Yesterday was a terrible, terrible day in American history. It was a day that may live on in infamy, a day that America, or at least an important part of her, died. President Bush, as I have argued many times before (and most recently here) is an enabler of torturer. And now both the House and the Senate have voted to enact Bush's torture legislation. The vote in the House was … [Read more...] about The day America died

It could get you detained (so watch what you say..) … [Read more...] about Don’t Write Bad Things About TSA’s Chief On Your Airport Bag

According to the Mississippi Senator, "real people" don't care what's going in Iraq. He also can't fathom why the violence is occurring there, as the people (I am not making this up) all "look the same." Perhaps it's difficult for ol' "Strom Thurmond for President" to understand this, but not all violence is targeted against folks who look different (Mississippi … [Read more...] about I’m a Figment of Trent Lott’s Imagination

In a groundbreaking book on the guerrilla war in Missouri during the American Civil War, Michael Fellman identified the practice of neutral civilians telling different stories to different sides in guerrilla war as "survival lies." Rural Missourians living amidst the daily conflict between pro-Confederate guerrillas or "bushwhackers" and pro-Union militiamen learned to tell … [Read more...] about Survival Lies in Iraq

The Senate has basically given President George Bush what he wanted on the controversial detainee interrogation bill — a bill that in its final incarnation was a compromise with some holdout Republican Senators but basically gave him what he wanted. For the Bush administration, it's a key victory. For the GOP it's a way to frame and define the Democrats. And to some … [Read more...] about Senate Gives Bush His Controversial Terrorist Detainee Bill

THIS JUST IN from investigative reporter Andy Borowitz:Mel Gibson Apologizes to Doomed Mayans for Latest Remarks Embattled Actor Reaches Out to Doomed Mayan Community After comparing the United States to the doomed Mayan civilization while promoting his new movie at a film festival in Texas this week, actor Mel Gibson today offered a heartfelt apology for offending doomed … [Read more...] about This Just In!

According to article in the New York Times, reporters in Iraq are not only facing threats of violence. They are also falling under the suspicions of a new law that criminalizes speech targeting the government. According to the Times, three journalists with a small paper in southeastern Iraq are being tried for violating a code against "public insults" against the government. … [Read more...] about So Much for a Free Press in Iraq

File this in your "uh, oh, Tony Snow, you better get a quick spin on this" department:About six in 10 Iraqis say they approve of attacks on U.S.-led forces, and slightly more than that want their government to ask U.S. troops to leave within a year, a poll finds. The Iraqis also have negative views of Osama bin Laden, according to the early September poll of 1,150. The poll, … [Read more...] about Poll Says Iraqis Back Attacks On U.S. Forces

Over at The Reaction, my brother James, a resident of the U.K., looks at the current state of British politics and wonders whether we are about to witness the rise or demise of Gordon Brown, Tony Blair's presumptive successor as prime minister. See here. … [Read more...] about The future of Gordon Brown

A must-read (because it provokes a reaction, if nothing else) comes from Post columnist David Ignatius, who yesterday challenged Democrats not merely to celebrate the findings of the recently declassified NIE — as I recently did, arguing that Bush and the GOP simply cannot be trusted to defend America's national security — but to come up with a viable plan for … [Read more...] about The Democrats’ moment on Iraq

In the Associated Press photograph above President Bush seems to be saying to Musharraf and Karzai: "OK guys! Enough is enough. Now like good boys shake hands...Come on..." But the media tells us that President Parvez Musharraf of Pakistan and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan not only refused to kiss and make up but also did not speak to each other. Here is the AP … [Read more...] about President Bush As A Peacemaker

Greg Mitchell, editor of Editor & Publisher makes a good case that he has tracked down the source of President George Bush's comment that the Iraq war might one day be considered "just a coma." Henry Kissinger? No. A prominent member of a think tank? No. The Weekly Standard's William Kristol? No. Can you guess? Here's what he writes:Like many others, I was initially … [Read more...] about Who Influenced George Bush Iraq War “Just A Comma” Comment?

Yesterday afternoon, Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords (I) made his valedictory speech before the Senate prior to his retirement at the end of this session. The text is available here. Jeffords took the opportunity to decry the current fiscal insanity with which this Administration and Congress have saddled our country, saying "It seems to me the very least we should do is pay today … [Read more...] about A Good Man Says Goodbye

Boston Herald City Editor and columnist Jules Crittenden has a new column that is sure to spark considerable dbate. In a column titled "Estimating Our National Intelligence" he argues that there are some fundamental misunderstandings about intelligence, how it is used and how it is released. It's a long piece that MUST be read in full so we'll only give a few excerpts … [Read more...] about Estimating Our National Intelligence

We've run some links and excerpts from the great Q&A interviews done by The Talking Dog. Most of TTD's interviews so far have been on issues related to the war on terrorism and detainees. Now he has a new one up, this time with a top, pioneering liberal blogger. Blogs are an amazing development in the world's infonetwork. For very little money someone can be their own … [Read more...] about Original Blog Interview: The Talking Dog Interviews Bill Scher

You can hear the voices now: "We always knew he was a Democrat!" Has former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani kissed his reported hopes to run for President on the GOP goodbye for daring to say this?Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani defended Bill Clinton on Wednesday over the former president's counterterrorism efforts, saying recent criticism on preventing the Sept. 11 terrorist … [Read more...] about Rudy Giuliani Defends Clinton On 911

From moderate cartoonist Tom Briscoe: … [Read more...] about Gas To Burn

Glenn Reynolds (who lives in Tennessee) says the momentum is with Democrat Harold Ford, Jr. Details here. … [Read more...] about So Who’s Ahead In The Tennessee Senate Race?

...when they go to someone who you disagree with politically and they're scared out of their minds? Read this. QUESTION: Is it going to take a major catastrophe for some folks to see how bitter, venal partisanship which continues to go into areas far behind debate over issues into personal hatred is taking this country down a path Democrats and Republicans would not have … [Read more...] about Aren’t Death Threats Just Hilarious (UPDATED AND MOVED UP)

Can the 95-10 plan finally crack the stranglehold of abortion politics? … [Read more...] about Pro-Life, Pro-Choice, and Pro-Democratic