There's a lot of outrage out there - Rod Parsley is a spiritual backer of John McCain and he says all manner of awful, hate-filled, racist things against Islam. And John McCain is happy to have his backing, just like he was happy to get the support of the Rev. John Hagee...and the press and the public don't care because these men aren't black.
That's all there is to it. America is happy to have crazy pastors in the public square, so long as they're not black.
If "G-d Hates Fags" Fred Phelps got up on TV tomorrow and said he was endorsing John McCain, there'd be some mild tut-tutting, but it's not like anyone would observe that all the crazy religious people who think the world can't end soon enough mysteriously drift toward the Republican campaigns. Indeed, crazy almost seems to be a requirement for Republican religious thinking - how else can you explain former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's breathless and straight-faced declarations that the legalization of abortion resulted in the flooding of America with illegal immigrants from Mexico? Not even the least bit of tut-tutting for that declaration. And on NBC's Today Show this morning, the...
I'm not sure whether to feel bad for Vito Fossella yet, but there is some irony about some of the things he boasts about on his campaign website. For instance, he boasts that he, he helped "Increase the child tax credit by $1000." But given that he's got three children by his wife and 1 by the other woman, you've got to wonder whether he took the child tax credit 3 or 4 times. He also claims to support expanding federal support to state children's health insurance programs, which Republicans have blocked so far. Maybe he wants to make sure his love baby gets medical care no matter what, too.
It's no longer a matter of if, it's moved into when territory. The congressman's hometown newspaper, the Staten Island Advance, lodged and editorial today that says "Resign!" While the paper first argues laughably that, "We thought he could come back from this severe setback as a strong, visible advocate against drinking and driving," it moves on to say that " When you are forced -- by events, not personal integrity -- to make two public statements within a week apologizing for two separate instances of opprobrious behavior, and tell the truth only grudgingly in the second, your...
POSTED BY Alexandra Steigrad, 08 May 2008 | PERMALINK
Moments after Eight Belles was euthanized on the track of the Kentucky Derby, I was just waiting for a barrage of tasteless commentary comparing Hillary Clinton to the filly that came in second. Sadly, I wasn't disappointed. See video:
Just days before the Derby, Clinton told her supporters to "bet on the filly," the only female horse in the race. Running the race of her life, Eight Belles came up short, not only losing to a horse called Big Brown, but also breaking both ankles, an irreparable injury. If anyone watched, it was tragic and awful to see the filly stumble after crossing the finish line, only to be put down moments later by Derby veterinarians.
The analogies of Clinton as Eight Belles, Obama as Big Brown, (now how's that for a cheap metaphor), and the veterinarians as the superdelegates seemed so tawdry that I never thought I would see a reputable publication give cadence to such inanity. But then there was this clip I just found on the front page of the New York Times' website, which did exactly what I described above. In the clip, two journalists giggle about the irony of the situation, while providing some pretty base analysis. Not only are some of the...
TPM uncovers this fascinating recording of a meeting on April 18th 2006 at the Pentagon.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon released all of the documents that had been turned over to the Times investigation of the Pentagon's use of military analysts. It is a staggering load. But most immediately intriguing is audio of some of the briefings at the Pentagon, including two featuring Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
This recording comes from an emergency meeting called because earlier in the month, several retired generals had hit the airwaves demanding that Rumsfeld resign. 17 analysts attended the briefing, which featured Rumsfeld and then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Peter Pace. It was a remarkable display of servility, with one analyst at one point proclaiming that Rumsfeld need to get out there on the "offense," because "we'd love to be following our leader, as indeed you are. You are the leader. You are our guy." Another analyst chimed in to the effect that, though PsyOps or "brainwashing" are dirty words, it was necessary to get out there on offense. "You know what they call PsyOps today, they call those public relations firms." Here's the audio:
Your Daily Politics Video Blog: Hillary Clinton's campaign is running primarily on the sheer defiant enthusiasm of her supporters and staff, and perhaps no one embodies that doggedness more than former Special Counsel to President Clinton, Lanny Davis. In today's episode of TPMtv we present Lanny's pièce de résistance, his stint on CNN's Tuesday night North Carolina and Indiana primary coverage.
I'm not sure whether to feel bad for Vito Fossella yet, but there is some irony about some of the things he boasts about on his campaign website. For instance, he 
