Conservative right-wingers really know how to make the most of their sexual fetishes, but do they have to do it in public?

Indeed they do -- and it's a form of persistent, intense fantasies just waiting for its own Wikipedia page. It's the way that Michelle Malkin dramatically draws out the word "smut" like a phone sex operator's tool of the trade.

It's the deliciously deep sexual fascination that prompted former Sen. (and current Fox News contributard and senior advisor for Washington's Ethics and Public Policy Center) Rick Santorum to state as fact to the Associated Press"

"In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be."   more »

The economy grew, but mainly because American families were persuaded to take on more debt, refinancing their mortgages and spending some of the proceeds.

And, as long as housing prices rose as a result of lower interest rates, Americans could ignore their growing indebtedness.

Even this did not stimulate the economy enough. To get more people to borrow more money, credit standards were lowered, fueling growth in so-called "subprime" mortgages.

Moreover, new products were invented, which lowered upfront payments, making it easier for individuals to take bigger mortgages.

Some mortgages even had negative amortization: payments did not cover the interest due, so every month the debt grew more.   more »

For Americans sitting in cinemas watching the summer's fun movies, such as The Simpsons and Hairspray, the trailer for Lions for Lambs is jarring and unexpected.

It opens with a moody shot of the Washington Memorial, and shifts to a series of quick-fire scenes about President George Bush's "war on terror".

Lions for Lambs, scheduled for release in the US on November 9, is not a documentary nor an art house film nor even a Michael Moore-style piece of agitprop.

It is mainstream Hollywood, starring Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, who also directed it.

It is one of about a dozen Hollywood films due for release or being made that deal with America divided, the national debate over Iraq and Afghanistan, and other consequences of 9/11.   more »

US President Harry Truman was advised by Senator Vandenberg to ‘scare the hell out of the country’ in order to get congressional support for the Truman doctrine- the policy that committed the US to fight ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ communist threats to pro-Western governments around the world.

In putting forward his own doctrine, George Bush presented a dark vision of a world divided by terror: “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.”

To sell his doctrine to the country, Bush relied on a strategy of fear that distorted the evidence, and ‘fixed the facts to fit the policy’ as was later revealed in the Downing Street Memo.

The strategy of fear was consistently applied from the moment Bush decided to go to war against Iraq, and we know from former Bush administration officials that Bush came to office determined to find an excuse to justify his determination to go to war against Iraq.   more »

The White House on Tuesday assailed Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton for criticizing President Bush in her latest television ad, calling her statements "outrageous."

The 60-second spot, which began running Tuesday in Iowa, intercuts scenes of the candidate interacting with voters and talking about challenges facing many working people.

"If you're a family that is struggling and you don't have health care, you are invisible to this president," the New York senator says in the ad. "If you're a single mom trying to find affordable child care so you can go to work, you're invisible too.

The ad also argued that U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are "invisible" to Bush.   more »