Politics

Murtha Attacks Rove on ‘Cut and Run’ Comments

Staff / Truthdig Jun 19, 2006 Antiwar Democratic Rep. John Murtha on Karl Rove's assertion that Democrats are, essentially, cowards on Iraq: "He?s sitting in his air-conditioned office on his big, fat backside--saying stay the course. That?s not a plan!" Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Sanity: House Doesn’t Up Funds for Abstinence-Only Programs

Staff / Truthdig Jun 18, 2006 Maybe it was towering piles of evidence attesting to the fact that virginity pledges don't work, but whatever it was, Congress declined to add more funds to abstinence-until-marriage programs. (Via Salon.) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

DeLay and Abramoff’s ‘Made in the USA’: Shame, Shame, Shame

Staff / Truthdig Jun 17, 2006 Listen to an excellent NPR Weekend Edition story revisiting the Jack Abramoff-Tom DeLay connection to the slave trade, forced abortions, forced prostitution happening in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. DeLay called industry on the islands a "shining light of the Republican Party" during one of many "fact-finding missions" to the region. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Greenwald Nails Specter on Amnesty Law Lie

Staff / Truthdig Jun 17, 2006 Sen. Arlen Specter went on TV to vehemently deny a Washington Post report that he had proposed legislation which included blanket amnesty for everyone involved with Bush's warrantless spying. But lawyer Glenn Greenwald has apparently proved that the Post was right in its report--and the Specter had lied about it. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Clean Money Campaign Needs Your Help

Staff / Truthdig Jun 17, 2006 A law working its way through the California Legislature would provide for full public funding of credible candidates in statewide races. This is the real-deal way to eliminate the ruinous influence of huge campaign contributions in elections. It's already working in a few states, and a victory in California could start a nationwide revolution. Check it out. Sign a petition. Join the cause. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Truthdigger of the Week: John Murtha

Staff / Truthdig Jun 17, 2006 Truthdig salutes Pa Rep John Murtha for his sustained leadership in demanding a pullout of US troops out from Iraq Particularly inspiring was his conduct during Thursday's congressional debate over the war A GOP congressman all but called Murtha a coward, and the 38-year Marine veteran thundered back a response that sent the congressman scurrying for cover In doing so, Murtha again demonstrated the Republican fallacy of equating a call for withdrawal with weakness It's a lesson more Democrats could stand to learn Watch the video of Murtha on the House floor Read Murtha's words from the day of the debate (Wash Po, AP, N Times) UPDATE: Murtha steamrolls over Tim Russert (h/t: Huff Po). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Clinton Made Almost $7.5 Million in Speaking Fees in 2005

Staff / Truthdig Jun 16, 2006 The former president earned a staggering $650,000 for just two appearances before major gatherings in Canada by motivational speaker Tony Robbins, according to financial document filed by Hillary Clinton. It's good to be the former president Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

GOP Engineers Sham Vote on Iraq

Staff / Truthdig Jun 16, 2006 The fierce debate on the Iraq war that began in Congress on Thursday will culminate on Friday with a nonbinding resolution that includes: labeling the Iraq war as part of the war on terror, and opposition to setting an "arbitrary" withdrawal date. Democrats decried the vote as an election-year sham. Video: Dems rip GOP lawmakers during Thursday's debate. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Three Hundred Twenty Billion Little Pieces

Staff / Truthdig Jun 16, 2006 America has allocated just under $320 billion to date on the Iraq war--a price tag so staggeringly large that it has almost become an abstraction. To help put that number into context, we're asking our readers to chime in with suggestions as to what else you could buy for $320 billion. (Primer: $320 billion would fund America's adoption of the Kyoto Protocol.) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Eating at Lobbyists’ Troughs, Congress Votes Itself a Pay Raise

Staff / Truthdig Jun 15, 2006 House and Senate lawmakers embraced a $3,300 pay raise that would increase their salaries to $168,500. Meanwhile, it's been reported that members of the House's own ethics committee took over $1 million in privately funded (read: lobbyist-funded) trips last year. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Joe Conason: A Whiff of Brimstone, a Shameful Silence on Coulter

Joe Conason / Truthdig Jun 15, 2006 "With the predictable regularity of a locust plague, Ann Coulter and her enablers at the once-reputable firm of Random House have issued yet another volume of fascistic entertainment. Now the hard-drinking, trash-talking, fortysomething bachelorette bills herself as a Christian moralist, in holy battle against the liberal heathens." Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Molly Ivins: Eye to Eye in Iraq

Molly Ivins / Truthdig Jun 15, 2006 The media continues to fizz with excitement at Bush's "spontaneous" trip to Iraq, and his "eye to eye" with Prime Minister Maliki. However, continuously escalating violence reveals his visit to be just another misleading "Mission Accomplished" photo-op moment. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )