Archive for April, 2010
Gramps McCain Rides Again!
John McCain apparently thinks that Barack Obama is nobody: Asked about whether he’s concerned about anti-incumbency attitudes this year, McCain said, “No, I don’t worry about it. I know that I can out-campaign anybody.” Well, perhaps not “anybody.” (I’ll go ahead and note, before someone else points it out, that I do realize that “John [...]
Curing Bipartisanality
Just early last week, the Wall Street reform bill was innocently going about its business, perfectly secure in its bipartisanality. It wasn’t just bipartisan-curious, it was actually practicing a bipartisan lifestyle. It didn’t just include Republican ideas, Republican senators had actively participated in drafting the bill. And then along came Mitch McConnell last Tuesday — [...]
The Piece That Passeth All Understanding
Yesterday, CBS News published an online column by Ben Domenech, a former Bush administration aide and Republican Senate staffer, and now right-wing blogger, who is best known for being a serial plagiarist. Domenech flatly asserted that Solicitor General Elena Kagan — who is widely regarded as one of the leading candidates on Obama‘s Supreme Court [...]
In Defense Praise Of Military Commissions
Yesterday, attorney general Eric Holder held up military commissions for Guantanamo detainees as “not only appropriate, but also necessary.” It probably behooves us to ask: appropriate and necessary for what? Even he isn’t ready (yet) to argue that they are appropriate and necessary for the rule of law to triumph. They are appropriate and necessary [...]
Usual Republican Lie From McConnell Elicits Unusual Reactions
In today’s Republican Party, it’s the rule more than the exception for a party leader (or what passes for one in today’s Republican Party) to make totally false public statements. This is true not just when appearing on TV, or speaking to reporters, but also when making speeches on the floor of the House or [...]
All In A Good Cause
It’s probably not a good sign when USA Today cheerfully publishes a story predicated on the assumption that Sarah Palin, is first and foremost, an opportunistic money-grubber. One thing to consider when pondering whether Sarah Palin should run for president: Will she accept the pay cut? ABC News reports that Palin has made at least [...]
Republicans Take Baby-step Toward Truthtelling
For a couple of weeks now, liberal blogs have remorselessly ridiculed Republicans for claiming that the IRS is going to have to hire 16,000 or 16,500 additional IRS agents as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Professional liars like Newt Gingrich continued to retail this multiply-fictitious talking point well after it had been comprehensively [...]
Daughter’s Soccer Game, My Foot!!
The press seems to have their panties in a twist about President Obama sneaking out of the White House on Saturday morning without them in tow, to watch one of his daughters play in a soccer game. Apparently, he is simply not allowed to behave like this. The relationship between the President and the White [...]
ThinkProgress Embraces The Fox News Style Of Reporting
Why would ThinkProgress deliberately misrepresent the words of Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenshit? (Oh, dear me, I seem to have a typo in the last word there.) Here’s what they quote him as saying: But I also know — I also know Washington and state politicians have no idea how to improve miner safety. The [...]
Miscarriage In Justice
While everyone is focused on the Supreme Court nomination that Barack Obama now gets to make, let’s do the outside-the-box thing. Obama now has to come up with another nominee to serve as the head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department. So let’s play a little game. Suppose I’m a legal [...]