Mayberry GOP—The 2002 Alabama gubernatorial election included the plot elements of a bad Southern Gothic: a Klan rally in the backwoods; a political operative stealing the opposition’s signs and planting them at the rally; a lawyer stalking and photographing the operative; incriminating photos used to extort a political candidate; and a cabal of lawyers maneuvering […]

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“I HAVE STRONGLY SUPPORTED THE S-CHIP as a governor, and I have done so as president,” said President Bush at the beginning of a hastily called press conference on September 20. He was lying. Most elected officials lie. Two books have documented the president’s programmatic deceit. Yet the lie President Bush told about his position […]

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The $50 Billion War—By 2004, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s 2003 prediction that the Iraq War would cost $50 billion was recognized as wildly off the mark, even if Rumsfeld didn’t realize it. Rumsfeld is no longer handicapping war costs, but Steven M. Kosiak at the non-profit Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments is. Kosiak pulled […]

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ON AUGUST 15, PETE SEDA CAME HOME. He had written to the U.S. Attorney in Eugene, Oregon, advising him that he would arrive in Portland at 11:25 a.m. on Lufthansa Flight 425. I was waiting for Seda in the international lobby at the airport, as was Associate Press reporter William McCall. There was also a […]

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A Reasonable Judge at Justice?—Choosing a replacement for Alberto Gonzalez did not prove all that easy for George W. Bush. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made it clear that former solicitor general Theodore B. Olson was damaged if not dead. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had so badly botched the federal response to Katrina that […]

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