[Aaaand the Republican faction caved. Update below.] President Obama and George Bush's mastermind Karl Rove are in agreement that the House Republicans are out of their freaking minds for blocking an extension to the payroll tax cuts enacted last year. Although 89 Senators voted in favor of the two-month extension, which affects about 160 million Americans, House Speaker John Boehner is going along with the hard-right fiscal Conservative monsters spawned by the Tea Party and refusing to call it to a vote. And thus, strange bedfellows have come together to try and shame the Republicans into passing the extension. more ›

Well, the tiff between George W. Bush's campaign architect, Karl Rove, and half-term Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin continues! After Rove this weekend said he thought it looked like Sarah Palin was running for President next year, her team fired back saying (without naming Rove) that "Any professional pundit claiming to have 'inside information' regarding Gov. Palin's personal decision is not only wrong but their comments are specifically intended to mislead the American public." So last night Rove went on Fox News to say "it is a sign of enormous thin skin that if we speculate about [Palin], she gets upset. And I suspect if we didn't speculate about her, she'd be upset and try and find a way to get us to speculate about her." Oh, snap! more ›

Dozens of New Yorkers gathered at Federal Plaza to denounce the new Arizona immigration law, which makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally, and requires anyone whom police reasonably suspect to be an illegal alien (i.e. Mexicans) to produce documents of proof that they are citizens or legal residents. If they cannot, they will be "transferred immediately to the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement." Local immigrants are outraged at the possibility for racial profiling and Big Brother tactics. Queens resident Soledad Villacis told the Daily News, "Just because you eat guacamole and listen to Latin music doesn't mean you are undocumented." more ›

If Mayor Bloomberg or free can openers haven't made you send in your Census yet, maybe Karl Rove will? The former George W. Bush adviser filmed a PSA urging citizens to send in their Census forms, just like James Madison would have wanted. According to the Washington Post, Republicans are hoping the ad will encourage some normally right-voting Tea Partiers to stop boycotting the Census and risk having fewer Republican seats in Congress. Rove wrote that "current distrust of Washington should not discourage people from being counted." more ›

Former Bush senior adviser Karl Rove is settling plenty of scores in his new book, Courage and Consequences—and former Secretary of State Colin Powell is one of his targets. ABC News reports that Rove used his brute upper body power to get back at the general in 2004—by way of doing twenty push-ups. more ›

A Hillary Clinton campaign stop in Cincinnati became an opportunity for her to blast Barack Obama over what she called "blatantly false" campaign literature. Clinton said, "Shame on you, Barack Obama," as she held the literature in question. “It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public. That’s what I expect from you. Meet me in Ohio. Let’s have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign.” more ›

An exhibit at the main branch of the New York Public Library is drawing outrage from Republicans because some of the work on display depicts former and current members of the Bush administration posing for fake mug shots. Each official in the visionary series, called “Line Up”, is seen holding a slate with a date of arrest corresponding to a date when the official said something about Iraq that was not “reality-based.” Matthew Walter,... more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an escaped prsioner at East Fordham Rd. and Webster Ave. in the Bronx, a gas leak on Main St. in Queens, and a pedestrian struck on East 55th St. and 2nd Ave. in Manhattan.
• FEMA toured parts of Staten Island to determine if any homeowners were entitled to federal aid following last week's tornado and torrential rainstorms.
• Mayor Bloomberg shared some tips on how to be more environmentally friendly in his radio address today. The city is forming a partnership with G.E. and ConEd to make compact flourescent bulbs more affordable.
• A man is hospitalized in stable condition today after being shot by police in Brooklyn. Police officers were flagged down and had their attention directed to a gun-wielding man shooting at a group of people before firing at the cops.
• DUMBO residents are objecting to a planned development that could block views of the Brooklyn Bridge. The 7- to 16-story apartment house would include retail stores and a middle school.
• U.S. Senator from NY Chuck Schumer doesn't care if Karl Rove resigned or didn't. The Senator plans on continuing a probe into U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez and Rove's role in the DC affair.
• Curbed passes along some tips for first-time property buyers in NYC.
• The New York Times' City Room blog advises passengers to get a receipt when in a taxi, but otherwise informs readers that the chance of one ever recovering property left in a cab is pretty slim.

Karl Rove, the political mastermind who maneuvered George W. Bush to the White house twice, will be stepping down from his role as President Bush's political adviser at the end of the month. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Rove explained, "I just think it's time. There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family." Rove will be returning to Texas and stay out of politics -for now. more ›

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyways, onto the -ists. more ›

Fighting words from Senator Hillary Clinton. At the Democratic National Committee Winter Meetings, she passionately proclaimed, "If we in Congress don't end this war before January 2009, as president, I will." She also said that had she been President in October 2002, "I would not have started this war." Yes - the Daily News predicts that'll be Clinton's "flip-flop" soundbite. more ›

The port brouhaha is now in President Bush's court, as Dubai Ports World has requested that the U.S. government investigate the deal - the very same kind of investigation that the Bush administration said the deal did not need. Hmm, we wonder if Karl Rove asked the company to request it, to get them out of this pickle, or if DPW realized they'd have to do this or else there'd be protests at the ports when they are handed over to them. Senator Schumer said he was glad about the investigation but he'll still be proposing a law that requires the President to stop the American part of the deal (DPW is in the process of buying P&O Ports, a British company who manages six American ports). However, the AP points out that potential Arab influence is limited at the ports, given the labor will still be union and that DPW won't be the sole owner of all the ports - at Port Newark, the co-leaseholder is a Danish company (Danish and Arab company side by side?). more ›

For obvious reasons, we're always interested in who the players are in current political administrations (we mean, who isn't?). In that vein, today's Times has a good look at Bloomberg's top political strategist/deputy mayorfor intergovernmental relations Kevin Sheekey. more ›

The storm brewing around allowing a United Arab Emirates-owned company manage ports in major US cities, including New York, Miami and Baltimore, is reaching a fever pitch, with President Bush saying he'll veto any attempts to block the deal. This after even his own party's leaders in the Senate and House are dubious (dare we say, dubai-ous?) about whether or not the deal would allow for national security. In a slick, Karl Rove move, Bush claims that politicians opposing him are biased and ignoring the fact that the UAE is now an ally in fighting the war against terror; the opponent do keep brining up the pesky fact that much of the money that funded September 11 terror came from UAE banks. The big question is, will the President veto a law drawn up in the interest of national security? more ›

It's official: Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld is going to run for governor of New York. We can thank Rudy Giuliani and Karl Rove for encouraging Weld to run; according to the NY Times, people have said Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the early Democratic frontrunner, is "beatable." Weld himself told the NY Times "juices are really flowing for this race." Okay, first things first, dude: No one wants to know about your juices, okay? Didn't anyone learn anything from the whole Lewinsky thing? Anyway, Weld is a native New Yorker and has been working at a city law firm, which might temper some carpetbagger criticism, but his liberal leanings - support for abortion rights and gay rights - might be unattractive to conservative New Yorkers (the ones upstate). more ›

President Bush is an awesome friend. If you're Karl Rove. See, he nominated John Roberts (not the CBS guy...just a judge who looks suspciously like Pat Sajak) to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, and Gothamist can't help but think the nomination came to stifle the news that Karl Rove - and an aide to Vice President Cheney - could very well have been the smoking gun in naming an undercover CIA operative. He managed to get on the cover of Time and Newsweek, only to make us realize he looks a lot like Brian Posehn. Will having a conservative Supreme Court nominee be enough to knock the leak story off A1 for long? Well, at least there's the Daily Show. more ›

An activist arrested for disrupting President Bush's Republican party nomination during last year's Republican National Convention had all charges dropped yesterday. The D.A.'s office accused June Brashares of a couple crimes, including assaulting two volunteers who hauled her out of MSG, but when jurors believed Brashares and other witnesses. According to indymedia, "One trial observer writes: 'The pathetic arguement by DA...may have disolved next to great defence summation.'" The pathetic argument being perhaps being this, as reported by the NY Times:

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The Mayor had uninvited Congressman Bob Ney to his pre-Convention shindig, because of Ney's refusal to give NYC funding. more ›

Andrew Boyd, Cultural Activist and Founder, Billionaires for Bush more ›

In NY, the network airs on WLIB 1190AM (LA: KBLA 180AM; Chicago: WNTD 950AM). The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz looked at Air America a few weeks ago. Jeff Jarvis has been listening and says, "." Well, the station probably doesn't want to be confused with Air America, the airplane pilot "comedy" with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. more ›

Or we should just brand things for George and friends, as low culture suggests.
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Viewers can also see the White House Christmas decorations, which are inspired by children's story books, like The Cat in the Hat and Harry Potter; last year it was of animals who had lived in the White House, like Caroline Kennedy's pony and the Clintons cat, Socks.
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