Longtime readers of POLJUNK might remember a curmudgeon named Mike who used to write for this site. Well, he and I had a heated argument once over Tim Russert. Mike was convinced that Russert was soft on conservatives and disproportionally...
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a fair amount of white supremacists are actually hoping for an Obama presidency. Why? Because they believe that he would be so horrible a president that it would teach Americans a lesson...
On Monday, CNN reported that Hillary Clinton will stop including in her campaign speeches a wrenching story of an uninsured pregnant woman who lost her baby due to a lack of proper health care. The story was of a pregnant...
Making a run for GLONO's annual Upright Standing Man of the Year award is Keith Olbermann, who has launched a "nightly...indefinite" battle against Wal-Mart in an effort to raise awareness of the fact that the mega-billion dollar company sued a...
The Stone has an online gallery of their politically-themed covers from years past and present....
Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton created quite a stir recently when her campaign ran television advertisements suggesting that she, and not rival Barack Obama, was uniquely qualified to answer the White House's phone at 3:00 a.m., presumably in response to...
Here's why it's important to have an independent Justice Department: White House: Computer hard drives tossed In an attempt to thwart a federal court's plan to recover "lost" emails, the White House disclosed that older workstations are routinely sent offsite...
On Thursday, USA Today reported that the State Department has issued a warning to Americans who plan to attend the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. The State Department wants you to know that visitors to China might be under the...
The BBC reported on Monday that the German car manufacturer BMW will increase production at its Spartanburg, South Carolina factories. The move would create about 500 new jobs in America. The move is on the heels of an announcement by...
The Associated Press reported that Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King, citing Barack Obama's heritage, his commitment to pull troops out of Iraq and, of course, his middle name (Hussein) as reasons why Islamic radicals would "dance in the streets" if...
President Busha dn Vice President Cheney might want to think twice before visiitng the Vermont towns of Brattleboro or nearby Marlboro. Voters in both towns voted to indict both men for what they say are "violations against the constitution" and...
Conservatism ain't what it used to be, and now one of the champions of what is now being called "paleo-conservatism" is dead at the age of 82. William F. Buckley Jr. was a firebrand and a little bit creepy but...
A cross-post with our parent site, Glorious Noise. Still Missing Hunter Hard to believe we're slogging through another political season without the Chairman of the Committee to Legalize Fun, but here we are. Just think how much he'd have loved...
The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 - yes there really is one - theoretically precludes it, but how much you wanna bet we'll see an arms race in space soon? I think there's money to be made in laser beams,...
This morning, Wolf Blitzer interviewed former Secretary of State Colin Powell on CNN. Blitzer tried valiantly to extract an endorsement of a presidential candidate. Powell clearly identified himself as a republican, but he added that throughout his adult life he...
If you're in south Texas this weekend you better don thy safety orange gear. Dick Cheney is returning to the scene of the crime, that being the spot where he shot Austin lawyer Harry Whittington in the face in February...
John Cole calls Limbaugh out. Conservative? Hardly. More like a water carrier for whomever the dolts will follow: It sure would be nice to think that the base of the dwindling GOP is not as batshit insane as the nutters...
The biggest rat to jump the sinking ship of the Republican party is none other than blowhard pillhead Rush Limbaugh. It seems Rushbot is none-too-pleased with McCain pulling ahead in the GOP primaries and blames him and an uninspiring cast...
For the first time in about 25 years, the national percentage of unionized workers has gone up. From 12.0 percent to 12.1 percent. I think that percentage was more like 35% in the 1950s, so we've got a long way...
Remember all the hullabaloo around the fence the Department of Homeland Security wants to build along the southern border with Mexico? The rationale was that it would stop terrorists, curb the drug trade, and make those border towns safer for...
Golly! What to make of Mark Siljander, a Republican former Congressman from Michigan, who was indicted on 42 counts of everything from money laundering to obstructing justice. The indictments stem from his involvement in helping an Islamic(!) charity raise...
... I was just rocking out to some Metallica on my new combo taser and mp3 player. That's right, taser fans. Taser International has introduced the Taser MPH, which lets you listen to your favorite tunes while you tase the...
In what is the latest sign of the coming apocalypse, the AP has published a piece on taser parties as a vehicle to sell tasers to frightened suburban women. And the ladies love them. They're light, sleek, and available in...
Exercising a procedural maneuver to derail a constitutional loophole, Senate Democrats have been calling a series of pro forma sessions that ensures the President doesn't slide in any recess appointments while Congress is away on holiday break. The latest was...
More bad news out of Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto is dead. Killed along with at least 20 others at a rally. A tragic turn of events in Pakistan, and not a good sign for stability in the country....
Barron Hilton, grandfather of Paris Hilton, said this week that he plans to donate 97% of his fortune to charity when he dies. 97% of $2.8 billion dollars. That would leave about $84 million after the charitable donations. Which is...
J. Edgar Hoover would have fit in splendidly with the Bush team. From a New York Times piece - Hoover Planned Mass Jailing in 1950 - by Tim Weiner: A newly declassified document shows that J. Edgar Hoover, the longtime...
Quote of the Day: "If A Tape Is Not Safe In The CIA, We're In Trouble" --Former CIA Assistant General Counsel John Radsan The guy makes an excellent point in refuting the nonsense that the CIA had to destroy interrogation...
Shame on the 21 Democratic senators who voted for continuing to fund the Iraq war. Senate approves $70 billion for wars: After falling short on two attempts to force a change in war tactics, 21 Democrats joined one independent and...
The Senate voted 88 to 5 yesterday to pass the Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007. While it will protect millions of middle class Americans from being unfairly hit by the Alternative Minimum Tax this year, it doesn't provide for...
From the Wired Campus blog at the Chronicle of Higher Education: With winter breaks bearing down, the Recording Industry Association of America has sent out its monthly batch of pre-litigation notices a bit early this December. (The letters typically reach...
Remember when Dick Cheney was just a multimillionaire, oil and gas CEO? Bill Clinton was president, and we were still in the midst of the longest economic expansion in American history? In 1999, Halliburton fired 9,000 employees, because of the...
Headline: Cheney Has Irregular Heartbeat Wait, Cheney has a heart...?...
Salon has an excellent piece running today on the hypocrisy of the GOP, which used to run on a law and order platform, for not holding their own president accountable to US and international law. Have these guys put party...
Breaking from our non-stop Mike Huckabee coverage...Trent Lott announced his resignation from the Senate today, joining a gang of recent Republicans who have jumped ship in recent weeks. Lott's retirement means that Republicans will have to defend 23 seats in...
The beating that John Howard and his Liberal Party took in Australia's elections today reminded me of what Howard had to say when Barack Obama announced he was running for president: If I was running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would...
Good news for people who care about the future of the planet: John Howard is no longer Prime Minister in Australia. Labor is in, and the Liberal Party is out. Kevin Rudd, the new Prime Minister, promised to take global...
I wonder if Scott McClellan and his publisher expected the selection from McClellan's new book to create such a stir. You would think so. Here's the bit that's causing alarm. It's in reference to the ex-Press Secretary's denials of White...
Stranger things have happened, but there's a very good chance that there will be a ballot initiative in 2008 for legalizing medical marijuana in Michigan. The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care gathered 496,000 signatures in support of a legalization measure....
Last week, Ed Markey (D-MA) introduced the Bottle Recycling Climate Protection Act (H.R. 4238), a bill that would mandate a 5 cent deposit on all beverage bottles and cans. Including water bottles. Markey: Congress can send the nation a global...
This Boston Globe piece from September points out that the Democrats are generally meeting their pledge to cut earmarks in half: The $459 billion military budget approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this month, the largest annual federal spending...
This past Thursday, 72 Republicans introduced a resolution to establish a Joint Select Committee on Earmark Reform. I wonder why they never considered doing that while they were in control of Congress for the past 6 years? The committee would...
In the comfortable confines of Air Force One, the President vetoed the health and education appropriations bill the Congress sent him, and signed a defense appropriations bill. The president whined that the health and education bill included $20 billion more...
The Kucinich sponsored bill that calls for impeaching Vice President Cheney was referred to the Judiciary Committee last week, where it will likely die. On Friday, Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) sent a letter to Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), chair of the...
As we've discussed before, two farmers in North Dakota - State Rep. David Monson of Osnabrock, ND and Wayne Hauge of Ray, ND - are trying to get a license from the DEA to grow industrial hemp. The State legislature...
According to the I.R.S., the top 1% of earners in this country make 21% of all the income in the U.S. Robert Reich gives more detail here: The 25 highest paid hedge fund managers are earning more than the CEOs...
From Talking Points Memo: During last night's Senate confirmation of Michael Mukasey — which passed 53-40 — every presidential candidate currently in the Senate missed the vote. Democrats Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden, plus Republican John...
Senator Russ Fiengold (D-WI) makes the right call on Mukasey's confirmation. He's going to vote no: This was a difficult decision, as Judge Mukasey has many impressive qualities ... Unfortunately, Judge Mukasey was unwilling to reject the extreme and dangerous...
The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) was originally intended to make sure a handful of rich people - 155 families - weren't able to almost avoid paying federal income taxes entirely. That was in 1969. Now, because the AMT isn't indexed...
Any chance of blocking the Mukasey confirmation are dead with this news. In defending her support for Mukasey, Feinstein said "first and foremost, Michael Mukasey is not Alberto Gonzales." The statement from Schumer is a little better: I deeply oppose...
Leahy is the 5th Senator on the Judiciary Committee to say he won't vote to move the Mukasey confirmation to the Senate floor. Leahy said in a statement: No American should need a classified briefing to determine whether waterboarding is...
Warren Buffett, telling it like it is to Tom Brokaw: The taxation system has tilted towards the rich and away from the middle class in the last ten years. It's dramatic, and I don't think it's appreciated. And I think...
A bipartisan group, led by Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC), has introduced an amendment to the 1973 War Powers Act that aims to reassert the Congress's role in declaring war. Jones on the bill and why it's needed: This bill...
As part of his supplemental war funding request - the one where he asks for another $46 billion for the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan - Bush is demanding $1.4 billion for fighting the drug wars in Mexico and Central...
In July, I posted on a piece in the Christian Science Monitor that said about 90% of the guns used by Mexican drug cartels come from the U.S. A commenter questioned that number, and asked where it came from. Not...
In a New York Times piece on his new record, Chrome Dreams II, Neil introduces his plan to drive his custom hybrid car across the country: The car is a 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV, a 19-foot, two-ton behemoth. It...
On Thursday, Charlie Rangel (D-NY) introduced a bill that calls for the most significant overhaul to the tax system in decades. In general, the taxes paid by people making more than $200,000 would go up, and would go down or...
From a hot off the press AP article: The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess. "Is it...
From a Guardian piece, "Cannabis use down since legal change": Gordon Brown's plans to tighten the law on cannabis by increasing the penalties for possession suffered a fresh blow yesterday as the latest official figures showed the decision to downgrade...
Remember way back in the early days of the Bush administration when we all got a check for $300? Man, that was awesome. I spent mine on credit card bills and a great night of cheap beer. But that was...
The farm bill that's going to come out of the Senate Agriculture Committee is not going to be as progressive as Tom Harkin (D-IA), the committee chairman, had hoped it was going to be. He and Senator Charles Grassley -...
The editorial board at the New York Times has launched a blog called The Board. Which brings the total of NYT sponsored blogs to 856. Or something like that. The NYT editorial board is the best in the country. I'm...
Way back when, I took some history classes at a community college in Michigan to shore up my general ed. credits. I had an instructor there named Mr. Schlosser who was so great that I took two more of his...
I don't know if Senator Larry Craig is gay or not. I know he's said he's not gay about 120 times since his arrest for soliciting sex in a men's bathroom in Minneapolis this summer. I also know this dude...
Tonight, PBS stations will be airing a new Frontline documentary called Cheney's Law. It's all about Cheney's efforts over the past 30 years to grant king like powers to the presidency - the kinds of powers that the founders were...
It's not often we have an occasion here to praise President Bush, but fair is fair and we should acknowledge when the President does make the right decision. This week, President Bush hosted the Dalai Lama in his personal residence...
This past weekend, the New York Times ran an article entitled "Could Afghan Poppies Be Painkillers for the Poor?" Those crazy potheads... what will they think of next? An excerpt: [R]ather than trying to eradicate Afghanistan's poppies, why not instead...
I am betting the name Larry Craig elicits more boos and hisses among the GOP leadership these days than that of either Clinton. This dude is KILLING them and there's not a thing they can do about it. Of the...
The Anti-Defamation League came out with a statement on Friday, addressing Ann Coulter's assertion that she and other Christians "just want Jews to be perfected." From the statement: Coulter's remarks are outrageous, offensive and a throwback to the centuries-old teaching...
As people have been speculating and expecting, Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today. He shares the award with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations committee of over 2,000 scientists around the globe that...
TV Guide, of all places, has a brief interview with Chris Matthews, where he elaborates a bit more on his comments at last week's Hardball 10th anniversary party: TVGUIDE.COM: You caused a stir with some remarks you made at the...
If you follow politics at all, you probably know now that Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) has decided to serve out his term, despite his pledge that he would resign by the end of September. Republicans, of course, are apoplectic about...
Even Chris Matthews is fed up with the Bush administration. Last night, at a party celebrating 10 years of Hardball, Matthews had some not so nice things to say about the Bush administration. He even went so far as to...
We recently noted that Christopher Hitchens thinks Gore will win the Nobel next week. More folks (did I just say "folks"?) are thinking the same thing: "I think [Gore and Canadian Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier] are likely winners this year,"...
People have been predicting at least as far back as April that Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) would retire in 2008. Word on the street now is that he is. He's supposed to announce officially tomorrow. You know what might be...
Rolling Stone may be all but irrelevant in the music world but it's political reporting is still pretty hot. In fact, I wish Wenner would just launch a new poltical imprint so I can get all the Taibbi, O'Rourke and...
As expected, President Bush has vetoed legislation that would expand healthcare funding and coverage for uninsured children in this country. Since Bush came to office, the number of uninsured Americans has increased from 40 million to 47 million. Now that's...
You wouldn't know it by some of the votes that have actually taken place in congress lately, but there are some very important issues facing this country that we'd like our elected representatives in congress to address. Among the many...
From a Sept. 5th New York Times piece - What Is John Dingell Really Up To?: After the town hall meeting was over — and he had listened to a couple of hours of questions about timed traffic lights, nuclear...
The Stone has excerpts and photos from an oral history of Hunter S. Thompson, whose hilarious and amazingly insightful political reporting inspired POLJUNK. Choice cut: Gene McGarr (lived and worked with Hunter in New York after Hunter was discharged...
When news broke last week that Columbia University had invited Iranian President Ahmadinejad to speak on campus, the right wing blogosphere and talking heads exploded into self-righteous indignation. "How could they legitimize this tyrant by allowing him to speak?" they...
Growing up in Michigan—which, for those geographically challenged readers, is a border state with Canada—it was always fun to pick on our northerly neighbors and their cute, colorful play money. A Canadian dollar was worth maybe sixty cents here...
Alan Greenspan has a new book. He talks about lots of things, including how lowering interest rates to 1% in 2003 was "a decision done right" even though he knew it risked fostering a housing bubble. That was before the...
Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) set up a news conference for Monday in Omaha. The rumor has been that he is going to announce he will not seek re-election in 2008. The AP is now running a story that has a...
Either God is really angry with what conservatives are doing with His words or the Rapture is much slower and less exciting than I'd hoped. Conservatives are dropping like flies as the following headlines illustrate: Megachurch leader D. James Kennedy...
Just when Republicans thought it was safe again to take a dump in a public restroom, Larry Craig says he's re-thinking his decision to resign from the US Senate amid accusations of lewd behavior at the Minneapolis Airport. Craig's spokesman,...
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently began sending instructions to more than 300 public companies that will require them to more fully disclose executive compensation packages. The disclosures will need to be written in "plain English," and must sufficiently describe...
The New York Times reports today that investment bankers make more than 10 times what other Americans working in the private sector make. And that multiple is conservative, as it takes into account the secretaries and other office workers who...
Disgraced Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) announced his resignation earlier today. From the news conference: "It is with sadness and deep regret that I announce it is my intent to resign from the Senate effective Sept. 30" ... "The people of...
Longtime Republican Senator John Warner is retiring at the end of this term. "So, I say that my work and service to Virginia as a senator — and I repeat, my work and service to Virginia as a senator --...
A victory for gay Americans living in Iowa (and potentially a good legal precedent for all gay Americans): A county judge struck down Iowa's decade-old gay marriage ban as unconstitutional Thursday and ordered local officials to process marriage licenses for...
Instead of wasting his breath on declarations that he's not gay (the louder he yells, the less likely I am to believe him), Sen. Larry Craig should have just hired a lawyer and had the charges bounced. According to legal...
Yes, Big Alberto has finally turned in his paperwork. "It has been one of my greatest privileges to lead the Department of Justice," Gonzales said at a news conference, announcing his resignation effective Sept. 17. I am actually surprised the...
Here's something to celebrate. From a Chicago Tribune article: Responding to a month of unrelenting criticism from politicians and the public, BP pledged it will not invoke provisions of a new permit that allows the largest oil refinery in the...
From an AP article: U.S. District Court Judge Saundra Armstrong ruled Tuesday that the Bush administration had violated a 1990 law when it failed to meet deadlines for an updated U.S. climate change research plan and impact assessment. [...] The...
