Matt Ortega

I’m going to hand everybody in America a shovel and we’re going to start digging our way out.

–Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York)
(CNN, 03/27/07)

Wouldn’t rope would be more helpful?

(Hat tip: Political Wire)

Hilarious spoof of NFL-United Way commercials from Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning’s appearance on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.

In the year prior to the 2004 Republican National Convention, undercover New York Police Department officers “traveled to cities across the country, Canada and Europe to conduct covert observations of people who planned to protest at the convention, according to police records and interviews,” reports the New York Times.

The Raw Story writes:

Records show that in hundreds files labeled “NYPD Secret,” the NYPD intelligence operations “chronicled the views and plans of people who had no apparent intention of breaking the law.”

The files included members church and anti-war groups, environmentalists, and even three New York City elected officials.

In some cases, records of lawful activities were shared with police departments in other states.

(Hat tip: The Raw Story)

Americans are running away from the Republican Party, according to a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press. (Full results available in Adobe Acrobat format here.)

In fact, President George W. Bush is radioactive to Republicans seeking to “redefine” conservatism after his failed administration and the ouster of deficit-spending Republican Congress in last November’s midterm elections.

As this survey shows, Democrats have a major opportunity to capitalize on Americans’ dissatisfaction with the Republican Party and conservative principles. It is imperative that the Democratic leadership seize this moment and do what is right, do what is expected of Democrats, and more Americans will move in their direction.

In 2001, President Bush had an incredible opportunity in foreign policy and West-Muslim relations.

The only advice one could give the Democratic leadership: do not blow it.

Read more at The Carpetbagger Report.

(Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish)

Documents released late Friday show that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales personally approved the firings of the U.S. attorneys, contradicting previous statements.

The Nov. 27 meeting, in which the attorney general and at least five top Justice Department officials participated, focused on a five-step plan for carrying out the firings of the prosecutors, Justice Department officials said late Friday.

There, Gonzales signed off on the plan, which was crafted by his chief of staff, Kyle Sampson. Sampson resigned last week amid a political firestorm surrounding the firings.

The documents indicated that the hour-long morning discussion, held in the attorney general’s conference room, was the only time Gonzales met with top aides who decided which prosecutors to fire and how to do it.

November 27 falls right into the 18-day gap that the Justice Department called a “lull.” Eleven days ago, Think Progress points out, Gonzales denied any involvement:

I was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on … That’s basically what I knew as attorney general. [original emphasis]