It certainly had that effect, whether it was intentional or not. I can’t look into their hearts—I’ll let the grand jury do that. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said...[More]
May 1, 2006
BEATING THE DRUMS OF WAR
In case you missed this post over the weekend, Atrios made a great find in Eric Boehlert's new book, Lapdogs Executive editor Howell Raines wanted to show his right-wing critics...[More]
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED?
Three years to the day, and where are we? WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Three years after President Bush declared major combat over in Iraq, Americans have strong doubts that the United...[More]
May 2, 2006
ROVE, PLAME, AND THE DAMAGE DONE
This news isn't in any way new, but the fact that its being covered by MSNBC is. So once again, for the record.... The front company to which CIA agent...[More]
NEW POLLS, NEW LOWS
Two new ones today, both at all-time lows. CBS News: 33% approval Some highlights: + 71% say the nation is on the wrong track, the highest CBS has ever recorded....[More]
750 IS THE NUMBER, AND THE NUMBER SHALL BE 750!
I've been wondering when someone would finally get around to looking into the details of Bush's use of signing statements. Looks like my hometown paper is the one. Here's an...[More]
TURN OVER THE RECORDS!
Looks like the White house has lost the battle over the Abramoff-related Secret Service logs. Mark your calendar for May 10. WASHINGTON - The Secret Service has agreed to turn...[More]
TURNING POINTS
While Bush touts yet another "turning point" in Iraq, it looks like the debate over the war here at home may have actually shifted a bit today. Take a look:...[More]
DAMN THOSE RETIRED GENERALS!
Looks like we've got another retired general criticizing Rummy and Bush for their poor pre-war planning. I think you may have heard of this guy before. Take a look: In...[More]
MORE ON COLBERT
What he said As John Stewart put it tonight, Colbert's performance was "balls-o-licious." Though most of us never have the opportunity to deliver a keynote speech before the leader of...[More]
I'M STILL NOT HOLDING MY BREATH, BUT...
Senator Specter seems to be inching closer to open rebellion ``The party needs somebody to stand up to the president,'' Specter said in an interview in his corner seventh-floor office...[More]
THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER?!? (UPDATED)
So now we're arguing over whether or not we should sing the Star Spangled Banner in Spanish? How pathetically childish can we possibly get? In an odd way this reminds...[More]
May 4, 2006
INSTAPUNDIT: STUPID, DISINGENUOUS, OR BOTH?
Kevin Drum first pointed out this slightly insane post today from Instapundit. Now... I don't normally read what he has to say, because frankly I don't think that posts consisting...[More]
MORE ON COLBERT, TAKE II
After our final exam today, one of my student's came up and asked if I had seen Colbert's takedown of the President and the media this weekend. "Sure thing, I...[More]
May 5, 2006
PORTER GOSS RESIGNS! (RENAMED AND UPDATED MULTIPLE TIMES)
So CIA Chief Porter Goss resigns abruptly, and Bill Kristol acts as if he hasn't even a clue why? Not even the slightest inkling? Gee... You don't think it has...[More]
MORE SIGNS OF A COMING REALIGNMENT
The coalition that Reagan built is done for. Done for, I tell you. I've long suspected that immigration splits them right down the middle, but this latest bit of polling...[More]
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER POLL, ANOTHER NEW LOW
Does this thing even have a bottom? Because it sure doesn't seem like it • Just 33 percent of the public approves of Bush's job performance, the lowest of his...[More]
ON KENNEDY....
Yes yes, what Sully said. No matter how you feel about his family, the man is just that.... a fellow man. And he's admitted publicly to needing help with an...[More]
THE FISH ROTS FROM THE HEAD
These people cannot do ANYTHING right. When a federal judge calls your argument gobbledygook, you've got some very serious problems. --------...[More]
May 6, 2006
E.J. DIONNE CALLS IT REALIGNMENT
OK, so he doesn't quite use those words, but its there nonetheless. Check this out: The current reaction is not simply to President Bush's low poll numbers. It's also a...[More]
MOVING THE CIA SCANDAL STORY FORWARD (UPDATED)
Kevin is right - the first 24 hours after the Goss resignation have seen the media rapidly settle on a slightly bizarre "turf wars" explanation for his sudden departure. In...[More]
MYSTERY SOLVED! (UPDATED)
Digby gives us the answer: Tony Snow. He's providing the spin, and they're giving him the benefit of the doubt. How ironic that his credibility will be shredded within weeks...[More]
GEN HAYDEN TO REPLACE GOSS?
Good lord. From bad to worse. There's plenty of commentary out there about Hayden, but Christy @ Firedoglake reminds us of one particularly choice Hayden moment - the man hasn't...[More]
MARKOS GOES BIG TIME
Kid's got himself a WaPo op-ed. And damn if he didn't come out swinging. --------...[More]
WWWIII?
Really? Seriously? Our president has called this World War III? This is as bad as his whole "the oceans don't protect us anymore" nonsense. It's as if he didn't live...[More]
May 7, 2006
ONE OF THOSE MYSTERIES?
I missed this over at CNN yesterday... WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Porter Goss said Saturday that his surprise resignation as CIA director is "just one of those mysteries," offering no other...[More]
DELAY KNEW - THE SMOKING GUN
I've mentioned this several times before, but its worth saying again. Never put anything in an email that you wouldn't want to see on the front page of the New...[More]
MORE INCONVENIENT FACTS
At some point were going to actually do something about all of this, right? Global warming is rapidly melting the ice-bound roof of the world, and turning it into...[More]
SOFT TARGETS
Matthew Yglesias is bang on. Improved security is of course desirable, but at some point we have to ask ourselves: precisely how large is the real threat? Security has...[More]
WHAT WOULD DEMOCRATS DO?
You ask, they answer: Democratic leaders, increasingly confident they will seize control of the House in November, are laying plans for a legislative blitz during their first week in...[More]
May 8, 2006
A POLI SCI FUNNY
This one is definitely an inside joke, but its too funny not to pass along, just in case there are any fellow travelers out there reading today: George W....[More]
ABOUT THAT FISH
Bush says that the best day of his presidency came when caught a 7.5lb perch in "his pond." Either he's lying, or the man has absolutely shattered a 145+...[More]
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER POLL, ANOTHER NEW LOW
USA Today: WASHINGTON — President Bush's approval rating has slumped to 31% in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, the lowest of his presidency and a warning sign for Republicans...[More]
May 9, 2006
BLOGGING IRREGULARITIES
So just a heads up to those of you who care about this sort of thing... I'm back in the library, working on my last project of the semester...[More]
BUSH OPPONENTS NEED NOT APPLY
So says HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. For god's sake... He's a president, not a king. UPDATE: Two things... First of all, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has called for Jackson's...[More]
A LETTER FROM IRAN
So Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to our fearless leader has arrived, and the international reaction so far has been mixed. And yes, there's been plenty of reaction from bloggers too....[More]
DEADLINES BUILD CHARACTER
Well now isn't this fun?!? The "transition" to Medicare Part D has been disastrous for just about everyone involved. But Monday is a critical deadline for signing up for...[More]
TRUTHINESS
Is this for real? BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A purported al Qaeda document published by the U.S. military may or may not be authentic but its message that the Sunni...[More]
WHEN DIGBY IS ON...
He is just so damn ON... I pray to god that I never cross this man. Ever. Here's just part of a thoroughly brilliant rant. Be sure to click...[More]
ANOTHER NEW POLL, ANOTHER NEW LOW
Today's take comes from The New York Times. And before I get to the excerpt, let me highlight one nugget from the poll: "Fifty percent said Democrats come closer...[More]
May 10, 2006
THE ANGRY LEFT???
Over the past few days it seems nearly everyone has weighed in on Richard Cohen's silly column decrying the rise of the angry left. Glenn Greenwald, as usual, provides...[More]
A PRISON FLAG FOOTBALL TEAM
Wow. By Emptywheel's count, 21 of Bush's biggest campaign fundraisers have been either implicated or indicted in illegal government contracting or campaign financing schemes. TWENTY ONE. That's so many...[More]
DIPLOMACY 102?
FP calls it "Diplomacy 102," but if this is 102, what the hell is 101? 30 percent of officers in [US] language-designated public diplomacy positions in the Muslim world...[More]
FROM THE "YOU REALLY CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP" FILE
So after a long, drawn out process, Judicial Watch finally gets access to the White House Secret Service logs that will show how often Jack Abramoff visited 1600 Pennsylvania...[More]
May 11, 2006
THE DOMESTIC SPYING SCANDAL GROWS
Well now... Things just took a turn towards interesting, didn't they? USA Today has a major scoop today (who knew they had investigatory chops like this?) that can be...[More]
IF I WERE PELOSI...
...I would call a press conference, sign his damn petition, and then hand him a stack full of complaints against DeLay, Ney, Pombo, Doolittle, and others, and demand on...[More]
May 12, 2006
ANOTHER NEW POLL, ANOTHER NEW LOW
Bottom? Not yet! Twenty-Nine President Bush’s job-approval rating has fallen to its lowest mark of his presidency, according to a new Harris Interactive poll. Of 1,003 U.S. adults surveyed...[More]
WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT THE NSA DATAMINING PROJECT (UPDATED)
Lots of people have been asking what they as individual citizens can do in response to the news about the NSA's new datamining program. Aside from the obvious -...[More]
BLIND TRUST IS FOR FOOLS
When did blind trust become the rage? Take a look at this: With primary election dates fast approaching in many states, officials in Pennsylvania and California issued urgent directives...[More]
TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION
They pay their taxes. Give them a vote. A bipartisan proposal to give the nation's capital a vote in Congress has "more than enough votes" to win approval in...[More]
WAPO'S OVERNIGHT SPYING POLL
So the Washington Post does an overnight poll showing that a solid majority of American's "support" the NSA data-mining program, and everyone is quite naturally talking about it. Here's...[More]
May 13, 2006
WHY NOT LET THEM KNOW WE'RE LISTENING
I was doing some reading about the NSA wiretapping / datamining thing, and a thought occurred to me. Every time new information comes out about what the NSA is...[More]
IF GORE WANTS IT...
First the movie, then the election? If he wasn't already thinking seriously about it, this must be changing that. (CNN) -- In a new poll comparing President Bush's job...[More]
AS THE POLLS TURN...
Like I said, overnight polls should not be trusted. Here's the latest from Newsweek, a sister company to the Washington Post: as the Bush administration gone too far in...[More]
ANOTHER NEW POLL, ANOTHER NEW LOW
The rest of the Newsweek poll... There’s more bad news for the White House in the NEWSWEEK poll: President Bush’s approval rating has dropped to the lowest in his...[More]
CUT THE CRAP
Good on ya, Kevin, for calling it like it is....[More]
MCCAIN SPEAKS
So today was the day of John McCain's big speech at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, and via Andrew Sullivan, here's the full text. Sully is all atwitter over the...[More]
KARL ROVE - YOU'VE BEEN SERVED!
Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like Fitzmas is just days away. The Hayden hearings and a Rove indictment, all in one week? If rumors are to be believed.......[More]
NO OFFICIAL KNOWLEDGE
The Washington Post has an op-ed today from Richard A. Falkenrath, a former deputy homeland security adviser and deputy assistant to the president, and now a fellow at the...[More]
May 14, 2006
IF GORE WERE PRESIDENT
Looks like someone was having a little fun on SNL. Can you imagine if this guy had shown up in 2000?...[More]
May 15, 2006
OBAMA COMES SWINGIN...
Anyone out there have the full text of this speech? I'm hoping they put it up on his site this week. Until then, I guess the summary will have...[More]
TIME FOR CHAFEE TO STEP UP!
Since Sen Chafee is the go-to Republican official for the Sierra Club, I suppose he's already working hard behind the scenes to stop this, right? Proposed budget cuts could...[More]
VOODOO REPUBLICANISM
Look! Kevin Drum made a funny!...[More]
AND SO DID JOSH!
Seems like everyone has a sense of humor on this morning. Josh's latest deserves an excerpt its so damn good: My reading and reporting attention hasn't been focused on...[More]
GORE IN '08 (UPDATED NUMEROUS TIMES)
Start your week off right. Watch this.. Gore in 2008. I'm telling you. Sully might not believe yet. Josh does. I'm telling you.... if he wants it, it is...[More]
INEPT FOOLS
Its really unbelievable how bass-ackwards these people get everything. Really....[More]
TOO MUCH HAPPY TALK FROM THE DKOS KIDS
Is it just me, or are the kids over at DailyKos sounding more and more screechy lately? I mean, don't get me wrong... I love what Markos has been...[More]
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Matthew Yglesias puts it all in context It's important to link this up to the broader chain. One thing the Bush administration says it can do with this meta-data...[More]
"WHERE THE STORY WILL GO NEXT"
Salon has a fascinating interview with Intelligence historian Matthew Aid today, and although the whole thing is worth reading, this bit really stood out: I'll tell you where this...[More]
ARE THEY ALL CORRUPT?
Good lord. TPMMuckraker has news of yet another crooked SoCal Republican congressman. Take a look that this. The guy has been using the earmarking process to guarantee himself a...[More]
REPORTS OF FITZMAS SIGHTINGS LOOK TO HAVE BEEN PREMATURE
Late last week Truthout's Jason Leopold looked to have one hell of a scoop on his hands. But it seems there are plenty of good reasons to doubt his...[More]
MAYBE THIS WILL WAKE UP THE MEDIA
Good lord. This is straight-up Nixonian. Just in from ABC's News: A senior federal law enforcement official tells us the government is tracking the phone numbers we call in...[More]
GEN BATISTE SPEAKS
This new article from the Wall St. Journal is an absolute must read. Andrew Sullivan and Kevin Drum both have already linked to it, and no doubt virtually everyone...[More]
May 16, 2006
May 17, 2006
LEAKY INVESTIGATIONS
Its been a long time since I linked to Juan Cole. This is too good to pass up: Raw Story says that the Bush administration is tracing the telephone...[More]
May 18, 2006
MOVING Is EXHAUSTING
Just in case you were wondering where I went... I've spent the last three days loading up two storage containers with all of my worldly possessions, and damn if...[More]
May 21, 2006
VACATION!
So... turns out I didn't get a chance to do any more writing before I left, and now... now I'm on the road! I'll be blogging my trip whenever...[More]
YOU KNOW A SHOW HAS BEEN ON THE AIR TO LONG WHEN...
Back in the 1980's, you always knew a show had been on the air too long when it did one of two things: added a kid, or did a...[More]
CROSSCOUNTRY 2006: DAY ONE (BOSTON, MA --> TOLEDO, OH)
Day One: Boston, MA → Toledo, OH Total Miles Driven: 725 Total Hours Driven: 14 Total Miles Hiked: 0 Total Hours Hiked: 0 Kramer Quotient (KQ): 2 Massachusetts, New...[More]
TRUTHOUT AND THE STORY THAT WON'T GO AWAY
In case you've missed this, go catch up. Not only is Truthout standing by their story, they've expanded it. If they are wrong, its all much ado about nothing....[More]
May 22, 2006
IOWA REST STOPS....
Now with free wireless internet access! Your assignment: Explain why Iowa can do this and, so far at least, no one else can....[More]
LOOK! ANOTHER ONE!
Are you as thrilled as I am?...[More]
May 27, 2006
CROSSCOUNTRY 2006: DAY TWO (Toledo, OH → Lincoln, NE)
Day Two: Toledo, OH → Lincoln, NE Total Miles Driven: 716 Total Hours Driven: 14 Total Miles Hiked: 0 Total Hours Hiked: 0 Kramer Quotient (KQ): 3 Another day...[More]
CROSSCOUNTRY 2006: DAY THREE (Lincoln, NE → Gore Pass, Routte National Forest, CO)
Day Three: Lincoln, NE → Gore Pass, Routte National Forest, CO Total Miles Driven: 645 Total Hours Driven: 11 Total Miles Hiked: 0 Total Hours Hiked: 0 Kramer Quotient...[More]
May 30, 2006
ARRIVED IN SF
So I've arrived in SF safe and sound, and I'm doing my best to write up the last few days of my trip. Its been quite the adventure, and...[More]
CROSSCOUNTRY 2006: DAY FOUR (Gore Pass, Routte National Forest, CO → Antelope Flats Campground, Flaming Gorge NRA, UT)
Day Four: Gore Pass, Routte National Forest, CO → Antelope Flats Campground, Flaming Gorge NRA, UT (Map) Total Miles Driven: Total Hours Driven: 8 Total Miles Hiked: 2 Total...[More]
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