Pardon Me?—The 30-month sentence of former vice-presidential chief of staff Scooter Libby for obstruction of justice and perjury presents Dick Cheney with a dilemma. As assistant chief of staff in Gerald Ford’s administration, Cheney opposed Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon. Cheney, who served in the House after Ford lost to Jimmy Carter, believed Ford should […]

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ETHANOL IS A MAGIC ELIXIR. It allows politicians and political operatives to promise voters that America can achieve “energy independence.” In this new energy Valhalla, American farmers will be rich, fat and happy, thanks to all the money they will be making from “energy crops.” Better yet, U.S. soldiers will never again need to visit […]

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Democratic senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Patrick Leahy of Vermont are making a big statement with a small bill. In the House, California Democrat Henry Waxman already has. It’s an amendment to the Presidential Records Act. If it passes the Senate, this will be another sign that the Congress is reasserting its constitutional […]

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Senator Hothead—Arizona Republican senator and presidential candidate John McCain hadn’t been in town to cast a Senate vote in five weeks when he jumped on Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) for slowing down final negotiations on the bipartisan immigration bill, thereby delaying McCain’s departure for a New York fund-raising event. McCain wanted to attend a midday […]

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Going After Rove—McClatchy newspaper reporters Marisa Taylor and Margaret Talev’s May 3 syndicated story provides another justification for Congress to subpoena Karl Rove, the White House Senior Advisor. Rove was already linked to the plan to fire U.S. Attorneys who weren’t “loyal Bushies.” The McClatchy reporters placed Rove in the middle of what appears to […]

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