Cheney has been associated with a long string of errors, failures, follies and disasters in his career, but this weekend’s shooting stands apart from all the rest – it was an honest mistake.

A few years ago one of the most respected men in the country entered Bush’s bramble to preside over the destruction of our international reputation. We heard he disliked the policies, but not from him. We watched him put his personal prestige behind a litany of half truths and outright lies in an attempt to [...]

Dick Cheney is a man of vision. he sees WMD where they aren’t, predicts sweets and flowers that turn out to be grenades and IED’s, sees insurgents turning a corner, doesn’t notice it is toward us. Now he’s certain tax cuts increase revenue and strengthen the economy, somehow missing the record deficits and declining gross [...]

The Senate has polished the Patriot Act so they can claim to protect civil liberties, perhaps avoid a filibuster, and please Bush. That done, the Congress can go back to considering how to keep him from trashing the Bill of Rights by ignoring FISA.

Speaking to the National Guard this morning Bush spent a long time telling us what to fear, then launched into a discussion of plots foiled. At first I thought the mixed message would be confusing. Then I realized his success stories had less supporting evidence than Iraq’s WMD’s. The President’s lack of credibility works for [...]

Without a leader the Democratic party can’t regain control of anything, and Republican’s will finish setting the country’s feet in fiscal concrete. Former President Clinton could lead the party out of the wilderness, but not by staying above the partisan fray, or with Hillary running for President. If the Senator withdrew from the race, and [...]

Watching Jim Lehrer interview Vice President Cheney last night I was hypnotized, lulled to sleep by a foggy voice mumbling answers bearing no relationship to truth. I could not understand how a man could be so out of touch with reality until I recalled the time he spends in an undisclosed location – with no [...]

Coretta Scott King’s memorable funeral was worthy of her life. She would have been pleased with the music, speeches and fireworks. The President praised Mrs. King eloquently, as if he really shared her causes and concerns. Reverend Joseph Lowery put those into focus. Carter recalled how wiretaps plagued the Kings. Clinton paid tribute to her, [...]

The New York Times calls the Bush budget A Trillion Little Pieces – a metaphor to envy, and the only good use for such formidable fiscal fiction.

Attorney General Gonzales persuaded me this administration’s warrant less wiretaps break the law, probably on a massive scale. His testimony yesterday, in spite of a gentle Mr. Rogers tone, was insulting to the Senate. He rarely said yes, no or even a clear maybe. He assured them what Bush’s doing is legal, said don’t criticize [...]

Bush will fix the healthcare crisis with his magic wand – welfare for the well-off: tax-free Health Savings Accounts for families with extra money. Private enterprise will make the plan efficient like Medicare Part D. That gave some people trouble, but it won’t be a problem this time. Neither old nor poor folks can afford [...]

Year two starts with no Super Bowl Simile – a major improvement.

Bush tried to cure a sick economy by giving big tax cuts to the rich. He gave up avenging September 11, by attacking an uninvolved country, with too few troops to win the peace. Now he distracts us with apparently illegal wiretaps that waste limited translation resources for no reason. He’s wrong with foolish consistency.

John Boehner, the new majority leader, wasted no time taking charge of reform. He persuaded the Speaker to withdraw his lobbying proposals, then reduced his own support for McCain’s limits on earmarks. He did suggest he prefers disclosure to elimination, transparency to bans, less to none. He upset Blunt, but he’s not likely to disturb [...]

My Republican friend says, “Corruption is a dead issue, DeLay’s whip lost the election.� “But Blunt is still in power,� I say. “He’s your number three.� “But two is a brand new shoe,� my friend says with pride. “DeLay booted him when he came in.� That’s ‘cause Boehner was tighter with lobbyists than Tom,� I [...]

The Republican misdirection machine sprays through the Joint Chiefs of Staff this time. A Washington Post cartoon depicting Rumsfeld, calling a symbol of wounded troops “battle hardened,� is accused of attacking our armed forces. The target of the cartoon should be obvious – it’s a callous Defense Secretary, not our armed forces.

The 19 Democrats* who voted for cloture, or abstained, on the nomination of Alito apparently think political philosophy is less important than public opinion. They decided people didn’t think he was bad enough to justify a filibuster. It wasn’t a matter of him being good or bad, he was going to change the balance of [...]

Sam Alito has a look of dazed innocence like an adolescent boy in a whore house. When he gets used to his new surroundings maybe he’ll notice what absolute power did. If he’s as smart as we were led to believe, he’ll see that authority needs to be checked. Since he probably isn’t, the Democrats [...]

Dana Milbank paints an entertaining picture of the State of the Union Speech in today’s Washington Post. He recognizes that it doesn’t need serious analysis, but deserves the thoughtful review one might give a high school play.