The Carpetbagger Report

With the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks having just passed, there was quite a bit of talk this week about why we haven’t been attacked again since. Truth be told, the claim, on its face, is rather misleading. We were attacked, about a month after 9/11, when someone sent weaponized anthrax to two Democratic senators […]

MoveOn’s “betray us” ad was condemned in conservative circles for its “strident” rhetoric, which some Republicans have decided to match with even more over-the-top language. At a crowded rally at a VFW hall in Hudson, NH last night, McCain — again — used the MoveOn “Betray Us” ad as a emotional crowd-pleaser. It was a […]

If you’ve had to deal with the student-loan system recently, you know how bizarre it is. The situation is pretty straightforward. When Clinton was elected in ’92, the student-loan system was burdened by a layer of unnecessary bureaucracy. Higher-ed students would get a loan from a private lender, but the federal government would set the […]

The story of the Jena Six is one of the more painful examples of racism in recent memory. In September 2006, a group of African American high school students in Jena, Louisiana, asked the school for permission to sit beneath a “whites only” shade tree. There was an unwritten rule that blacks couldn’t sit beneath […]

Rank-and-file Republicans clearly aren’t satisfied with their already-enormous presidential field. Shortly after Fred Thompson’s announcement, activists started wondering whether David Petraeus might be available. Or maybe Jeb. Or even Newt. Well, wait no more. The savior of the Republican Party has arrived. After two previous runs for U.S. president, former Reagan diplomat Alan Keyes has […]

For most of the afternoon yesterday, the Huffington Post ran this headline at the top of the page, with pictures of the GOP’s top-tier: “A President For All White People.” Given the circumstances, the headline was only slightly hyperbolic. Three of the four leading Republican presidential candidates turned down invitations to a PBS debate this […]

Alan Greenspan has a few things he’d like to get off his chest. Alan Greenspan, who served as Federal Reserve chairman for 18 years and was the leading Republican economist for the past three decades, levels unusually harsh criticism at President Bush and the Republican Party in his new book, arguing that Bush abandoned the […]

First up from The God Machine this week is a fascinating NYT item about a reverse-faith-based initiative involving prisons and religious rights. Apparently, the federal Bureau of Prisons has ordered prison chaplains to clear chapel libraries of any religious books, tapes, CDs, and videos that are not on a list of approved resources. Some prison […]

Guest Post by Morbo Fred Thompson has officially thrown his hat in the ring, and some people have noticed that he appears to be a pathetic lightweight who can’t articulate a coherent stand on many issues. Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus noted recently that Thompson often substitutes pithy sayings for actual policy stands. After six […]

Guest Post by Morbo I’ll admit I don’t recall the Senate career of Mike Gravel. I was a teenager then and wasn’t paying much attention to politics. But what I’ve read about him since then sounds impressive: He railed against the war in Vietnam, brokered a deal that helped end the draft and arranged for […]