The Chicago Tribune | The Swamp blog reports that Sen. Barack Obama‘s new task is to be the “face” guy for the Democratic Party’s ethics and reform initiative. I’m pretty happy about this (actually I’m very happy about this) because I think Obama is the best choice for this job, and also because of his standing in the minority party (he jokes that in spite of his high profile, he’s ranked about 99th or so in seniority) he can’t get much legislation passed unless it’s a total bi-partisan no-brainer. UPDATE: His remarks today on “Honest Leadership and Open Government” from…

IS GEORGE BUSH THE WORST PRESIDENT — EVER? – Yahoo! News Columnist Richard Reeves reports on a recent poll of historians published by The History News Network at George Mason University: This is what those historians said — and it should be noted that some of the criticism about deficit spending and misuse of the military came from self-identified conservatives — about the Bush record: He has taken the country into an unwinnable war and alienated friend and foe alike in the process; He is bankrupting the country with a combination of aggressive military spending and reduced taxation of the…

House Rejects Iraq Pullout After GOP Forces a Vote Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) drafted a simpler resolution calling for an immediate withdrawal of troops, saying it was a fair interpretation of Murtha’s intent. Members were heatedly debating a procedural rule concerning the Hunter resolution when Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) was recognized at 5:20 p.m. Schmidt won a special election in August, defeating Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett, and is so new to Congress that some colleagues do not know her name (and she is the most junior member of Congress – Blogula Rasa). She told colleagues that…

CNN.com – White House: Murtha’s call is ‘surrender’ – Nov 18, 2005 “I like guys who’ve never been there who criticize us who’ve been there,” Murtha said. “I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and sent people to war and then don’t like to hear suggestions that what may need to be done.” There’s a lot of fur flying in Washington DC over Rep John Murtha’s (D-PA) about-face; this hawkish, decorated Marine vet now says “It’s time to bring the troops home.” For making this statement, he’s been targeted for special treatment by…

It’s the day after an off-year election, and all the news outlets have filed their stories about how it’s a victory for Democrats and it’s a referendum against Bush (especially in the case of the Virginia governor’s race, where Bush had done a campaign stop hours before). Governator Ahnuld got shut out on his pet ballot initiatives, too. However, I actually think it’s more of a victory for politicians who aren’t Religious Right pod people, because a few Republican moderates were elected, too. If a heavily Democratic city like New York can re-elect a Republican mayor, that says that they…

The Price of Loyalty – Newsweek National News – MSNBC.com This has been the Bush pattern. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill presciently says a second tax cut is unaffordable if we want to fight in Iraq—he’s fired. Bush’s economic adviser Larry Lindsey presciently says the war will cost between $100 billion and $200 billion (an underestimate)—he’s fired. Army Gen. Eric Shinseki presciently says that winning in Iraq will require several hundred thousand troops—he’s sent into early retirement. By contrast, CIA Director George Tenet, who presided over two of the greatest intelligence lapses in American history (9/11 and WMD in Iraq) and…

Carter: White House manipulated Iraq intel And with that look for a raft of criticism from the rabid Right. They’ll bring up embarassing items from the past and attempt to paint Carter as an irrelevant, confused old guy. Yeah, the rabbit thing was weird, but I bet Jimmy could still fix a nuclear sub in a pinch. AND he’s still doing a hell of a lot of good work for the poor and the homeless.

Scandal Visits the White House: The Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal reached into the White House yesterday, picking off President Bush’s top procurement official — who just barely had time to resign before being arrested. The federal charges against David Safavian stem from his tenure as chief of staff of the General Services Administration, predating his arrival at the White House a year ago. But his arrest nonetheless draws renewed attention to the ongoing corruption and influence-peddling inquiry swirling around Abramoff, a lobbyist well known for his connections to conservative Republicans in the White House and Congress. And for a White…

Bush to Offer Hurricane Aid Package – Yahoo! News Rather than speak before a live audience, Bush planned to stand alone and broadcast his message directly into the camera from the evacuated city’s historic Jackson Square, according to a White House official speaking on condition of anonymity since the site had not been announced. The square and its most famed landmark, the St. Louis Cathedral, were on high enough ground to avoid flooding but did not escape damage from Katrina’s 145-mph winds. Two massive oak trees outside the 278-year-old cathedral came out by the roots, ripping out a 30-foot section…

These are the eleven Republicans who voted against the $51.8 billion Katrina aid bill. Remember, the National Republican Congressional Committee issued a press release attacking 65 Democrats (like Utah’s Rep Jim Matheson) for voting against this bill, when actually they voted for the final version (they had voted against some procedural action on it earlier in the day, but the NRCC couldn’t be bothered to correct its release). These eleven congressmen, Republican conservatives all, just voted against the $51 billion package ( H. R. 3673) for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Horrible human beings, all. Rep. Joe Barton – TX…