So You Think Hostilities Have Ended In Iraq?

In Baghdad, twin car bombs killed 31 people and wounded dozens of others.

The blasts were the worst to strike the Iraqi capital since the number of American troops in the country dropped below 50,000 and the U.S. declared a formal end to combat operations. The violence underlines the challenges Iraqi security officials face trying to stabilize Baghdad as U.S. forces drawdown and Iraq’s police and military assume responsibility for protecting the capital.…

O’Donnell Cancels Second Sunday TV Show

Delaware GOP U.S. Senate hopeful Christine O’Donnell, who previously canceled an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” has now also bowed out of “Fox News Sunday.”

Campaign spokeswoman Diane Banister told The Associated Press on Saturday that O’Donnell canceled so she could attend previously scheduled events, including a Republican picnic Sunday in Delaware’s Sussex County, where she received key support.

Banister says O’Donnell would love to appear on the shows in the future.

Right.…

Gingrich Calls For Banning Shariah Law

by Stuart Shapiro

The Values Voter Summit is always good for hearing Republican presidential aspirants at their looniest.  Newt Gingrich proposed forbidding the use of Shariah law in U.S. courtrooms.

“We should have a federal law that says sharia law cannot be recognized by any court in the United States,” Gingrich said to a standing ovation from the audience. The law will let judges know, Gingrich said, that “no judge will remain in office that tried to use sharia law.

What does that even mean?  Can judges now order stoning?  Is Jihad an acceptable defense in U.S. courts?  I must …

Trace Adkins: Tea Partiers “Don’t Want Their Conservative Leaders To Reach Across The Aisle;” But Rather “Leer Across The Aisle And Give Them The Finger”

Country music star Trace Adkins is politically astute.  Appearing on Anderson Cooper’s show, he expressed doubt that the leaderless tea party movement is a viable party, and put in perspective the right-wing anger in America.

Providing one of the more level-headed and accurate descriptions of the Tea Party, Adkins rightly identified that “there are a lot of conservatives that are frustrated and that are ticked off,” and argued, “I don’t think it matters which party you belong to– it’s a bad year to be an incumbent.” That said, when Anderson Cooper asked him the central question surrounding the future of …

Montana GOP Wants To Make Homosexuality Illegal

The Montana Republican Party adopted an official platform that supports making homosexuality illegal. The Montana Supreme Court struck down laws making homosexual acts illegal in 1997.

But going against the grain is the Montana GOP statement, which falls under the “Crime” section of the GOP platform. It states: “We support the clear will of the people of Montana expressed by legislation to keep homosexual acts illegal.”

Montana GOP executive director Bowen Greenwood (pictured) said that has been the position of the party since the state Supreme Court struck down state laws criminalizing homosexuality in 1997 in the case of Gryczan …

Christine O’Donnell: “I Dabbled Into Witchcraft” But “Never Joined A Coven”

The gift that keeps on giving appears to be Christine O’Donnell’s many appearances on “Politically Incorrect,” and Bill Maher is holding the tapes hostage, vowing to keep playing them until she appears again on his show.

Maher joked that he’s going to show a new clip of O’Donnell every week on his show until she agrees to appear on his show again.

Said Maher: “I’m just saying, Christine, it’s like a hostage crisis, every week you don’t show up, I’m going to throw another body out.”

Maher played a tape of a 1999 show where O’Donnell discussed her involvement …

O’Donnell Cancels Appearance On “Face The Nation”

It appears as though Christine O’Donnell wants to be very selective about which parts of the nation she’s going to face. With no explanation, she’s backed out of a Sunday morning appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” Politico’s Ben Stein has the story:

O’Donnell’s abrupt cancellation comes after scores of stories have emerged about extreme comments she has made in the past about issues ranging from condom usage to human brains being inserted into mice.

The Republican has appeared on TV since her victory in Tuesday’s primary, but she now may be heeding the advice bestowed earlier this week by …

Olympia Snowe Is Sad — Soon She May Be A Democrat

by Stuart Shapiro

Many people are speculating that if the Republicans get close to 50 votes in the Senate, Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson may jump ship on the Democrats and caucus with the GOP.  But it could work both ways.  Olympia Snowe had a strong reaction to the Delaware primary results, and she is not amused.

Visibly sad, Snowe called Castle “an outstanding public servant who was committed to the common good of his state and country.”

The longer Snowe talked about the state of the GOP and the Tea Party movement, the more riled up she got.

Can …

Palin Wants Media “Accountable” While She Only Gives Accounts To Friendly Media

It’s funny to hear Sarah Palin admonish the media to be “accountable” when she is never available to answer questions from reporters who are deemed unfriendly to her point of view. “Accountable” would also include keeping your commitment to the people of the state you pledged to serve. Nevertheless, at the Ronald Reagan dinner in Iowa, Palin went into media attack mode.

Sarah Palin took aim at the media imploring the crowd at the Reagan Dinner in Des Moines, “to hold the press accountable when you know that they’re making things up and telling untruths.”

Palin explained why she …

Lady Gaga Attacks Republicans Over ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’

By Yashwanth Manjunath

Lady Gaga decided to engage in a little political activism  in a video message sent out to her fans. Gaga urges her supporters to call their senators and pressure them to repeal ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’. The video specifically calls out John McCain of Arizona, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, and Jeff Sessions of Alabama as particularly vocal opponents of DADT. The response thus far from Washington has been as comical as expected.

One of Gaga’s New York Senators, Kirsten Gillibrand,  took to her Twitter account to thank Gaga for her phone call …

Elizabeth Warren Gets The Job

by Stuart Shapiro

President Obama today announced that he was appointing Elizabeth Warren as a Special Adviser to the Treasury Secretary to assist with the creation of the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau.

“Getting the agency off the ground is a task that can’t wait,” Obama said. Warren “is the best person to stand this agency up…it only make sense that she should be the architect,” he added.

I’ve blogged on Warren’s appointment several times and this announcement comes as a welcome relief.  She will work to set up the agency and make sure it is staffed with officials dedicated to …