On Monday, I wrote about how — despite the danger of a swine flu pandemic — Republicans were blocking the appointment of Kathleen Sibelius to head Health and Human Services because of her views on abortion (for example, she vetoed a bill that would have prevented abortion even when the mother’s life was in danger), […]
The Republicans are in imminent danger of having another Katrina-disaster, in this case in the form of a swine flu epidemic and its effect on the economy. The swine flu has already killed over 100 people in Mexico and has spread to the US, causing the closing of schools and other public facilities in US […]
Here is a direct quote from Newt Gingrich: There is no place for abuse in what must be considered the family of man. There is no place for torture and arbitrary detention. There is no place for forced confessions. There is no place for intolerance of dissent. … The roots of American rule of law […]
Peggy Noonan on Clinton committing perjury in a civil suit (December 21, 1998): The Democrats had long labeled the impeachment debate a distraction from the urgent business of a great nation. But the Republicans argued that the pursuit of justice is the business of a great nation. In winning this point, they caught the falling flag, producing […]
I keep seeing people debating whether or not torture works, and in particular whether it produces “actionable intelligence”. An example of this is liberal pundits trying to respond to Cheney’s recent assertion that torture produced intelligence that prevented a terrorist attack. You’d think by now we would have seen the Bush administration framing the debate […]
I call on all governments to join with the United States and the community of law-abiding nations in prohibiting, investigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture and in undertaking to prevent other cruel and unusual punishment. – Official Proclamation by President Bush, June 26 2003 And as an added bonus, Cheney’s claim that the torture […]
© Matt Wuerker UPDATE: What’s even more bizarre about the right-wingnuts freaking out about Obama shaking hands with Hugo Chavez, is that they keep referring to Chavez as a dictator, even though he is a three-time democratically elected president. As for shaking hands with dictators, watch this video:
Last week, Sarah Palin’s nominee to be the Alaska Attorney General, Wayne Ross, was denied by the Legislature. It was the first time in Alaska’s (short) history that a nominee was not confirmed for any state agency. A new Attorney General was needed because her last one resigned because of the Troopergate scandal. But in […]
A year ago, David Barstow reported in the NY Times reported on how the Pentagon was manipulating the news by planting retired generals into major networks as independent analysts, and that in many cases the networks themselves were complicit. What made this even worse was that this story was completely suppressed by the networks in question, including […]
“It’s important not to personally attack the new president. I’ve never done that.” -Dick Cheney on Fox News Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away, but in the very same interview, Cheney criticized Obama for shaking hands with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez: I think you have to be very careful. The world outside there — […]
Republican Governor Rick Perry of Texas put his foot in his mouth earlier this week when he suggested that at some point Texas might get fed up enough by excessive government spending that they would want to secede from the union. Democrats immediately responded that Texas should not let the door hit their *ss on […]
FiveThirtyEight has compiled a list of crowd sizes from all the tea party events, based on nonpartisan sources. They put the crowd size in Sacramento California at 3,500 — compare this to Fox News’ (knowingly fabricated) estimate of 10,000 to 15,000 people. Total turnout across the nation is estimated to have been 311,460 people in […]
This short clip from Fox News demonstrates clearly why these charlatans shouldn’t have press credentials. The headline is “National Healthcare: Breeding Ground for Terror?” I kid you not: This is so wrong on so many different levels: Their whole premise, that nationalized health care promotes terrorism, is a joke. But they don’t get the joke. […]
Some coverage from CNN featuring a protestor calling Obama a fascist and holding a sign depicting Obama as Hitler. The reporter asks him several times why he thinks Obama is a fascist, and his reply is only “because he is”. A more accurate answer to her question might have been “because Fox News tells me […]
The term “astroturf” was coined to refer to “grass-roots” events that are faked — typically organized and financed secretly by a hidden organization to promote their political goals. One of the most famous examples of astroturfing was the “Brooks Brothers Riot” that succeeded in stopping the Florida recount during the 2000 presidential election. That somewhat […]
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