The Scum at the Top

Commentary on the Rats in Washington


"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy"
-Obiwan Kenobi







Washington Scum - Part C




An Imperial Presidency
By Fareed Zakaria
Newsweek
© December 19, 2005
Page 40

Bush's travel schedule seems to involve as little contact as possible with the country he is in.



Bush: Eavesdropping Helps Save U.S. Lives
By Jennifer Loven
Associated Press
© December 17, 2005



The Other Big Brother
By Michael Isikoff
Newsweek
© January 30, 2006
Pages 32-34

The Pentagon has its own domestic spying program. Even its leaders say the outfit may have gone too far.



Searching for Searches
By Steven Levy
Newsweek
© January 30, 2006
Page 34

The government is demanding millions of your queries. AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft have coughed up. Google is resisting.



State of Illusion
By Anna Quindlen
Newsweek
© February 6, 2006
Page 76

Many Americans have this sense of profound malaise. Of course, that's the ailment that dare not speak its name (and not just because it's French).



The Scandal That Could Eat Bush's Brain
A Rove / Plame Grand Jury FAQ

By Steve Perry
Citypages
© July 25, 2005



Time to Face Reality on Iran
By Fareed Zakaria
Newsweek
© January 30, 2006
Page 31

At best, a military strike would set back Iran's program a few years, inflame public opinion there and unify the nation in its bid to go nuclear.



Direct Talks - U.S. Officials and Iraqi Insurgents
By Scott Johnson, Rod Nordland and Ranya Kadri
Newsweek
© February 6, 2006
Page 8



Baghdad's Big Oil Bust
By Scott Johnson and Michael Hastings
Newsweek
© January 30, 2006
Page 28

It's open season on Iraq's refineries and pipelines.



Sept. 11 Panel: U.S. Remains Unprepared
By Lara Jakes Jordan
Associated Press
© December 5, 2005



Final Report on 9/11 Commission Recommendations
By The 9/11 Public Discourse Project
http://www.9-11pdp.org/
© December 5, 2005

Final Report of the 9/11 Public Discourse Project



Summary - Final Report on 9/11 Commission Recommendations
By The 9/11 Public Discourse Project
http://www.9-11pdp.org/
© December 5, 2005

Final Report of the 9/11 Public Discourse Project



Remarks by Chairman Thomas H. Kean and Vice Chair Lee H. Hamilton
By The 9/11 Public Discourse Project
http://www.9-11pdp.org/
© December 5, 2005

Final Report of the 9/11 Public Discourse Project



Torture's Terrible Toll
By Senator John McCain
Newsweek
© November 21, 2005
Pages 34-36

Abusive interrogation tactics produce bad intel, and undermine the values we hold dear. Why we must, as a nation, do better.



Broken Furniture at the CIA
By Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman
Newsweek
© November 29, 2004
Page 30

He arrived with a mandate for change. But have Porter Goss's early moves helped or hurt?



Tom DeLay's House of Shame
By Jonathan Alter
Newsweek
© October 10, 2005
Page 35

Congress has always had its share of extremists. But the DeLay era is the first time the fringe has ever been in charge.



Free Pass for the President
by Anna Quindlen
Newsweek
© October 6, 2003
Page 88

Imagine the response from Republicans - and reporters - if Bill Clinton had been responsible for one of those things, much less all of them



CIA Commander: U.S. Let bin Laden Slip Away
By Michael Hirsh
Newsweek
© August 15, 2005
Page 5



By the Tube, For the Tube
By Anna Quindlen
Newsweek
© October 3, 2005
Page 104

You're not qualified to govern this country if you don't understand the uses of TV. Those in public life should be required to watch it.



Bottom Dollar
By Robert J. Samuelson
Newsweek
© March 21, 2005
Pages 38-48

The greenback's fall is stoking fears of a global crisis. Behind the slide: a world economy wildly out of balance



Meet The Corporation
By Chris Warren
Sierra Club Magazine
© September / October 2005
Pages 24-29

It Has No Conscience. It's Pathological. And It's In Your Neighborhood. How Can We Stop The Juggernaut?



We've Been Here Before
By Anna Quindlen
Newsweek
© October 31, 2005
Page 70

What was the cause, the point, the strategy? Suddenly many Americans started to realize that there was no good answer.



Lots of Gain and No Pain!
By Robert Samuelson
Newsweek
© February 21, 2005
Page 41

Americans prefer to be deceived rather than face the hard choices of doing something about budget deficits and funding Social Security



More secure than Bush is saying
By Dave Hage
StarTribune
© January 16, 2005
Page AA5

I woke up the other morning to hear a BBC Radio reporter discussing President Bush and America's "bankrupt Social Security program."

And I thought: Oh no, the plan is working.

The plan, of course, is a White House strategy to push private retirement accounts by convincing Americans that Social Security is on the brink of collapse.




Each political decision expresses a moral position
By Peter Rogness
StarTribune
© January 16, 2005
Page AA1

I welcome the attention to morality in public conversation and political life. However, I worry about a divide between those who speak only of private morality and those who focus solely on morality in public policy. We need attention to both.








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Last Modified:
January 13, 2007