No they aren’t. They’re doing rescue and remediation work that is pretty astonishing in its magnitude and effectiveness. I’m still steamed by Pat Robertson’s insanely malignant remark to the effect that the natural disasters suffered by Haiti are the result of a pact with the devil that empowered them to successfully rebel against the French [...]

PR firm Murray Hill Inc. has announced its entry into the Republican primary for Maryland’s 8th Congressional district, thereby becoming the first corporation to exercise its personhood by running for elective office. The company says that “Until now, corporate interests had to rely on campaign contributions and influence peddling to achieve their goals in Washington. [...]

Many years ago, very shortly after BTC News burst upon the blogosphere like a firefly at high noon, we began an occasional feature called My Favorite Warlord. Readers were invited to play along; all that’s required is to choose one among the host of what are commonly referred to as warlords in Afghanistan, and do [...]

So Senator Evan Bayh is taking his whiny ass and going home. He says he doesn’t love Congress anymore. There’s a simple explanation for that: he’s not important anymore. But don’t count him gone altogether; while he’s reaping the financial rewards of two terms in the Senate—beyond the $13 million campaign kitty he’s taking with [...]

Retired general and former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who did much worse stuff but is best known as the guy who appointed himself acting president when Ronald Reagan was shot, is dead. Barack Obama hails him as representative of “our finest warrior-diplomat tradition of those who dedicate their lives to public service.” Jonathan Schwarz [...]

Brilliant FBI agents decipher threat to New York in anthrax letters.

The United States, we are often told, is a nation bound by the rule of law. We hear that less and less as it becomes more and more risible but I guess it still officially is, unless you’re the president, or you’re operating an armed drone on behalf of the president, or torturing someone on [...]

The PATRIOT Act was up for renewal this week. Democrats wanted to add some civil liberties backstops to it, but were unable to get it done because, well, they’re Democrats, and the getting done of things just isn’t among their areas of expertise. So they compromised with themselves by kicking the can down the road [...]