This week marked President Barack Obama’s 100^th day in office, which has been perceived by many as an important milestone ever since FDR’s flurry of legislation during the first few months of 1933. While the inevitable comparison to FDR’s opening months is often unfair, it may be more appropriate in the case of President Obama, who might have taken office in more challenging times than any incoming President since FDR. So how will history judge Barack Obama’s First Hundred Days? Generations from now, what will Americans remember about the first chapter of this historic presidency? It seems likely that three events will stand out above the rest. Continue Reading »

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Tags: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, economy, Hundred Days, Iraq, Parimal Garg

photo credit: Kevin KrejciThere was a time, believe it or not, when people took Dick Cheney seriously. There were days when many believed him to be the government’s evil “puppet master,” pulling the strings from the shadows. Back then, Cheney was prominent, influential and, to some, feared. During President Bush’s second term, however, something changed. It was nothing immediately visible, no overnight transformation, but, slowly, our perception of Dick Cheney was altered. As the final years of the Bush presidency expired, as failure after miserable failure left us with the steaming pile now known as the Bush legacy, we began to realize that the Bush administration was far too incompetent to pull off anything even remotely diabolical, except, perhaps, by accident. Dick Cheney, former evil mastermind, became simply “that creepy guy who has a man-sized safe in his office.”

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Tags: Barack Obama, Bobby Jindal, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Jess Hebert, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, sarah palin

photo credit: steakpinballWith so much of the public attention focused on the massive changes brought about in the executive and legislative branches of the government by the 2008 elections, many have forgotten all about that other branch that keeps our nation running: the judiciary. Nevertheless, in the midst of all the uncertainty that surrounds our country in its current state, one thing’s for sure: it won’t remain forgotten for long.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Clarence Thomas, David Hamilton, Jess Hebert, Richard Lugar, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito, Supreme Court

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…Even before recent events, the American public was displeased with AIG, which, despite having accepted over $170 billion of federal bailout money, was still managing to approach bankruptcy. Then came the news that AIG had decided to give out $165 million in bonuses to its executives, in a display of blatant irresponsibility that would make Bernie Madoff proud. That disclosure, accompanied by the announcement by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that eleven of the executives receiving bonuses weren’t even with the company any more, sent politicians of both parties into an outrage-gasm that would be far more hilarious if it weren’t also horribly depressing. Continue Reading »

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Tags: AIG, Andrew Cuomo, Barack Obama, Charlie Rangel, Chris Dodd, Chuck Grassley, Eric Holder, Jess Hebert, Taxes

photo credit: Mike Disharoon
Unless you’ve had your head stuck in the ground for the last eight years (or have been listening to Rush Limbaugh), then you probably know already that the Bush Administration did some things of highly questionable legality in the name of preventing terrorism. It should come as no surprise, then, to learn that, in 2005, the CIA destroyed 92 tapes containing recordings of the interrogations of suspected terrorists, some of which involved the use of torture. Continue Reading »

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Tags: Jess Hebert, John Yoo, Patrick Leahy, torture