Republicans are not merely beaten and battered. As they revealed once again at the kickoff event for their latest extremist makeover, they are confused as well. According to the McCain/Palin ticket and later myriad Republicans in Congress, Barack Obama is a "socialist." While their tea-bagging faithful slander Obama as a "communist," their erstwhile leader Glenn […]

This week, Judge Jay Bybee broke his silence regarding his infamous August 2002 torture memo, calmly declaring "the conclusions were legally correct." But while some Democrats want the 9th Circuit Appeals Court judge impeached or at least to testify before Congress, New York Rep. Peter King believes Bybee should be "given a medal." As it […]

The end of the Souter era on the U.S. Supreme Court also officially marks the beginning of the GOP's new found love of the judicial filibuster. After years in the majority insisting President Bush's picks for the bench deserved an "up or down vote," the same Republican Senators are now threatening to turn to the […]

With the departure of Arlen Specter and its party identification flat-lining at 20%, the GOP is launching a national rebranding effort. As part of its National Council for a New America, the Party of No will host public forums around the country for its rag-tag band of tea-bagging faithful and anyone who else wants to […]

The Washington Post and AP are reporting that Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter will officially change parties. But while Specter's gambit to escape both his reactionary party and an uphill battle in the 2010 GOP primary could provide Democrats with a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate, President Obama's allies shouldn't be so sure. After […]

Dating back to at least the presidency of George H.W. Bush, conservative defenders of the Republican faith have turned to the "criminalizing politics" evasion when confronted with the lawlessness and wrong-doing of their leaders. And so it is once again with the fierce debate regarding the potential prosecution of the architects of the Bush administration's […]

During one of the more memorable episodes of Seinfeld, George Costanza helps Jerry prepare for a lie detector test by advising, "it's not a lie if you believe it." And so it is with Republican defenders of the Bush administration's regime of detainee torture. As it turns out, Marc Thiessen, David Rivkin, Peggy Noonan, Michael […]

In 1993, Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously warned that American society was "defining deviancy down." To the approval of conservatives, Moynihan cautioned that when it came to crime, family breakdown and other social pathologies, "we have been re-defining deviancy so as to exempt much conduct previously stigmatized, and also quietly raising the 'normal' level […]

The truth may set you free, but not if you're a Republican and the subject is taxes. After all, 95% of American families as promised received a tax cut from the Obama stimulus package. And while three-quarters of Americans support President Obama's proposal to roll back the Bush tax cuts for those earning over $250,000 […]

When it comes to conservative politics, it's a very small world indeed. Here in the United States, Pastor Rick Warren canceled an Easter appearance on ABC's This Week after his comic reversal on Prop 8 produced a firestorm of criticism from his allies in the religious right. And while Politico Friday reported a split in […]