Marty Kaplan: No Blood for No Oil

None of the mainstream press coverage of record-high crude oil prices that I saw last week turned $92.22-a-barrel into a teachable moment. Instead of exhuming archival footage of gas station lines from the '70s, producers might have re-aired the more recent tape of former Harken Energy director George W. Bush strolling hand-in-hand through the Crawford bluebonnets with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.

The Mega-Bunker of Baghdad

The new American Embassy in Baghdad will be the largest, least welcoming, and most lavish embassy in the world: a $600 million massively fortified compound with 619 blast-resistant apartments and a food court fit for a shopping mall. Unfortunately, like other similarly constructed U.S. Embassies, it may already be obsolete.

by William Langewiesche

Dodd’s Speech on the Constitution & Rule of Law

Bush's Appalachian War: Bombing Ancient Mountains
by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse

Bush cites his "global war on terror" and the need for energy independence as reasons to legalize the killing of mountains from a range that has lived for millions of years. There is no way to bring back the over 450 mountaintops that have been razed solely to permit profitable coal mining for his buddies. Instead of pursuing a clean energy policy, Bush has declared war on Appalachia.

Many Americans are not aware that our self-proclaimed patriotic warrior who loves to preach adherence to religious doctrine is killing our "purple mountain majesties" that God has "shed His grace on" for the benefit of all. This is a war, complete with Bush authorizing mining companies to occupy Appalachia, literally bomb away the mountain summits and kill not just mountains and streams, but people, culture, environmental habitat and species.

During 1985-2001, "approximately 800 square miles of mountains were leveled."

Don’t Confirm Mukasey
By Matthew Rothschild
His callous attitude about brutality, and this Cheney-esque attitude about the powers of the Presidency disqualify Mukasey for the post of leading law enforcement officer in the USA.

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Don’t Give Mukasey a Pass
By Marie Cocco
The nominee for attorney general doesn’t know “what is involved” in waterboarding, and he appears to back Bush’s usurpation of power. Isn’t it time for the Democrats to grow some spine?

Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains

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Edwards Gets Tough on Business
Susan Davis reports on the presidential race.

John Edwards is targeting Corporate America and what he argues are its corrupt and greedy practices. In a speech today in Des Moines, Iowa, he is outlining his plan to renew the “social contract” between business and government if elected president. “In corporate America, where a broader sense of social responsibility once held sway, a culture of greed has taken over.

Instead of treating their employees fairly, being accountable to their shareholders and contributing to America’s prosperity, CEOs act like their corporations exist just to build their own massive fortunes,” says Edwards, according to speech excerpts provided to Washington Wire by his campaign.

Edwards is proposing, among other things, universal retirement accounts that employers would be required to provide if they don’t offer pension programs. Workers’ contributions would be matched dollar-for-dollar on the first $500 through a proposed “Get Ahead” tax credit. The plan would also allow workers to put their savings into government-sponsored annuities that would be run through the existing federal retirement savings plan or the Social Security Administration.

Edwards is also proposing stronger protections for workers seeking to unionize and increased shareholder rights. And he’s proposing to cap tax-deferred compensation funds for top executives at $1 million annually, and pushing for more disclosure of corporate governance structures, the pay and demographics of top corporate officers, as well as political contributions, government contracts, and taxes paid.

To protect consumers, Edwards wants a new regulator, the Family Savings and Credit Commission, which would oversee credit card and financial services plans marketed to the public. He also proposes tougher Food and Drug Administration inspection standards and safety regulations on products, like kids’ toys, made abroad.

When Rudy goes waterboarding

The former mayor says "liberal newspapers" have exaggerated the technique's brutality. Perhaps he should try it himself.

By Joe Conason

The Lies Of John McCain And Mike Huckabee
by Bob Cesca

America was founded by men of the Enlightenment: a movement which emphasized reason, rationality, liberalism, anti-authoritarianism and political equality. The founders were revolutionary liberals who believed strongly in secular government. This is nowhere near "right of center" or indicative of a Judeo-Christian Nation.

War Costs Spiral Out of Control

By Robert Scheer —

Hey, a billion here, a billion there, who’s counting? Not the State Department, which admitted this week that it can’t say “specifically what it received” for the $1.2 billion it paid DynCorp, ostensibly to train the Iraqi police—other than that somebody got an Olympic-size swimming pool out of the deal.

On the eve of destruction

By Scott Ritter —

The former intelligence officer and weapons inspector argues that the president’s recent World War III comment offers some rare insight into the highly secretive world of George W. Bush’s White House, where the leader of the free world gets advice from reckless neoconservatives, “war criminal” Dick Cheney and “God.”

Third of Americans suspect 9/11 government conspiracy

The collapse of Bush's foreign policy

From Turkey to Iraq to Pakistan, the mounting chaos proves the White House is just winging it.

By Juan Cole

Politics >> Bush: Give Me $46 Billion More For War...

And $0 For Kids' Health Care

Rudy pulls a Richardson
by kos

Do politicians really think panders like this one help them out?

Sounds like a baseball flip-flop. Rudy Giuliani, a lifelong New York Yankees fan, said Tuesday he's pulling for their most hated rivals, the Boston Red Sox, to win the World Series over the Colorado Rockies.

"I'm rooting for the Red Sox," the Republican presidential contender said in response to a question, sparking applause at the Boston restaurant where he was picking up a local endorsement.

New Hampshire is Red Sox territory

Giuliani Defends, Employs Priest Accused of Molesting Teens

Money for nothing? Condi, you're doing a heck of a job.

by Tim Grieve

When George W. Bush said during his 2005 State of the Union address that "taxpayer dollars must be spent wisely, or not at all," we vowed to pack those words away and pull them out again whenever the occasion warranted.
The occasion warrants.

As the Washington Post reports this morning, the State Department cannot say "specifically what it received" for the $1.2 billion it has given to a company that was supposed to be building training facilities and deploying trainers for Iraqi police.

The problem is in the records -- they're in "disarray," the Post says -- and in the lack of oversight from State. The audit finds that State had all of two employees overseeing the $1.2 billion and 700 contractors in Iraq -- a level of supervision Iraq Reconstruction Inspector General Stuart W. Bowen Jr. calls "pretty weak."

How poor was State's oversight? This poor: As the Post explains, State initially told auditors that, as part of its Iraq contract, DynCorp had billed the government $1.8 million for an X-ray scanner it never used and spent nearly $400,000 to put company executives in hotels rather than in existing living facilities. That's bad, but it gets worse: It turns out the expenditures weren't even made in Iraq; they were made in Afghanistan, which is, like, a totally different country.

But no worries now, because the State Department is totally on top of the problem -- and sometime within "three to five years," it says it will be able to square the payments it has made to DynCorp with whatever services it may have received from the company.

All of which reminds us of something else the president once said: Condi, you're doing a heck of a job.

Democrat Pete Stark Comes Out Strong

Inspiring Latina: Patti Solis Doyle

Front-runner Patti Solis Doyle is making history on Capitol Hill.

By Angie Romero

Rocky road ahead for Senate's gift of telecom immunity

Discussing Kucinich with the Beaver

John Dean:Why, Even If You Have Nothing To Hide, Government Surveillance Threatens Your Freedom

Joe Torre Press Conference

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." - Sinclair Lewis

Don't think of a sick child

President Bush wants to leave American families to the mercy of profit-run healthcare -- a practical and moral failure.

By George Lakoff and Glenn W. Smith

Republican Party Announcement

Nuclear hypocrisy

To avoid war, Bush should engage in direct negotiations with Iran -- and restore America's commitment to its own disarmament.

By Joe Conason

Mukasey Endorses Expansive Presidential Authority

The Young Turks: Bush Has Caught Nixon

House sustains SCHIP veto
Rough debate, expected vote
by Tim Grieve

Oct. 18, 2007 Democrats in the House often complain that the Senate is where good bills go to die. Today, the shoe is on the other foot. While there appear to be enough votes in the Senate to overturn the president's veto of legislation expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program, supporters in the House have just fallen short.

The vote -- 273-156, 13 shy of the two-thirds majority needed to overcome a veto -- came after a nasty TV-and-blog fight and then a contentious debate on the House floor. At one point, Democratic Rep. Pete Stark said that the president's claim to care about healthcare for children shouldn't be taken any more seriously than his "lies" about Iraq, and that under the "Republican plan" for the war, we "will have killed" 20,000 soldiers by 2013, when SCHIP funding would have dropped under the bill Bush vetoed. Republican Rep. Joe Barton moved to have Stark's words stricken from the record.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she's going to keep fighting for the expansion. But with today's vote, Bush's veto stands, and she doesn't have much in the way of leverage left. Yes, polls show that the public is with the Democrats on this one. But the polls have also shown that a majority of Americans prefer Democratic positions on the war in Iraq, too. Look what that has gotten them.

Just before today's vote, White House press secretary Dana Perino -- told, falsely, by a reporter that the vote had already happened -- said that the president would seek a compromise with SCHIP supporters and might be amenable to putting more money into the program if "the evidence" shows that it's needed. Democrats say they've already compromised enough. Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois told CNN Wednesday night: "There will be no compromise on 10 million children's healthcare. We won't go above it, but we ain't going below it."

We'll see.

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SCHIP Veto by the Numbers
Congress Steps Up EffortsEveryone but the Bush administration knows that efficient, effective, and fiscally responsible SCHIP just makes sense.

Bush, Putin and World War III

Parsing the president's reckless remarks about Russia, Israel and Iran. Plus: End the Larry Craig pity party!

by Joan Walsh

Paul Simon: A Message to Republicans Who Voted Against Kids' Health Bill

The Man Who Sold The War

"Curveball" author Bob Drogin talks about the Iraqi defector responsible for much of the CIA's bogus prewar intelligence about Iraqi WMD.

By Alex Koppelman

OP-ED COLUMNIST; The ‘Good Germans’ Among Us

By FRANK RICH

Our humanity has been compromised by those who use Gestapo tactics in the Iraq war. The longer we stand idly by, the more we resemble the “good Germans.”

OP-ED COLUMNIST; Gore Derangement Syndrome

By PAUL KRUGMAN

What is it about Al Gore that drives right-wingers insane? The worst thing about him, from the conservative point of view, is that he keeps being right.

The Bruno Files

The immaculate record of the state senate leader calling for investigations of Eliot Spitzer

by Wayne Barrett

American flag pins are for idiots

This generation doesn't sacrifice or even pay for our wars. No, all we do is sport pins and bumper stickers.

By Bill Maher

EX-COMMANDER SAYS IRAQ EFFORT IS ‘A NIGHTMARE’

The Beatle Box: Apple vs. Apple

How did a 12-year-old become number one enemy of conservatives?

By E.J. Dionne —

Conservatives claim to be in favor of stable families, small businesses, hard work, private schools, investment and homeownership. So why in the world are so many on the right attacking the family of Graeme Frost?

Al Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee, Ole Danbolt Mjoes, holds a picture of Al Gore, during the announcement Friday in Oslo.

Why ‘Socialism’ Evokes No Fear

By Joe Conason —

Once among the most frightening epithets in American political culture, “socialized medicine” seems to have lost its juju. Today that phrase sounds awfully dated, like a song on a gramophone or a mother-in-law joke or a John Birch Society rant against fluoridated water.

An open letter to Karen Hughes on torture

by Sidney Blumenthal

The Republican Debate: Who needs the Constitution?

By Ruth Conniff

The debate's weirdest moment: When Mitt Romney said he'd have to ask his lawyer whether the President needs to ask Congress to authorize an attack on Iran. That's why we have Ron Paul. "This idea of going and talking to attorneys totally baffles me!" he declared hotly. "Why don't we just open up the Constitution and read it!"

John Ridley: Che it Ain't So

A prime exemplar of the "create a legend/resurrection" method of eternal iconography would be Ernesto (Che) Guevara, the Argentine-born revolutionary who was executed forty years ago today in Bolivia. Death transmogrified him into a symbol of revolution itself. Romanticized and corporate pimped, for most who even know who Guevara was they have no idea what he stood for.

We must ban secretive U.S. torture

Why the White House should turn over secret legal memos, and why I'm sponsoring legislation to end brutal interrogations.

By Sen. Edward M. Kennedy

Dumb but friendly: Good for a dog, not so much for a president Richard Nixon on Fred Thompson

by Tim Grieve

Just in time for Fred Thompson's GOP debate debut, ABC News has unearthed some vintage Richard Nixon commentary that fits in just a little too comfortably with the fast-emerging conventional wisdom on the man.

Thompson served as minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, and it's in that context that Nixon says -- on tape, of course -- that he thought the young lawyer wasn't smart enough to go up against his Democratic counterpart, Sam Dash. "Dash is too smart for that kid," Nixon tells John Dean on one tape. On another, Nixon tells Alexander Haig that Thompson is "dumb as hell."

In June 1973, White House counsel Fred Buzhardt tells Nixon that the White House has developed "a pretty good rapport" with Thompson, who "came through fine for us this morning."

Nixon: "He isn't very smart, is he?"

Buzhardt: "Not extremely so, but --"

Nixon: "But he's friendly."

Buzhardt: "But he's, he's friendly."

Nixon: "Good."

In Baghdad, elusive electricity is a rare delight

by Jay Price and Jenan Hussein McClatchy Newspapers

Child: "Mother, mother! Daddy was electrocuted!" Mother: "We have power?" — Popular Iraqi joke.

Thom Hartmann:Columbus Day - As Rape Rules Africa and American Churches Embrace Violent ‘Christian’ Video Games

Happy Birthday, John Lennon!

Defusing the "Ticking Time Bomb" Excuse

by Karen J. Greenberg

Life does not imitate 24, and the Democratic candidates, led by Hillary Clinton, are finally learning to address the unrealistic scenarios that Republicans often use to justify torture.

It's time to start crafting interrogation and detention policies that will really keep us safe from another terrorist attack.

Brodner's Person of the Day: Blackwater
Illustration and Text By Steve Brodner

Blackwater Inaccuracy of the Day

In discussing their role as private security forces in Iraq, Blackwater executives have mentioned that they differ from the U.S. Army in that they don't need to get "hearts and minds." Seems to me they sell themselves short.

Air America: The Young Turks
This Weeks Highlights

God's Only Party

By Will Durst —

The creator will campaign for a third-party candidate if Rudy locks up the GOP nomination. How do we know this? Well, it seems God whispered in the ears of certain evangelical leaders.

The Remaining GOP Base

Along with Bush-following dead-enders, our nation's opinion-making elite are the sole remaining group loyal to the GOP's right wing.

by Glenn Greenwald

The Kennedys
An archive of classic articles, photographs, and video from Vanity Fair and VF.com

Bush's Dangerous Torture(d) Stance

By Massimo Calabresi

**************************************************************Segregation cells at Abu Ghraib, August 2005.

Bush Gets Tightfisted With Sick Kids

By Eugene Robinson —

To say that George W. Bush spends money like a drunken sailor is to insult every gin-soaked patron of every dockside dive in every dubious port of call.

The More Things Change...

Think Again by Eric Alterman

Conservatives are now spouting the “If you disagree with me, you’re a racist” brand of moral bullying that people rightly criticized liberals for years ago.