I'm sure someone will explain to me why this report from Knight-Ridder's Tony Pugh, is really another sterling example of the integrity and trustworthiness of the Bush administration: The government's top expert on Medicare costs was warned that he would be fired if he told key lawmakers about a series of Bush administration cost estimates that could have torpedoed congressional passage of the White House-backed Medicare prescription-drug plan. When the House of Representatives passed the controversial benefit by five votes... Read more

(It's still Thursday somewhere.) The Family Steering Committee of the 9/11 Independent Commission would like to ask President Bush: As commander-in-chief, from May 1, 2001 until September 11, 2001, did you receive any information from any intelligence agency official or agent that Osama bin Laden was planning to attack this nation on its own soil using airplanes as weapons, targeting New York City landmarks during the week of September 11, 2001 or on the actual day of September 11, 2001?... Read more

Today's edition of The (Del.) News Journal features two adjacent stories with a similar theme. Both stories involve adults who apparently have decided that the developmental differences between minors and adults are insignificant. In both stories, teenage children are treated as fully capable of making adult decisions on the same terms and with the same capacity as adults. The adults making such decisions seem to believe that they are dealing with exceptional children — children for whom the usual distinction... Read more

First, some opposition research: Ozzie Smith committed 281 errors. Ted Williams struck out 709 times. Cy Young lost 316 games. Rickey Henderson was thrown out stealing 335 times. If voting for the Hall of Fame were conducted like voting for a presidential election, that might be all most people would ever know about these guys. With $150+ million to spend on TV ads to "define" them, it'd be a simple matter to hammer these statistics home through repetition. VIDEO: A... Read more

The Family Steering Committee of the 9/11 Independent Commission would like to ask President Bush: Specifically, what did you learn from the August 6, 2001, PDB about the terrorist threat that was facing our nation? Did you request any follow-up action to take place? Did you request any further report be developed and/or prepared? Read more

The Family Steering Committee of the 9/11 Independent Commission would like to ask President Bush: Beginning with the transition period between the Clinton administration and your own, and ending on 9/11/01, specifically what information (either verbal or written) about terrorists, possible attacks and targets, did you receive from any source? This would include briefings or communications from: Out-going Clinton officials; CIA, FBI, NSA, DoD and other intelligence agencies; Foreign intelligence, governments, dignitaries or envoys; National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice; Richard... Read more

Congratulations, it seems, are in order for TBogg, who has landed a new job. The downside here is that his new responsibilities will probably mean lighter blogging from my favorite supplier of snark and one of the funniest people on the Web. It's probably a good thing that Tom's new company didn't hire two new people — that sort of deluge of job creation would've brought Air Force One swooping into San Diego for a photo op and campaign event:... Read more

Unless otherwise noted, the following 24 Fun Facts About Dick are from Jane Mayer's article "Contract Sport" from the Feb. 16-23, 2004, issue of The New Yorker. 1. Dick Cheney was born in Lincoln, Neb., in 1941. 2. As a young man, Dick Cheney was twice convicted of drunken driving. Although the exact number of George W. Bush's convictions for drunken driving is not publicly known, the two have more such convictions than any previous presidential ticket, and perhaps more... Read more

Tapped's Tara McKelvey notes the election-year cynicism indicated by this CNN report on the hunt for Osama bin Laden: U.S. forces searching for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden along the mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan will soon implement high-tech surveillance tactics in the region, enabling them to monitor the area 24 hours a day, seven days a week, CNN has learned. Yes, now that elections are approaching, the Bush administration has decided — two and a half years... Read more