Washington Babylon

Gil Troy, a professor of history at McGill University and Visiting Scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), writes: In his Washington Babylon item of August 18), Ken Silverstein wonders…

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Remember those stories last month about how the Bush administration seemed to give Hunt Oil a wink before it signed a controversial deal in Kurdistan? “Bush administration officials knew that…

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Change a few names and places, and this wonderful piece in the Weekly Standard by Andrew Ferguson is just as perfect in August of 2008 as it was when he…

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According to various headlines gathered from RealClearPolitics, Barack Obama’s selection of Joe Biden to be his VP was either “the Perfect Pick” or “A Good Pick…for Republicans,” not to mention…

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During the past few weeks, thousands of reporters and commentators have produced countless stories feverishly speculating about who Barack Obama would pick to be his vice presidential nominee. “Obama Veep…

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“Market share dictates the witless coverage, which is largely for the media’s own amusement,” Chris Lehmann said in an interview posted here yesterday. “You see that all the time on…

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During the run-up to the Olympics and beyond, Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, uttered barely a word of criticism about the Chinese government. China breaks its…

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Chris Lehmann is a senior editor at CQ and a co-editor at Bookforum. He was formerly a columnist of the New York Observer and deputy editor of Washington Post Book…

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Several Pennsylvania residents wrote in about yesterday’s post on how lobbyists and defense contractors with ties to Congressman John Murtha have such extraordinary success winning earmarks out of his House…

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The New York Times reported yesterday that the Chinese government had refused to allow a single demonstration in any of the official “protest zones” it had created for the Olympic…

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From The Hill: Former Representative Bob Ney (R., Ohio) said Wednesday that the lobbying bill passed in the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal that sent him to prison probably…

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Congressman John Murtha of Pennsylvania has long been one of the biggest porkbarrelers in Congress, and as the chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee he is also one of…

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From a complaint filed today by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, against Congressman Vern Buchanan (R., Fl.): Rep. Buchanan owns several car dealerships in Florida. In September 2005,…

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Ever since Beijing was awarded the right to host the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee has been talking about the beneficial impact this would have on human rights in…

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Is there a more boring organization in America than the corporate-sponsored Bipartisan Policy Center, which is hosting big ticket events to both the Democratic and Republican conventions? The Center was…

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As the crisis in the Caucasus grows, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili enjoys a snack. This does not inspire a great deal of confidence in the Georgian leader’s ability to hold…

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From today’s Washington Post: It’s been nearly a decade since Greenspan’s stock hit its all-time high with the now-famous Time magazine cover during the Asian financial crisis — the one…

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From the Sunlight Foundation: Mark Warner, who’s running for Virginia’s open seat to the U.S. Senate and will serve as the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in Denver,…

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From Doug Frantz at the Washington Independent: Al Qaeda and the Taliban are executing suspected U.S. informants in Pakistan in a campaign to terrorize potential spies and reinforce the authority…

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Finally, John Edwards gives a candid interview about his extramarital affair.

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From Mark Ames in The Nation: Up until now, this war was framed as a simple tale of Good Helpless Democratic Guy Georgia versus Bad Savage Fascist Guy Russia. In…

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David Broder answered questions from Washington Post readers today during an online chat, and was asked about his acceptance of speaking fees from private groups, a topic I first raised…

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From the Washington Post: Political protests? Not on this channel; no sir. Beijing’s fearful pollution? Maybe, but only if a marathoner coughs up a lung or it spoils a beauty…

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Note from a reader: Where on earth did Putin get the idea that he could just manufacture a non-existent crisis, invade a sovereign nation and overthrow its government just because…

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Once upon a time John Edwards wanted to be president. “Poverty,” he said back then, “is the great moral issue of our century,” he told a group of students at…

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“Through NBC, GE has paid hundreds of million of dollars to broadcast the Olympics,” Arvind Ganesan of Human Rights Watch said in an interview here recently. “Will we see tough…

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In an editorial last week the New York Times suggested that the International Olympic Committee, in its ceaseless shilling for China in the run-up to the games, had proven itself…

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This has not yet been authenticated but the National Enquirer must be pretty confident about this story on John Edwards and his alleged “lovechild.” After all, Edwards is a trial…

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