Wake Up

It’s vacation time for me, so until I get back next week, read Atrios and read Julie. Just in case you weren’t doing that already.

Long story short, Richard Clarke, who served under Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and then, for a time, Bush II, was on 60 Minutes this past Sunday, telling a tale of the glorious incompetence that took place at the Bush II White House before 9/11 (while he was the anti-terror czar). As you might imagine, the […]

Over at the Center for American Progress, there’s an excellent summary of how things are going on the one-year anniversary of the start of the war on Iraq: On the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the WP notes that the Administration “badly underestimated the financial cost of the occupation and seriously overstated the […]

Today Howard Dean launched a new political organization, Democracy for America. “I will do everything I can to help John Kerry beat George W. Bush in 2004, to revitalize grassroots democracy, and to move America in a better direction,” Dean said. “To defeat George W. Bush, we must stand up strong for our principles, not […]

From an AP article: In typically combative style, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dismissed a request Thursday that he stay out of a case involving his friend, Vice President Dick Cheney, saying a duck hunting trip they took was acceptable socializing that wouldn’t cloud his judgment. “If it is reasonable to think that a Supreme […]

Because some members of Congress didn’t actually pay attention to that whole “separation of powers” thing during civics class: H. R. 3920: To allow Congress to reverse the judgments of the United States Supreme Court. [via Atrios]

As they are wont to do, certain commentators on the right, who at first had nothing but sympathy for the Spanish people after the horrific bombings in Madrid, now apparently have nothing but disgust for them. They go so far as to accusing Spanish voters of “appeasing” Al Queda by voting out Prime Minister Aznar’s […]

I think The Independent pretty much hit the nail on the head with this headline: Putin sweeps to victory in sham election The U.S. response was, of course, just a few overused stock phrases and no actual pressure on Putin to do anything differently in the future.

Julie of Sisyphus Shrugged posts about the newest wave of Republican whining: Proposition the first: It is best not to take helpful advice on the Marquess of Queensbury rules from someone who wears their belt on their hat. This is particularly true if the helpful advice involves wrapping your own belt around your knees. Proposition […]

Here’s another of my belated links to excellent TMW comics. This time it’s This Modern World: A Brief History of Marriage in America.