Marc Cooper

I was mired in taillight hell somewhere on the 101 Tuesday afternoon as I listened to George W. Bush’s speech on the fifth anniversary of 9/11. When he said we are now fighting in Iraq to “maintain the way of life enjoyed by free nations,” I took a deep breath......

GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER came barreling into office three years ago opposing the unlimited expansion of Indian gambling, but now, unfortunately, he has switched sides. Though full-blown casinos can now be found on the edge of every metropolitan center in the state, the governor cut a half-dozen deals in the past......

We already know that the AQMD — the so-called smog police — does less than a stellar job cleaning up the air. But how many people know about the industrial quantities of political sleaze this agency pumps out on a regular basis? While there’s lots of scrutiny being cast this......

WE ALREADY KNOW THAT THE AQMD — the so-called smog police — does less than a stellar job cleaning up the air. But how many people know about the industrial quantities of political sleaze this agency pumps out on a regular basis?While there’s lots of scrutiny being cast this week......

Don’t know about you, but I’m hanging with George W. Bush when he says that the war in Iraq just might be “straining the psyche” of Americans. How could it not be stretched, if not twisted, when a recent CNN poll tells us that opposition to the war has reached......

It should come as no surprise that a professional political operative who prefers to keep the election system closed would be just as adamant in squelching public debate on reform. That’s no doubt why Gale Kaufman, the take-no-prisoners Democratic consultant who ran last year’s successful campaign against Arnold’s special-election proposals,......

Last month I wrote about a rumor going around saying that bigtime Democratic Party consultant Gale Kaufman was going to lead the campaign against upcoming ballot measure Proposition 89 — the so-called Clean Money reform that would finally bring public financing to California elections. You have to be careful publishing......

REMEMBER WHEN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION was ramping up the invasion of Iraq a few years ago? We were going to remove the dictator, shut down the (nonexistent) WMDs, install a new democracy, and, soon, we were told, a sirocco of freedom would sweep the region. And the road to finally......

WITH DEMOCRATS STILL UNABLE to find a unified or coherent position on the Iraqi debacle, President Bush has staged a political Hail Mary during the past few weeks, boldly and unblinkingly defending a war policy that a majority of the country rejects. His calculation was that tone and tenacity would......

“TRUTH BE TOLD,” MUSED A CHASTENED and philosophical Tony Soprano after a near-death experience early in his just-concluded sixth onscreen season, “there’s enough garbage for everybody.” Well, not exactly. Apparently, some wish to plain hog the trough all for themselves, even when it’s provided to them through public largesse. Take......