Is Your Senator Hot or Not?

GOP Propaganda by Photoshop gone wrong.

More than a third of U.S. high school students think the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees. (via Metafilter)

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has seen his popularity dip amid criticism. "The Republican governor who negotiated tough agreements with Democrats, charmed legislators with visits to his smoking tent and met rapturous crowds at shopping malls across California has hit a sophomore slump, marked by a series of actions that his adversaries are calling naive and even hypocritical."

Dream On America. "For years, much of the world did aspire to the American way of life. But today countries are finding more appealing systems in their own backyards."

Citizens United, a group that advocates a return to traditional American values, will be displaying billboards near the Kodak Theatre (home of the Academy Awards) for the month of February, which includes Oscar Night. The billboards "thank Hollywood" for the relection of George. W Bush.

White House escorts? "No, the minders weren't there to monitor me. They were there to let the guests, my sources on inaugural night, know that any complaint, any unguarded statement, any off-the-reservation political observation, might be noted. But maybe someday they'll be monitoring something more important than an inaugural ball, and the source could be you."

Election day in Iraq -- "After a slow start, voters turned out in very large numbers in Baghdad today, packing polling places and creating a party atmosphere in the streets as Iraqis here and nationwide turned out to cast ballots in the country's first free elections in 50 years."

The War Nerd's Super War Preview: The Iranian Suicide Bombers vs. The American Crusaders.

National Lampoon's Iraq the Vote.

Rolling Stone revisits the spectre of a military draft as the inevitable answer to the lack of troop numbers in the U.S. military. "The United States is pouring nearly as much money into incentives for new recruits -- almost $300 million -- as it is into international tsunami relief."

A CIA report predicts that American global dominance could end in 15 years.

Unfortunate Vice President bundles up for Auschwitz Photo of the Day. "The vice president, however, was dressed in the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower."

Make that three paid commentators on the Bush payroll. "Michael McManus, a marriage advocate whose syndicated column, 'Ethics & Religion,' appears in 50 newspapers, was hired as a subcontractor by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage initiative."

Tibetan lama dodges Chinese bullet. "Apparently worried that executing a lama convicted of terrorism might create a martyr and stir unrest in Tibet, China has commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment. But Beijing's message is clear: it wants loyalty to China, not to the 'separatist' Dalai Lama."

Counting Sheep? The proselytising zeal of American missionaries knows no slack even in tsunami aid.

India's US-Pakistan suspicions deepen. "India, which for years has agonized over the real nature of relations between Pakistan and the US, is again eyeing the pair with suspicion in the wake of two new revelations: that Washington has a 'contingency plan' to keep Pakistan's nukes away from fundamentalists and that Pakistan is helping the US conduct reconnaissance missions in Iran."

85-13. (The largest number of "no" votes against any secretary of state nominee since 1825.)

President Bush has ordered his Cabinet to stop paying commentators to promote the adminstration's legislative agenda. "Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet," Bush said.

Now the Swift Boat Vets are going after John Kerry's U.S. Senate seat for Massachusetts in 2008.

BuzzMachine has great coverage of the recent FCC rejection of complaints filed via the astroturfing efforts of the Parents Television Council.

The Lord giveth (election) and the lord taketh away (social security reform). "A coalition of major conservative Christian groups is threatening to withhold support for President Bush's plans to remake Social Security unless Mr. Bush vigorously champions a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage."

What's up with Barbara Boxer? Observers wonder if California's junior senator is the new liberal voice after her election victory has her coming out swinging.

It's National "No Name-Calling" Week in middle schools nationwide. As expected, many would rather have the name-calling: "I hope schools will realize it's less an exercise in tolerance than a platform for liberal groups to promote their pan-sexual agenda."

The Supreme Court declined Monday to consider whether states may offer license plates with anti-abortion messages, leaving lower courts divided over whether the programs in a dozen states unconstitutionally restrict dissenting views.

Two television journalists have challenged the broadcast license of a Fox TV station in Florida on grounds it deliberately broadcast false and distorted news reports. The FCC filing details "clear and convincing support for the claim that the licensee is not operating in the public interest and lacks the good character to do so."

It's amazing what some people will do to get out of jury duty.

In the U.S. v. Extreme Associates, Inc (PDF) pornography case, a Pennsylvania judge struck down the federal law that criminalizes obscenity with regards to internet pornography. "Public morality is not a legitimate state interest sufficient to justify infringing on adult, private, consentual, sexual conduct, even if that conduct is deemed offensive to the general public's sense of morality." (via MetaFilter)

The judge in the Michael Jackson molestation trial doesn't want you to know that certain aspects of the trial my involve words and descriptions like: "obscenity," "pornographic" and "sexual conduct" -- even if it means censoring landmark Supreme Court cases.

More photos from inauguration day.

Should New York City become the 51st state?

Scientists and astronomers were surprised to learn the White House plans to cut funding to service and save the Hubble Space Telescope. "In a Space News story Friday, sources said the White House will direct NASA to drop plans for any servicing and instead mount a mission that would safely de-orbit the telescope. Hubble, expected to run out of batteries or lose its ability to point properly in the next 2-4 years, will be scuttled into the ocean under that plan."

Evan Coyne Maloney -- a Conservative answer to Michael Moore?

Interesting photos from presidential inauguration day protests.

True Confessions: A Democrat Likes George -- "I have known President Bush for 40 years - ever since we attended Yale College together in the 1960s. I'm a Democrat (and I was a Democrat then), but I liked him and I still like him, as a sincere and kind man and a good friend."

The Official George W. Bush "Days Left in Office" countdown clock.

President George W. Bush took the oath of office Thursday for a second term as the nation's 43rd president, pledging to spread freedom to "break the reign of hatred and resentment."

Texas or Satan? First Daughter Photo of the Day.

Bill O'Reilly recently claimed on his radio show to have "seen combat" and been "in firefights" in South and Central America. Blogger James Poling offered a $100 reward to anyone who could prove that O'Reilly actually had been in any "honest to goodness firefight in a 'combat zone'."

"The Blog Political Action Committee has launched a major online offensive exposing the manufactured Social Security 'crisis,'" at There Is No Crisis. There are links to articles and information sources, plus two radio ads have been produced. (via Talking Points Memo)

There's a "Religious Left"?

"President Bush came under fire from some social conservatives yesterday for saying he will not aggressively lobby the Senate to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage during his second term."

JibJab presents Second Term.

TellBush.org -- Call 1.800.734.1463 to leave a voicemail that will be forwarded to President Bush. (I'm sure he'll be hearing each and every one of these "blue" messages.) (via MetaFilter)

The woman once known as "Jane Roe" has asked the Supreme Court to overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion 32 years ago. "Now we know so much more, and I plead with the court to listen for witnesses and re-evaluate Roe v. Wade."

New political buzzword of the day: Hacktivism
"In solidarity with the billions around the world who are being oppressed under the Bush agenda, The Internet Liberation Front has hacked and defaced six Republican websites who push forward the sick and violent ideology of warfare, capitalism, and profit over people."

34 scandals from the first four years of George W. Bush's presidency.

Old and busted: "Axis of Evil."

New hotness: "Outposts of Tyranny."

Protecting family and "marriage" -- "Some attorneys are attempting to use Ohio's new gay marriage amendment to defend unmarried clients against domestic violence charges."

"Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'" -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

In a change of pace, The Smoking Gun offers letters from viewers attacking the FCC itself, especially with regards to their regulation of "objectionable" content on broadcast television. No word if these complaints are also the result of "astroturfing".

Political spin and the art of lowered expectations before the upcoming elections in Iraq: "Clearly, we don't see the election itself as a pivotal point."

"The United States has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran to help identify potential nuclear, chemical and missile targets, The New Yorker magazine reported Sunday."

The city of New York is going after local residents who bought tax-free cigarettes on the Internet. Letters from the city "warn that the smokers have 30 days to pay taxes on cartons they may have purchased online in the past 30 months - with some bills topping $9,900."

"The US military investigated building a "gay bomb", which would make enemy soldiers "sexually irresistible" to each other, government papers say... The plan for a so-called "love bomb" envisaged an aphrodisiac chemical that would provoke widespread homosexual behaviour among troops, causing what the military called a "distasteful but completely non-lethal" blow to morale."

The protesters are getting ready for the so-called Counter-Inaugural. "She's considering a military style about-face, with a step forward and a pronounced pivot. She demonstrates the move. It's impressive. That'll show 'em."

Wearing your politics -- will that be a blue bracelet or a red bracelet?

Apparently, President Bush has also been rethinking his use of silly nicknames, although he probably won't be giving up "Pootie-Poot" anytime soon.

Here is a listing of corporate donors who are sponsoring official events as part of the upcoming Presidential inauguration.

"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon cut all contact Friday with the newly elected Palestinian leader and said Mahmoud Abbas must halt militant attacks if he wants peace talks. The timing of the decision - on the eve of Abbas' inauguration - was a major snub."

President Bush reflecting on his infamous tough talk: "I don't know if you'd call it a regret, but it certainly is a lesson that a president must be mindful of, that the words that you sometimes say. ... I speak plainly sometimes, but you've got to be mindful of the consequences of the words. So put that down. I don't know if you'd call that a confession, a regret, something."

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is taking out full-page ads in national newspapers to assure you they are not evil.

Pundit "payola" moves to the blogosphere? "On Dean's campaign, we paid Markos and Jerome Armstrong as consultants, largely in order to ensure that they said positive things about Dean. We paid them over twice as much as we paid two staffers of similar backgrounds, and they had several other clients." (via Linkfilter)

It's all fun and games when you are a prince in the royal family... until you get caught smoking... and drinking... and dressing up as a Nazi.

The official website of the Sheriff of Marshall County, Alabama. (via Ignatz)

"I think people attack me because they are fearful that I will then say that you're not equally as patriotic if you're not a religious person. I've never said that. I've never acted like that. I think that's just the way it is." -- President George W. Bush

The search for WMDs in Iraq is over.

Howard Dean has announced his candidacy for chairman of the Democratic National Committee on his weblog.

"D.C. officials said yesterday that the Bush administration is refusing to reimburse the District for most of the costs associated with next week's inauguration, breaking with precedent and forcing the city to divert $11.9 million from homeland security projects.

Federal officials have told the District that it should cover the expenses by using some of the $240 million in federal homeland security grants it has received in the past three years -- money awarded to the city because it is among the places at highest risk of a terrorist attack."

President Bush's approval rating is up in a new poll -- a disaster "bounce"?

Attorney Guy Womack, defending the practices shown in the notorious photos from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison as legitimate prisoner control techniques, likened the stacking of naked prisoners to cheerleading. "Don't cheerleaders all over America form pyramids six to eight times a year? Is that torture?"

"Memogate" fall-out: Four CBS News staffers were fired following the release of an independent investigation that said a "myopic zeal" led to the airing of a discredited story about President Bush's National Guard military service.

How will the House of Representatives govern during a doomsday scenario, such as "natural disaster, attack, contagion or similar calamity rendering Representatives incapable of attending the proceedings of the House"?

Who Owns What? -- an online guide to what major media companies own.

GovTrack.us -- "a nexus of information about the United States Congress. This site is a crossroads for data on the status of legislation, the activities of representatives, campaign contributions and other statistics,and public commentary. Best of all, you can track Congress with personalized email updates."

Are SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney the Dinosaur, Arthur, Dora the Explorer, JoJo, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Big Bird, and Bob the Builder being used to "indoctrinate children to accept homosexuality"?

David Rosen, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's former finance director, has been indicted on charges of understating costs of a Hollywood fund-raising gala for the senator.

Defining every issue as a crisis whether it actually meets that criteria or not -- is it an effective political strategy?

Sen. John McCain appeared in a Phoenix Municipal Court for jury duty. When asked why he was there, he responded, "I'm a citizen."

Unfortunate Sad Senator Photo of the Day.

As part of it's No Child Left Behind campaign, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote an education reform law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.

The 25 Funniest Quotes of 2004 -- Number 23: "The only politician in America I know with a mandate is Jim McGreevey." — Democratic strategist James Carville

"The U.S. Army Reserve, tapped heavily to provide soldiers for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is degenerating into a 'broken' force due to dysfunctional military policies, the Army Reserve's chief said in a memo made public Wednesday."

Tom DeLay really is a class act.

Behold the power of John Stewart: Tucker Carlson fired from CNN and his political pundit show Crossfire likely to end in it's current incarnation. "I guess I come down more firmly in the Jon Stewart camp."

Carroll County high school emergency policy: In emergencies (such as a fire), evacuate all the students from the building -- as for the students in wheelchairs... notsomuch.

Even more "University of Texas and/or Satan?" Bush allegiance photos.

Revisiting the so-called Rathergate / Memogate / Killian Memos controversy turns up enough blame to go around for everyone, including CBS News, it's critics, and the blogger mob.

Center for the Study of Political Graphics. "The Center for the Study of Political Graphics collects, preserves, and exhibits posters relating to historical and contemporary movements for social change. Through its varied programs, CSPG is reclaiming the power of art to inspire people to action."

A Saturday Night Live cartoon comes to life: President Bush calls on the awesome power of The X-Presidents for help!

Republicans in the House of Representatives have abandoned a plan to weaken ethics rules that would have protected controversial Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R - TX). DeLay faces possible Texas grand jury indictment for his campaign finance practices.

Unfortunate First Lady Photo of the Day. (Whether it's invoking Texas or the Devil, it's still evil.)

NEWSWEEK talks exclusively with John Kerry about why he lost -- and looks at his plans for another run. "If he wants to come back, he'll have to come back as a different candidate, not the stiff who plays it safe and takes four sides of every issue."

President Bush has asked two former presidents - his father, President George H.W. Bush, and his predecessor, President Bill Clinton to lead a nationwide fund-raising campaign to help victims of the Asian tsunamis.

Washington isn't the only culture defined by free-wheeling outside groups and rich individual donations in an effort to control decision-makers and policy -- welcome to the world of college football. "Coaches at public universities may seem like state employees, but unofficially they are the kept men of the private donors, particularly of those who give up to seven figures a year to the programs. Some contributors are more than boosters; they are powerful trustees who mistake their gifts for entitlement."

The Center for Corporate Policy presents the Top Ten War Profiteers of 2004. "Who gives the orders? Where do contractors fit in the chain of command? Who is responsible if things go wrong?"

Sex and the City is very popular in the U.S. House of Representatives. (Along with The South Beach Diet.)

The Canadian government may soon end prescription drug sales from Canadian pharmacies via mail-order and the internet to American customers.

A Spokane woman trying to divorce her estranged husband two years after he was jailed for beating her has been told by a judge she can't get out of the marriage while she's pregnant. (via Linkfilter.)

Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of the evangelical organization Focus on the Family, promises "a battle of enormous proportions from sea to shining sea" if President Bush fails to appoint "strict constructionist" jurists or if Democrats filibuster to block conservative nominees.

Expected legislation from the president.