|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By Kevin Phillips $17.13
By John W. Dean $14.00
$22
|
|
|
|
|
By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — How much anger is there among women about how Hillary Clinton has been treated during this campaign? Some of the nation’s leading female politicians will tell you: quite a lot.
|
|
By Joe Conason — When the Democratic Party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee meets Saturday to determine the status of the votes cast in the Michigan and Florida primaries, its members should try to look past self-serving campaign arguments and bumbling party leaders’ silly attempts to save face.
|
 HBO
|
Leading election integrity journalist Brad Friedman reviews HBO’s portrayal of the 2000 Florida recount and wonders whether we’re not headed for another stolen election.
|
|
By Eugene Robinson — Other than providing Fidel Castro with a convenient antagonist to help him whip up nationalist fervor—and thus prolong his rule—the U.S. trade embargo and other sanctions have accomplished precisely nothing.
|
|
By Eugene Robinson — Clinton wants only one thing—the presidency—and she wants it now, not later. If success means using the Florida and Michigan “issue” to tie the party in knots until the convention, so be it.
|
|
By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — Hillary Clinton is talking as if the battle over seating disputed delegations from Florida and Michigan at the Democratic National Convention is the greatest crisis for democracy since the 2000 Florida recount.
|
 Flickr / soggydan
|
In keeping with his image as a president for yesterday, John McCain promised a crowd in Florida he would do nothing to upset the policy of isolation that has proved so ineffective in regard to Cuba. “Florida will be yours!” shouted a grateful foe of the Castro regime.
|
 gawker.com
|
Studio honcho Harvey Weinstein is a force to be reckoned with—it was no coincidence that Disney subsidiary Miramax became a major player in the film industry under his watch—and recently he reportedly attempted to use his powers of persuasion to convince House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to follow his plan for a Democratic primary revote in Florida and Michigan ... or else.
|
|
Deborah Jean Palfrey, whose Washington, D.C.-based call-girl ring earned her notoriety and the nickname the “D.C. Madam,” left two suicide notes behind when she (apparently) hanged herself last Thursday behind her mother’s Florida home.
|

|
The man who made his mark on the last presidential election cycle with his campaign-sinking scream, DNC Chairman Howard Dean, was the bearer of good predictions for Democrats on Thursday’s “Daily Show.” He explained the super-cryptic superdelegate system, the controversial notion of “electability” and what it’s like to be the candidate who missed out in ‘04 for “saying boo-ya at the wrong time.”
|
|
By Marie Cocco — Republicans have had great success in convincing Americans that “voter fraud” is a grave and growing threat to the republic, but the exact crime that they speak of is almost nonexistent.
|
 foxnews.com
|
A Florida court sentenced Wesley Snipes to 36 months in prison for tax evasion on Thursday, despite the actor’s plea for mercy and written character testimonials by fellow stars Denzel Washington and Woody Harrelson.
|

|
Florida has dropped plans to hold a revote because, in the words of the state party chair: “The consensus is clear: Florida doesn’t want to vote again.” That’s a setback for Hillary Clinton, who probably would have picked up delegates in the Sunshine State. Another revote proposal is stalling in Michigan, the other state with a disputed delegation.
|
 bloomberg.com
|
Mitt Romney could be headed back to political prime time now that conservative heavyweights, including The Weekly Standard, are pushing him as John McCain’s best bet for vice president. Romney’s economic know-how, it is argued, along with his popularity with the Bush wing of the party, makes him a safe choice.
|
 tkb.org
|
By Chris Hedges — The Palestinian activist Dr. Sami Amin Al-Arian, imprisoned for five years despite a jury’s failure to return a single guilty verdict against him, has gone on a hunger strike in a Virginia jail.
|
 Truthdig
|
The Political Wire has it from a couple of sources that Michigan, which along with Florida was stripped of its Democratic delegates, will hold caucuses in order to have a say about the party’s nominee. Also, Florida’s governor, a Republican, is pushing for a re-vote in his state.
|
 AP photo / Susan Walsh
|
Nancy Pelosi, who is not only one of the highest-ranking members of the Democratic Party but the chair of its approaching national convention, has weighed in on two of the most controversial issues looming over the presidential nomination. Superdelegates, Pelosi said, should not overrule the will of the voters, and the disputed delegations from Michigan and Florida “can’t make the difference because then we would have no rules.”
|
|
By Amy Goodman — The “Democracy Now!” host explains why Virginia is the new Massachusetts and Texas is the new Florida, and why Barack Obama is benefiting from more than a boost in demographics.
|
 nytimes.com
|
Clinton insiders talk a lot on the record about Hillary’s viability against John McCain, her confidence in Ohio and Texas and her determination to seat delegates from the uncontested Michigan and Florida primaries. But off the record, at least a few wonder if all that long-term thinking isn’t a bit premature for a campaign that is losing contests left and right.
|
|
By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — The Democrats’ hopes of regaining the White House hinge on how the party proceeds in the coming weeks and months. If momentum or civility reigns, they’ve got a shot. But if back-room dealing and cheating prevail, don’t hold your breath.
|
|
Hollywood bigwig Ari Emanuel knows a thing or two about superdelegates. His brother, Congressman Rahm Emanuel, is one. But, as Ari writes on the Huffington Post, “as much as I love and respect him, I don’t trust him and his fellow superdelegates to decide for me and the American people who should be the Democratic nominee—and, therefore, most likely the next president of the United States.”
|
 AP photo / Charles Dharapak
|
John McCain won the Republican primary in Florida on Tuesday with a decent lead over runner-up Mitt Romney. Rudy Giuliani, who bet it all on the Sunshine State, came in a distant third.
|

|
He’s not exactly clear on this point, but what Sen. John McCain doesn’t achieve through specificity he drives home through sheer repetition: America can expect “other wars” in the future. In this clip he delivers that warning to his “friends” at a campaign stop in Florida.
|

|
What’s to be done about the sagging U.S. economy? What’s with John McCain’s dogged insistence that we’re “succeeding” in Iraq? Thursday night found the handful of Republican candidates still in the ‘08 race for the White House facing off in Florida. Here’s what they had to say.
|
|
By Marie Cocco — Election Day began with voting machines refusing to start up. It ended with them refusing to shut down.
|
 textually.org
|
Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee and John McCain have gotten plenty of ink in the last week, but the other candidates for president want you to know they’re still in it. John Edwards, who staked a lot on Iowa and placed second there, says he will campaign until his party’s convention because, “Up until now, about half of 1 percent of Americans have voted.”
|
|
By Marie Cocco — Voters put Democrats in control of both houses of Congress last fall and, for this act of civic determination, they face an infuriating conundrum. Republicans are still running things.
|
 local10.com
|
Guess he wasn’t in the “free speech zone”: University of Florida student Andrew Meyer apparently went on too long while asking Sen. John Kerry about his 2004 presidential run (among other questions) and was Tasered and arrested on Monday. Did the police overreact? That’s where Internet video comes in handy.
|
|
McClatchy is reporting that Congressman Don Young, R-Alaska, is under investigation for earmarking millions in funds for a road project in Florida that wasn’t even wanted by the local community but could have been something of a gold mine for one of his campaign contributors. The Justice Department is also investigating potentially unsavory behavior on the part of Republican Sen. Ted Stevens and other Alaska legislators.
|
|
It may sound redundant or contradictory, but Florida state Sen. Mike Bennett proposed a bill that would give voters another ballot choice besides the candidates in the running: “I choose not to vote.” Floridians fatigued by the alleged frauds and hanging chads of recent years (as well as mudslinging campaigns) could signal their distaste by using the new option.
|
|
A 21-year-old Floridian was arrested in Orlando for feeding a group of 30 homeless people. It is illegal in Orlando to feed more than 25 destitute people without a permit, which can be obtained only twice a year. As if to drive home the absurdity of the law, authorities took a sample of Eric Montanez’s illegal stew for evidence.
|
|
A rape victim in Florida was thrown in jail for two days when police discovered a warrant accusing her of failing to pay restitution for a theft she committed as a juvenile. A jail worker, allegedly motivated by religious convictions, then refused to give her a crucial dose of the morning-after pill.
|
 law.fordham.edu
|
A judge has ruled that a Florida doctor can be prosecuted under federal law for vowing to treat members of al-Qaida. Dr. Rafiq Abdus Sabir argued unsuccessfully that the Constitution protects a doctor’s right to perform medical services.
|
 nytimes.com
|
The aspiring novelist who would ultimately be known for his central role in the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion and the botched Watergate burglary died in Miami on Tuesday at the age of 88.
|
 from Bradblog.com
|
You may recall that right-wing hate-monger Ann Coulter was accused of voter fraud not too long ago, for registering to vote using her real estate agent’s address. Now it turns out she may have used the same address to register a driver’s license—meaning Coulter could be charged with two third-degree felonies and one misdemeanor, if only someone would prosecute the case.
|
 webpages.charter.net
|
According to a new study by researchers at Florida State University, many Americans disapprove of their boss’ behavior. Twenty-three percent said their superiors blamed others to protect themselves while 31 percent reported getting the silent treatment.
|
 cbsnews.com
|
Martin Lee Anderson, 14, died a day after he was beaten and dragged by nine guards while in the custody of a juvenile boot camp in Florida. The medical examiner initially ruled that Martin died of natural causes, but… (h/t: Largest Minority)
|
 dc.state.fl.us
|
A man executed in Florida on Wednesday took 34 minutes to die by lethal injection, and required two doses of lethal chemicals. He appeared to grimace before dying, leading some to believe he experienced pain from the procedure.
|

|
In a surprisingly frank and irresponsible statement, Florida Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen calls for Fidel Castro’s death: “I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro and any leader who is oppressing, oppressing the people.” Watch it
|
|
Conservative GOP Rep. Mark Foley’s resignation, over explicit e-mails he sent to a 16-year-old former page, means Democrats have a shot at a congressional seat that was all but a shoo-in for Republicans until Foley’s resignation.
Read the e-mails
|
 palmbeachpost.com
|
The Katherine Harris campaign tried on Saturday to clarify the candidate’s latest ride on the crazy train, when she said that separation of church and state is “a lie we have been told” and that “God is the one who chooses our rulers.” It’s an interesting idea coming from Harris, who worked so hard in the 2000 election to disenfranchise voters on Bush’s behalf. (h/t: Americablog)
|
 From the BBC
|
Katherine Harris, villain of the 2004 Florida recount saga and a congresswoman running for U.S. Senate, recently dismissed to an interviewer the idea that religion should stay out of politics, saying, “God is the one who chooses our rulers.”
So was it God or was it Katherine Harris who fraudulently threw all those eligible black citizens off the voting rolls in 2004? Hey, if she wants to run with the “omnipotent God” logic, she can’t have it both ways….
|
|
By Molly Ivins — George Bush at the G8, Katherine Harris in Florida, Joe Lieberman in Connecticut, Ralph Reed in Georgia, and good old Tom DeLay in the grand state of Texas ... so bad they’re almost funny.
|
|
The new White House policy chief, who is filling Karl Rove’s shoes in that post, took part in the infamous “Brooks Brothers riot” of 2000, in which GOP operatives, dressed as protesters, tried to intimidate officials engaged in the Florida recount. (Via Truthout.)
Posted on Apr 21, 2006
READ MORE
|
 From us.altermedia.info
|
The disgraced lobbyist and a business partner get five years and 10 months on fraud charges—the minimum they faced. Abramoff faces more jail time in connection with a corruption probe.
|
 avemaria.com
|
The founder of Domino’s Pizza is planning on spending $250 million to create a Florida town with no abortions, no porn and no birth control.
Civil libertarians are threatening to sue, and liberal Catholics are likening the idea to Islamic fundamentalism.
Couldn’t the guy put his money where it’s really needed, like toward schools in Darfur? Or a pizza crust that doesn’t resemble a sponge full of grease? (Hat tip: Huff Post)
|
View the most popular tags overall?
|
|