Archive for April, 2005
U.S. Marshals Come up Short in Protecting Judges
The topic of violence against judges has gotten a lot of play recently, what with the handful of recent attacks and the thinly-veiled threats from Christian fundamentalists and members of Congress. Threats against judges have risen “sharply” over the last few years, which is enough in itself to give one pause; what’s worse is that, [...]
Indecency Stealth Tactics
Picking people to fill vacancies at the Federal Communications Commission isn’t exactly glamorous, so the story of Senator Ted Stevens‘s push to install one of his aides into an empty seat almost flew past the radar. Why should anyone care? You should care because this nomination could be a step toward the neutering of your [...]
Saudi Official: No Homo
President Bush and Crown Prince Abdullah just enjoy mutual company: “It’s a sign of respect and affection — nothing sexual whatsoever,” Saudi spokesman Nail Jubeirinformed us from the scene. But: It turns out that the pair previously held hands at two summits. And yesterday Bush also kissed the Saudi leader on both cheeks. Highest-level instance [...]
Smear Du Jour
Senator John Kerry (D-MA) (4/20/05): “I am sick and tired of a bunch of people trying to tell me that God wants a bunch of conservative judges on the court and that’s why we have to change the rules of the United States Senate…I am sick and tired of (them saying) they somehow have a [...]
Five Months Later in Social Security Reform
After five months of doom-laden projections, important file cabinets, misleading advertisements, antique cars, pre-screened “town meetings” and unfortunate terms such as “flat bust”, the drive to reform Social Security is finally moving from moving from conjecture to an actual plan. On Tuesday the Senate Finance Committee will start hearings aimed at eventually producing some sort [...]
California Prediction
A reader named Joel takes issue with my analysis of our piece-of-shit Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s growing electoral vulnerability: still a long way off to next elections. but maria shriver (a kennedy democrat) is gonna swing a chunk off the democrat votes for an Ahnuuuld republican win. you watch. No. I’m often reminded that responding to [...]
Purple Falafel
Nick points us to the now infamous clip of Damon “Dame Diddy, Dame Daddy or Dame Dummy” Dash and Killa Cam’ron on Bill O’ Reilly‘s Happy Fun Hour. Nick want’s to know why it’s hosted on Island/Def Jam’s site. I’ll co-sign. If you haven’t seen it before, it’s well worth the few minutes. No homo [...]
The Winner Is…
Reader Fernando is the winner in our Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room contest. His suggested punishment (upon due process and guilty verdicts, of course): Lay and Skilling should be tied to a turnstile and forced to generate electricity for the homes of the former Enron employees. Periodically, we’ll pull them off the stile [...]
Spongeworthy Standards Set to Go South
What is it, Seinfeld week? Contraceptive Sponge to Return to Market (SF Chronicle) The Today Sponge contraceptive, pulled from the market a decade ago, will soon be back in U.S. stores after receiving regulatory approval. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved U.S. sales of the sponge, which was a popular nonprescription birth control [...]
Man-on-Dog-on-Filibuster
Rick Santorum Op Ed in the Washington Post (4/15/05): The time has come for the Senate to reestablish that tradition, to end these destructive judicial filibusters and to give all judicial nominees the up-or-down vote they deserve. The Hill (4/21/05): Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), a leading advocate of the “nuclear option†to end the Democrats’ [...]