Paul Bedard, US News & World Report
Posted Today at 6:17 PM | Election 2008 | 77
Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune
Posted Today at 9:52 AM | Election 2008 | 76
Dahlia Lithwick, Slate
Posted Today at 8:12 AM | Torture | 54
David Wann, AlterNet
Posted Today at 6:58 AM | America | 38
JEFF ZELENY and STEVEN ERLANGER, New York Times
Posted Today at 6:47 AM | Election 2008 | 29
Dahlia Lithwick, Slate
Posted Today at 8:11 AM | Books | 20
David Ignatius, Washington Post
Posted Today at 9:48 AM | Iraq | 11
JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Miami Herald
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 9:06 AM | Economy | 129
ELISABETH BUMILLER, New York Times
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:26 AM | Election 2008 | 108
Democracy Now
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Liberty | 63
USA Today
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:27 AM | International | 69
Dan Froomkin, Washington Post
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:59 PM | Torture | 39
EDITORIAL, New York Times
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:33 AM | Energy | 41
Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:29 AM | War | 17
ARI MELBER, The Nation
Posted Thursday July 24, 2008 7:19 AM | Media | 210
Former GOP foe Mitt Romney is the rage in Sen. John McCain's circles as the Republican moves to pick a running mate with good business and economic creds—and moderately youthful good looks. But if you want a really juicy rumor, consider who some key Democrats want for Sen. Barack Obama's No. 2: his veep search aide, Caroline Kennedy. more. . .
Posted Today at 6:17 PM | Election 2008 | 77
Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune
Memo to John McCain: You're probably kicking yourself right about now for goading Barack Obama into getting out to see the world.
That's like throwing ol' Br'er Rabbit into a briar patch. Before you could say "photo op," the junior senator from Illinois was turning Obama Nation into what looked like Obama World. more. . .
That's like throwing ol' Br'er Rabbit into a briar patch. Before you could say "photo op," the junior senator from Illinois was turning Obama Nation into what looked like Obama World. more. . .
Posted Today at 9:52 AM | Election 2008 | 76
Dahlia Lithwick, Slate
The most influential legal thinker in the development of modern American interrogation policy is not a behavioral psychologist, international lawyer, or counterinsurgency expert. Reading both Jane Mayer's stunning The Dark Side and Philippe Sands' The Torture Team, I quickly realized that the prime mover of American interrogation doctrine is none other than the star of Fox television's 24: Jack Bauer. more. . .
Posted Today at 8:12 AM | Torture | 54
David Wann, AlterNet
By certain measurements, the U.S. economy has been quite successful in the last several decades, but the fundamental question remains: Successfully what?
We may lead the world in categories like gross domestic product, average house size, and ownership of color TVs, but we also "lead" the industrial nations in debt per capita, the child poverty rate, overall poverty rate, ratio of people in prison, rate of traffic fatalities, murder rate, carbon dioxide emissions per capita, and the per capita consumption of energy and water. more. . .
We may lead the world in categories like gross domestic product, average house size, and ownership of color TVs, but we also "lead" the industrial nations in debt per capita, the child poverty rate, overall poverty rate, ratio of people in prison, rate of traffic fatalities, murder rate, carbon dioxide emissions per capita, and the per capita consumption of energy and water. more. . .
Posted Today at 6:58 AM | America | 38
JEFF ZELENY and STEVEN ERLANGER, New York Times
PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy of France warmly embraced Senator Barack Obama at the Élysée Palace here on Friday, saying his presidential candidacy presents a bold moment to change the United States’ image around the world. more. . .
Posted Today at 6:47 AM | Election 2008 | 29
Dahlia Lithwick, Slate
This week saw the start of jury selection in the first military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay. After six years of waiting, Osama Bin Laden's alleged chauffer, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, went on trial for dangerous acts of driving in furtherance of terrorism. Whether he is convicted or acquitted, Hamdan may live out the rest of his lifetime at Guantanamo. The tribunal probably won't do much to improve the Bush administration's reputation for making up the rules on the run in the legal war on terror. The summer of 2008 offers up a bumper crop of great new reads about law and the war. Will you sleep better or worse at night after reading this stuff? Probably not at all if your last name is Hamdan. more. . .
Posted Today at 8:11 AM | Books | 20
David Ignatius, Washington Post
With characteristic self-absorption, Americans are looking at Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's recent statements about a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops in terms of our 2008 presidential election. We should see this issue instead in terms of Iraqi history. more. . .
Posted Today at 9:48 AM | Iraq | 11
JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Miami Herald
WASHINGTON -- President Bush pulled the rug out from under Republicans this week when he abruptly dropped his opposition to a massive housing rescue. Their reaction? Good riddance. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 9:06 AM | Economy | 129
ELISABETH BUMILLER, New York Times
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign recovered from a near-death experience almost exactly a year ago, and political candidates stumble in and out of troughs all the time. But it is safe to say that Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, is not having a spectacular week. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:26 AM | Election 2008 | 108
Democracy Now
Salon.com has published new details about a top secret government database that might be at the heart of the Bush administration’s domestic spying operations. The database is known as “Main Core.” It reportedly collects and stores vast amounts of personal and financial data about millions of Americans. Some former US officials believe that “Main Core” may have been used by the National Security Agency to determine who to spy on in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. We speak with author and investigative journalist, Tim Shorrock. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 3:09 PM | Liberty | 63
USA Today
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand students protesting the Iraq war offered a reward to anyone who carries out a citizen's arrest of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her visit to the country Friday. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:27 AM | International | 69
Dan Froomkin, Washington Post
Here's the official policy on torture from the administration that decries moral relativism: It's in the eye of the torturer. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:59 PM | Torture | 39
EDITORIAL, New York Times
If the Senate could summon some wisdom, it would interrupt its mud wrestling over partisan placebos for the gas crisis long enough to debate something real: emergency help for the nation’s poorest families who face skyrocketing home heating costs this winter. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:33 AM | Energy | 41
Candace Rondeaux, Washington Post
KABUL -- U.S. and NATO military officials in Afghanistan have launched investigations into three separate U.S.-led airstrikes that Afghan officials say killed at least 78 civilians this month. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:29 AM | War | 17
ARI MELBER, The Nation
It might be Fox News' worst nightmare: liberal bloggers and black hip hop.
The rapper with the #1 album in the country is waging war on Fox News, in a new campaign backed by black activists at ColorOfChange.org, liberal bloggers and even Bill O'Reilly's alter-ego, Stephen Colbert. more. . .
The rapper with the #1 album in the country is waging war on Fox News, in a new campaign backed by black activists at ColorOfChange.org, liberal bloggers and even Bill O'Reilly's alter-ego, Stephen Colbert. more. . .
Posted Thursday July 24, 2008 7:19 AM | Media | 210
Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times
Posted Today at 6:49 AM | International | 120
TIM RUTTEN, Los Angeles Times
Posted Today at 6:56 AM | Election 2008 | 89
JEFF ZELENY, New York Times
Posted Today at 12:39 PM | Election 2008 | 33
EDITORIAL, Toronto Star
Posted Today at 6:59 AM | International | 34
CHARLES M. BLOW, New York Times
Posted Today at 6:42 AM | Politics | 29
Jim Hoagland, Washington Post
Posted Today at 9:47 AM | International | 15
JOHN W. DEAN , Findlaw
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:55 PM | Impeachment | 110
Molly K. Hooper, CQ Politics
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:36 AM | Impeachment | 134
Joe Conason, Salon
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 8:00 PM | War | 65
Katie Fretland, The Swamp
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 9:07 AM | Justice | 74
MICHAEL KAMBER and TIM ARANGO, New York Times
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 9:43 PM | War | 38
SCOTT SHANE, New York Times
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:25 AM | Torture | 55
Editorial, Independent
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 8:25 PM | International | 23
TIMOTHY EGAN, New York Times
Posted Thursday July 24, 2008 7:45 AM | Energy | 224
Emily Bazelon, Kara Hadge, Dahlia Lithwick, and Chris Wilson , Slate
Posted Thursday July 24, 2008 8:14 AM | Law | 186
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama's electoral rival is John McCain, but Obama's overseas trip this week has given heartburn to another Republican -- President Bush.
In stop after stop across the Middle East and Europe, Obama was embraced as the man whose promise of change meant a change from Bush: on Iraq, Mideast peace, the treatment of terrorism suspects, climate change, alliance relations and more. more. . .
In stop after stop across the Middle East and Europe, Obama was embraced as the man whose promise of change meant a change from Bush: on Iraq, Mideast peace, the treatment of terrorism suspects, climate change, alliance relations and more. more. . .
Posted Today at 6:49 AM | International | 120
TIM RUTTEN, Los Angeles Times
Social and religious conservatives are placing an increasingly large wager on a strategy they believe may overcome their constituents' lack of enthusiasm for Sen. John McCain, giving him a competitive edge over Sen. Barack Obama even in states as deeply blue as California. more. . .
Posted Today at 6:56 AM | Election 2008 | 89
JEFF ZELENY, New York Times
LONDON — He stood in the shadow of the Temple of Hercules, held forth at the Élysée Palace and convened a one-man news conference here on Saturday outside No. 10 Downing Street, all with a simple aim: to make a one-term senator from Illinois look presidential to voters back home in America.
But along the way to appearing presidential, did Senator Barack Obama cross a political line — as he and his advisers quietly feared, and some Republicans hoped — by coming across as too presumptuous? more. . .
But along the way to appearing presidential, did Senator Barack Obama cross a political line — as he and his advisers quietly feared, and some Republicans hoped — by coming across as too presumptuous? more. . .
Posted Today at 12:39 PM | Election 2008 | 33
EDITORIAL, Toronto Star
With his talk of a "shared destiny," Barack Obama has signalled that, if he becomes president, the United States will abandon the unilateralist ways of George W. Bush and rejoin the world community. more. . .
Posted Today at 6:59 AM | International | 34
CHARLES M. BLOW, New York Times
Can you hear that? I can. It’s the sound of political action committees and party extremists sharpening their wedge issues and setting the timers on their bombshells. The fall’s battle is looming. It’s going to get ugly. more. . .
Posted Today at 6:42 AM | Politics | 29
Jim Hoagland, Washington Post
John McCain's prisoner-of-war experience is a strong selling point for him in this American election. But it is a powerful drag on his popularity in Europe, where past U.S. involvement in Vietnam still generates intensely negative feelings.
Barack Obama's flirtation with protectionism similarly divides opinion at home and abroad. His attacks on NAFTA helped him compete for the Democratic nomination. But they cause important foreign partners such as Mexico, China and Japan to wonder if an Obama presidency would be good for them. more. . .
Barack Obama's flirtation with protectionism similarly divides opinion at home and abroad. His attacks on NAFTA helped him compete for the Democratic nomination. But they cause important foreign partners such as Mexico, China and Japan to wonder if an Obama presidency would be good for them. more. . .
Posted Today at 9:47 AM | International | 15
JOHN W. DEAN , Findlaw
Before I found myself wrestling with a nasty summer cold/flu bug, I had planned to travel to Washington to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, which is holding a hearing today on “Executive Power and Its Constitutional Limitations.”
While this was not billed as an impeachment hearing, it was my understanding that I would follow the testimony of Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, who introduced a new impeachment resolution on July 10. more. . .
While this was not billed as an impeachment hearing, it was my understanding that I would follow the testimony of Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, who introduced a new impeachment resolution on July 10. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:55 PM | Impeachment | 110
Molly K. Hooper, CQ Politics
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich may have to hold his tongue when he argues in favor of impeaching President Bush on Friday morning.
The Ohio Democrat, like every other witness scheduled to testify before the Judiciary Committee, has been put on notice by the committee’s Democratic staff. more. . .
The Ohio Democrat, like every other witness scheduled to testify before the Judiciary Committee, has been put on notice by the committee’s Democratic staff. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:36 AM | Impeachment | 134
Joe Conason, Salon
July 25, 2008 | "The surge worked."
So insistently do the media's mainstream and conservative commentators repeat the Iraq success meme -- echoing the mantra of George W. Bush and John McCain -- that to probe its premises and assumptions is not permitted. more. . .
So insistently do the media's mainstream and conservative commentators repeat the Iraq success meme -- echoing the mantra of George W. Bush and John McCain -- that to probe its premises and assumptions is not permitted. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 8:00 PM | War | 65
Katie Fretland, The Swamp
A petition to send former White House deputy chief of state Karl Rove to jail over refusing a subpoena to testify before a House committee has gained over 100,000 signatures, according to the group promoting the petition.
more. . .
more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 9:07 AM | Justice | 74
MICHAEL KAMBER and TIM ARANGO, New York Times
BAGHDAD — The case of a freelance photographer in Iraq who was barred from covering the Marines after he posted photos on the Internet of several of them dead has underscored what some journalists say is a growing effort by the American military to control graphic images from the war. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 9:43 PM | War | 38
SCOTT SHANE, New York Times
WASHINGTON — When Central Intelligence Agency interrogators used waterboarding and other harsh techniques on Qaeda suspects, agency rules required detailed records of each method used, its duration and the names of everyone present, according to one of three heavily redacted government documents made public on Thursday. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:25 AM | Torture | 55
Editorial, Independent
Hardly ever – probably never if one is to be accurate – has an American presidential candidate been treated with quite such enthusiasm in Europe as Barack Obama this week. A US president, yes. Both John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan came and wowed them in Berlin. But Barack Obama is different. He is new. He is untried. And he is – hard though it may be remember in the cascade of hope that has accompanied his visit – still just a nominee, not the elected chief. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 8:25 PM | International | 23
TIMOTHY EGAN, New York Times
There he is, the sound of money in a wizened Texas drawl, the tired realist looking a bit like the John Huston character from “Chinatown” as he warns in national television ads that we should just listen here and do as he says.
And what the 80-year-old T. Boone Pickens says, in a $58 million campaign, is that we can’t drill our way to lower gas prices. By implication, anybody who tells you otherwise — including the fellow Texan he helped put in the White House — is a fraud. more. . .
And what the 80-year-old T. Boone Pickens says, in a $58 million campaign, is that we can’t drill our way to lower gas prices. By implication, anybody who tells you otherwise — including the fellow Texan he helped put in the White House — is a fraud. more. . .
Posted Thursday July 24, 2008 7:45 AM | Energy | 224
Emily Bazelon, Kara Hadge, Dahlia Lithwick, and Chris Wilson , Slate
The recent release of Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side revealed that a secret report by the International Committee of the Red Cross determined "categorically" that the CIA used torture, as defined by American and international law, in questioning al-Qaida suspect Abu Zubaydah. The question of criminal liability for Bush-administration officials has since been in the news. It's also getting play because retired Gen. Antonio Taguba, lead Army investigator of the prison abuses at Abu Ghraib, wrote in a recent report, "There is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes."
One response to such conclusions is Nuremberg-style war-crime prosecutions. The opposite pole is blanket immunity for all lawbreakers in advance. Somewhere in the middle lies a truth-and-reconciliation commission that would try to ferret out the truth.
To enter into the debate, you might ask which Bush administration officials did what and which could actually be prosecuted. Slate has answers. more. . .
One response to such conclusions is Nuremberg-style war-crime prosecutions. The opposite pole is blanket immunity for all lawbreakers in advance. Somewhere in the middle lies a truth-and-reconciliation commission that would try to ferret out the truth.
To enter into the debate, you might ask which Bush administration officials did what and which could actually be prosecuted. Slate has answers. more. . .
Posted Thursday July 24, 2008 8:14 AM | Law | 186
Gallup
Posted Today at 6:16 PM | Election 2008 | 23
Amy Goodman, AlterNet
Posted Today at 6:57 AM | Law | 83
Peter Walker, Guardian
Posted Today at 7:00 AM | Election 2008 | 38
BOB HERBERT, New York Times
Posted Today at 6:39 AM | Election 2008 | 33
Paul West, The Swamp
Posted Today at 8:10 AM | Race | 21
EDITORIAL, New York Times
Posted Today at 6:38 AM | Health | 16
Alex Koppelman, Salon
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 8:24 PM | Election 2008 | 107
Nick Juliano, Raw Story
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:23 AM | Impeachment | 112
Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:31 AM | Election 2008 | 88
JOHN NICHOLS, The Nation
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:21 AM | Impeachment | 73
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:30 AM | Election 2008 | 59
RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr., New York Times
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:28 AM | Corruption | 54
Pottersville
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 9:33 PM | Impeachment | 19
Gerhard Spörl, Der Spiegel
Posted Thursday July 24, 2008 6:16 PM | Election 2008 | 174
PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama has stretched his lead over John McCain among national registered voters to seven percentage points, 48% to 41%, in Gallup Poll Daily tracking conducted July 23-25. more. . .
Posted Today at 6:16 PM | Election 2008 | 23
Amy Goodman, AlterNet
Amy Goodman:The dominant role of corporations is one of a number of issues fueling skepticism around the 2008 campaign. Criticism has also mounted recently over presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama's perceived shift to the right. more. . .
Posted Today at 6:57 AM | Law | 83
Peter Walker, Guardian
Barack Obama was holding talks with Gordon Brown in Downing Street this morning – having already met Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair – on the final leg of a largely successful foreign tour. more. . .
Posted Today at 7:00 AM | Election 2008 | 38
BOB HERBERT, New York Times
The conventional wisdom in this radically unconventional presidential race is that the voters have to get to know Barack Obama better. That’s what this week’s overseas trip was about: to showcase the senator as a potential commander in chief and leader of U.S. foreign policy.
According to this way of thinking, as voters see more of Mr. Obama and become more comfortable with him (assuming no major foul-ups along the way), his chances of getting elected will be enhanced.
Maybe so. But what about the other guy? How much do voters really know about John McCain? more. . .
According to this way of thinking, as voters see more of Mr. Obama and become more comfortable with him (assuming no major foul-ups along the way), his chances of getting elected will be enhanced.
Maybe so. But what about the other guy? How much do voters really know about John McCain? more. . .
Posted Today at 6:39 AM | Election 2008 | 33
Paul West, The Swamp
This year's election promises to be one of the great experiments in U.S. history.
Is the country ready for an African American president? No one knows for sure. It's increasingly clear, though, that the '08 vote will be a referendum on the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. more. . .
Is the country ready for an African American president? No one knows for sure. It's increasingly clear, though, that the '08 vote will be a referendum on the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. more. . .
Posted Today at 8:10 AM | Race | 21
EDITORIAL, New York Times
The House of Representatives is poised to vote next week on a pioneering bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration its first real power to regulate tobacco products, much as it now regulates food, drugs and medical devices. This is a critically important bill, the culmination of more than a decade of struggle to bring the renegade tobacco industry under regulatory control. more. . .
Posted Today at 6:38 AM | Health | 16
Alex Koppelman, Salon
The consulting firm headed by Karl Rove is out with the latest in its series of Electoral College maps, and this one (available in PDF form here) shows Barack Obama coasting to a win over John McCain. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 8:24 PM | Election 2008 | 107
Nick Juliano, Raw Story
The House Judiciary Committee has released a witness list for its hearing to examine "the imperial presidency" of George W. Bush. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:23 AM | Impeachment | 112
Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe
IS IT ANY wonder that John McCain was feeling a tad neglected? There was Barack Obama on a nine-day trip through eight countries with three network anchors, and all John got was a lousy T-shirt. Or to be more exact, all he got was a ride in George H.W. Bush's golf cart and a rejection slip from a New York Times op-ed editor. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:31 AM | Election 2008 | 88
JOHN NICHOLS, The Nation
Thirty-four years ago this month, when the House Judiciary Committee was considering strategies for holding a lawbreaking president to account, the most determined advocate for impeachment on the committee was a relatively junior member, 45-year-old Michigan Congressman John Conyers. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:21 AM | Impeachment | 73
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
It was as if the fates had conspired to give Barack Obama the kind of foreign affairs photo op that a campaign manager would see only in his wildest dreams. Damp, gray Berlin was alive with bright sunshine. A crowd that police estimated at more than 200,000 filled the heart of the city. They cheered not only when Obama talked about global warming or called for a world without nuclear weapons but also when he spoke of the fight against terrorism and the need for Europe to remain engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:30 AM | Election 2008 | 59
RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr., New York Times
BAGHDAD — The State Department’s internal watchdog division will investigate allegations that department officials did nothing to prevent a Texas oil company with close ties to President Bush from concluding an oil deal with the Kurdistan regional government that undermined both American policy and the Iraqi central government. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 7:28 AM | Corruption | 54
Pottersville
...and only Republicans are there to witness it, does it make a sound? Apparently not, if the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment hearing today is any indication. more. . .
Posted Friday July 25, 2008 9:33 PM | Impeachment | 19
Gerhard Spörl, Der Spiegel
Anyone who saw Barack Obama at Berlin's Siegessäule on Thursday could recognize that this man will become the 44th president of the United States. He is more than ambitious -- he wants to lay claim to become the president of the world. more. . .
Posted Thursday July 24, 2008 6:16 PM | Election 2008 | 174