The Carpetbagger Report

The conventional wisdom keeps insisting that Republican filibusters are just giving Dems a taste of their own medicine. When they were in the minority, Dems blocked legislative progress as often as they could, the argument goes, so they have no right to complain now that the GOP is doing the same thing. But this just […]

When I worked at Americans United for Separation of Church and State for seven years, I read a lot of direct mail from bizarre religious-right groups. It was the ’90s, so most of it had a straightforward pitch: Bill Clinton will turn you into an atheist unless you send (fill in the blank) all of […]

It’s one thing for the reality-based community to cast aspersions on Fox News viewers; it’s another when the Republican network ridicules its own audience. For those of you who can’t watch online video clips, I posted a quick transcipt after the jump.

Aside from the tragedy of the war itself, one of the more disconcerting elements of the ongoing political debate is just how little progress we’ve seen in nearly five years. Vapid arguments that were absurd in 2003 are still used routinely. Offensive talking points that were discredited before the invasion even began still appear in […]

Tony Snow told reporters yesterday that the administration has seen “a declining level in the overall pace of attacks” in Iraq. The reality, of course, is far different. Attacks in Iraq last month reached their highest daily average since May 2003, showing a surge in violence as President George W. Bush completed a buildup of […]

Since the Hamdan ruling a year ago, there’s been some uncertainties surrounding the Bush administration’s interrogation policies, with ambiguous lines dictating CIA policy. The good news is, the White House said yesterday it was clearing things up with an executive order “barring the CIA from using torture, acts of violence and degrading treatment in the […]

The God Machine this week is focused on just one story, an odd controversy about a fundamentalist anti-science textbook that’s been showing up in the mailboxes of credible people nationwide. In the United States, opposition to the teaching of evolution in public schools has largely been fueled by the religious right, particularly Protestant fundamentalism. Now […]

Guest Post by Morbo I have to say, I’m really disappointed. The last Harry Potter book comes out today, the fifth movie was just released, and what am I getting from the Religious Right? Nothing. Nada. Zip. TV preachers and self-appointed fundamentalist guardians of public morality used to go crazy over these books. With the […]

Today’s edition of quick hits. * Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy tomorrow, and under the 25th amendment, will temporarily transfer power to Dick Cheney. The procedure is expected to take about two and a half hours, during which time Cheney will no doubt be tempted to start several new wars. * The president acknowledged […]

Much to Dale’s dismay, the response to Friday Cat Blogging has been surprisingly strong and positive. As such, here’s another pic of Smithers. In this shot, we see her enjoying a file-holder near my desk that she has now claimed as her own. The chances of this ever being used to actually hold files are […]