September 18, 2008 - Lehman Brothers had filed for bankruptcy four days earlier and the Federal Reserve had authorized the New York Fed to lend up to $85 billion to insurance giant AIG. That afternoon, Nancy Pelosi called Henry Paulson to ask for a full briefing the next morning. "They said, 'That will be too late. That will be too late. Tomorrow morning, 9 o'clock will be too late.' ... 'We were not allowed to tell Congress, but since you called, we're going to answer your questions.'" The Bush administration prohibited its own top officials from briefing Congress on the financial crisis.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 on May 3, 2010 - 29 comments

This f*cking election. A babble tower.
posted by digaman on Nov 2, 2008 - 100 comments

Despite his carefully cultivated “maverick” image, McCain is playing it traditional and conservative by using HTML 4.01, the W3C spec from 1999.
posted by finite on Sep 9, 2008 - 57 comments

What was the mysterious green backdrop behind John McCain last night? Was it an attempt to restart the Colbert/McCain Green Screen Challenge? The lawn of one of his houses? Or possibly just a screw-up?
posted by Artw on Sep 5, 2008 - 137 comments

Fear and Loathing in Denver, Colorado - August 24-28, 2008.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Aug 29, 2008 - 56 comments

At the risk of heresy, let it be said that setting up the two presidential candidates for religious interrogation by an evangelical minister -- no matter how beloved -- is supremely wrong. [more inside]
posted by finite on Aug 20, 2008 - 151 comments

Former White House spokesman Tony Snow developed colon cancer in February 2005 thanks to having suffered from ulcerative colitis for much of his life; he died today from that ailment. Snow was a "Fox News Sunday" anchor, a Fox News Channel political analyst, a guest host for Rush Limbaugh's radio program, the host of Fox News Radio's "The Tony Snow Show", and a NPR commentator. Chief of Staff Josh Bolten told staffers that unless they could commit to staying the full remainder of Bush's term, they should leave by Labor Day 2007, prompting Snow's resignation (due to what he said were financial reasons), where he was succeeded by Dana Perino. He played the guitar, saxophone and flute and was in a band called Beats Workin'. "Bush's wavering conservatism has become an active concern among Republicans, who wish he would stop cowering under the bed and start fighting back against the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Wilson," said Snow in a column. "The newly passive George Bush has become something of an embarrassment."
posted by WCityMike on Jul 12, 2008 - 125 comments

Like it or not, religion is at the forefront of the 2008 US Presidential elections. The Pew Forum On Religion & Public Life previously cited in MeFi threads examines many of the current intersections of religion and politics, domestic and abroad.
posted by Rykey on Jun 10, 2008 - 31 comments

Party Like It’s 2008 [SLNYTOE] Almost every wrong prediction about this election cycle has come from those trying to force the round peg of this year’s campaign into the square holes of past political wars. That’s why race keeps being portrayed as dooming Mr. Obama — surely Jeremiah Wright = Willie Horton! — no matter what the voters say to the contrary. [more inside]
posted by psmealey on May 11, 2008 - 144 comments

The hidden factor in Hillary Clinton's rebound: committed Republicans voting in open primaries who want to prolong the messy battle for the Democratic nomination, encouraged by right-wing radio hosts like Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh. Or is Hillary just suddenly more palatable to conservatives than multi-culti Obama?
posted by digaman on Mar 17, 2008 - 112 comments

Obama Reggaeton from the Tejanos wing of the Viva Obama movement. Love the big, white hats! [more inside]
posted by growabrain on Feb 22, 2008 - 35 comments

A little lost coming up to the Presidential Primary? The Electoral Compass is a brief set of questions that matches your choices with the candidate whose positions are the closest to yours. Discover your position in the political landscape for the US presidential election 2008. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Feb 4, 2008 - 125 comments

Lew Rockwell Dunnit - in interviews with Reason, a half-dozen longtime libertarian activists—including some still close to Paul—all named the same man as responsible for writing Ron Paul's newsletters containing inflammatory rhetoric under his name: Llewellyn Rockwell, Jr. [more inside]
posted by Henry C. Mabuse on Jan 16, 2008 - 150 comments

How Obama is branding himself in graphic design
posted by growabrain on Jan 9, 2008 - 71 comments

Angry White Man. The New Republic examines the archives of Ron Paul's newsletters.
posted by empath on Jan 8, 2008 - 283 comments

Do you want your next president to be an unintelligent, corrupt, incompetent liar? Of course you don’t. Neither does Russ Feingold. (And oh by the way, the next president must also be a Dylan fan. More about the video)
posted by growabrain on Aug 29, 2007 - 33 comments

Hillary Clinton as Lisa Simpson!? Not sure if I put my finger on it, but that's my impression reading some excerpts from letters Hillary Clinton wrote to a high school friend whilst in college. I've been entertaining Barack Obama as Lincoln -- an impression he's actively cultivated (so, another Simpsons tie-in :) -- and I welcome uncanned glimpses into candidates' formative years to get a better idea of their 'character' (as if they're running on character and 'bio') so it was great to read her reminisce on her childhood: "I'd play out in the patch of sunlight that broke the density of the elms in front of our house and pretend there were heavenly movie cameras watching my every move."
posted by kliuless on Jul 29, 2007 - 42 comments

Bloomberg running for prez as an independent? You'd almost have to give it low odds but, as an outside possibility, I find it intriguing.
posted by kliuless on Jun 20, 2007 - 159 comments

"I do not recall" --meet Lurita Doan, Administrator of the GSA (Our mission is to help other agencies better serve the public by meeting – at best value – their needs for products and services, and to simplify citizen access to government information and services.), and hear about the powerpoint presentation from Rove's office all about electing Republicans in 08 and how her agency should help. Her office supplied it to Congress--but it was just a (GOP) "team-building exercise" and "brown-bag lunch". (YouTube) Read up on the Hatch Act too.
posted by amberglow on Mar 28, 2007 - 54 comments

OppoDepot.com is the Internet's only nonpartisan, collaborative Web 2.0 source for negative information about the 2008 presidential candidates. "Opposition research," aka "oppo research" is the black art of digging up dirt on your political enemies. OppoDepot promises to allow netizens to do the same thing, Web 2.0-style. They have helpfully given us starter oppo on all the candidates, even the obscure ones. Enjoy the negativity!
posted by TheWash on Mar 8, 2007 - 42 comments

In preparation for today's announcement of the formation of a presidential exploratory committee, Sen. Barack Obama has been giving well publicized speeches on the role of religion in American political life. Though faith remains a deeply divisive force in the American political scene, Obama seems to be positioning himself at the forefront of a major political realignment, one which has his opponents more than a little uneasy.
posted by felix betachat on Jan 16, 2007 - 180 comments

Why Hillary Can't Win (by Markos "Kos" Moulitsas). Why John Can't Win (by Byron York). (via)
posted by bardic on May 7, 2006 - 89 comments