WATER COOLER
The Water Cooler is written by Washington Times staffers.
Latest Blog Entries
Rangel's race taunt: Tea party a bunch of 'white crackers'
New York Rep. Charlie Rangel wants the world to know: The tea party are a bunch of "white crackers."
This can't be good: 56 percent of Republicans declare 'no one is in charge' of the GOP
Timely new findings reveal the majority of Republican voters want their party to get moving - but move to the right. And they're not quite sure who's really in charge of things.
New York City Democrats say Anthony Weiner's sexting is a 'legitimate issue' in the mayoral campaign
Do New York City's Democratic voters think that the ever-unfolding, often unbelievable saga of Anthony Weiner is a viable issue of concern in the New York mayoral race? Why, yes. Indeed, they do.
CPAC's September fling attracts Perry, Brownback and Lee
CPAC never sleeps. Really. The American Conservative Union is planning a follow up to its bodacious Conservative Political Action Conference in early spring that marked the 40th year for the annual rite of policy and political identity.
Triple feature for 2016: there are three 'Hillary' films now in production
"Hillary" is not the only Hillary Rodham Clinton-fueled film now in production. There are three. Lest we forget, "Rodham" is also underway. CNN, meanwhile, has commissioned an unnamed feature-length documentary on Mrs. Clinton.
27 percent of Americans believe the government has listened to or read their phone calls and emails
Americans are edgy about federal government collection of "metadata" - the records of their phone calls and emails. But it's a complicated relationship. A majority still approves of the program despite their misgivings, and Democrats appear more trusting than Republicans.
Conservatives demand broadcasters 'stop censoring' IRS scandal news
A coalition of conservative leaders insist that liberal broadcasters have compromised coverage of the IRS matter that revealed the federal agency had singled out the tax status of certain conservative groups.
Geraldo's wife stands by her man too
It is the week for wives to stand by their spouse under unusual circumstances. There's much public attention on Huma Abedin, who has sworn continued allegiance to Anthony Weiner despite his sexting scandal. Now Geraldo Rivera's fifth wife Erica has stepped forward to forgive her husband's recent personal foray into pin-up art.
22,000 have applied for a job at Al Jazeera America
The company has had 700 jobs to fill in recent months, and have already attracted high profile veterans from CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC, CBS and ABC recently, including such recognizable faces as Soledad O'Brien and David Shuster. Some critics remain unimpressed, however.
Intelligence chief James Clapper: don't dismantle 'important' counterterrorism tool
As Rep. Justin Amash and lawmakers mull his amendment to the Defense appropriations bill that could defang the National Security Agency's phone and internet data collection program, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper speaks up, on the record.
Overly attentive media made Wendy Davis an 'instant celebrity' say close observers
The 11-hour, pro-abortion filibuster of Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis to derail Texas. Gov. Rick Perry's late-term abortion bill found a ready and willing audience in the 'Big Three' broadcast networks, a new study finds.
Who's really got the illegal vote? A third if illegal immigrants are 'political independents'
"It's uncertain whether these unauthorized immigrants, many of whom are currently unaffiliated, would adopt similar political affiliations and voting patterns if given the chance to naturalize," Pew researchers say.
President Obama boosts Organizing for Action, the 3-million member grassroots group
There's a dinner at a swank hotel in the nation's capital, and the proverbial "remarks" before an adoring audience and Democratic lawmakers. President Obama will be there Monday night to lend a splashy boost to Organizing for Action, the 3-million member grassroots group that grew out of his 2016 campaign.
Allen West's presidential straw poll: Cruz beats Paul
The winner of the straw poll is Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas with 58 percent of the vote, besting Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. The pair of lawmakers were the final contenders in a runoff from a roster of previous possible candidates that once included Sen. Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Trump, Rep. Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Rick Santorum.
Coffee, no firearms: Mom's group tells Starbucks to ban guns from its stores
A Sig Sauer with that non-fat vanilla latte? Uh, no, says the Indiana-based grassroots group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which has launched a campaign to demand that the almighty Starbucks franchise ban guns from its stores nationwide.
