Blog Archives: September 2007

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Friday Cartoon

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Newt Knows How Not to Beat Hillary

GOP campaigns have been "cheap" and "nasty?" We had no idea...

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Obama's Fired Up and Ready to Go

Barack Obama's fired up and ready to go, and so are the thousands of supporters that joined him tonight in New York's Washington Square Park.  As students, suits, and mothers with strollers spilled out of the NYU-area park, Obama led them in a passionate soliloquy of his plan for the future, an

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A Clinton-Clinton Split? Hil at the Debates

Russert poses a surprise question... and Hillary (accidentally?) refutes Bill's theory on torture.

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Blackwater Gate

Blackwater's back in the trenches.  Where, it seems, they are more trigger-happy than their peers.  The NYT reports that Blackwater actually tops all firms in Iraq in shooting rates while guarding American diplomats.  In addition to the now infamous Sept. 16 shooting (in which at l

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Wednesday Interview: Tom Schaller

This weekend, the Obama campaign announced that it was going to focus its efforts on a state-by-state campaign to get delegates… especially in South Carolina.  That made us think, is South Carolina really a place a Democrat would want to spend money after the primaries?  What kind of rol

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Riverside : They removed illegal immigrants, three years later is it everything they hoped for?

   Amidst the loud arguments over the definition of American, the importance of English, the growing slums from illegal immigrants, and the strain on the welfare state to pay for 'criminal aliens,' there is little heard voice from the economists. The idea of shipping 11 million people out

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O'Reilly Attacks CNN

O'Reilly recently tried to explain away racism, and to do so, he elaborated with a personal anecdote on The Radio Factor: "You know, I was up in Harlem a few weeks ago, and I actually had dinner with Al Sharpton, who is a very, very interesting guy, and he comes on The Factor a lot, and I treated

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Romney's In with the Blackwater Kids

MSNBC reports that Blackwater exec Copher Black is going to stay on the Romney campaign staff. Apparently he's going to go for that "I'm Not a Washington Insider, I Just Like Controversy and Don't Want to Win" look. We should just hand some delegates to Giuliani right now.

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Pro-War GOP Senators Aren't Talking

They voted for the war and now they're up for reelection. But shunning mainstream media, they're opting for press release campaigns over public appearances, and MSNBC is wondering where all the Republicans have gone.

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Full Audio from Ahmadinejad Event

Full audio from yesterday's even with Ahmadinejad can be found here, courtsey of Columbia.  Police keep protesters at bay on 116th and Broadway  Columbia students gather for a televised viewing of the World Leaders Forum    

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McCain Responds to Ahmadinejad

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain today made the following statement on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking at Columbia University: "I still find it astonishing and astounding that Columbia University would welcome the president of a country that has not only dedicated itself t

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Ahmadinejad Speaks to Thousands at Columbia

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to a packed auditorium of Columbia students and faculty Monday, addressing his position on the Holocaust, the future of Palestine, the perpetuation of the Iranian nuclear program, and homosexuality in his country. While the audience spilled by the thousan

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Bollinger blasts Ahmadinejad

Columbia President Lee Bollinger delivered a blistering introduction to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this afternoon, underlining precisely the importance of giving him a forum to speak in and have to defend his views. Stand by for our coverage of his speech from our reporter in attendance. 

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Snipers in Iraq told to lay 'bait' and shoot anyone who touches it

   A Pentagon group has come up with a new strategy to fight insurgents: have snipers lay out "bait" and then shoot anyone who touches it. The types of bait recommended are detonation cords, plastic explosives and ammunition.The program was classified, but has been uncovered in docume

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As Protests Abound, Columbia President Addresses Community

Perhaps in an attempt to ward off another Minute Men debacle (remember those classy students storming the stage?), Columbia President Lee Bollinger sent a letter to the University community addressing the World Leaders Forum and the place of the university in the exchange of ideas.  SIPA, it sh

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Ahmadinejad Goes to Columbia, Veracifier Does Too

Just as Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad desends on New York for the UN General Assembly and a speech at Columbia, Iran has closed its border crossings to Iraq's Kurdish region in what is being called a punitive response to the U.S. detention of an Iranian official last week. This will surely come

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Monday Morning Must-Reads

Clinton Solidifies Edge as Rivals Take a Tougher Line [NYT]     Obama and Edwards are the first to take note, says the NYT: Clinton is only getting stronger.  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has consolidated her early lead in the Democratic presidential contest, showing steady strength

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MIT Co-ed Arrested after Bomb Scare

Not bomb, scare. No, we're nothing like a police state... but don't wear a hoodie at an airport.  Or carry clay. Or be an MIT student.  Especially if you're a girl. Woman arrested at Boston airport after bomb scare Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:23pm EDT By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - Polic

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WH Blackwater Briefing

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Friday Cartoon

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MoveOn's ad: it is really more of a movement

  The Senate openly chastised MoveOn.org's ad run in the NYTimes. The ad, featuring 'General Betray Us,' was run right before Petraeus made his appearances in the House and Senate. After a couple of weeks of total uproar over the offensiveness and inappropriateness of the ad, the issue fin

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FBI Taped Stevens

FBI Tapes Stevens Calls As Part of Sting By MATT APUZZO – 9 hours ago WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI, working with an Alaska oil contractor, secretly taped telephone calls with Sen. Ted Stevens as part of a public corruption sting, according to people close to the investigation. The secret r

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The Benevolent Dictator Explains

"Where's Mandela? Mandela's dead!" Bush explains it all.

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Good Ole Rudy, Family Man, Nominee

NY1 talked with former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D) yesterday on Giuliani's hopes for the bid - and his "very interesting past." What are all those values voters going to do with a man who makes Bill Clinton look like a familiy man?

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Webb Resolution Dies in Senate

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Wednesday Interview: Jamin Raskin

Jamin Raskin first debuted his idea of “vote pairing” in Slate right before the 2000 election to a firestorm of response.   In the face of efforts to criminalize it, he redressed his plan for vote trading in 2004, and just last month, the 9th Circuit Court handed down a decision asse

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Taser Video

By now, everyone knows about the University of Florida student who was tasered during Kerry's speech yesterday, and now comes the video. I really debated whether to put this up because you see very little, but I think it's important to hear it and discuss. Where are we that a non-violent student a

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U.S. military enstating 'religious enlightenment' in detainee camps

  As if our being in Iraq wasn't wonderful enough to send Iraqis grasping for American ideals, the U.S. military has announced a new program of 'religious enlightenment' for Iraqi detainees.Now, you might think this is some benevolent move pushed in by a right-wing religious group with a l

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Then and Now: Giuliani on the NRA

How the mighty do move! Rudy on Charlie Rose back in '95 to Rudy this year (courtesy of his website): from "gun control" to "protecting the Second Ammendment." Enjoy.

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I Feel Stupid: Fun Quiz #2

Are you more news-savvy than most Americans?  Prove it.   Fun Quiz #2 is the I Feel Stupid Quiz, if you're me.  I missed a question my high school American History teacher would probably keel over and die if she knew I missed.  Feel dumb but have fun doing it.  Or just make

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Blue, Red, Purple, and Pew: Fun Quiz #1

If you're sitting at your desk praying for political disaster, or new pictures of Lindsay Lohan, or just something to keep you entertained for the rest of the day, you're not alone.  I was doing that yesterday.  Immediate solution: two great quizzes from the Pew Center.  The first is

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New Obama Girl Video

A new Obama Girl video came out today, and is generating some buzz. This one is a little different, it is in support of the troops and proceeds go to the IAVA (Iraq and Afghan Veterans of America). Nice sentiment- so feel free to buy the song on Itunes guilt free. 

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No New Bureaucracies

In her new plan for American health care, the Clinton cornerstone, Hil promises America that everyone will have coverage.  In fact, everyone's mandated to have coverage, so it's called "American Health Choices."  Actually, it does offer choices.  By ending a tax break for the w

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Al Qaeda Al Qaeda

Among his less than impressive comments on Meet The Press on Sunday John McCain seemed dangerously close to repeating the old chant of "al Qaeda al Qaeda" in Iraq. He suggests that the Malaki govt. will form some kind of alliance with al Qaeda if the US leave- this seems an far fetched idea: that th

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Its Official

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Blackwater's Big Mistake

Blackwater just got banned from Iraq. On Sunday there were reports that Blackwater employees opened fire in a neighborhood, killing 8 civilians. The Iraqi government immediately suspended Blackwater's privileges.In case you have never heard of Blackwater, it is one of the larger security firms ope

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Mukasey's August WSJ Op-Ed

Jose Padilla Makes Bad Law Terror trials hurt the nation even when they lead to convictions. BY MICHAEL B. MUKASEY Wednesday, August 22, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT The apparently conventional ending to Jose Padilla's trial last week--conviction on charges of conspiring to commit violence abroad and

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Monday Morning Must-Reads

Bush Expected to Replace Gonzales with Retired Judge [NYT]    President Bush may be avoiding battle with the Senate and opting for  Dem-preferred retired NY judge Micheal B. Mukasey as Gonzales' successor.  Skipping partisan confrontation may not be all fun and games - the NYT re

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FOX: Iran Good for Wall Street, Islam Good for War

"I presume it would not be good for Wall Street if we were all dead." -- Ann Coulter ... and if you had any doubt, it IS Islam we're fighting. Not terrorism. Or at least that's what Jonathan Hoenig thinks.Another great clip from our friends at News Hounds.

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CNN reading this Blog?

Looks like CNN are watching Veracifier again... Thanks for the screen shot- how about a shout out? Were they taking the lead from this morning's blog entry..? Well, we like to think so. 

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Friday Cartoon

Congratulations Mikhaela! Hope you had a great honeymoon- Love Veracifier 

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WH Report on Iraq: Nevermind

In a report released today, the White House informed Congress that Iraqi leaders have made little movement towards key military and political goals... one  day after President Bush told us that it was that progress that justifies a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq. Shaming even Kerry

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Boehner's small price

It seems that the Dems have latched on to our catching of Senate Leader John Boehner's referring to the cost of Iraq as a "small price to pay"... John Kerry blogged about it on the Huff Po and Biden offers a response on Olberman:  

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The Democratic Response

In the formal Democratic response, Sen. Jack Reed made clear he doesn't support the war nor the President's plan - which he said is actually missing most of the "plan" part. The President didn't lay out a set of goals we might reach or a real path to "mission accomplished," but if Iraq's problems

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Bush Addresses the Nation

This is the first time since we've gone to war that Bush has announced that troops are coming home - but the trade-off, apparently, is that we'll be in the region for a VERY long time. Are we following the Korean model here? Are we going to be there interminably? 9:05pm Bush has just started h

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Rose, Huff, Obama, Yahoo, Mashup

 So Yahoo, Slate and HuffPo have launched their Democratic candidate "mashup". The partnership works as an interactive 'debate'- people sent in questions that are then asked to each candidate by Charlie Rose (my former boss). The format is fun, and it is a lot like watching an episode of Charlie Ro

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Its official: Warner Running

Former Virginia Governor and Yearly Kos favorite Mark Warner has announced he is running for the Virginia Senate seat that will be vacated by John Warner in November 2008. Given Mark Warner's exceptional success as a governor it looks like Virginia really could become a democratic state. Even more i

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It is verified: the right and left live in different worlds

In a simple experiment reported today in the journal Nature Neuroscience, scientists at New York University and UCLA show that political orientation is related to differences in how the brain processes information.That is right. There is a reason political opponents find each other completely incomp

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Phoning it in?

Joe Klein says the White House called Petraeus during testimony to tell him to toe the party line..

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Wednesday Interview- Juan Cole

When he isn't blogging for Informed Comment, Technorati favorite Juan Cole is a professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian History at the University of Michigan.  You've seen him on t.v. and read him in the newspaper – you may even remember when he testified before the Senate.

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Remember this Face

We have heard the testimonies, read the editorials, and seen the maps covered in diagrams of who is in control where. The reality, though, can be so much more bitter.As many will remember, on August 19 there was an op-ed in the the NYTimes called 'The War as We Saw It.' A collection of men from the

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What about Fraud?

Sen. Claire McCaskill asks Crocker and Petraeus about protecting the billions of dollars that go to the war - especially after recent reports of money gone missing. In late August, federal agencies began looking into the wide network of criminal cases surrounding the purchase and delivery of we

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9/11 Anniversary

Today is the anniversary of 9/11. It is the first time we are waking up on a Tuesday to remember the events that happened on that Tuesday six years ago. The responses have been incredibly varied, ranging from anger to tears to rolling eyes. For many people, 9/11 is the single most important thing

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Still going...

Crocker and Petraeus continue their testimony today. Again, it seems that the real question comes down to an effort to show that the main problem in Iraq is al Qaeda vs. whether the real issue is how can the surge do anything to encourage national reconciliation. 

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Coulter on MoveOn.Org's Full-Page Ad

Given how little is actually left to say about Ann Coulter, it's always surprising to hear how much she still has to tell.  Thanks to the good folks at News Hounds ("they watch Fox so we don't have to"), we have her impressive testimonial response to the Petraeus report in Congress.  Inter

Blog: Veracifier

Petraeus on Fox

Guessing that many Veracifier viewers do not watch Fox here is a highlight from Ambassador Crocker and Genera Petraeus' appearance last night. He appears to again be harking back to the party line that the primary opponent in Iraq is Al Qaeda. It seems certainly true that al Qaeda type salafist orga

Blog: Veracifier

Petraeus on... Everything.

If you haven't visited our YouTube site today, you need to. We have about a dozen videos from the day's hearings, and all of them are worth watching. In addition to Lantos and Patraeus on the surge, we also have video on what Petraeus thinks of a timeframe: and definitions of sectarian viol

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Petraeus Fact Check

From The Swamp (the Tribune's Washington Bureau), today brings not only the day of reckoning for the war in Iraq, but also for the General himself.  They are reporting the efforts of the National Security Network, a group of national-security experts.  NSN is fairly critical of the surge and The S

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Petraeus on Capitol Hill

Iraq war commander General David Petraeus took his place at the axial Congressional hearing just a few hours ago in a meeting that is supposed to last well into the early evening.    The rare joint session of the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committee will also include

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Hannity + Colmes on Bin Laden. And the Left.

Hannity to Andrew Card: [Bin Laden] seemed to adopt the very same language that is being used by the hard left in this country as he describes what’s going on in Iraq as a civil war, he actually used the term ‘neocons,’ he talks about global warming, he demonizes capitalism and corporations

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Monday Morning Must-Reads

Two types of stories to start the week: anticipation of the Petraeus Report later today and a rehash of this weekend's election events.  Namely, the democratic debate on Univision and Oprah's "magical" Obama Fest. Hablamos Ingles! [NYT]  Democrats reached out to the nation's fastest gro

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Fox News lying?

We came across this interesting Vid on You Tube- does anyone know if this is true? It seems incredibly dismissive of Ron Paul that Fox ignores its own poll... 

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Thompson running for 'Mr.' South Carolina?

Fred Thompson's flubbed response to a question on al Qaeda is pretty scary. It seems sad that he cannot come up with one idea for a change in tactic or similar.

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Ramsey on Iraqi Police

Committee member Charles Ramsey to the Senate Armed Services Committee: The Iraqi National Police Force should be disbanded because they (a) lack the trust to (b) perform their jobs.  Um, does this apply to 1600 Pennsylvania?

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Pot-shots

Republican candidates took pot shots at Fred Thompson at the Debates last night. Is it just me, or does it just seem like Fox are plugging their own debate and trying to give Fred a slap on the wrist? Also, why does Rudy Giuliani always seem so cheesy?

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CNN's Pants Party

Sigh...

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Josh As Sex Symbol?

 I am not sure if we ever thought of Josh as a sex symbol- but now that we think about it... In an interview Melissa Gira of Sexarati : Are there any internet TV shows that will teach me to be better in bed? Veracifier puts out Josh Marshall's amazing Talking Points Memo show. I don't know about

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Fred's In!

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GOP Debate in NH

The fifth Republican debate went fairly unnoticed Thursday as plans for Fred Thompson’s 12:01 a.m announcement took center stage.  The first question at the debates was even about him, “the man who isn’t here.”   Mike Huckabee responded, saying he’d ‘rather be in New Ham

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Bridges a good sign for Middle East & Africa

Interesting geopolitical developments are underway in the Middle East - no, democracy isn't spreading like wildflowers - but it is good news. Yemen and Djibouti are working together to build a massive eighteen mile-long road and rail bridge over the Red Sea to connect the Arabian Peninsula to sub-Sa

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Wednesday Interview: James Kotecki

It was late in January, and YouTuber James Kotecki had an idea.  Armed with a webcam and the freedom of Senior Spring, the Georgetown student decided to make a video. “People just get on YouTube and scratch themselves, and talk about their day, and people watch it,” James told us. &

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Richardson: God Likes Iowa, I Like to Score Points

Bill Richardson explains to CNN his opinion on primary states, why Iowa and New Hampshire should be first, and that really, he's just here to score points anyway.

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Accountability Office Means Nothing to Them

In the event we actually thought there was something worthwhile to that whole GAO independent report on Iraq, Washington - er, CNN? - sets us straight.

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Mission Amended?

WSJ front page this morning:  "Mission Amended - U.S. Shifts Iraq Focus As Local Tactics Gain: Central Government Loses Clout to Regions; Bush Skips Baghdad,” by Yochi J. Dreazen, Philip Shishkin and Greg Jaffe: “The Bush administration is quietly moving toward a major shift in Iraq poli

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Is the Presidential Primary System Broken?

Yes, according to a Times opinion piece in Sunday's paper. "The presidential primary system is broken. For years, the nominating process has unfolded in an orderly, if essentially unfair, way. The schedule has worked very nicely for early-voting states, which have had a steady stream of would-be

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Craig Steps Down

Republican Sen. Larry Craig announced Saturday morning that "with sadness and deep regret," he will resign Sept. 30 after pleading guilty to lewd conduct. He said the infamous bathroom sex scandal was an unwanted and unfair distraction from his job and the Senate. Craig served in the Senate for 17

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AP: Craig to resign today

GOP Officials: Craig to Resign Saturday By JOHN MILLER and MATTHEW DALY Associated Press Writers BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig will announce Saturday he will resign from the Senate amid a furor over his arrest and guilty plea in a police sex sting in an airport men's room, R