In case there was any doubt that former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson is now performing the same role for the Republican Party on the Washington Post opinion pages, today's column should put it to rest. Labeling former comedian turned Minnesota Senate candidate Al Franken a "vulgarian," Gerson proclaimed the Democrat's satirical writing of the past […]

As ThinkProgress reported earlier today, the execrable California Congressman Darrell Issa used the occasion of Tim Russert's wake to appropriate the memory of the late Meet the Press host for political purposes. Of course, Issa had guaranteed himself a particularly hot seat in Dante's inner circle long before he enlisted Russert on the House floor […]

In the wake of the Supreme Court's restoration of habeas corpus rights in its Boumediene decision Friday, John McCain and his allies on the right have predictably forecast an American bloodbath at the hands of terrorists unleashed from Guantanamo. While Justice Antonin Scalia claimed the ruling would "almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed," […]

On Tuesday, Jon Stewart welcomed former Christian Coalition wunderkind and Jack Abramoff scandal figure Ralph Reed to the Daily Show to pitch his new book, Dark Horse. But while the two discussed Reed's joining Scooter Libby, Bill O'Reilly and Lynne Cheney among the ranks of racy right-wing novelists, Stewart gave the disgraced lobbyist and failed […]

Now for a pop quiz. What will the main media story about John McCain be on Tuesday after the long Memorial Day break? If you guessed John McCain's limited health disclosure, Cindy McCain's limited tax disclosure, or the meaning of the supposed maverick's failed pandering to madmen ministers Hagee and Parsley, you're probably wrong. By […]

A flood of recent polls suggests the 2008 election will once again display the "Iron Law" of 21st century Republican presidential politics. That is, with Americans showing an overwhelming preference for Democratic positions across virtually the entire spectrum of issues, the GOP has to make the race about something else. This year as in 2000 […]

Pundits and bloggers alike are buzzing about John McCain's appearance yesterday on Saturday Night Live. Without once mentioning his standard stump punchlines "I'm older than dirt" and "I have more scars than Frankenstein," the 71 year old Republican nominee riffed on his age. While he was at it, McCain got in a few jokes while […]

They may not agree on much, but this week the editors of the Washington Times and the Washington Post joined forces in demanding that Cindy McCain make public her tax returns. One day after the Post declared "it won't do," the reliably right-wing Times insisted "Mrs. McCain needs to end the 'privacy' charade and release […]

Four days after Arianna Huffington first reported it, John McCain's 2000 VoteGate has become the election issue du jour. The New York Times, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times have all run stories confirming Huffington's account that in 2000 a still steaming McCain did not vote for George W. Bush, the man who […]

In another sign of the media's sheepish acceptance of the Barack Obama "elitist" story line, the New York Times on Tuesday described the Illinois Senator as "tagged as elitist." But just as disturbing as the Republicans' apparent success in establishing the "out of touch" narrative as a fixture in campaign coverage is John McCain's seeming […]