In this video, John Feehery discusses Richard Lugar's comments on Tuesday about shifting policy on Iraq.

Lord Acton said it best: "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." We have been bombarded this week with Washington Post stories describing just that when it comes to Dick Cheney.

The "power ranger" insists on redefining the executive branch (or the legislative branch) and pursues policies from the vantage point of a modern dictator, with little regard for the law. What he has done has not only had severe negative consequences for all manner of foreign and domestic policy. It has redefined government, at least for the moment.

Some would suggest that he deserves impeachment for his acts. At the very least it is time for a full-scale congressional investigation of his attempt at absolute power. And the Democrats should call for it, now.

Republicans hate the immigration bill and are beginning to hate the war. Yesterday was another terrible day for President Bush, as Sen. Richard Lugar's (R-Ind.) criticism inspired other GOP critics and House Republicans closed the door on immigration reform. In a 114-23 vote of their conference House Republicans resolved that "we stand together in united opposition to any bill that rewards illegal behavior with amnesty." With only 23 Republican votes there isn't much House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could do to help Bush push immigration through the House, even if she liked him.

There is no way for White House officials to rationalize what Lugar did. Lugar, ranking Republican and former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is likely the most credible voice on foreign policy in the Republican Party today, "unimpeachable," to use a favorite Washington word. He doesn't lower himself to partisan skirmishes, and his comments do not amount to a defection to the Democratic side of the debate. Listen to his plea: He is asking Bush to lead on this so the Democrats don't, and he wants a redeployment and a U.S. presence in Iraq, not a withdrawal.  Read more...

Washington is full of "Katrinas in a cup" — political brouhahas that flare up on weekday afternoons like scattered thunderstorms. They're full of rumblings and lightning, but over in a few hours. That's how the latest clash between a presidential hopeful and a controversial political pundit will be remembered.

I think the terms "controversial" and "political pundit" are synonymous in this context, because that's the nature of these pundits' jobs — to poke and prod at their ideological opponents to expose the soft underbelly of their hypocrisy. Apparently, what Ann Coulter has written about her husband really has Elizabeth Edwards more furious than a Category 5 hurricane.

But set aside for a moment who said what and what's out of bounds and think about the ramifications of these political fistfights.  Read more...

Big deal: In the name of openness, the CIA is releasing records of the abuses we already knew about in the 1970s. Well, if you really want openness, how about honesty about the abuses of the 21st century?

How about an honest accounting of the torture, secret prisons, domestic spying, eavesdropping, wiretapping and other invasions of privacy that have become routine business by our national intelligence community? They have only become public to the extent that they have been leaked.

Naive? I'm sure many will say so. After all, these folks will argue, the nation's vicious enemies do not play by such rules and the United States can only protect the way of life we hold so precious by matching brutality with brutality.

But what's naive is that argument.   Read more...

When I wrote on this site in support of a Gore-Obama ticket I received a number of hate notes against Barack Obama.

They all made reference to Obama's middle name or the lie that a 6-year-old Barack studied at a school that was friendly to terrorists.

Recently on "Hannity and Colmes," Ann Coulter, who called Sept. 11 widows "harpies" who were not unhappy their husbands died on that day, offered the latest smear against Obama.

It was Rupert Murdoch's Fox News that also "reported" the lie about Obama's childhood.

Last night Chris Matthews demeaned the legacy of NBC and the reputation of MSNBC by giving Ann Coulter a full hour, including a discussion of whether or not she should publicly call for John Edwards's death.  Read more...

In this video, Armstrong Williams discusses a new initiative by New York schools, giving children financial incentives to get good grades.

I don’t usually write about stuff that affects my clients, but today I have to get something off my chest.

This is not on behalf of my client (Newscorp), so what I say right now is not in any way, shape or form reflective of any position they may take.

In this day and age, with the approval ratings of the Congress, I think it is absolutely insane for any member of Congress to advocate taking the remote control away from the public. I don’t care if it is in defense of children. (And yes, I have a small child.)

We are the undisputed world leader in entertainment. If you go to any other country in the world, they first look at our stuff before they turn on their stuff.

You know why? Because government has stayed the hell out of it.  Read more...

In this video, Karen Hanretty discusses an ongoing story in the presss about corruption within the California GOP.