November 08, 2006
Rummy-o-meter
UPDATE: WEDNESDAY, NOV. 08 Just when I lost hope and took the Rummy-o-Meter off the page, the Republicans go and lose themselves an election. Rumsfeld is gone. Update, Monday 4/10 @ 8:15am Welcome to all the readers from Wonkette, Reason, and the slew of other cool blogs! The Rummy index is back on blue. Bush is scheduled to speak on the Defense Secretary's behalf today, something along the lines of "Donald Rumsfeld is really, really, really, really, really good." These are the kinds of arguments we get, regardless of the fact that this might be the worst Secretary of...
May 11, 2006
Why have laws at all?
No matter what you think of immigration, this is a truly remarkable statistic, though perhaps not surprising (from cantankerous gringo geezer Lou Dobbs). But here is the official record of your sense of duty: 318 employers out of five and a half million in this country have been fined for hiring illegal aliens since 2001. In 2004, only three employers were fined. That is a dismal record, Mr. President, as dismal as the fact that the number of ICE agents assigned to enforce immigration laws in the workplace has declined from only 240 back in 1999 to now less than...
April 25, 2006
A Bush impeachment?
Due to a technical maneuver by a Democratic state representative, House Republicans might soon be answering some very uncomfortable allegations that could result in a Bush impeachment: Representative Yarbrough stumbled on a little known and never utlitized rule of the US House of Representatives, Section 603 of Jefferson's Manual of the Rules of the United States House of Representatives, which allows federal impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint resolution of a state legislature. From there, Illinois House Joint Resolution 125 (hereafter to be referred to as HJR0125) was born. Detailing five specific charges against President Bush including one that...
November 28, 2005
The Supreme Court is crumbling.
Literally....
November 10, 2005
To anyone among the chattering classes who gives a damn
Judy Miller is gone from the Times. As Michael Wolff said during a journalism conference, it's easy to get up in arms about a reporter doing jail time for a leak from the White House. There's only one problem: that reporter is Judy Miller. She is celebrated and scorned, both famous and infamous. A dogged reporter, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, author of four books, expert on terrorism, confidante of powerful government sources through several White House administrations -- and yet Miller's credibility came to rest on a single question: Does she tell the truth?...
November 09, 2005
Darwin fishing in PA
Yes, good Democrats won in New Jersey and my fair state of Virginia, and the best of the bums won here in NYC. But there's also really great news from Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvanian school board that is attempting to introduce the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution was yesterday ousted in local elections by anti-creationist campaigners. All eight Republican members of the board, the body that sets education policy for Dover, Pennsylvania, lost their seats to Democrat challengers....
November 08, 2005
An open letter to Bloomberg
Dear Mike- Come back to where you belong. The Democratic Party in New York needs you, no matter what Freddy Ferrer might say. Remember when Democratic voters wouldn't have elected you in the primary, so you switched parties? Times have changed. It's still the age of the hacks and career bureaucrats who think politics is about paying your dues and waiting your turn. Ferrer is a hack, devoid of ideas and inspiration. He needs to be put to pasture. Your West side stadium idea was ridiculous. We all hated you for it. But you were wise enough to let a...
October 05, 2005
Even George Will is against Harriet Miers
The conservative columnist asls "Can this nomination be justified?" and slams Bush for a lack for "seriousness": If 100 such people had been asked to list 100 individuals who have given evidence of the reflectiveness and excellence requisite in a justice, Miers's name probably would not have appeared in any of the 10,000 places on those lists. ... The wisdom of presumptive opposition to Miers's confirmation flows from the fact that constitutional reasoning is a talent -- a skill acquired, as intellectual skills are, by years of practice sustained by intense interest. It is not usually acquired in the normal...
September 15, 2005
Will Democrats join the 21st century already?
I've been watching a lot of the John Roberts hearings. He seems like a fundamentally decent (and smart) man. Even Democrats who have worked with him praise his fairness lack of ideology. I'm impressed by how much he's tethered his conclusions to the law's application to specific cases and circumstances. He seems to get that judges today shouldn't merely interpret the constitution by what it meant in 1787. His speaking and decision-making always seems to be very, very specific, and always put into a larger legal context. I like him, even if he's going to vote conservatively most of the...
May 27, 2005
Bolton's not just a bad boss, he's inept
Democrats and moderate Republicans have delayed the vote over John Bolton's confirmation as ambassador to the U.N. Some have hammered Bolton over his erratic and vindictive management (moving a CIA analyst who disagreed with his assessment of Cuba). Others have pointed out his dismissive and adversarial comments about the U.N ("If the U.N. secretary building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference"). But far more substantive are Bolton's failures in his job in the State Department to prevent the proliferation of WMD (link requires New Republic subscription). In his current position at State, Bolton's...
May 11, 2005
Are Republicans getting antsy?
I've almost stopped paying attention to the senate's filibuster shenanigans. They go back and forth like children. I've been impressed by Harry Reid's doggedness and how smart he's played his card. And buried in this Times story about the fight is a line that might show the cracks in the GOP's armor: Some lawmakers said they were exploring a resolution that would satisfy both sides without forcing a vote, but others itched for the fight. "The sooner, the better," said Senator George Allen, Republican of Virginia, who said Dr. Frist should have acted before now. Among a recent poll of...
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Governor's approval ratings
Here's a poll of the approval ratings for all the nation's governors. The average approval rating is 48%. Governor Pataki's Mom was right -- Georgie isn't average. He's at 36%....
Another shady reverend
The pastor accused of booting John Kerry voters out of his church has resigned. Rev. Chan Chandler insisted it's all a big misunderstanding. "I don't believe he preached politics," church member Rhonda Trantham said. "I don't believe anyone should tell a preacher not to preach what's in the Bible." But some congregants of the 100-member church in western North Carolina have said Chandler endorsed President Bush from the pulpit during last year's presidential campaign and said that anyone who planned to vote for Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry needed to "repent or resign." It seems to be a misunderstanding of...
September 07, 2004
What would Freud say?
Our President has taken another courageous stand: U.S. President George W. Bush offered an unexpected reason on Monday for cracking down on frivolous medical lawsuits: "Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country."...
September 02, 2004
A newfound respect for Zell
So he's a flashback to a pre-Voting Rights Act southern Democratic party. Anyone who would challenge Chris Matthews to a duel has earned my respect. Watch the shouting match and see an old man fight back, regardless of the facts. This, my friends, is dignity....
Dick Cheney -- Weak on Defense?
I kind of feel sorry for the Republicans. They get the media in a frenzy about a Democrat -- A DEMOCRAT -- giving their keynote speech. After trying to portray themselves as the inclusive party of bipartisanship, zany Zig Zag Zell Miller comes out and froths at the mouth like a regular Pat Buchanan. The GOP convention, which began so perfectly pitched, has developed a "Sybil" problem -- and no denunciations of fellow countrymen as traitors is going to fix that. So what about it -- did John Kerry really vote against all those weapons systems? Quick answer: No. Smart-ass...
September 01, 2004
Economic Girlie-Men
William Saletan hits the nail on the head when he talks about Schwarzenegger's speech to the GOP faithful last night: There's a curious gap in Schwarzenegger's speech as he segues from his litany of Republican principles to the case for Bush. Essentially, the principles vanish. He stops talking about accountability and starts talking about faith. He asks for "faith in the resourcefulness of the American people, and faith in the U.S. economy. To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: Don't be economic girlie men!" The audience roars—it's the loudest moment of the convention—but the descent...
August 31, 2004
George W. says Matt Lauer can't win
Karl Rove forgot to include Bush in the memo. John Kerry was supposed to be the flip-flopper, not the President. But of course the Flip-Flopper-in-Chief has yet again said one thing and then its opposite. Maybe George just forgot what he believed. In a softball interview with "Today Show" host Matt Lauer, Bush said that "I don't think you can win the war on terror." The incredible thing about the statement isn't the substance of it, but rather the idea that Bush might be admitting his mistakes. Taken a week after he admitted to making a "miscalculation" about the war...
August 30, 2004
Who are the undecideds?
Here's a poll about the attitudes of undecided voters, which this article numbers at 2.6 million. They don't like NASCAR; just 12.9 percent are fans. They get their TV news from Fox, 40.4 percent, followed by CNN, 14.7 percent, and MSNBC, 13.3 percent. They drive domestic cars over foreign by 57.9 percent to 36.9 percent. They are split evenly between George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as to who was the greatest president....
I'm a Liberal - Why didn't I march against the GOP?
I listened to helicopter circling above my apartment all yesterday. I felt the powerful gaze of police officers watching me as I walked to the grocery store. I heard faint bullhorns and the sounds of a large gathering mere blocks away from my home. It could have been so easy, and so fun, for me to hop over and join in the big anti-Bush protest that coiled around Madison Square Garden in Manhattan yesterday. But I'm not interested in the crowds. I'm interested in a leader. The GOP convention plans to focus on the leadership qualities of George W. Bush....
July 14, 2004
All I Can Say Is...
Holy fucking relief. UPDATE: If you haven't already, watch this Daily Show clip. What, is Jon Stewart not worth your time? Hmmm?...
July 02, 2004
If Thomas Jefferson had a blog, would the Declaration be as well-written?
It's July 4. Time to eat hot dogs and see fireworks and... what else? Why not re-read the founding document of this country and think about how close we are to the goals enumerated many years ago? The National Archives has a good site about the Declaration of Independence. IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and...
June 29, 2004
"Don't Be Like Hitler - Chill Out!"
If you haven't already seen the ridiculous "Coalition of the Wild-Eyed" video on GWB's web site, check it out here. William Saletan and Jacob Weisberg discuss it here on Slate. A quote from Weisberg: But the vileness of "Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-eyed" must not be allowed to obscure its essential hilarity. What moron came up with this idea? What are they smoking in Karl Rove's office? C'mon, Will. This ad is the campaign equivalent of The Producers—an idea so egregiously tasteless and stupid that it might just succeed as camp. Footage of Hitler shouting in German is juxtaposed with...
June 21, 2004
Joke of the Day
On his recent trip to Great Britain, George Bush had a meeting with Queen Elizabeth. He asked her, "How does one manage to run a country so smoothly?" "That`s easy," she replied, "You surround yourself with intelligent ministers and advisors." "But how can I tell whether they are intelligent or not?" he inquired. "You ask them a riddle," she replied, and with that she pressed a button and said,"Would you please send Tony Blair in." When Blair arrived, the Queen said, "I have a riddle for you to answer for me. Your parents had a child and it was not...
June 14, 2004
Moore Bad Decisions
Filmmaker Michael Moore has made another bad decision. Filmmaker Michael Moore said Friday he wasn't sure he did the right thing by saving footage of U.S. American soldiers' cruelty toward Iraqis for his controversial documentary, "Fahrenheit 9/11,'' instead of releasing the evidence earlier when it might have helped halt such abuse. "I had it months before the story broke on '60 Minutes,' and I really struggled with what to do with it,'' Moore said in a telephone interview with The Chronicle. "I wanted to come out with it sooner, but I thought I'd be accused of just putting this out...
June 08, 2004
Pulling the Plug
Many groups in New York City are still waiting to hear about their protest permits for when the Republican Convention hits town. I think these protests mostly accomplish nothing. Protestors should take the time they spend creating puppets and shopping thrift stores for "Billionaires for Bush" costumes and instead spend it working a job to earn money to donate to Republican rivals. But in any case, of course they should be given the right to spend their time speaking out. Apparently, a couple Italian radio networks were denied their right to cover Italian protestors: Italy's largest electric company pulled the...
Continuing on the path to becoming the world's first all-Lincoln blog
Those fart smellers at Harpers have posted their magazine's summation of a great president's passing (and a great nation's mourning). At a time when 24-hour cable news channels are frothing at a much later, much lesser president, Harpers goes to the archives: The murder of President Lincoln aroused a feeling of regret deeper than was ever before known in our history. Men and papers who had opposed his policy and vilified him personally, now vied with his adherents and friends in lauding the rare wisdom and goodness which marked his conduct and character. It was decided that his body should...
June 07, 2004
Gone is the Gipper.
Ronald Reagan is dead. But he's been gone from public life for a long time now. I believe strongly in the old advice that if you have nothing good to say about someone, it's better to say nothing at all. Right-Click-Save-Target-As James Kochalka's song "Hey, Ronald Reagan."...
June 02, 2004
Democrats win House seat in South Dakota
Democrat Stephanie Herseth is going to the House of Representatives for South Dakota after narrowly defeating her Republican rival by 3,000 votes. The seat was vacated when Republican Rep. Bill Janlow resigned after being convicted of vehicular manslaughter. I was impressed by Herseth's performance in a debate aired on C-SPAN last week. I can also verify that she's a natural leader -- she attended the South Dakota Girls State with a co-worker friend and managed to be elected governor there. Girls State, for those who don't know (and I didn't), is a kind of Model U.N. organization with the goal...
May 20, 2004
Where do you rank?
My favorite answer to the question of whether Rumsfeld will be fired was on Crossfire last week: "No -- because Bush is too weak to fire him." Bush survives because he's got a phalanx of tough soldiers around him. And it's not just the blundering policy-making team that helps George survive -- it's the armies of devoted right wing nuts who dedicate their lives to reelecting the worst president since Hoover. But I've got to admire the discipline of the Bush-Cheney team, and the way they keep tight ranks. Check out this "Leaderboard" they've created for donors, and you'll begin...
May 17, 2004
Separate is Never Equal
The first day of court-mandated gay marriage is also the anniversary of another court-ordered move to equality. Brown v. Board of Education was decided fifty years ago today. Brown overturned the Supreme Court's 1896 ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson, which allowed the poison of "separate but equal" to rule for over fifty years. The court decided in Brown that separate is inherently unequal. Dividing the population perpetuates inequality, the court said. It's important to remember this when we debate the idea of gay marriage. Some people want to settle for one standard for hetersexuals, and another for homosexuals. A greater...
May 12, 2004
Whither Iraq?
The tragic, montrous death of Nick Berg has created empathy from certain Iraqis. CNN interviewed Iraqis about the footage of Berg's beheading, and they said described their shame in the same way Americans described their reaction to the photos from Abu Ghraib. They said things like "The badness of a few will overshadow the goodness of many" and "This will reflect poorly on our country." Blame for the horrific slaughter of Berg is being placed on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi has been blamed for over 700 deaths in Iraq over the past months. And here's the shocking, disheartening thing: the...
May 11, 2004
They Rule Lives
Call me a sucker for interactive Flash diagramming. They Rule shows the links between big execs, big politicos, big companies, big institutions and who's lighting whose cigar. (thx to the Gawkbox)...
May 10, 2004
'I Actually Voted for the $87 Billion Before I Voted Against It'
Imagine you're a Senator during wartime. The military has requested $87 billion of further funding for their missions overseas. Strangely, your president hasn't asked financial sacrifice of his citizens to fund the wars -- he's continuously pushed for almost a trillion dollars in tax cuts, despite growing national deficits and debts. This is the dilemma that faced John Kerry. He made the choice to fully fund the military's request, but in a fiscally responsible way. He co-sponsored an amendment to the $87 billion bill, which funded the military by rolling back an equal amount from Bush's tax give-aways for the...
May 06, 2004
'Cover me!'
Marines and L.A. cops understand two different things when they hear shouts of 'Cover me!' "Police officers responded to a domestic dispute, accompanied by marines. They had just gone up to the door when two shotgun birdshot rounds were fired through the door, hitting the officers. One yelled `cover me!' to the marines, who then laid down a heavy base of fire. . . . The police officer had not meant `shoot' when he yelled `cover me' to the marines. [He] meant . . . point your weapons and be prepared to respond if necessary. However, the marines responded instantly...
My Prayers will involve GWB tonight
Your calendar might have omitted an important holiday. Today is the National Day of Prayer! To celebrate, our current president is participating in a three-hour television special tonight. "We're in an election year, and we believe God cares who's in those positions of authority," said Mark Fried, spokesman for the National Day of Prayer Task Force. "But we're not endorsing a candidate -- just praying that God's hand will be on the election." The widow of the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ expresses her admiration for Bush this way: "I don't think he has a political agenda of his...
Apparently Kerry manager Mary Beth Cahill is writing for AP now
The FBI, closely tracking the anti-war movement in the 1970s, concluded John Kerry was a glib, moderate figure in a Vietnam veterans group that took a radical turn around the time he left it, documents show. The FBI file on Vietnam Veterans Against the War says the organization swung toward "militant and revolutionary-type activities" but accuses Kerry, now the Democratic presidential candidate, of little more than charisma. Article here....
The Day After My Last Lawrence Post
I swear to god I haven't moved to Lawrence, Kansas or anything. Just because I posted a Lawrence story yesterday doesn't mean I can't post another today. So take that, Jason Robards! Anyways. Thomas Frank has a new book out called "What's the Matter With Kansas?". I've loved Frank since I first picked up the Baffler; he's a got a keen mind that can cut through the bullshit and lay the moral issues bare. In a just world, he'd be the public intellectual du jour and writing op-eds for the Times instead of that ol' factless hack David Brooks. The...
A Child Left Behind
In 2000, then candidate George W. Bush told the story of a juvenile delinquent from Texas in order to talk about the need for compassionate conservatism. NPR catches up with where that boy is now....
May 05, 2004
Justice Souter to Pose in Playgirl's 'Men of the Big 9'
The first time I met Supreme Court Justice David Souter, he couldn't keep his latex-gloved hand out of my crotchless underwear. Boy, that guy is an animal. Actually, he's a model civil servant and no one knows anything about him. God bless surprise Supreme Court appointments....
Four months inactive?
No, I'm not talking Bush's missing months in the National Guard. Wonkette is reporting that Bush knew about the abuse at Abu Ghraib in late December/early January....
May 04, 2004
Dusty codgers shake their canes while whippersnappers whistle
Why is the Bush addicted to creating big bureaucracies with no benefit? I'm not opposed to big organizations. Administering complicated programs take money and people. Medicare is a huge program, but its cost per person is significantly less than the expensive private insurance the rest of us suckers use. But this tax-cut-and-spend White House has gone overboard with creating costly programs that sit passed-out and bloated on a budget sheet while our country's problems get worse. Remember the television ads the Bush administration put together to advertise the wonderful benefits of the new Medicare prescription drug discount card? The one...
April 29, 2004
Wonderful Dementia
There were many feelings that rushed forward after I saw an op-ed from my alma mater's daily newspaper featured on Drudge. All of them required me to take a deep breath as I read the piece, entitled "Pat Tillman is not a hero: He got what was coming to him" When the death of Pat Tillman occurred, I turned to my friend who was watching the news with me and said, "How much you want to bet they start talking about him as a 'hero' in about two hours?" Of course, my friend did not want to make that bet....
Thongs are boaring
Louisiana lawmakers are trying to figure out which is worse: low-riding pants or hog-doggin. The powerful cockfighting lobby claims victory....
April 27, 2004
Danes need not apply
Should non-citizens be allowed to vote? Granting voting rights was seen as a way to get newcomers engaged in the civic process. In 1848, Wisconsin established a model that other states soon followed. It simply required residents to declare their intention of becoming citizens before being allowed to vote. Up until the 1920s, when a powerful, antiimmigrant backlash swept the country, 22 states and territories allowed legal immigrants to vote in local elections. "It was a proven pathway to civic education, political education, and citizenship by giving people a stake in their communities," says Ron Hayduk, a political scientist at...
Kerry-McCain 2004
Sick of politics as usual? Interested in candidates who actually believe in responsible government, and not just lower taxes and bigger debt? Believe in something again: Kerry-McCain 2004! Gusto contributor and official D.C. policy starlet Lisa just launched this site. Spread the word....
April 26, 2004
Washington's Remarks
You know how libraries always seem to have war memorials? They always seem a bit slap-dash and cheesy; they're usually big stone eagles perched atop a tablet that lists the community's soldiers who gave their lives. For some reason it always seems to be World War 2 that gets top billing. Maybe most of these monuments were built before Vietnam. Maybe people just haven't found a way to properly honor their native sons and daughters who gave their lives for a morally ambiguous war. One of the best things about my old library in Sunderland, Massachusetts, was that it listed...
Dems Poised to Take Back Senate
Not only will there be a nasty fight for president this year, the Senate's also up for grabs. And guess what? Democrats are poised to take it back. In recent years, money has been a problem for Democrats in battles for the Senate and House of Representatives. But less so this time, according to Russell Hemenway of the National Committee for an Effective Congress, which raises funds for liberal Senate and House candidates. "They all appear to have enough," he said. " Maybe not enough to match Republicans but enough to wage a real campaign." Go to the DCCC to...
"Make Peace with Pot"
Today's New York Times has an op-ed piece from Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market. While we would love to think that the Paper of Record's running a piece like this signals a change in perceptions about the incoherent U.S. drug laws, well, we're doubtful. Somebody obviously needs to up Schlosser's dosage of whiskey, Prozac, and cigarettes.......
April 15, 2004
The Right to Be Happy
How do misfits and outsiders get into the history books? They assassinate the president, and live forever on the Broadway stage. I saw Stephen Sondheim's Assassins last night. Who would've thought that a musical based on the life stories of nine would-be presidential assassins could be so compelling? The difficulty for Sondheim is to balance his wit and humor without being flip or casual about the deaths of four presidents. The production accents the carnival funhouse of American history and of course that's where Sondheim's clever turn-of-phrases and surprising lyrical ideas really shine (and you can see why Magnetic Fields...
April 14, 2004
Even in hindsight, Bush's vision isn't 20/20
Cable news and the networks gave George W. Bush a primetime slot for a press conference last night. Watch it and read the transcript at whitehouse.gov. An interesting moment came when a reporter dared to veer off the script and ask a surprise question about what the President's biggest mistake to date has been. Well, he'll let us know when he thinks of something: Q Thank you, Mr. President. In the last campaign, you were asked a question about the biggest mistake you'd made in your life, and you used to like to joke that it was trading Sammy Sosa....
April 12, 2004
Condi & The PDB
When Condoleeza Rice testified before the 9/11 Commission last week, she testified about a Presidential Daily Briefing (PDB) from August 6, 2001: It did not warn of attacks inside the United States. It was historical information based on old reporting. There was no new threat information. And it did not, in fact, warn of any coming attacks inside the United States. [Full Transcript] After a public furor over this document, the White House declassified the PDB and The Smoking Gun was there: FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings...
April 08, 2004
Scalia's Open Season
While giving a speech in a Mississippi high school about the Constitution, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had Federal marshals destroy audio recordings made by reporters. It's unclear whether he was trying to teach the kids what the Constitution protects against....
April 03, 2004
Hoover's consolation
Thanks to The Other Page, we discovered this letter written by poet/songwriter David Berman to the Nashville Tennessean: Can't be easy defending Bush day after day To the Editor: How many gallons of Republican Kool-Aid does a Bush supporter have to choke down in order to keep defending the worst president in American history? Just as Alabamans happily say ''Thank God for Mississippi'' when annual ''quality of life'' rankings come out, I suspect Warren G. Harding, Herbert Hoover and Franklin Pierce are saying, ''Thank God for G. W. Bush'' somewhere in the afterlife. Anyone who even thinks about voting for...
March 23, 2004
Kerry on Crack
In August of 1996, presidential hopeful John Kerry wasn’t making national headlines. He was, however, busy spearheading a damning investigation into one of our government’s dirtiest secrets....
