There's an old saying that a gaffe is what results when a politician inadvertently tells the truth. By that standard, then, the Republican Party must be confessing its deeply held beliefs when it comes to race. After all, despicable racial slurs like Arnold Schwarzenegger's lecture on black and Latino blood and George Allen's MacacaGate are […]

The Avenging Angel, punisher of miscreants of the conservative ascendancy, offered yet more retribution this week in response to the latest Republican buffoonery. The fun and frolic began with Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens. The Republican porkmeister suffered a double-dose of humiliation just in time for Labor Day. Just days after it was revealed that Stevens […]

Just days after Senator George Allen's MacacaGate scandal, the Republican Party continued to offer a cornucopia of egregious gaffes and uproarious utterances. In Montana, Senator Conrad Burns lived up to his recent claim that he could "self-destruct in one sentence." Just weeks after attacking out-of-state firefighters who came to the aid of Montana, the Senator […]

By now, Perrspectives readers have grown familiar with the surprising neo-Confederate tendencies of Virginia Senator and presidential aspirant George Allen. (His abiding love of the CSA flag and the heritage of the ante bellum South are all the more surprising, given that Allen was born and raised in Southern California.) Today, the New Republic's Ryan […]

As the mid-term elections near, convicted Republican hyper lobbyist Jack Abramoff may well be the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats. Even as the GOP rushes to drop its Abramoff-tainted candidates from ballots in Ohio and Texas, its political problems only build. In Ohio, six-term Republican Representative and Abramoff golfing buddy Bob Ney dropped […]

The Avenging Angel, punisher of the rascals of the right, had yet another busy week delivering payback. Out in Big Sky country, GOP Montana Senator Conrad Burns found himself in hot water this week for insulting firefighters who had been battling blazes in his state. In the midst of a tough reelection bid against Democrat […]

In Washington today, President Bush signed a bill extending by 25 years the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In so doing, Bush once again succeeded in having it both ways. While publicly proclaiming his support for the Voting Rights in public, the Bush Justice Department has blocked its enforcement at every turn. The President's rhetoric, […]

For most watchers of the CIA, the return of Steven Kappes to Langley as the agency's number 2 man is a welcome development. Fluent in Farsi and Russian, the 23-year veteran of the clandestine service can bring a renewed focus on the CIA's core intelligence-gathering mission. Unfortunately, Kappes' return almost certainly signals the resumption of […]

In a bizarre Washington Post op-ed ("Surveillance We Can Live With") pitching his ill-conceived NSA eavesdropping compromise, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) shows all of the hallmarks of a man in the throes of severe cognitive dissonance. While essentially pronouncing the illegality of George Bush's illegal domestic surveillance program, he cannot bring himself […]

In the latest sign that Republican class warfare is alive and well in Washington, the IRS is planning draconian cuts to its team of estate tax lawyers handling the audits of the wealthiest Americans. In the next 70 days, the IRS will shed almost half of the 345 lawyers assigned to monitor the gift and […]