President Bush's cynical efforts to block over the counter sales of the emergency contraceptive Plan B have taken on almost comic proportions in recent days. But kowtowing to the radical right on Plan B has come at a steep price for Mike Leavitt, George Allen and other Republicans in the administration and Congress. The Senate […]

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 […]

Massachusetts Governor and '08 GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney showed his true colors in Iowa this weekend. Effortlessly using the racial slur "tar baby" to describe the Boston Big Dig project, Romney joined White House press secretary Tony Snow on the long list of Republicans who by design or by blunder traffic in the language […]

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 […]

Bush Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt headlines another week of wrongdoing by the miscreants of the right. The HHS chief earned the wrath of the Avenging Angel this week for proving that charity does indeed begin at home. Bush's go-to man on blocking the morning after pill used a non-profit foundation to enrich […]

As the Washington Post reports today, the already bitter Virginia Senate race between incumbent George Allen and Democrat Jim Webb is getting downright nasty. Watching his lead dwindle and his 2008 presidential hopes put in peril, the Vietnam-era freeloader Allen is attacking the patriotism of the Vietnam war hero Webb over the former Navy Secretary's […]