By JOHN HANNA, Associated Press

LAWRENCE, Kan. - National Democratic Committee Chairman Howard Dean received a raucous welcome Friday from fellow Democrats for his message against the war in Iraq and his portrayal of Republicans as fiscally irresponsible…

The state Republican Party began criticizing Dean even before he arrived in Kansas, describing him as an extreme liberal. But Dean said Democrats represent Kansas values, among them fiscal responsibility. He excoriated Bush and Republicans in Congress over the federal budget deficit.

"You can't trust Republicans with taxpayers' money — borrow and spend, borrow and spend, borrow and spend," he said. ...   more »

Joe Conason, Toronto Star

On the audiotapes of George W. Bush recorded secretly by his erstwhile confidant Douglas Wead in 1999, the future president revealed how much he feared candid discussion of his personal use of marijuana and cocaine. As quoted in The New York Times, Bush vowed that no matter what rumours and facts circulated about what he did or might have done, he would doggedly decline to answer forthrightly.

His natural urge to protect his privacy evokes sympathy, however quaint his expectations might be at this point in our political history. But in justifying his refusal ...   more »

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE, The New York Times

LOVELAND, Colo., Feb. 25 - Joshua Noble, a 21-year-old who loves to snowboard, jolted Wal-Mart Stores last November when he got a majority of employees here at the Wal-Mart tire-and-lube shop where he worked to sign statements saying they wanted to vote on bringing in a labor union.

The unionization drive begun by Mr. Noble created a storm in this onetime ranching town at the foot of the Rockies - even the BBC covered it - and became a closely watched test of labor's efforts to unionize the world's largest retailer.

But on ...   more »

(Yeah, let’s export the American version of Fascism.  That’s a really good idea.  Let’s make the whole world as miserable as we are.)

This year's Conservative Political Action Conference proved so popular that it had to be moved from its usual venue in Arlington, Va., to the RonaldReaganBuilding in the heart of Washington. More than 4,000 people turned up this month to listen to Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich, to buy Ann Coulter dolls and to swap personal anecdotes about the evils of liberalism.

The conservative movement is in its glory. A recent ...   more »

(The authors of the above article apparently want to spread this kind of hateful propaganda to the rest of the world.)

Ronald Brownstein, Los Angeles Times

As synonyms for the word "vile," my thesaurus offers some of the following: offensive, objectionable, odious, repulsive, repellent, repugnant, revolting, disgusting, sickening, loathsome, foul, nasty, contemptible, despicable and noxious.

Any of those words would aptly describe the advertising attack launched last week against AARP, the largest advocacy group for seniors, by the conservative interest group USA Next. But there's one word that unfortunately can't be applied: surprising.

The salvo against AARP crystallizes trends developing ...   more »