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Archive for the 'Abuse of Power' Category

Two Things I Wish Obama Would Stop Saying

Wednesday, October 1st, 2008

by Mike

I like Obama, don’t get me wrong. But there are two things in particular that just drive me nuts every time he utters them.

Civil Service Reform

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

by Mike

Probably the two biggest scandals of the Bush Administration have been the politicization of the Justice Department (which led to the dismissal of Alberto Gonzalez) and the Valerie Plame scandal (which led to the prosecution of the Vice President’s Chief of Staff for perjury). In both cases, the Bush Administration consciously ruined the careers [...]

Bring Back Those 9/10 Mindsets!

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

by Mike

The GOP is trying to turn this election, in part, into a referendum on President Bush’s handling of the War on Terror. In particular, conservative pundits (cheered by both the White House and the McCain campaign) have attacked Obama for praising the response to the first World Trade Center attacks, bringing back the charge [...]

The Log In Your Own Eye

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

by Mike

Number one rule of politics: always accuse your opponents of your own faults. Want to cater to the upper class? Accuse your opponents of fueling class warfare. Want to pursue policies that ignore the concerns of minorities? Accuse your opponents of “playing the race card”.

Respect The Law

Tuesday, November 6th, 2007

by Mike

One of my biggest problems with the Bush presidency is his style. Once you get beyond the bad policies and the incompetent, politically motivated administration, he has the fundamental belief that the president ought to have the right to interpret the laws for himself; to charge forward with his policies and then to maybe [...]

Confirmation Dilemma

Thursday, November 1st, 2007

by Mike

In his press conference this afternoon, President Bush attacked Congress for not moving faster on the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey for Attorney General. In a baffling statement, President Bush reportedly said that it was improper for Congress to ask the nominee how he feels about interrogation methods on which the nominee has not [...]

Please, Let This Be A Dream…

Wednesday, October 17th, 2007

by Mike

“This government does not torture people.”
Or so repeated President Bush a mere twelve days ago, after the New York Times reported that on CIA interrogation methods that sound an awful lot like torture.
And so, in today’s press conference, President Bush was asked how he defined torture. The Commander in Chief made a bold statement [...]

Power, Torture, and the American Way

Thursday, October 4th, 2007

by Mike

In his New York Times blog Dick Cavett describes how he was once targeted by the Nixon Administration. In particular, he testified as a character witness for John Lennon during his deportation hearings. Within the next three years, every single member of his staff was audited by the IRS. The newly released [...]

Time to Go

Thursday, August 30th, 2007

by Mike

Should Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) resign? I’m sure you’ve all heard by now how he was arrested awhile back in an airport bathroom in Minneapolis for soliciting sex from an undercover cop, how he plead guilty to a “lesser charge” without consulting his staff, his family, or his lawyer, and how he now wants [...]

GOP: Grand Old Power-grab

Wednesday, July 11th, 2007

by Mike

President Bush’s notion of executive privilege is completely bogus. This isn’t surprising. The problem, however, is that President Bush will likely be on his way out the door by the time the courts really have a chance to rule on any of these issues. The president only has eighteen months in office, [...]