During the time that Bill Clinton was rocking the Democratic convention, ABC, CBS, and Fox were showing re-runs, NBC was showing the second hour of “America’s Got Talent,” and the CW was showing the second season finale of “Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious.” Less than two decades ago, the networks gave the conventions gavel-to-gavel coverage. This [...]
The political career of Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential pick, has been marked by conflicts, score-settling and her own claim that she faces “enemies – powerful enemies.” But the 44-year-old first-term Alaska governor is a favorite of right-wing Christian groups and was hailed Friday by one organization as “a true Christian” who is [...]
As Muslims begin one of their most important holidays – the month of Ramadan — charitable organizations serving the American Muslim community are taking what some observers believe is a desperate last step to keep the U.S. government from shutting them down. Muslim Advocates (MA), a San Francisco-based national educational and advocacy organization established by a [...]
Sen. John McCain’s newly minted vice presidential pick Sarah Palin nearly faced a recall election in 1997 while she served as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a city that at the time had a population of about 5,000. “Four months of turmoil have followed in which almost every move by Palin has been questioned, from firing [...]
Following is prepared text of Barack Obama’s acceptance speech. To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation; With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States. Let me express my thanks to the historic [...]
Excerpts from “The American Promise,” the speech Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama will deliver this evening before a crowd of 75,000. “Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story – of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren’t well-off or well-known, [...]
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a human rights lawsuit against ExxonMobil can move forward, concluding there is enough evidence for a jury to consider whether the oil giant is responsible for the alleged murder, rape, beating, and torture of villagers committed by Indonesian soldiers who were guarding the company’s gas fields. In 2001, 11 [...]
Harold Simmons, the billionaire Dallas investor has grown accustomed to using his vast wealth to influence the outcome of elections. For decades, Simmons has poured millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of mostly Republican lawmakers to get legislation introduced that would greatly benefit on his financial holdings. Simmons has had a close relationship with [...]
In the classic film, The Manchurian Candidate, Lawrence Harvey is programmed through devious and elaborate North Korean brainwashing techniques to assassinate a leading candidate for President. The decorated war hero seems perfectly normal until he sees the Queen of Diamonds, and that sets him off on his murderous mission. Of course the film takes some [...]
Facing a new reversal in federal court, the Bush administration is finding its options narrowed in its effort to stop congressional testimony from former White House counsel Harriet Miers and chief of staff Joshua Bolten regarding the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006. The administration had asserted a blanket claim of executive privilege in [...]
