With the departure of Arlen Specter and its party identification flat-lining at 20%, the GOP is launching a national rebranding effort. As part of its National Council for a New America, the Party of No will host public forums around the country for its rag-tag band of tea-bagging faithful and anyone who else wants to […]

Last month, I examined how Liz Sidoti, Ron Fournier and other of the Republican bath water drinkers at the Associated Press present conservative opinion pieces to readers using headlines which wrongly begin with the word, "Analysis." Now in an another broadside deceptively titled "Fact Check," the AP pins blame for the federal budget deficit on […]

To be sure, the heated debate over expanded hate crimes legislation in the House provided yet more lowlights for that chamber. In what may have been the second most disturbing utterance ever on the subject, North Carolina Republican Virginia Foxx described the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepherd which inspired the bill as a "hoax." But […]

By a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court Tuesday upheld new FCC fines against broadcasters who air "fleeting expletives" such as those used in recent years by Bono, Cher and Nicole Richie. In his majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia as usual missed no opportunity for a skirmish in the culture wars, blasting "foul-mouthed glitteratae from Hollywood." […]

Long before Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter announced he was switching parties, his conservative colleagues began targeting him over his blasphemous support of the Obama stimulus package. Republican Chairman Michael Steele, who in February said he was "open" to punishing Specter, today called the new Democrat's about-face "not only disrespectful, but it's just downright rude." As […]

The Washington Post and AP are reporting that Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter will officially change parties. But while Specter's gambit to escape both his reactionary party and an uphill battle in the 2010 GOP primary could provide Democrats with a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate, President Obama's allies shouldn't be so sure. After […]

Not content with its past role in screening candidates for positions in the Bush judiciary and Justice Department, the conservative Federalist Society is back to defend the Bush torture team it helped create. Ironically, the Federalists' conference call today came just three days after McClatchy reported that Steven Bradbury - one of its members and […]

The grandstanding over President Obama's commencement address next month at Notre Dame reached a new level with word that Harvard professor and former Bush ambassador to the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon has decided to decline the University's Laetare Medal. But while Glendon is apparently unwilling to appear on the same stage as the pro-choice Obama, […]

Back in March, ABC News was forced to update its jaw-droppingly shoddy reporting on the impact of President Obama's proposal to restore upper-income tax rates to their Clinton-era levels. Now in a piece titled, "Small Businesses Brace for Tax Battle," the Washington Post too is fanning the flames of hysteria over supposedly draconian new tax […]

As it turns out, there are three certainties in life: death, taxes and David Broder faithfully regurgitating Republican talking points. Given his past fascination with Hillary Clinton's marriage (but not Rudy Giuliani's serial nuptials) and paeans to the trustworthiness of John McCain (but not Barack Obama), it comes as no surprise that Broder Sunday declared […]