The Carpetbagger Report

You know the story by now: John McCain made a series of bizarre-but-categorical comments about how safe Iraq has become since the start of the president’s escalation policy. In just the last two weeks, he’s insisted that parts of Baghdad are safe for Americans to walk around in and that Gen. Petraeus travels the city […]

There’s ample evidence that Republicans in DC are not fiscally responsible, but it appears that GOP lawmakers are having an awful influence on the College Republicans who look up to them. Take, for example, the College Republicans at the University of Vermont, who were driven out of existence by Newt Gingrich. (thanks to N.J. for […]

With all the recent news about various U.S. Attorney controversies, I’ve neglected to report much on the new U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Rachel Paulose. This one’s a little different from some of the controversies — inasmuch as Paulose does not stand accused of allowing politics to dictate prosecutorial decisions — but it’s interesting anyway. Paulose, […]

First up from the God Machine this week is an interesting story about the intersection of evangelicals, politics, and blogging. Political reporter David Brody is punching his keyboard with two fingers, checking the Web for mentions of his stories. Up pops a liberal blog quoting one of his recent interviews. He’s delighted — until he […]

Guest Post by Morbo How far gone do you have to be before the “ex-gay” movement gives you the boot? Quite far, apparently. Consider the case of Richard Cohen. Cohen (not the syndicated columnist) spent several years being feted by the Religious Right as the ex-gay movement’s poster boy. He claimed to become straight after […]

Guest Post by Morbo The right-wing campaign against CNN reporter Michael Ware is a textbook example of how their smear machine works: Make any manner of wild allegations, offer no proof to back them up and wait for the mainstream media to begin reporting it. There’s no need to be concerned that the allegations are […]

Guest Post by Morbo Every weekday, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, takes the latest Republican Party taking points, adds some stuff about Jesus to them, and e-mails them to his supporters. It must be the world’s easiest job. A recent Perkins salvo attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for wearing a head scarf […]

Today’s edition of quick hits. * CNN is reporting that Monica Goodling will formally resign from the Justice Department tomorrow. That makes quite a bit of sense — if she pleads the Fifth, the DoJ necessarily had to let her go. * Speaking of the purge, Alberto Gonzales appears to be moving in the wrong […]

For literally decades, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has had a hiring committee, made up of veteran career lawyers, who screened thousands of resumes, interviewed candidates, and made recommendations that were rarely rejected. Attorneys who were hired to the Division were not only excellent lawyers, but had demonstrated a firm commitment and years of […]

I’m sorry to keep harping on the media’s coverage of Speaker Pelosi’s trip to Syria, but I’m at a loss to explain how ridiculous the reporting has been, particularly among television journalists. Atrios flagged a quote this morning from CNN that I assumed he misheard. Alas, I checked the transcript and it was exactly right. […]