As part of its all-out campaign to defend its indefensible illegal domestic wiretapping program, the Bush administration is turning to one of its tried and true marketing techniques - branding. The product? The "Terrorist Surveillance Program." In speeches this week, President Bush, former NSA program manager Air Force General Michael Hayden and other White House […]

Fox News has nothing if not, as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright might say, "cojones." Perhaps never more so than on Sunday, when its Big Story Primetime show featured Republican lobbyist and strategist Ralph Reed offering analysis on the Jack Abramoff scandal: 1:00am Big Story Primetime Abramoff Ripple Effect? Republican strategist Ralph Reed speaks […]

The new Ang Lee film Brokeback Mountain may be one of the most powerful love stories brought to theaters in recent years. It would also appear to be among the most successful at the box office, with the highest per screen take of any film in the United States during the past week. The "gay […]

It's been a very busy week for the Avenging Angel, punisher of conservative miscreants. Last week, Bob Woodward, the famed Watergate reporter, confirmed that he sold his soul to the devil. First, Woodward penned two Bush hagiographies in exchange for exclusive access to the White House. Now it it turns out that Woodward, who on […]

The past week has seen another shake-up in the Top 10 GOP Sound Bites. After the President's shameless Veterans Day speech, the smash hit "Rewriting History", performed by George Bush, RNC chairman Ken Mehlman and National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, jumped to the top of the charts. Kay Bailey Hutchison's ode to Scooter Libby, "No […]

One of most ironic - and enjoyable - side stories of the CIA Leak/PlameGate investigation has been the discovery of Lewis "Scooter" Libby's trashy 2001 novel, "The Apprentice." As the New Yorker describes at length, Libby, the right-hand man for staunchly conservative Vice President Dick Cheney, seemed quite comfortable writing about prostitution, deviant sexual acts […]

Just as the Senate prepares to begin the confirmation process for staunchly anti-choice nominee Sam Alito, the PBS series Frontline aired a powerful and important documentary on the latest developments in the war over reproductive rights. The segment, "The Last Abortion Clinic", was a sobering assessment for pro-choice advocates. Frontline charted the growing strength - […]

While the American military is bravely defending our freedoms and values abroad, the Air Force Academy is undermining them at home. Only weeks after the Academy acknowledged its hostile religious atmosphere and inappropriate born-again evangelization, Air Force football coach Fisher DeBerry added racial stereotyping to its woes. Following his team's loss to TCU last week, […]

The Hill is reporting that the Democratic Party may have settled on a slogan for the 2006 mid-term elections. The Democratic tag line being explored is "Together, America Can Do Better" or "Together We Can Do Better." Even at this early date, I can say that I wholeheartedly approve. Why? Because I suggested the exact […]

One of the recurring themes at Perrspectives is the growing Achilles Heel of the conservative movement. Dormant for two presidential elections, the yawning chasm between economic and social conservatives is reemerging, and with it, a serious threat to the Republicans' majority status. In the wake of its Schiavo disaster and the revolt over the Harriet […]