Washington Babylon

No, it’s not about Stanley McChrystal. From AP: June has become the deadliest month of the Afghan war for the NATO-led international military force. An Associated Press count based on…

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The Daily Show nails it again. Bonus: President Gretchen Carlson. Double Bonus: The Hooter’s Memorial at Iwo Jima.

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Email from Cheryl Cage, Democratic candidate for the Arizona State Senate, running against Al Melvin, in Legislative District 26, near Tucson: Your piece in the July Harper’s was, unfortunately, spot-on.…

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The U.S. ties two weak teams, England and Slovenia, and barely beats Algeria and not only advances to the second round but wins its group. Life really is unfair. Even…

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From ABC: The Republican National Committee has doled out more than $100,000 to the top staffer let go after the embarrassing discovery that the party spent nearly $2,000 to entertain…

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From Right Wing Watch (via Andrew Sullivan): Last week, researchers at Yellowstone National Park trapped a Grizzly Bear, tranquilized it and fitted it with a radio collar. Shortly after the…

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During the Dog Days of the Cold War, the Soviet Union used to send “Youth Delegations” to international diplomatic events composed almost entirely of doddering 60-year-old-plus hacks. That’s pretty much…

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From The Mufson Report (formerly known as The Washington Post): Willie Sutton robbed banks because that’s where the money is. And oil companies venture into deep waters for exploration because…

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OK, OK, I have been convinced by readers that I was unfair to Landon Donovan. However, I still think he should never have claimed after the 2-2 draw with Solvenia…

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From the Washington Post: Companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are hiring a bevy of high-priced Washington lobbyists and consultants to help them weather the crisis, as…

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I vowed not to write about the U.S. team again, but it’s really impossible not to. First, Landon Donovan is an ass. After the game he said the referee “stole”…

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From the Sunday Times, via TPM: Japan, in an effort to secure votes to allow commercial whaling, has bribed small countries with aid packages, plus spending money and prostitutes for…

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From the Washington Post: Lobbyists for BP hosted at least 53 fundraising parties for lawmakers and candidates in recent years — four of them since the explosion and oil spill…

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APCO Worldwide, which wanted to represent Turkmenistan for me, has shady ties in Kyrgyzstan as well. From the Wall Street Journal: Weeks before ethnic clashes killed hundreds of people in…

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Senator Ron Gould bills himself as “the most conservative” politician in the Arizona state legislature, and he has the flat-top haircut to prove it; next to Gould, Sergeant Joe Friday…

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I have a piece in the July issue of the magazine (not yet available online) about the political looniness in the state of Arizona, which goes well beyond the issue…

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From Dana Milbank: Congressional investigators looking into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill found that BP and three other oil companies had filed “oil spill safety response plans” for the…

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From the Washington Post: The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating eight lawmakers who held fundraisers within 48 hours of a major House vote on a Wall Street reform bill…

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In the face of a huge international uproar, I’m told UNESCO has decided today not to allow itself to be used (at least for the time being) by Teodoro Obiang,…

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I received a number of nasty emails about my item yesterday on why I hate the U.S. soccer team. Keep them coming. Look, I admit my aversion to the U.S.…

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From Rolling Stone: Like the attacks by Al Qaeda, the disaster in the Gulf was preceded by ample warnings – yet the administration had ignored them. Instead of cracking down…

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A new story in AzeriReport describes how a lobbyist for the corrupt government of Azerbaijan used the Huffington Post as a bulletin board. The lobbyist in question is Jason Katz…

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Tomorrow UNESCO will decide if it has any shred of dignity or if it will allow itself to be used by a corrupt African dictator for PR purposes. As I’ve…

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A year ago I laid out the reasons why I can’t stand the American soccer team. I felt the same way after its first World Cup game, though what I…

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The Washington press corps is one big incestuous clusterfuck, but the instance in which Howard Kurtz criticized the beltway media was for its failure to lkick out Helen Thomas from…

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From Daniel Byman and Christine Fair: They blow each other up by mistake. They bungle even simple schemes. They get intimate with cows and donkeys. Our terrorist enemies trade on…

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Ever wonder what goes into a Twinkie? Wonder no more. From coolhunting.com, via Andrew Sullivan.

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Point One: The Washington Post reports today that Congressman Charlie Melancon of Louisiana is all choked up about the situation in the Gulf. “The real personification of the leak’s political…

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