When Lt. Col. Oliver North became NRA President yesterday, gun lovers throughout America welcomed their new leader. CEO Wayne LaPierre called him "a legendary warrior for American freedom, a gifted communicator and skilled leader" and Dana Loetsch praised him as "a total warrior ...read more
Fareed Zakaria is rewriting history to give conservatism a pass. Rather than Trump being the natural evolution of Republicanism, he's now the "end" of Reagan's revolution, destroying the "libertarian" GOP and turning it into something ugly and crass:The Reagan redefinition of the ...read more
According to an assortment of scholars across the political spectrum, Donald Trump, after just one year in office, is one of the worst presidents to ever darken the Oval Office. When tallied together, the collective score for Trump is...dead last:Let’s say that, according to the ...read more
It has been said by any number of pundits over the past few years that Ronald Reagan could not win the presidential nomination of the current Republican party. But even though the man himself may be considered a dangerous liberal by members of the "Freedom Caucus" and other ...read more
The early damage done by the Trump administration to public health, the economy, international relations and to the earth itself will, in the aftermath, require many years to assess, let alone repair. There is also a more subtle issue—namely the damage to American civility, ...read more
While the press has been slowly coming to terms with the fact that Trump's voters will never turn on him as long as he inflicts harm on brown people, they've been more confused by Republicans supporting a madman....To continue reading this article, please go here. A Banter ...read more
Argue with a conservative long enough and you will inevitably hear one of their favorite talking points: Liberals just want free handouts and should get a job. The insinuation of course is that only conservatives know anything about hard work and earning a living. You'll be ...read more
For weeks, there's been speculation about whether or not Donald Trump would attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The dinner is a chance for presidents to poke fun at the press and to show off their lighter side as they take some ribbing of their own. It was never going ...read more
Ezra Klein makes a very generous observation about Republican ideology: "We are about to learn whether Republicans are more addicted to power or to ideas." The idea in question? Keeping deficit spending under control.Right after the election, the Tea Party Caucus made some noise ...read more
With Trump filling his Cabinet with hawkish generals and religious lunatics, neo-conservatives are salivating at the prospect of a return to the "good ol' days" when the world was terrified that the United States would start World War III on a whim.In a New York Times op-ed that ...read more
Of all the dumb shit that's being said about the $400 million "ransom" that isn't a ransom.perhaps none is dumber, shittier, or more irritating than this dumb shit:Let's just hold on a second. President Obama and his staff briefed the entire world about the $400 million payment ...read more
Patti Davis, the daughter of Ronald Reagan, took to her Facebook page to eviscerate Donald Trump for his “glib and horrifying comment” encouraging Second Amendment activists to potentially shoot Hillary Clinton once she started picking federal judges. She wrote:To Donald Trump: I ...read more
If being gay were a choice, I might just have to go gay for Obama right now, because he just did three of my most favoritest things at once, those being owning Republicans with facts, humiliating Donald Trump, and shitting all over Saint Ronald Reagan, Trump's racist ...read more
The Washington Post is out with a pretty yellow piece implying that Ronald Reagan didn't like Donald Trump based on pretty much zero evidence, which isn't a big surprise considering how protective people are of Saint Reagan and his spooky similarities to Donald Trump.While I was ...read more
Believe it or not, I would be extremely happy if, over the past 8 years, we could have spent a good deal of time on this site going after the Obama administration for its various sins. Obama's drone policy, his legally questionable crackdown on whistle blowers and his signature ...read more
As happens from time to time, the late Ronald Reagan was trotted out the other day to show just how much better he was than our current President, but since history is hard for conservatives, we've put together a handy guide to some of the ways Ronald Reagan was WAY better than ...read more
George Monbiot has written an incredibly important and timely essay on the world's greatest killer: neoliberal economics. In his piece, Monbiot argues that the economic ideology is essentially the root of all major problems on the planet right now -- financial crises, poverty, ...read more
Not that facts or reality have any bearing on positions held by modern Republicans whatsoever, but going against the gospel word of Ronald Reagan is considered a cardinal sin in conservative circles -- a sin busily being committed as Republicans denounce President Obama for ...read more
On the sizzling heels of Senator Ted Cruz's (R-TX) victory in Monday night's Iowa caucuses, there has been a rush by the media to topple the candidacy of Iowa runner-up Donald Trump like some gold-plated, questionably-coiffed Saddam Hussein statue. It's true that Trump ...read more
The leading voies who are trashing President Obama securing the freedom of four U.S. prisoners from Iran this weekend, including former Marine Amir Hekmati, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, and Pastor Saeed Abedin have tied themselves in knots expressing happiness at the ...read more
On the heels of Tuesday's landmark deal to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, late former President Ronald Reagan has been on a lot of people's minds, and lips. In addition to countless political pundits and reporters, though, their number includes the architect of the ...read more
Update: On Thursday afternoon, President Obama called Prime Minister Netanyahu to congratulate him. The White House released the following readout (via email):Readout of the President’s Call with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel President Obama spoke today by telephone with ...read more
Before this week, the Logan Act was something you would disgustedly tell Hugh Jackman to drop, but as of Monday morning, it is the hot arcane law du jour. As a douchier writer might put it, the Logan Act is having a moment due to the 47 Republican senators who decided to send the ...read more
Today is a very special day, made even more special by current events. Just yesterday, Secretary of State John Kerry announced a seven-month extension of negotiations with Iran over their nuclear program, while under pressure from Congress to ramp up sanctions on the Iranian ...read more
The right wing went predictably nuts over President Obama's immigration speech Thursday night, but they particularly keyed in on the President's use of biblical scripture in his address. Toward the end of the speech, the president made this reference, from Exodus 23-9:"Are we a ...read more
If there's anything that annoys liberals more than the constant derpy comparisons of Barack Obama to Ronald Reagan, it is President Obama's (and before that, Senator Obama's) constant stream of praise for Saint Ronnie. You know what I'm talking about, shit like this: ...read more
You'd never know it by listening to AM talk radio or watching cable news or even reading social media, but based on leading economic indicators, President Obama's record on the economy is actually much stronger than Ronald Reagan's record. Shocking, I know, but it's true. There's ...read more
A particularly intolerable meme continues to play out in the news media and online: apparently U.S. history began on January 20, 2009 when Barack Obama was inaugurated. In case you were unaware, President Obama is evidently the first president to take vacations; he's the first ...read more
If you're the type of conservative who thinks that being called out for homophobia is a form of bigotry or censorship, dealing with the liberal crowd on Facebook might be too much for you. Until now, Republicans' main alternative has been the Tea Party Community, a writhing nexus ...read more
Everyone is making fun of Joe Scarborough for being horribly wrong about Ronald Reagan's response to the downing of a South Korean civilian airliner by the Soviets in 1983, but surely he wouldn't have stuck to his schedule in the face of that disaster and a roiling crisis in the ...read more
There's a new poll out showing that President Obama is the Worst President Since World War II, a poll which CNN reported on with the not-even-skin-deep shallowness we've come to expect from the mainstream media. The Quinnipiac poll shows that Obama was rated worst by more ...read more
Former President Jimmy Carter (D-GA) has been all over the place recently to promote his new book, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power, and providing memorable guest appearances in the process. He stopped by Thom Hartmann's radio program last week, and Hartman ...read more
We have to run through this exercise every time the far-right craps its cage about President Obama shaking hands with [insert other world leader here]. And it happened again today when -- shock horror -- the president shook hands with Raul Castro, brother of Cuba's Fidel Castro. ...read more
The cognitive dissonance within the tea party is already notorious (I'll have more tomorrow morning). Yesterday, for example, Sarah Palin quoted Ronald Reagan during her remarks at the rally near the World War II memorial in Washington, DC yesterday. So if we're bringing Reagan ...read more
The Republican Congressman from Iowa tweeted this: The House passed a King amendment to nullify President Obama'sExecutive Order that has stopped the deportation undocumented immigrants who were brought here as children. He also opposes the Senate's bill and blames it all on ...read more
By Robert ParryThe conviction of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt on charges of genocide against Mayan villagers in the 1980s has a special meaning for Americans who idolize Ronald Reagan. It means that their hero was an accessory to one of the most grievous crimes ...read more
By Robert ParryThe first month of the genocide trial of former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt has elicited chilling testimony from Mayan survivors who – as children – watched their families slaughtered by a right-wing military that was supported and supplied by U.S. ...read more
President Ronald Reagan.By Ivan ElandAs usual, at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), speaker after speaker idolized the stylized image of Ronald Reagan. Unfortunately, humans believe images, which often diverge from reality; that’s why advertising on TV ...read more
Why never raising taxes has become rigid doctrine in Republican ideology is anyone's guess, but it continues to look like the orthodoxy is finally beginning to crack. Senators Lindsey Graham and Saxby Chambliss have both come out against Grover Norquist's pledge to never raise ...read more
There's a serious battle going on in Las Vegas that encapsulates the ongoing conflict between capital and labor in the US, the consequences of which could even determine the Presidential election. Reports the Guardian:On one side the Culinary Union, representing Lawrence and ...read more
By Bob Cesca: Desperate to reverse the losing streak of the last three weeks, the Romney campaign and its surrogates have, once again, rolled out the racially antagonistic "Obama Is Lazy" line of attack. It's nothing new, of course. Republicans and the Romney campaign have been ...read more
By Bob Cesca: As I watch the convention coverage and glance across the throng of Republican delegates, I can't help but to think, "Ah yes. This makes sense. The nation's most confused and contradictory Americans have gathered to nominate a liar for president." I know. I know. ...read more
By Bob Cesca: Here's the biggest flimflam the Republican Party will try to get away with this year. Wait. Let's qualify that statement. There are quite a few scams in the works right now from the Romney/Ryan/Republican cabal. Some of the more egregious ones include the one in ...read more
By Bob Cesca: Okay, so this won't be a column about the biggest lie in the history of the universe. I have no idea what that might be. But I can safely say that today's column is about the biggest lie in the history of the last several days. Before I dive into the specific lie, ...read more
By Bob Cesca: For the last couple of days, I've been totally obsessed with recent polls that confirm the correlation between the American people and the townspeople of Springfield on The Simpsons. I'm not breaking any news with that comparison since the legendary cartoon show is ...read more
By Paul R. Pillar: Anthropologists have only partially constructed the evolutionary paths of modern mankind and of human species that have died out. There is not necessarily direct progression from known species of one era to those of a later one. The same is true of the ...read more
By Yasha Levine: In the vast ecosystem of corporate shills, which one is the most effective? Propaganda works best when it is not perceived as propaganda: nuance, obfuscation, distraction, suggestion, the subtle introduction of doubt—these are more effective in the long run than ...read more
By Ben Cohen: Listening to the rhetoric of Republicans, you'd believe they wouldn't have the government do anything other than go to war on behalf of the American people (and sometimes even that isn't true - Donald Rumsfeld spent years trying to privatize the military). ...read more
By Ben Cohen: Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman has been getting a huge amount of media attention over the past few weeks, in part due to a book he has written 'End This Depression Now!', but mostly because his message of economic sanity is resonating with the American ...read more
By Bob Cesca: There are two bits of Republican fiscal hooey that have been injected into the national debate since I posted a two-parter here about the party's lies regarding the deficit and the debt. So now it becomes a three-parter. Both items of aforementioned hooey are ...read more