As the Washington Post reported this week, Internet giant Google has deployed a substantial lobbying team in the nation's capital. The company, whose corporate mantra is "Don't Be Evil," hopes to avoid Microsoft's anti-trust woes of the 1990's by getting its hands dirty in the gritty world of Washington politics. Of course, when it comes […]

Fresh off his Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," former Vice President Al Gore has authored a new book, The Assault on Reason. Excerpted in Time as part of a feature on Gore, the book is a jeremiad against the crippled state of American political discourse and democracy itself. But as prescient as Gore is on […]

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 […]

In an interview with the Denver Post editorial board, Karl Rove signaled that President Bush would use the first veto of his presidency to block Congressional stem cell legislation. For Democrats, that veto threat could be just what the doctor ordered. In a nutshell, Bush's 2006 base-baiting, red meat strategy could well backfire when it […]

In his December 19th press conference regarding his secret and likely illegal program of domestic surveillance, an angry President George W. Bush took umbrage at suggestions that he believes in unprecedented, expansive and unchecked presidential power. A fuming Bush responded: "To say 'unchecked power' basically is ascribing some kind of dictatorial position to the President, […]

For those of you who missed, CBS offered a fawning portrait of Google on last night's installment of 60 Minutes. Aside from a brief mention of the Microsoft threat, Leslie Stahl's lovefest had little negative to say about everyone's favorite Internet company. Well, not quite everyone. As we reported last year, Google the Internet darling […]

Speaking of cognitive dissonance, the Bush administration continues to merrily amble forward as the situation in Iraq degrades and the stench of American abuse of prisoners grows. Earlier today, President Bush blandly stated that "free elections will proceed as planned." . At the same time he was issuing this pablum, the New York Times and […]

For those who have been following the controversy created by Google's ban on advertising from Perrspectives, a Najaf-like truce of sorts has been reached.  On July 23,  Google reversed course and upon further review concluded that Perrspectives did not violate its guidelines on advocacy speech. Unfortunately for all involved, however, Google did not change its […]

2004 could be a big year for Internet search giant Google. Its IPO will be one of the biggest crossover business, technology and social news stories of the year. The launch of its Gmail service could put the company in the forefront of web-based email services while creating a major new revenue stream. Its pervasiveness among users (“to Google”) and advertisers […]