Quotabull

Our purpose is, and has always been, to ensure a civil and safe environment where the many types of campus activities and open discourse can occur.
— University of Florida Police Chief Linda Stump. According to an Oct. 25 Associated Press story: “University of Florida police were justified in using a Taser against a student who [...]

Quotabull

We have a responsibility to provide a moral framework for our kids.
— John Arthur Eaves Jr., Democratic candidate for governor in Mississippi, who once “rebuked the Democratic National Committee for leaving Jesus out of an Easter statement” and says he wants a “new day in Mississippi, where our children go to school with voluntary, student-led [...]

Quotabull

Today, a megayacht is indispensable. It’s not like 15 years ago, when a yacht was a luxury item.
— Olivier Milliex, head of yacht finance at the Dutch bank ING, on the occasion of this year’s Monaco yacht show.
At the moment, there is a definite war being waged in fashion, a move by a handful [...]

Hillary, John, Rudy, et al., we (the people) hardly knew ye …

If I’d had $1,000 to spare, the freedom to blow off a day of work and the cost of plane fare from Buffalo, N.Y., to Washington, D.C., I could have met presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, probably gotten photographed with her and listened to her speak on her perceptions of “domestic security.”
She and other members [...]

CREW: keeping track of corrupt politicians without fear or favor

It’s one thing to call politicians corrupt. It’s another, and more credible, thing to name the worst and back up the charges. But that’s what Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has done.
If you find corruption in government abhorrent and appalling — let alone a sinful waste of your tax dollars — then you’ll [...]

Conservatives may regret foolish FEC complaint

The American Conservative Union said Friday it has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, claiming the discount given by The New York Times for Moveon.org’s “General Betray Us” ad constitutes “a corporate soft money contribution to a federal political committee.”
It’s a foolish move, concocted in haste, and could fall prey to the Law [...]

For sale: $3 billion worth of political bullshit

This is your only warning. Turn off your TV set, or your will to live — or vote — may be decimated.
The Television Bureau of Advertising forecasts that the politicians who want your vote will spend about $3 billion in 2008, a presidential election year. As noted earlier at S&R, the presidential candidates alone have [...]

How should we evaluate the job performance of Congress?

Most people who work usually get “evaluated” by a boss of some sort. Sometimes it’s formal (with official rubrics and goals and outcomes and such) and sometimes it’s informal (”Just keep doin’ what you’re doin’ and show up to work on time.”).
A good (and presumably fair) evaluation means, you hope, that you get that [...]

Quotabull

And Brian will be back in our next hour with a look at the life- and-death question that is now being asked in Utah. Is it possible for those trapped miners to still be alive?
Well, they are cute, colorful, and they may be dangerous to your kids. Mattel is recalling more than 20 million toys [...]

The Saudi arms sale + campaign cash = profit?

Controversy continues to emerge about the United States’ intent to develop a proposed $20 billion, 10-year arms sales package for Saudi Arabia.
Brighter minds than this one can dissect Israel’s concern about point-point, laser-guided weapons parked next door, whether the driving idea behind the proposal is meant “to act as a bulwark against Iran’s growing [...]

Presidential candidates raise big cash fast — but from whom? And why?

A magician who seeks to retain his (or her) illusion for — and thus control over — the audience uses sleight of hand and misdirection. In the modern political era that began in earnest with the 1994 mid-term elections, a Republican majority in Congress mastered that art using the textbooks authored by former House [...]

Sen. Vitter, take II: Is the media missing the real story?

I repeat: Forget Sen. David Vitter’s penis. I’ve already pontificated about following his money. Now let’s focus on his ability to do his job under the cloud caused by his wandering wanker.
Sen. Vitter and soulmate Wendy met the press Monday but took no questions about his use of a prostitute. Mrs. Vitter offered support for [...]

Forget Sen. Vitter’s penis: Follow his money

They’re all over this guy — The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN. Sex sells, so they’re selling it — and doing a disservice to their readers and viewers.
It’s a story played over and over again in Congress (Wilbur Mills, anyone? Fanne Foxe?) A senator or member of Congress paints himself (or herself) [...]

Ron Paul: the people-powered candidate?

When Kos , Jerome Armstrong and other Dem blogger heavyweights discuss the need for a political infrastructure that’s built on small individual donors and “people-powered,” I doubt that Republican/libertarian darling Ron Paul was the first guy they thought of as a new leader using that model. And yet, the news that Paul has more [...]

Recent statements from morons

I understand the embarrassment that it caused the party. I will work diligently to make sure that these things don’t happen again.
— John Irish, chair of the Lucas County (Ohio) Democratic Party, in an apology for hiring strippers to work a party fundraiser at a public golf course, an event at which at least one [...]