For conservative free-market ideologues, April has been the cruelest month, indeed. In a perfect storm washing over Republican foes of government regulation, the last several days alone featured unbridled Wall Street greed, corporate mismanagement of a devastating oil spill, and corruption and criminality in the nation's coal mines. Meanwhile, in another blow to GOP "repeal […]

In early 2008, the Bush Justice Department subpoenaed New York Times reporter James Risen over his book, State of War: The Secret History of the C.I.A. and the Bush Administration. Now, just two weeks after taking action against an NSA whistle-blower who leaked information about contract corruption to the Baltimore Sun, the Obama DOJ is […]

That Sarah Palin, the propagator-in-chief of the ever-evolving "death panels" fraud deemed the Lie of the Year by Politifact, would blast President Obama for "perpetuating this myth that racial profiling is part" of the draconian new immigration law in Arizona was pathetically predictable. But what may come as an unwelcome surprise to the xenophobic denizens […]

Historical events, it is said, occur twice, first as tragedy, then as farce. But not in the case of Goldman Sachs and the near-collapse of the American financial system. Six years before Congress released emails showing Goldman executives bragged about making "some serious money" betting against the housing market and "the poor little subprime borrowers", […]

Just days after praising Arizona's draconian immigration law as a "good tool" and 24 hours after calling on President Obama to immediately "dispatch of 3,000 National Guard troops to our border," John McCain Saturday admitted he's not sure his state's crackdown is even legal. Which means that the man who was for comprehensive immigration reform […]

The first lesson in Tea Party 101 is this: Tea Party supporters are just Republicans, only more so. They're old, white, very conservative and vote Republican. They shout the same incendiary slogans on display at any McCain-Palin rally circa October 2008. Tea Baggers and Republicans believe the same Bircher, Birther, Deather and Denier myths. And […]

It was just three weeks ago that John McCain rewrote his autobiography by proclaiming, "I never considered myself a maverick." Now, the draconian new immigration law in his home state of Arizona has highlighted McCain's tortured reversals on the issue. As even CNN noted on Friday, John McCain was for comprehensive immigration reform before he […]

In just a matter of days, the Republican effort to protect predatory Wall Street bankers has gone from the ridiculous to the sublime. Last week, Mitch McConnell endlessly parroted Frank Luntz' "permanent bailout" talking point - the day after meeting with financial executives in New York. Then on Thursday, Sarah Palin warned that "financial lobbyists […]

Urged on by Newt Gingrich, a coalition of Tea Party groups last week unveiled their so-called "Contract from America." Now, Congressional Republicans including Eric Cantor (R-VA), Mike Pence (R-IN) and Pete Sessions (R-TX) are also hoping to mimic Gingrich's winning 1994 gambit with their own "Contract with America." But after reading the Tea Party's 10-point […]

From the beginning, the so-called Tea Party movement has merely been a continuation of the failed 2008 Republican presidential campaign by other means. In April 2009, Jon Stewart of the Daily Show highlighted that truth when he told furious Tea Baggers, "I think you might be confusing tyranny with losing." Now, a year later, Politico, […]