Category: State of the Union

  • Appearance of Conflict of Interest

    That’s a concept we’re hearing a a lot about lately: Over the weekend the Comical ran a WaPo story reporting that the EPA’s Inspector General says there is no such thing as quid pro quo: The inspector general’s yearlong review of the EPA’s writing of a rule to manage shop towels contaminated with toxic chemicals…

  • Remembering what America stands for

    I’m reprinting this report from the AP in full: U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour’s comments during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing for Ahmed Ressam, as provided by court officials. Ressam, an Algerian national, was sentenced to 22 years for plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on the eve of the millennium. — “Okay. Let me…

  • The president’s bike is missing

    A White House press briefing quoted at length in Editor & Publisher (via The Smirking Chimp) goes on and on in this vein: Q: The fact that the president wasn’t in danger is one aspect of this. But he’s also the commander in chief. There was a military operation underway. Other people were in contact…

  • The Mainstreaming of Vice

    I’ve been puzzling for a couple of years now about the pornification of America. Take a step back and, at least to me, it’s really quite remarkable and a bit unnerving how casually pop culture 2005 assumes everyone’s comfortable with hardcore pornography. This is especially true in sitcom-land, where porn-related jokes are a dime a…

  • RIP Hunter S. Thompson

    desiunion has posted what he believes was HST’s last Rolling Stone article up on dailykos.

  • The Sad Death of Spencer Dryden

    I’m old enough to remember when the Airplane ruled San Francisco and rocked my adolescent world, but I confess I barely noticed Spencer Dryden’s drumming between the trebly distortion of Jorma’s guitar and Grace’s Icy Bitch Goddess persona. But this post isn’t about my taste in popular music. Reading through the fan tributes in the…