Robert Scheer: ‘Anti-Christian Conspirators’ Slay DeLay

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Apr 5, 2006 Truthdig's editor wonders how it was that so many enemies of virtue operated under the auspices of such a Christ-like leader as DeLay. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Ex-DeLay Aide Pleads Guilty in Lobby Case

Staff / Truthdig Apr 1, 2006 Rep. Tom DeLay's former top aide admitted to conspiring with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff to corrupt public officials and defraud his clients. The stench of corruption spirals ever upward Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

New Lobbying Law Falls Short on Reform

Staff / Truthdig Mar 30, 2006 The bill, which passed 90 to 8, requires lobbyists to disclose more information about their interactions with lawmakers, but there's little increase in the enforcement of ethics laws. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Abramoff Gets Almost Six Years in Prison

Staff / Truthdig Mar 30, 2006 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. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Kurds Riot and Turn Against Their Leaders

Staff / Truthdig Mar 17, 2006 Remember Kurdistan, that semiautonomous northern part of Iraq that the U.S. always points to as a model of stable, quasi-democratic governance? Well, corruption up there is so systemic that thousands of people vented their anger by burning down a government museum. The horrible irony: The museum commemorates the thousands of Kurds who died in Saddam Hussein's 1988 gas attack. It had become an emblem of government greed. Another front just opened up in the Iraqi civil war that the Pentagon claims doesn't exist. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Oh, Now They Want Limits on Lobbying…

Staff / Truthdig Mar 15, 2006 In the wake of the Jack Abramoff meltdown, House GOP leaders claim that they want at least a temporary ban on privately funded travel for lawmakers, plus some restrictions on lobbyists. It shouldn't have taken a scandal the magnitude of the Abramoff case to convince these lawmakers to do the right thing. This latest move seems a cynical ploy destined to "sunset" as soon as public attention is turned elsewhere. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Olbermann on Bush’s Hypocrisy

Staff / Truthdig Mar 9, 2006 The MSNBC host lays bare the White House's attack on press freedoms and whistle-blowers. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

UAE Gave $100 Million for Katrina Relief

Staff / Truthdig Feb 25, 2006 The country seeking control over six U.S. ports donated nearly four times the total of all other countries combined. The State Department denies there's a connection between the gift and the pending port deal. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Abramoff Got Indicted, and All We Got Was This Lousy $20 Gift Ban?

Molly Ivins / Truthdig Feb 21, 2006 Reform follows scandal as night the day, except in these sorry times, when it appears we may not get a nickel's worth of reform out of the entire Jack Abramoff saga. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Surprise, Surprise: Ethics Reform Stalling

Staff / Truthdig Feb 20, 2006 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. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

TD Original

President Jonah, Meet Oliver Cromwell!

Gore Vidal / Truthdig Feb 8, 2006 Building on his "President Jonah" theme, Gore Vidal offers another angle on Bush's presidency, illuminated by the recent spate of wildfires in Southern California.Updated: Internationally-acclaimed man of letters Gore Vidal issues a new conclusion to his essay about the corruption of the Bush administration: "This is what we call dictatorship. Dictatorship. Dictatorship. And it is time we objected." Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

Mark Ruffalo, Daniel Ellsberg Can’t Wait

Staff / Truthdig Feb 3, 2006 The "In the Cut" actor and the Pentagon Papers whistle-blower speak out in support of the "World Can't Wait--Drive Out the Bush Regime" march in Washington on Feb. 4 (podcast available for Ruffalo). Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )