The Media Consortium

This week finds our war hero, on Old Hallow's Eve, having finished yet another very difficult stretch of his presidential campaign, as it draws to a close. As if it wasn't tough enough to find himself having to defend his home state of Arizona from that one's blithely effortless incursion onto desert turf -- never mind the continuing parade of defectors and detractors among high-powered Republicans -- G.O.P. presidential nominee Sen. John McCain learned, via the press, that his senior advisers think his vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a "diva" and "a wack job" who was bent not just on "going rogue," but going even "more rogue" than her campaign has already gone. Which would be pretty far, since her remarks this week indicated that she may have already set her sights on 2012 presidential race, reportedly having written off the top-of-the-ticket's chances in 2008.

McCain's Kitchen Sink Strategy
McCain NewsLadder

With less than three weeks to go in the run-up to the presidential election, the McCain campaign, with help from the Republican National Committee, continued to keep its focus on attempts to discredit the Democratic contender, Sen. Barack Obama, more than on the policy goals of G.O.P. standard-bearer Sen. John McCain -- or those of either man, for that matter.

Special Debate Edition
In the much-anticipated final presidential debate of the 2008 campaign
season, the man who landed the greatest number of punches, say the
commentators, ultimately lost the debate. Despite the invocation of a
terrorist, it was a plumber who may have been McCain's undoing.

Special Debate Edition

In a forum on a college stage in Nashville, Tenn., Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain faced off for a second time before the television cameras, fielding questions on the economy, energy and foreign policy from an audience selected largely for its members' self-description as "undecided voters."

Special Debate Edition

So Gov. Sarah Palin didn't fall on her face in last night's debate
with Sen. Joseph Biden, her rival for the vice presidency, as so many
thought that she might. And Biden, who should find himself encouraged
by the snap polls that followed, avoided putting his foot in his
mouth, as is occasionally his habit. This morning likely finds both

by Adele M. Stan, The Media Consortium

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- At the annual Washington gathering of the
Christian right sponsored by the political arm of the Family Research Council, the
Republican Party's top emissaries have come in past years to bow
before some 2000 right-wing foot-soldiers and the leaders who command

By Brian Beutler, the Media Consortium

Last night, Chris Dodd took to the floor of the Senate and made an impassioned plea to his colleagues not to support the House FISA legislation. The video, and text are available here.

by Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium

When former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the use of harsh techniques, he did so over the objections of senior military attorneys from all branches of the armed services. Before the Senate Armed Services Committee, key players in the drama that led to the use of torture in Guantanamo answered questions.

By Brian Beutler from the Media Consortium

Divulged in memos, but largely undiscussed at yesterday's bombshell Senate Armed Services hearing about the origins of American torture was a September 25, 2002 meeting at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba between Major General Michael Dunlavey--who at the time was overseeing interrogations at the detention facility there--and several of the administrations top lawyers, including Jim Haynes, then general counsel to the Department of Defense, John Rizzo, acting CIA general counsel, David Addington, counsel to the vice president, and Michael Chertoff, then head of the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice.