Support for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales amid bipartisan calls for his resignation is heading south, a new Rasmussen poll reveals:Thirty-nine percent (39%) of American voters believe Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 800 Likely Voters found that 31% disagree and say he should not resign while 30% are not sure. … [Read more...] about Poll: Gonzales Losing Public Support
Alberto Gonzales
Torture: It’s Happening
It's amazing that some analysts are still insisting that there is not any torture going on at America's foreign detention centers. That is, despite the fact that the number of detainees who claim to have been tortured or abused while in US custody seems to grow every week. In the past, there have been allegations by Bangladeshis, Afghanis, and Brits. Last week, it was Khalid … [Read more...] about Torture: It’s Happening
The Power of Foreign Aid
Back in 2002, Bush began an initiative called the "Millennium Challenge Account" (MCA) which upped the foreign aid budget for poor countries. The goal of this program was to encourage democratic governance and liberal economic policies by offering aid in exchange for the implementation of various reforms. How much success has the program had since its creation five years … [Read more...] about The Power of Foreign Aid
Novak: Bush Setting Stage For Gonzales’ Departure
Was it a case of appearance versus reality? In his Evans-Novak Report, well-sourced columnist Robert Novak says President George W. Bush knows that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will have to go and that there was much more to Bush's combative press conference yesterday than met the eye:1. President Bush's gesture of phoning Gonzales to reaffirm his support is just that … [Read more...] about Novak: Bush Setting Stage For Gonzales’ Departure
A Sucker Bet
From the comments on a NOLA post this weekend: In the mean time, half the state is losing their insurance. Mine got canceled this week...because I'd held it for under three years. I could feel wisps of steam starting to waft from my ears when I read that. That's a reason to cancel someone's policy???? Is that legal? Evidently, M (the commenter) had merely received her … [Read more...] about A Sucker Bet
United Socialism of Chavez
And the dismantling of even the flimsy facade of democracy in Venezuela continues: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has told his political allies to join him in a single socialist party, or leave his government. Mr Chavez wants to create the United Socialist Party as an umbrella group for dozens of groups that back him. Three of the parties -- Fatherland for All, the … [Read more...] about United Socialism of Chavez
Arresting Immigrants, Fighting Terrorism
Over at The Reaction, Heraclitus has a post up about the recent raid by homeland security agents on a Massachusetts defence contractor. 350 immigrants, including many women, were arrested. Is linking immigration and terrorism the government's new gameplan? Is immigration the key wedge issue to energize the GOP base in 2008? Does it matter that these "illegal" immigrants were … [Read more...] about Arresting Immigrants, Fighting Terrorism
Condi Does Something Right For a Change
As regular TMV readers know, I have been unrelentingly critical of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and for good reason. (Click here and here for Exhibits A and B.) But as the WaPo's David Ignatius notes, Condi is bucking the tide and is willing to piss off the Jerusalem government in trying to broker the creation of a viable Palestinian state, which is a requisite if … [Read more...] about Condi Does Something Right For a Change
Crazy German Animal Rights Activists
Knut is a three-month old polar bear cub at a zoo in Berlin. His mother rejected him and he has been raised by hand by a zookeeper. (See Der Spiegel for more, including a photo gallery.) He is extraordinarily popular. And yet some want him dead. Who? Various animal rights activists who think that "[r]aising him by hand is not appropriate to the species but rather a … [Read more...] about Crazy German Animal Rights Activists
Don’t Label Me
This story in today's WaTi illustrates all too well why prejudice remains such a bad practice, why it's never as simple as it might seem, and why it's almost always a two-way street. Certain airline passengers in Minnesota may have pre-judged a group of praying imams. In turn, the praying imams may have pre-judged the passengers. Meanwhile, racists often attempt to paint … [Read more...] about Don’t Label Me
The Doctor Is In (Big Pharma’s Pocket)
The New York Times has a compelling – and disturbing story – about how pharmaceutical companies are buying doctors. The story is based on public records from Minnesota, which is one of the first states to require that doctors reveal their ties to drug companies. Money quote: The Minnesota records are a window on the widespread financial ties between pharmaceutical … [Read more...] about The Doctor Is In (Big Pharma’s Pocket)
Bush, Congress And Courts Heading Towards Political High Noon
Get ready, because it's going to be high noon at the political and judicial corral. The ostensible issue: getting the bottom of what was behind the firing of Republican prosecutors who were either pursuing Republicans or wouldn't be pressured to speed up cases against the Democrats right before the elections. The scene is now set for the final two years of the Bush … [Read more...] about Bush, Congress And Courts Heading Towards Political High Noon
The Veep Is At Work In His Office (Not)
A hallmark of the Bush administration has been its penchant for secrecy and lying – even keeping things secret and lying about them when there is no good reason to do so. Take Vice President Dick Cheney’s office. Please! In the latest example of this perverse dynamic, the veep’s office denied on Tuesday morning that Cheney had made yet another trip to the hospital … [Read more...] about The Veep Is At Work In His Office (Not)
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Limbaugh is Irrelevant�
Ka-Dang! Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has definitely broken with the right wing of the Republican Party and, instead, embraced the center. On the Today Show Schwarzenegger said the following in response to criticism from certain conservatives like Limbaugh: “Rush Limbaugh is irrelevant. I am not his servant.â€? He added: “I am the people’s servant of … [Read more...] about Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Limbaugh is Irrelevantâ€?
Hillary Clinton, 1984, Barack Obama, 1984
There is quite some controversy surrounding a video, published at YouTube, made by Barack Obama supporters attacking Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton responded by saying: "I haven't seen it but I’m pleased that it seems to be taking attention away from what used to be on YouTube and getting a lot of hits, namely me singing ‘The Star Spangled Banner.’ Everybody in the … [Read more...] about Hillary Clinton, 1984, Barack Obama, 1984
The Military, The Monetary & The Mercenary
2004: Murdered civilian contractors hang from a bridge in Fallujah Did you know that there are almost as many civilian contractors (120,000) in Iraq as troops (130,000)? And that 800 have been killed and more than 3,300 hurt doing jobs normally handled by a U.S. military stretched to the breaking point because of the Bush administration's wretched management of the … [Read more...] about The Military, The Monetary & The Mercenary
Just When You Thought It Couldn’t Get Any Worse.
This report from the New York Times:Insurgents detonated a bomb in a car with two children in it after using the children as decoys to get through a military checkpoint in Baghdad, an American general said Tuesday. Speaking at a news briefing at the Pentagon, Maj. Gen. Michael Barbaro, deputy director for regional operations at the Joint Staff, said American soldiers had … [Read more...] about Just When You Thought It Couldn’t Get Any Worse.
An Analysis of The Men Who Fall From The Sky: Icarus … The Lost Story
The Moderate Voice is pleased and honored today to offer our readers the first copyrighted co-blog post written for TMV by New York Times list best selling author Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés. She will be posting most of her observations in a column titled I PUT THE CULTURE ON THE COUCH. You can read about her many books (and readers' reviews of them) by CLICKING … [Read more...] about An Analysis of The Men Who Fall From The Sky: Icarus … The Lost Story
Protest Signs
The recent demonstrations against the war drew huge crowds -- crowds of anti-war demonstrators and support-the-troops demonstrators. And then there were also those that favored one side, but went to another side's demonstration to see what it was like. Smash was one of them. He offers Part II HERE. … [Read more...] about Protest Signs