While the U.S. continues its pushback against Israel's humiliating settlements announcement last week, Republicans in Congress predictably rushed to defend the Netanyahu government. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor branded the Obama administration "irresponsible" and claimed its treatment of the special relationship with Israel "jeopardizes America's national security." Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) parroted Likud Party talking […]

With each passing day, the apologists for the Bush administration's regime of detainee torture resemble more and more characters from an episode of Seinfeld. After narrowly escaping a recommendation of disbarment last month, its legal architect John Yoo offered what might be deemed the George Costanza defense: it's not a war crime if you believe […]

Next week, Karl Rove's memoir Courage and Consequence hits the bookshelves. But as the previews make clear, you won't have to wait until March 9th to appreciate Rove's gift for fiction. According to the AP, his revisionist history claims that "many of the controversies that weakened his presidency were falsehoods perpetuated by political opponents," including […]

As the Scooter Libby affair showed, no one circles the wagons like the Republican Party and its conservative allies. Now that Bush torture architects John Yoo and Jay Bybee barely escaped disbarment in the final version of the report from the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, the right-wing counterattack and near orgasmic celebration is […]

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility final conclusion that Bush torture team lawyers should not face misconduct penalties has triggered triumphant celebrations in right-wing circles. The Wall Street Journal rejoiced in "Vindicating John Yoo" that the "Bush lawyers are found to have acted ethically, unlike their accusers." In the National Review, former Bush press […]

For Democrats wavering in their resolve to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, shocking new data from the IRS should hopefully stiffen their backbones. Between 2001 and 2007, the 400 richest taxpayers doubled their annual incomes to an average of $345 million, while their effective tax rate plummeted to only 16.6% from […]

In case you missed the reaction to Robert Gibbs' lighthearted mockery of Sarah Palin's "telepalmter", the White House press corps has a new rule. NBC's Chuck Todd, who previously defended Palin by declaring, "We've all done notes," protested Wednesday "I was surprised by the stunt myself." In her report, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux groused, "so much […]

Barack Obama's first State of the Union address last night was a needed reminder that Americans elect presidents and not popes. Throughout a speech which was well received by viewers for both style and substance, Obama acknowledged his failures. But if his language about "so much disappointment" and "deserved" political "setbacks" seemed unusual coming from […]

Mindful of George W. Bush's record of catastrophic failure when it came to disaster response, some commenters (for example, here and here) are questioning President Obama's decision (one I support) to ask Bush to join Bill Clinton in heading up the fundraising effort for Haiti. But while he initially stumbled in response to the 2004 […]

Witnessing the Republican reaction to the Obama administration's handling of the failed Christmas bombing is like watching reruns of The Apprentice. Like Donald Trump, each conservative talking head proclaims "You're Fired!" to members of the Obama team. Of course, when President Bush presided over the 9/11 catastrophe, Osama Bin Laden's escape from Tora Bora, the […]