by scandal, so I suppose we were due for a story like this one. Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Roberts’ university, or else […]
Ron Paul puts his nuttiness in print
Rep. Ron Paul’s (R-Texas) presidential campaign had a pretty good week. Paul announced that he raised $5 million in the third quarter, which not only stunned the political world, it put him on par with GOP heavyweights like John McCain in the race for campaign funding. It’s difficult to dismiss a guy as a “fringe” […]
This Week in God
First up from The God Machine this week is a special Roman Catholic mass, held every year around this time, in which the church subtly lobbies Supreme Court justices on how they should rule on specific social issues. Don’t you wish you had the opportunity to personally lobby the members of the U.S. Supreme Court […]