Obama's Two Weeks of Scandalmania, in Photos

Associated Press

Three big scandals. Two Marine umbrellas. And a non-salute en route to Memorial Day. Plus more visual evidence from 12 days of scandal town.

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 19, 2013

The Surreal Sight of SWAT Teams in Banal Suburbs of Boston

One of the strangest things about watching heavily-armed tactical teams sweep through Watertown, Massachusetts in search of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the fugitive Boston marathon bomber, was seeing all this war pouring through quaint suburban streets.

Comments | 7,724 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 19, 2013

The Lessons of the Bombing Are Clear to These People: Boston Needs More AR-15s

Politicians finally have enough material to begin exploiting the Boston marathon bombing. Immigration, plus a little guns.

Comments | 6,179 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 19, 2013

The U.S. Anti-Muslim Crowd Is Quite Pleased with Itself

The suspected Boston marathon bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsaraev, are Muslim.Were their actions motivated by religion? And if it was, were they part of an organized radical Islamist group? We don't know. But that doesn't matter to a segment of anti-Islam bloggers who are latching onto the sparse biographical details as vindication.

Comments | 28,384 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 18, 2013

In New Ads, NRA Is Astonished Congress Won't Act on Gun Legislation

Today you can find on the website of The Washington Post, above articles reporting how the NRA successfully blocked new gun regulations, ads paid for by the NRA, telling Congress to "Get serious" about doing something about gun crimes. That's called "chutzpah."

Comments | 4,430 Views

The Appalachian Trail Ad Democrats Were Waiting to Air

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will launch a new television spot Friday features a figure hiking a mountain trail as the narrator intones, "Mark Sanford walked out on us, violated our trust ... maybe Mark Sanford should just keep walking."

Comments | 1,166 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 18, 2013

A Video History of Obama as Consoler in Chief

Like most presidents, part of Barack Obama's job has always been to speak up for the nation in times of grief, a role he's become all too familiar with in the last year. In addition to his remarks in Boston, we have gathered some of his previous speeches — three of which followed mass shooting — that are the best examples of his knack for rhetoric in times of crisis. 

Comments | 963 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 18, 2013

The Rapidly Diminishing Returns of Outrage at Guns

There was mass fury at the Senate for filibustering a weakened gun background checks bill that had been driven by the outrage that one man with an AR-15 could kill 20 schoolchildren. What's more interesting is whether all that rage will end up changing anything on its own.

Comments | 4,815 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Apr 18, 2013

After Boston Arrest Report, Jon Stewart Calls CNN 'Human Centipede of News'

The Daily Show host has a really gross analogy to describe CNN's on-air meltdown in Boston.

Comments | 5,764 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 17, 2013

Go Read Gabby Giffords' Times Op-Ed, No Matter What You Believe

Gun control is one of the most divisive issues in the country, and Wednesday's face-off in the Senate reminded of that. But Gabrielle Gifford's new piece in Thursday's New York Times reminds us that we're human.

Comments | 14,411 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 17, 2013

Conservatives Sure Are Gloating About Blocking the Gun Bill

A lot of gun control advocates are upset about what happened in the Senate on Wednesday as a (mostly) Republican minority filibustered gun regulations that the majority of Americans support.

Comments | 14,219 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 17, 2013

MarcoPhone Turns Out Not to Exist Either

One of the main complaints some conservatives have against immigration reform is that a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants would create millions of moochers living off federal benefits. And what is the No. 1 symbol of American moocherdom? The Obamaphone.

Comments | 1,922 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 17, 2013

Why Aren't Gun Control Advocates Focusing More on Online Sales?

Despite clear demonstrations of the ease with which anonymous weapons transactions can occur online — including ties to mass shooting incidents — the issue has been largely sidelined during the political debate.

Comments | 2,306 Views

By Jen Doll

Apr 17, 2013

Could Millennials End Salary Secrecy?

One long-held taboo of office life is that you're not supposed to talk about what you make. It appears that may be changing.

Comments | 13,451 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 17, 2013

Louie Gohmert Wins the Race to Say Something Offensive About Boston

The race was not a sprint, but a long, hard slog. Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert won that race today, but he could never have done it without the hard work of others who went before him.

Comments | 6,917 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 17, 2013

Mark Sanford's Trespassing Charge Just Lost Him a Lot of Campaign Money

The National Republican Congressional Committee announced they would not be contributing another cent to Mark Sanford's campaign in South Carolina Wednesday afternoon because of his trespassing charge.

Comments | 3,303 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 17, 2013

The NRA Wins: Senate Gun Deals Fizzle on Vote Day

President Obama will not get his vote on gun control in the Senate on Wednesday. Or, at least, not on a package of bills that could pass. The Manchin-Toomey compromise on background checks has been declared dead by its sponsor.

Comments | 7,869 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Apr 17, 2013

Jon Stewart Thinks Immigration 'Gang of Eight' Is More Like a 'Co-op Board'

About that "gang of eight," which includes Chuck Schumer and John McCain: It isn't really much of a "gang," Stewart said on last night's Daily Show.

Comments | 1,919 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Apr 17, 2013

Anthony Weiner's Rehab Tour Is Working

Anthony Weiner is trailing fledgling rockstar Christine Quinn — and only Christine Quinn — in a new poll, the first in the heated New York City mayor's race to include him, and the first evidence that his media blitz is slowly bringing him back from selfie shame.

Comments | 384 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 16, 2013

What Was Mark Sanford Doing at His Ex-Wife's House?

Mark Sanford is headed back to court on Thursday to address an accusation that he trespassed at his ex-wife Jenny Sanford's home a couple months ago. This probably doesn't bode well for his comeback.

Comments | 8,253 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Apr 16, 2013

Remembering 8-Year-Old Martin Richard, in Chalk, Peace, and Tears

Boston's Dorchester neighborhood has become a scene of a family so tight knight, a community so close — so shaken by the loss of such a little one, the first victim identified in Monday's attack — that it has become, at least for a little bit today, an epicenter of quiet grief in a city shaken by sudden violence.

Comments | 2,623 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 16, 2013

Pretty Please Politicize the Boston Marathon Bombing

No one wants to politicize the Boston Marathon bombing. But a political opponent politicizing the Boston Marathon bombing? Well, that might be useful!

Comments | 3,144 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 16, 2013

The Weird Math of the Immigration Bill

The Senate immigration bill has some weird math. While pundits and politicians of both parties are nearly unanimous in agreeing we need immigration reform, the bill seems crafted more to send a statement than to actually make the economy or human lives better.

Comments | 2,876 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 16, 2013

Where the Fight to Save the Senate Gun Package Stands Now

On Capitol Hill, Senators Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey are scrambling to find the 60 votes needed to pass their compromise background check bill — and are considering how to sweeten it to lure their reticent colleagues.

Comments | 383 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 15, 2013

After a Bombing in Boston, All Quiet In Washington

President Obama did call the bombing of the Boston marathon "terrorism" in a brief statement on the event Monday, saying instead, "We still do not know who did this or why. People shouldn't jump to conclusions before we have all the facts."

Comments | 26,447 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 15, 2013

A Guide to Keeping Your Post-Obama Career Classy

After years of long hours and low-ish pay, many of President Obama's old aides are cashing in on their political connections. But as The New Republic's Noam Scheiber explains, there's some squabbling among the Obama alumni network over who looks like a crass sellout and who's a classy sellout.

Comments | 749 Views

GOP and Dems Come Together — to Keep IRS from Competing with TurboTax

A House bill would bar the IRS from offering taxpayers software that would compete with programs like TurboTax. Tax activist Grover Norquist and others wrote a letter to members of Congress that urged them to support the bill — what they called a "pro-taxpayer, anti-IRS power grab legislation." At issue is how Americans file their taxes and whether electronic filing can be offered directly through the IRS.

Comments | 382 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Apr 15, 2013

Secret McConnell Taper Wants You to Pay His Rent

The man who reportedly taped a private meeting between campaign aides for Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell — and then passed the recording off to Mother Jones — is looking for your help.

Comments | 573 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Apr 15, 2013

Georgia Budget Hawk Celebrates Tax Day with 47% Endorsement Video

The words "47 percent" were the death blow to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign — even he admits it was "completely wrong." So why on Earth is Rep. Rob Woodall, a Republican from Georgia who sits on Paul Ryan's House Budget Committee, saying Mitt was so right?

Comments | 956 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 15, 2013

So, What Happens to Guns in the House?

This week's discussion of the Senate vote on gun reforms is like sportscasters talking about going for it on a fourth down. If the bill fails: game over. If it passes, proponents of reform still face the daunting opposition of a ferociously conservative House.

Comments | 764 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 15, 2013

No One's Paying Attention to Michele Bachmann on Immigration This Time

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio went on seven Sunday talk shows to pitch a bipartisan immigration reform deal, while a handful of Republican lawmakers famous for their wacky cable news interviews can't get any attention.

Comments | 5,734 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 15, 2013

Senate Passage of the Gun Bill Comes Down to One Number

There's a tangibility to numbers that's hard to escape in the gun control debate. Twenty-six killed at Newtown. Forty percent of gun sales that currently require no background check. But this week, the only important number is 60.

Comments | 2,248 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 14, 2013

The Question of Whether We Can Patent Genes Heads to the Supreme Court

While tech types have been crowing over how broken the software patent system has become, the medical community is dealing with a much more serious question: Should we be able to patent genes?

Comments | 4,387 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Apr 14, 2013

The Sunday Grind

Marco Rubio Wants the World to Know He's the Face of Immigration Reform

After weeks of secrecy about his approval of a plan set to be introduced this week, Rubio appeared on basically every Sunday morning talk show known to man to back the plan.

Comments | 1,686 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Apr 12, 2013

North Dakota Is Determined to Make You Have Your Baby

On the heels of a measure that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy and in the midst of a purposeful challenge to Roe v. Wade, North Dakota's legislature has sent another bill to be signed by Governor Jack Dalrymple—and this one would outlaw abortions after 20 weeks or pregnancy, built on the premise that fetuses feel pain.

Comments | 2,010 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 12, 2013

The Gosnell Trial Is About Many Things, but Media Bias Isn't One of Them

A wave of complaints about mainstream media bias crested on Friday with the belief in some circles that the murder trial of former abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell is being completely ignored by the national media. 

Comments | 18,218 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 12, 2013

The RNC Is This Much More Opposed to Gay Marriage Than Actual Republicans

In at least one demographic, there is unanimity on same-sex marriage: members of the Republican National Committee. As you might expect, they're opposed. Officially.

Comments | 937 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 12, 2013

How Did the Gosnell Trial Bring Guns and Abortion Together Like This?

Human beings, being pattern-seekers, like to mush things together no matter how well or poorly they fit. Today, those things happen to be abortion and guns. It turns out to be a bit of a stretch.

Comments | 937 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Apr 12, 2013

Rep. Steve Cohen: Culture Jammer

Cohen explained to multiple outlets that calling the singer-activist Cyndi Lauper "hot" on Twitter and then deleting the tweet, was part of an elaborate ploy to prank the political media, thereby drawing attention to their taste for scandal.

Comments | 187 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 12, 2013

Yo! GOP Raps: The Greatest Hits of Republican Hip Hop

Former Bush adviser Dana Perino made America cringe by rapping a response to Jay-Z's rapped defense of his trip to Cuba,  following in the footsteps of many conservatives who have rapped before. They have never not made us cringe.

Comments | 1,092 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 12, 2013

Just Because You're Lobbying Doesn't Make You a Lobbyist

What would you call a person who spends days on end going from one senator's office to another to push for a piece of legislation? If he's paid it's one thing. If he's a family member of a crime victim, it apparently comes down to politics.

Comments | 187 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 12, 2013

And Now Mitch McConnell is Compared to Al Qaeda

There's something about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that inspires hyperbole. Today, his policies are being compared with the terrorists behind 9/11, officially completing the trifecta of overwrought analogies.

Comments | 937 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 12, 2013

The New Republican Vine Ad Attacking Colbert Busch Is Very 'Blade Runner'

After the defeat of Mitt Romney, the Republicans developed a lengthy plan aimed at modernizing its outreach. Apparently some in the party thought that meant dystopic, sci-fi-style advertising. On Twitter's six-second Vine platform, on repeat.

Comments | 910 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 12, 2013

Paul Ryan Makes a Pretty Good Case for Keeping Abortion Legal

Ryan gave a speech Thursday night insisting that Republicans not cave on their opposition to abortion, but he ended up making the case for why abortion should remain legal.

Comments | 3,823 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 11, 2013

Mark Zuckerberg Supports a Very Specific Kind of Immigration Reform

Led by Facebook's Zuckerberg, a number of Silicon Valley executives today announced an initiative to facilitate immigration reform. Or, more likely, to ensure that reform includes the sorts of changes the tech industry wants to see.

Comments | 5,733 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 11, 2013

'The Bible' Would Have Fit Right in at Fox News

Rupert Murdoch wanted Fox News to air The Bible, the hit miniseries on History with an Obama-esque Satan. But Murdoch and Survivor bigwig Mark Burnett couldn't come to an agreement on the money or the rights. This is an unsettling revelation.

Comments | 1,110 Views

By Elspeth Reeve and Philip Bump

Apr 11, 2013

Chart of the Day

A Map Showing the Country's Sudden Move Towards Marriage Equality

Gay marriage is suddenly popular. But what our map GIF shows is that this wave of support for gay rights follows two large anti-gay rights wave, first under President Bill Clinton and then under President George W. Bush. 

Comments | 24,777 Views

Why Obama's Environmental Pick Drives Republicans Crazy

Thursday's confirmation hearing for President Obama's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency became the latest forum for an ongoing argument over global warming, jobs, the future of the U.S. coal industry, and the role of the federal government.

Comments | 740 Views

By Philip Bump

Apr 11, 2013

Mitch McConnell's Bug: A Guy Standing in the Hallway

Mitch McConnell appears to have been right about the source of the leaked tape of his staff disparaging Ashley Judd. According to a Kentucky Democratic official, staff of the liberal PAC Progress Kentucky recorded the meeting from a hallway.

Comments | 5,918 Views

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