Archive for June, 2008
Truer Words
The Edwards standard and John McCain Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postShare on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itBookmark in BrowserTell a friend
The Latest Mutation Of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
It looked for a while like the U.S. Military had moved from a policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell†to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Listenâ€. The story of Army Sergeant Darren Manzella suggests, though, that it’s much more complicated. More like “Don’t Ask, Don’t Listen, But Don’t Tell The Mediaâ€: Decorated Army Sergeant Darren Manzella has [...]
Blackwater Rides Again
Always a pleasure to point out that Blackwater Worldwide is in the news again. Funny how they are hardly ever in the news for doing anything good. Still, there’s no such thing as bad publicity, right? Even if Blackwater is caught first breaking the law, and then lying about it. Under the Bush administration, that’s [...]
Secret Remedies And Secret Holds
(1) The Secret Remedy For Secret Holds I suspect that most Americans — even those who follow politics closely — do not really understand the host of obstructionist tactics available to U.S. senators, tactics that together make the Senate one of the more dysfunctional institutions of American democracy. (I hang my head in shame, and [...]
From Exorcism to Castration: The Strange Journey Of A Republican VP Candidate
Two weeks ago, TPM wrote about Piyush “Bobby” Jindal‘s hands-on experience with exorcising demons: As others noted during his 2003 and 2007 gubernatorial campaigns (see update), in an essay Jindal wrote in 1994 for the New Oxford Review, a serious right-wing Catholic journal, Jindal narrated a bizarre story of a personal encounter with a demon, [...]
Change You Better Believe
Soon you may not even be able to tell them apart: In Nov. 2007, the Chicago Tribune reported that Sen. Barack Obama “believes the D.C. handgun law is constitutional.†Obama spokesman Bill Burton said today “that statement was obviously an inartful attempt to explain the Senator’s consistent position.†For his part, John McCain supported efforts [...]
Opinion Polls On Condoning Torture
Reuters: The number of Americans who would condone torture, at least when used on terrorists in order to save lives, has risen over the past two years and now stands at over 40 percent, according to a new opinion poll. I’ve always wondered what people who took this stand were thinking in their heads as [...]
Beneath The Fine Froth Of “Strategic Independence”
(1) Yesterday, John McCain invoked his glorious military heritage, decked himself out in the mantle of John F. Kennedy, and issued a stirring call for what he calls “strategic independence” from foreign oil by 2025: In recent days I have set before the American people an energy plan, the Lexington Project, named for the town [...]
Kafka Is Alive And Well
And no doubt in a secret CIA prison somewhere, being regularly motivated to advise the Bush administration on how to treat Guantanamo detainees. On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit determined that Huzaifa Parhat, who has been detained in Guantanamo Bay for more than six years, is not an [...]
Holding Obama To His Word
Barack Obama has been the subject of some unfair criticism over the promise he made last fall, when campaign spokesman Bill Burton offered this crystal-clear statement: To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.” People have accused him of going back on his word, because [...]