Santorum’s Finances Draw Questions

The American Prospect digs into the finances of Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and finds that his “lifestyle is financed in ways ... [that] are at best unconventional, and at worst a possible violation of Senate rules.”

Posted on Feb 21, 2006 READ MORE  | 20 READS

Chertoff Goes Mum on Portgate

Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff on the proposed deal to cede control of six U.S. ports to the United Arab Emirates: “The discussions are classified. I can’t get into the specifics here.”
Truthdig doesn’t pretend to understand the ins and outs of port ownership logistics, but we are troubled by Think Progress’ revelation that a country linked with international terrorism is going to have dominion over 40% of the U.S. cargo bound for Iraq.

Posted on Feb 21, 2006 READ MORE  | 24 READS

Jon Stewart Runs on CNN International

OK, all you expatriates probably already knew this, but Truthdig didn’t: “The Daily Show” runs on CNN International outside the U.S.
Think about that: Millions (perhaps billions) of foreigners get Jon Stewart’s version of America on a relatively straight-news-oriented channel. Depending on how you feel about Stewart’s sensibility, that’s either wonderful or troubling. (This snippet of news comes near the end of a hilarious article about Stewart’s upcoming gig at the Oscars.) 

Posted on Feb 20, 2006 READ MORE  | 113 READS

Navy Warned Pentagon on Torture

Two years before the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, the Navy’s general counsel warned the Pentagon that its wink-and-nod policies on torture would invite abuse, reports The New Yorker.

Posted on Feb 20, 2006 READ MORE  | 34 READS

Israel to Halt Payments to Palestinians

As Palestinians swore in their Hamas-dominated parliament, Israel froze contact with the “terrorist” group, and stopped a planned transfer of funds.
Hamas dismissed the effect of the sanctions, and former President Jimmy Carter warns in an Op-Ed that America risks severe consequences if it conspires with Israel to disrupt the transfer of power to Hamas.

Posted on Feb 20, 2006 READ MORE  | 52 READS

North Carolina GOP Asks for Church Directories

The request, which echoes something the Bush-Cheney ticket did in the 2004 race, has been met with protests from across the spectrum.

Posted on Feb 20, 2006 READ MORE  | 60 READS

Scholars Rate Worst Presidential Errors

James Buchanan tops the list for failing to avert the Civil War; Clinton comes in at No. 10 for his Lewinsky lie.

Posted on Feb 20, 2006 READ MORE  | 232 READS

Neocon Mea Culpas

Francis Fukuyama, one of the leading neocon intellectuals who argued the case for the Iraq war, admits in a blockbuster N.Y. Times Magazine essay that it is “very hard to see how [the removal of Saddam Hussein, and a few spillover benefits] justify the blood and treasure that the United States has spent.”
Andrew Sullivan, another leading pro-war conservative, echoes Fukuyama’s comment and points out three areas where neocons were tragically wrong.

Posted on Feb 20, 2006 READ MORE  | 28 READS

Earth on Fast Track to Warming

Greenhouse gases are being released into the atmosphere at a rate 30 times faster than the rate of emissions that caused a period of intense warming in the Earth’s past, concludes a scientific panel in St. Louis.

Posted on Feb 20, 2006 READ MORE  | 15 READS

Guess Why Cheney Came Out of Hiding

It apparently wasn’t the vice president’s sense of duty to the country that precipitated his sit-down interview with Fox News. It was the president, no dummy when it comes to PR, who made Cheney sit down in front of the cameras, according to Time magazine.

Posted on Feb 20, 2006 READ MORE  | 20 READS

Today in the Media War Against Al Qaeda

Rumsfeld says that we’re losing the media war against Al Qaeda, on the same day a militant website posts a new tape by Bin Laden, in which he vows never to be taken alive.
In perhaps unrelated Al Qaeda media war news, Batman cartoonist Frank Miller says that the caped crusader’s next foes will be Bin Laden’s henchmen.

Posted on Feb 20, 2006 READ MORE  | 53 READS

Surprise, Surprise: Ethics Reform Stalling

Figuring that public indignation over the Jack Abramoff scandal will soon dissipate, Republicans in Congress are dragging their feet on promised reform measures.
Unfortunately, this will probably work—because an indignant populace is sort of like a villain in a James Bond movie: We vow to stamp out a source of aggravation; we put the machinery in place for doing so; we flip the switch; and then we leave the room on the nave assumption that our plan is escape-proof.
It’d be funny if this weren’t, like, our government we’re talking about.

Posted on Feb 20, 2006 READ MORE  | 32 READS

Deadly Cartoon Protests Roil the Globe

The cartoon-fueled hysteria continues unabated:

Update:

Hey, Muslim centrists/moderates, if you want to do something to quell this insane violence, now would be a pretty good time to do so.

Posted on Feb 18, 2006 READ MORE  | 45 READS

U.S. Plans $7-Billion Royalty Windfall to Oil Companies

On the heels of Exxon Mobil’s record-setting $10-billion quarterly profit, the “federal government is on the verge of one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history, worth an estimated $7 billion over five years.”
It’s nice being an oil baron when two oilmen head the government.

Posted on Feb 18, 2006 READ MORE  | 11 READS

Cheney Hunting Story Filled With Discrepancies

The Associated Press (not exactly an ultra-liberal organization) says the account of the vice president’s hunting accident is full of inconsistencies.
Newsday points out that the medical diagram in Cheney’s accident report is incorrect.

Posted on Feb 18, 2006 READ MORE  | 115 READS