Cuccinelli In Court—In the September 1 issue we referred to the scientific critique that Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli included in a broad subpoena of the correspondence of climate scientist Michael Mann. In denying the subpoena, a circuit court judge in Virginia made it clear that he’s not buying Cuccinelli’s science. “The court has read […]

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Senator David Vitter easily defeated retired state Supreme Court Justice Chet Traylor and physician Nick J. Accardo in the August 28 Louisiana Republican primary. Both candidates had little money and little name recognition. But the one-term senator goes into the fall campaign with a number of political sins hanging around his neck. They include ties […]

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Redefining Terrorism—Long before right-wing opportunists began using the building of an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan to inflame public passions, federal law-enforcement was focused on a less conspicuous address. The “prayer house” on 1257 Siskiyou Blvd. in Ashland, Oregon, was owned by the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation of Oregon, a Muslim charity that in 2001 was […]

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Reprising Molly Ivins “You could stand on the corner in Austin and spit across three Congressional districts because of what DeLay did.” —Defense attorney Dick DeGuerin quoting Molly Ivins   Austin, Texas I thought I had walked into the wrong courtroom. The electronic bulletin board that lists criminal defendants read: “DeLay, Thomas Dale.” The former […]

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Economic Amnesia—It is an article of faith among the Tea Party movement that the “socialist” policies of Barack Obama have had little effect other than adding to the deficit and federal debt. Studies by the Obama administration and the Congressional Budget Office have found that to the contrary, government intervention meant the difference between a […]

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