Over the past few weeks, two conservative myths about the Tea Party movement have exploded. First, despite the best efforts of Republicans to paint the angry mobs as independents, a bevy of polls confirmed that Tea Party members are ideologically conservative and overwhelmingly vote Republican. Second, a new survey from the University of Washington revealed […]

A modest proposal: no one displaying the Confederate flag gets to lecture any American about patriotism - ever. Ditto for anyone trafficking in Confederate nostalgia as a political strategy. Of course, that new red, white and blue rule would pose a problem for today's Republican Party. After all, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, the same man […]

After months of incendiary rhetoric reached a crescendo with the passage of health care reform last week, this announcement from a coalition of Tea Party organizations comes as a welcome relief. Perhaps cooler heads and a more civil political discourse will prevail in America after all. The full text of Thursday's press release follows below: […]

As suspended NBA star Gilbert Arenas could attest, guns and basketball don't mix. But just days after getting roundly criticized for her incendiary language about the need for Republicans to "reload" and target the vulnerable Democrats in her crosshairs, Sarah Palin turned to Facebook to cloak her tough talk in an analogy to March Madness. […]

In Arizona, conservative radio host and former Congressman J.D. Hayworth is challenging Senator John McCain in the upcoming GOP primary. As it turns out, Hayworth is also battling fellow Republicans Rick Santorum and John Cornyn for the most ridiculous comparison of bestiality and same-sex marriage. Discussing the 2003 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Court establishing […]

In the latest chapter in the decades-long conservative campaign to canonize Ronald Reagan, North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry proposed replacing the image of Ulysses S. Grant on the $50 bill with that of the Gipper. But as Sean Wilentz eloquently detailed Sunday in the NewYork Times, that recognition would erase the legacy of Grant not […]

Over the past 10 days, President Obama and Sarah Palin made clear everything you need to know about their dueling visions of America's character and its future. In his State of the Union address, the President rejected the notion that "our progress was inevitable," reminding the nation that "the only reason we are here is […]

After refusing in the past to run "controversial" ads from groups such as the United Church of Christ, CBS is reversing course. During its extended Super Bowl coverage on Sunday, the network will air a not-so-subtle anti-abortion message sponsored by Focus on the Family featuring Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. In it, the nation's most […]

As a quick glance at the video tape makes clear, the supposed Tea Party movement is simply a continuation of the right-wing's failed 2008 presidential campaign by other means. (Senator Jim Demint (R-SC) spoke for Sarah Palin, John Cornyn, Michele Bachmann and countless others when he insisted, "We need to stop looking at the tea […]

Last June, soon-to-be ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin praised Michael Reagan, lauding his propensity to "to call it like he sees it, and to screw political correctness that some would expect him to have to adhere to." As she headed out the door six weeks later, Palin promised to be "less politically correct" after her leaving […]