Only Senator Barack Obama had the courage to stand up and demand that radio talk-show host Don Imus be fired. The other presidential candidates, including Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton and John McCain punted and condemned his statements but stopped short of urging his dismissal.

Imus commits the ultimate sin almost every time he goes on the air:  He makes bigotry fun and hatred entertaining. His ethnic jokes appeal to the basest of our prejudices and legitimize them.  When he calls former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney’s hairstyle “buckwheat big hair” or he lets comedians on his show refer to “bagel-eating little Jew boys” and attributes their protests in their community to the fact that “they raised the price of bagels a nickel,” he spews his poison on the airwaves. Read more...

Today, I am making a prediction. If I am right, please give me all the credit worthy of an oracle. If I am wrong, please disregard this notice.

I predict Al Gore will be the nominee for president for the Democratic Party.

Here is my reasoning: First, by the end of this year, it will become clear that Rudy Giuliani is the strongest candidate from the Republican side, panicking Democrats who know that neither Obama nor Hillary Clinton can beat Rudy. (In full disclosure, I am on Team Rudy, not officially, but emotionally.) Read more...

Well, what do you know? President Bush wants to meet with congressional Democrats. He wants to meet with them to discuss funding for the war in Iraq. In fact, he’s invited them down to the White House next Tuesday, April 17.

There’s only one catch. Bush told them ahead of time: Unless you’re coming down here to agree with me 100 percent, don’t bother.

And, in response, Democrats did the right thing. Both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) told Bush: You say ahead of time you won’t budge. Guess what, George? You can take your meeting and shove it. Read more...

Newt Gingrich debated John Kerry yesterday on the environment. Sort of.

It has been an open secret that Newt has always been a green Republican. He never has been as open about his green tendencies as he was yesterday, though. And I think from a practical political perspective, Newt is right.

Most of Big Business has already reached the conclusion that being green sells products. It is more of an attitude than an actual coherent policy perspective, but corporate marketers all understand that it can be easy being green. Read more...

First things first. Who wasn't proud of those women from the Rutgers basketball team who showed such dignity, class, and respect in their response to the travesty committed against them?

I was reading a post by a white male liberal radio host, associated with an almost totally white liberal radio network, run by white males, owned by white males, writing on an almost totally white liberal blog about the Imus affair.

He was writing about the bigoted words of another white male host, televised on a cable network run by white males, owned by a national television network run by white males, which is owned by a global conglomerate run by white males. Read more...

What stunning news. The White House can't find a general interested in being war czar in charge of overseeing both operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. If we held a "Most Thankless Job" contest, where would War Czar for the Bush wars of 2007 rank?

One prospect, retired Gen. John "Jack" Sheehan, former NATO commander, told the Washington Post "they don't know where the hell they're going," and explained that the power of hawks like Vice President Cheney still trumps the realists in the administration who are searching for an end to the war. "So rather than go over there, develop an ulcer and eventually leave, I said, 'No, thanks,'" he said in what is considered in Washington to be a VERY bold on-the-record statement for a military man. Read more...

The South Carolina House passed the Ultrasound Bill (H-3355) on March 21, 2007 by a vote of 91-23. After third reading, normally a formality, the Ultrasound Bill moves to the South Carolina Senate. As you may know, the bill requires that every woman who is considering an abortion receive and view an ultrasound before making her final choice.This bill is wide open for both sides of the abortion debate to reach an agreement.

Many are appalled to read about H-3355. They believe forcing women to view an ultrasound before receiving an abortion is blatant discrimination. Yet there are those who see this as an opportunity for women to change their minds when considering killing an unborn fetus. As Gov. Mark Sanford stated, “This new ultrasound requirement is an important one in that I think it has the potential to lessen the number of abortions carried out in South Carolina.” Read more...

The latest Gallup poll, taken April 2-5, shows Rudy Giuliani with a commanding lead in the Republican primary and McCain continuing his downward slide into oblivion. It also sets to rest any thought that Romney's fundraising success generated momentum except within the Beltway.

The latest poll has Rudy at 38 percent, McCain at 16, Gingrich at 10, Thompson at 10, and Romney at 6.

Here are the last four Gallup poll readings — the four surveys after Rudy announced he was running and spurted ahead of McCain:

Rudy's vote share:
Feb 9-11: 40%
March 2-4: 44%
March 23-25: 31% (the first poll to include Thompson)
April 2-5: 38% Read more...

A lot of media time has focused on the U.S. attorneys scandal and players such as Kyle Sampson and Monica Goodling, staffers who suddenly hit the spotlight. When I read the 33-year-old Goodling’s bio of being educated at a very conservative school in Pennsylvania, Messiah College, and the law school founded by Pat Robertson, Regent Law, in Virginia Beach, bells went off in my head.

I remember reading several articles about the sudden change in the Justice Department’s recruiting of lawyers early on in the Bush administration. Under John Ashcroft, many of the new lawyers were not chosen on the basis of competence, performance, legal training or law school record, but rather by their ideology and their politics. Read more...