Department Index
Chatterbox 2003:
Gossip, speculation, and scuttlebutt about politics.
If you'd like to sort this department listing by headline, author or date, please use the Slate search.
- Gagging the Fuzz The Park Police chief is being fired for telling the truth about her budget.
Dec. 30, 2003 - Whopper: Tom DeLay Oh, that risk of imminent terrorist attack …
Dec. 26, 2003 - Now It's a Scandal New evidence that a House GOP leader offered a bribe.
Dec. 23, 2003 - Saddam's Oregon Connection, Part 3 Richard Foley: That's my DeSoto!
Dec. 22, 2003 - Media Narcissism Watch But enough about me, Mr. Dean. How do you like my coverage?
Dec. 19, 2003 - Saddam's Oregon Connection, Part 2 The plate was on Richard Foley's DeSoto.
Dec. 19, 2003 - The Imperial Vice Presidency Dick Cheney says the "e"-word.
Dec. 18, 2003 - Saddam's Oregon Connection How did an American license plate find its way into his garage?
Dec. 16, 2003 - Good Mission, Bad Name Why bring the movie Red Dawn into it?
Dec. 15, 2003 - Whopper: Howard Dean Oh, that bizarre and irresponsible remark!
Dec. 14, 2003 - Bush's Mr. Cellophane Goodbye to Mel Martinez.
Dec. 11, 2003 - Dick Scaife, Crypto-Liberal An unlikely Kerry donor.
Dec. 9, 2003 - A Drug-Company Bribe? The Medicare vote scandal, continued.
Dec. 9, 2003 - Why Smith Can't Recant They've got him on tape.
Dec. 6, 2003 - Nick Smith Recants Did the pressure get to him?
Dec. 5, 2003 - Revolving-Door Bingo Guess Tom Scully's market worth.
Dec. 4, 2003 - Whopper: Joseph Wilson Say goodbye to Plamegate.
Dec. 3, 2003 - Does Teresa Heinz Trust John Kerry? If not, why should we?
Dec. 3, 2003 - Who Tried To Bribe Rep. Smith? Stop protecting him, Congressman.
Dec. 1, 2003 - John Updike, Anti-Semite? Don't be ridiculous.
Nov. 26, 2003 - Kerry vs. Kerry He's schizoid about Medicare.
Nov. 26, 2003 - Amazon's Customer Service Number Chatterbox finds it so you won't have to.
Nov. 25, 2003 - Farewell to "Twin Piers" A superb 9/11 memorial design loses on a technicality.
Nov. 19, 2003 - Republicans for Hillary, Part 4 Retreat.
Nov. 15, 2003 - Whopper: Donald Rumsfeld
Nov. 14, 2003 - Historians Rewrite History The campaign to exonerate Doris Goodwin.
Nov. 14, 2003 - Bush's Early Discharge They also serve who attend B-school.
Nov. 11, 2003 - The Right Declares Victory It finally admits it won the culture wars.
Nov. 11, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch: Day 251 Crisis over.
Nov. 8, 2003 - Saint Ronald, Part 2 Richard Pipes' new memoir adds ballast to CBS's miniseries.
Nov. 7, 2003 - Saint Ronald Why must we pretend the 40th president was alert and engaged?
Nov. 5, 2003 - Why You Can't Keep Up 23,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of information were created last year.
Nov. 5, 2003 - Shattered Verrall Move over, Stephen Glass.
Nov. 4, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: G.W. Bush The case of the "Mission Accomplished" banner.
Oct. 31, 2003 - Charles Murray vs. Amazon Battle of the genius-rankers.
Oct. 31, 2003 - The Times Tells You What To Feel Would anyone really be sad that the 9/11 death toll went down?
Oct. 29, 2003 - The Silence of the Clintonistas Why are Clinton's foreign policy big shots so quiet about Iraq?
Oct. 29, 2003 - Amazon Re-Ranks Intellectuals Fun and games with its new text-search feature.
Oct. 27, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 236 Maybe the Turks aren't coming after all.
Oct. 24, 2003 - Everybody Hates Peacekeeping But hawks hate the United Nations more.
Oct. 21, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 232 Has Turkey changed its mind?
Oct. 20, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Grady Little No, really, it was smart to keep Martinez on the mound.
Oct. 17, 2003 - Tom Wolfe's Favorite Ugly Building He'll say it's valuable, but he won't say it's beautiful.
Oct. 16, 2003 - Republicans for Hillary, Part 3 The right denounces her incompetent presidential campaign.
Oct. 15, 2003 - William Bennett Takes a Dive The values dome's strange reticence about Arnold's sins.
Oct. 14, 2003 - Arnold Outpolls T3 The candidate got more votes than his last movie.
Oct. 8, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 219 The Turkish are coming, the Turkish are coming!
Oct. 7, 2003 - The Art of the Sulk William Steig's greatest contribution.
Oct. 6, 2003 - Larry Klayman for Senate? America's most litigious Clinton-hater mounts the hustings.
Oct. 2, 2003 - The GOP vs. Nepotism? The White House leakers didn't grasp that, to conservatives, "nepotism" is no longer a dirty word.
Oct. 2, 2003 - An Independent Counsel? Not Again! The Valerie Plame affair inspires a terrible idea.
Sept. 30, 2003 - The Military vs. the GOP Are they falling out of love?
Sept. 29, 2003 - Lay Off JetBlue A "serious betrayal" of consumer privacy? Get real.
Sept. 24, 2003 - Republicans for Hillary, Part 2 Why conservatives want her to run.
Sept. 23, 2003 - Republicans for Hillary, Part 1 Why does the GOP yearn for the former first lady to run for president?
Sept. 22, 2003 - Is Bremer a Price Fixer? Letting Iraq's oil minister attend an OPEC meeting may violate the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Sept. 18, 2003 - Jeb Disses Dubya Et tu, governor?
Sept. 17, 2003 - Did Rove Blow a Spook's Cover? The White House won't say.
Sept. 17, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: J. Ashcroft George W. Bush, civil libertarian.
Sept. 16, 2003 - Repeal All Bush's Tax Cuts We'd still have at least four more years of deficits. But it's a start.
Sept. 11, 2003 - Johnny Apple's Bartlett's Entry Introducing a Chatterbox dictionary of quotations.
Sept. 10, 2003 - Neocons vs. Supply-Siders The coming war over Iraq.
Sept. 10, 2003 - The Neocon Crackup The Weekly Standard finally recognizes our manpower shortage in Iraq.
Sept. 8, 2003 - Whopper of the Week Christie Whitman: The perils of premature assurance.
Sept. 5, 2003 - David Stockman, Working-Class Hero William Greider reclassifies Reaganomics' onetime poster child.
Sept. 4, 2003 - I Got My Job Thru the EPA! Adventures through Washington's revolving door.
Sept. 3, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Rumsfeld Who knew Saddam's troops would "blend into the countryside"?
Aug. 29, 2003 - It's Not Lobbying; It's HBO Now will you believe congressmen envy lobbyists?
Aug. 26, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: A. Huffington If Arianna voted against Prop 187, why did she argue publicly for it at the time?
Aug. 22, 2003 - Does the GOP Subvert Democracy? Gray Davis may be onto something.
Aug. 21, 2003 - Who Wrote Farewell to Model T? E.B. White's unacknowledged collaborator.
Aug. 20, 2003 - Re-Elect Bush: Release Version The Bush campaign unveils its Web site.
Aug. 19, 2003 - Check Your Megawatt Load Online! Just don't make the grid crash by doing so.
Aug. 18, 2003 - This Was a First World Blackout
Aug. 15, 2003 - Toasting Waldheim Was "Stupid" But Schwarzenegger's renunciation is incomplete.
Aug. 15, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Howard Dean "Oh, that statement about raising the retirement age …"
Aug. 8, 2003 - Arnold's Nazi Problem Why won't he repudiate Kurt Waldheim?
Aug. 7, 2003 - Conservatives: The New Stalinists A new study proves it.
Aug. 6, 2003 - Dirk Kempthorne, the Dems' Godsend Bush's awful possible choice to run the EPA.
Aug. 5, 2003 - Why Buckley Lost His Gun Permit It took the NYPD 12 years to notice he hadn't renewed it.
Aug. 4, 2003 - Euphemism Watch: "Fact Witness" How the Bushies acknowledge lies.
Aug. 1, 2003 - Did Condi Give the Game Away? Her Yellowcakegate alibi doesn't add up.
July 31, 2003 - How Bush Blew His Press Conference And why he didn't have to.
July 31, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 147 The U.S. remains coy about where Turkish troops would go.
July 27, 2003 - Freeh at Last? Sorry, Louis, but Congress' 9/11 report doesn't vindicate you.
July 25, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Condoleezza Rice Her subtle distinction didn't exist.
July 25, 2003 - Cheney Wraps His Glutes in the Flag It's not unpatriotic to wonder why the president lied.
July 24, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 143 How far will Bush go to keep the U.N. out?
July 23, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: President Bush Mr. President, it wasn't Saddam who kicked out the U.N. inspectors this last time. It was … um … nevermind.
July 18, 2003 - Is Libby the Phantom Bigfoot? An exclusive report from Slate's guesswork unit.
July 17, 2003 - Why This Bush Lie? Part 2 Washington despises an incompetent liar.
July 16, 2003 - Why This Bush Lie? Part 1 It wasn't his first.
July 15, 2003 - Who Cares If DeLay Bullies Lobbyists? It's better than the other way around.
July 11, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Donald Rumsfeld Oh, that IAEA finding …
July 10, 2003 - Matt Gobush, Democrat Meet Joe Lieberman's new communications director.
July 8, 2003 - Lillian Ross Does Katharine Hepburn The art of narcissistic obituary.
July 3, 2003 - Why Congressmen Want To Be Lobbyists, Part 2 Blame Nixon, Gingrich and Nader.
July 2, 2003 - Why Congressmen Want To Be Lobbyists Tauzin and Bono were sort of kidding, and sort of not.
June 30, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Remembering Strom While trying to forget.
June 27, 2003 - How To Confirm O'Connor's Replacement … and end the deadlock on federal judges.
June 25, 2003 - Re-Elect Bush: Beta Version A sneak preview of the president's 2004 campaign.
June 24, 2003 - Can Bush Be Both Ignorant and a Liar? Yes. There's no reason for Bush-bashers to choose between the two.
June 23, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Billy Bulger The Massachusetts Senate president omits to tell his fugitive brother to turn himself in, and makes no effort to do it himself.
June 20, 2003 - Free Frank Keating The Catholic Church really is like the Mafia.
June 16, 2003 - Why Democrats Should Kill the Filibuster Did Robert Caro read his own book?
June 5, 2003 - NRA Weasel Watch, Day 13 Two gun control groups offer comment, but where's Wayne LaPierre?
June 4, 2003 - Meme Watch: War on the EITC Why the right hates the working poor.
June 3, 2003 - Meme Watch: A Unified Theory of Bush Lies? Why did Bush's tax cut exclude so many low-income families?
June 2, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Ari Fleischer Suicide as a lifestyle choice.
May 30, 2003 - NRA Weasel Watch, Day 7 Does it favor the weapons ban in Iraq?
May 29, 2003 - Chatterbox Exonerates New York Times! Does Howell Raines' Times weight polls to favor Democrats? Nope.
May 29, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Donald Rumsfeld Don Rumsfeld, meet Dick Cheney.
May 23, 2003 - Sid Blumenthal Framed, Part 2 When Chatterbox disproves a canard, he expects it to stay disproved.
May 21, 2003 - Fleischer Tells Truth! Is he leaving because he's lost his touch?
May 19, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 75 Show them the money!
May 16, 2003 - Was Fred Fielding Deep Throat? Part 3 Reagan's personnel director: "I've never talked to Woodward in my life."
May 13, 2003 - George W., Two-Trick Pony It's not just what he is. It's what he wants to be.
May 12, 2003 - Was Fred Fielding Deep Throat? Part 2 Prove that he lied and you're mostly there.
May 8, 2003 - The Invisible Bush Cabinet Why no one knows who the commerce secretary is.
May 7, 2003 - Why Casinos Ratted Out Bennett They think—mistakenly—that he's a scourge against gamblers.
May 5, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Peggy Cooper Cafritz Oh, that Web essay ...
May 2, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 60 Listening for the "F" word.
May 1, 2003 - Retrospective Howler of the Week Michael Ledeen, Francophile.
April 29, 2003 - Was Fred Fielding Deep Throat? The evidence is surprisingly strong.
April 28, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch: Day 54
April 25, 2003 - Newt's Turkey Baloney Gingrich's flimsy claim that the French call the shots in Ankara.
April 24, 2003 - The Canadian Menace SARS, Toronto, and danger.
April 24, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 52 Are Turkish troops headed for Baghdad?
April 23, 2003 - Let the U.N. Rebuild Iraq We don't want to. Let them.
April 22, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 47 Is the Pentagon inviting the Turks into Iraq?
April 18, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: CNN's Eason Jordan Oh, those neglected stories about Saddam's horrors …
April 17, 2003 - Fidel Castro, Book Critic Foreign Policy magazine buffs a dictator's image.
April 16, 2003 - What Cubin Meant: Reader Entries They did better than Cubin herself.
April 15, 2003 - Finish Rep. Cubin's Thought! A reader contest.
April 11, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 39 They went and took Kirkuk. Now what?
April 11, 2003 - Absolutely Final al-Sahhaf Item Unless he resurfaces in Tikrit.
April 10, 2003 - Has the U.S. Joined OPEC? An unanticipated burden of empire.
April 9, 2003 - Is Al-Sahhaf an Unwitting Turncoat? He did in his brother-in-law. Did he do in Saddam?
April 8, 2003 - PR Tips for Mohammed Al-Sahhaf Professionals offer advice to Iraq's unhinged information minister.
April 7, 2003 - Iraq and the NRA: Reader Response Why you can buy guns in Saddam's police state.
April 5, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 32 Whew! Powell didn't sell out the Kurds in Ankara.
April 3, 2003 - Meet Mr. "Shock and Awe" Harlan Ullman says they're doing it wrong.
April 1, 2003 - "Calibrate Me" Gulf War II gives us a new phrase.
March 28, 2003 - Blarney From Beyond the Grave Pat Moynihan grew up in the same part of Hell's Kitchen as Princess Di.
March 27, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 24 Have the Turks backed off?
March 26, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 23 Stuffing money down Turkey's throat.
March 25, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 21 What did Powell promise?
March 23, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 19 The fog of diplomacy.
March 21, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 18 Here come the Turks.
March 20, 2003 - The Ballad of Tractor Man A terrorist who frightened no one.
March 19, 2003 - Saddam, Bugging, and the U.N. Let he who is without wiretaps cast the first stone.
March 18, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 15 Little danger of a sellout, for now.
March 17, 2003 - Iraq's Rebuke to the NRA If there are so many guns in Iraq, why is it still a dictatorship?
March 14, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 12 A reason to be grateful for Bush's boorishness.
March 14, 2003 - Spencer Abraham Joins OPEC Hovering on the fringes in Vienna.
March 13, 2003 - "Six Degrees of Adnan Khashoggi," Part 6 Richard Perle's new pal.
March 13, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 9 Will the Kurds and Turks go to war before the United States does?
March 12, 2003 - Banning French Fries You want "freedom fries" with that?
March 11, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: John Kerry Did he pretend to be Irish?
March 7, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 4 A question for Bush.
March 6, 2003 - The Government's Leaking Manual An official rule book for forbidden communications.
March 5, 2003 - Kurd Sellout Watch, Day 2 Tracking a betrayal as it unfolds.
March 4, 2003 - How Screwed Are the Kurds? Anatomy of a sellout.
March 4, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Ari Fleischer Gaslighting the press about nation-building … again.
Feb. 28, 2003 - CBS's White Lie About Saddam He never refused to destroy the Al-Samoud missiles.
Feb. 28, 2003 - "No Evidence" of U.N. Violations? The French further deny what their eyes and ears tell them.
Feb. 26, 2003 - Shame of the Grammys A bizarre silence about the Rhode Island nightclub fire.
Feb. 24, 2003 - Who Needs Inspectors? Powell's evidence on Iraq's U.N. violations remains indisputable.
Feb. 21, 2003 - Saddam: Robert Byrd of Iraq? Renaming all those buildings won't be cheap.
Feb. 18, 2003 - Meme Watch: Consumption Tax Gambit Taxing the poor by stealth?
Feb. 17, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Bill O'Reilly Oh, that boycott …
Feb. 14, 2003 - Anti-Terrorism Valentine's Day Tips The Office of Homeland Security explains it all for you.
Feb. 13, 2003 - Mistranslating Chirac Why the U.S.-French split is worse than you thought.
Feb. 12, 2003 - Dissent Equals Treason The New York Sun lacks the courage of its fascist convictions.
Feb. 11, 2003 - Chatterbox Goes to War A dove on Iraq is persuaded by Colin Powell.
Feb. 10, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Saddam Hussein Who you gonna believe, Saddam or your lying eyes?
Feb. 7, 2003 - Did Tariq Aziz Admit the Iraqis Gassed Halabja? The New York Times to the contrary, he did not.
Feb. 5, 2003 - Bushie Admits Tax Cut Caused Deficit! Harsh reprisal to follow?
Feb. 4, 2003 - The Bellesiles of the Right? Another firearms scholar whose dog ate his data.
Feb. 4, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Karl Rove Poor-mouthing the Bush tax plan.
Jan. 31, 2003 - David Frum Vanity Watch Whoops, he did it again.
Jan. 29, 2003 - Dubya's Genius Moment, Part 2 The books on Bush's managerial genius just keep coming.
Jan. 28, 2003 - Kinder, Gentler David Frum Whatever happened to his crusade against "soft" conservatism?
Jan. 28, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Sen. Bill Frist They don't teach arithmetic in medical school.
Jan. 23, 2003 - Meme Watch: Follow the Money The taxpaying class and the welfare class are one and the same.
Jan. 23, 2003 - Meme Watch: Tax Rates Are Already Flat The tax-the-poor movement absorbs another data blow.
Jan. 21, 2003 - Meme Watch: Return of the Lucky Duckies The Journal re-enters the tax-the-poor fray.
Jan. 20, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri Oh, those chemical warheads …
Jan. 17, 2003 - Meme Watch: Tony Snow Says Tax the Poor! A novel criticism of the Bush tax cut.
Jan. 16, 2003 - Who Is Director of the Domestic Policy Council? A Chatterbox investigation.
Jan. 16, 2003 - Meme Watch: A Payroll Tax Rise? A plausible scenario for raising taxes on the poor.
Jan. 14, 2003 - Whopper of the Week: Rod Paige Tax hikes did not put state governments in the hole.
Jan. 10, 2003 - The 2002 Whopper Archive
Jan. 10, 2003 - "Axis of Evil" Authorship Settled! It was Frum and Gerson, and definitely not Bush.
Jan. 9, 2003 - Dick Armey, Lobbyist Piper Rudnick, CSE, what's the difference?
Jan. 8, 2003 - Why Dems Should Be Glad Daschle Won't Run He's got a big problem. Her name is Linda.
Jan. 7, 2003 - Dubya's Genius Moment Blink and you may miss it.
Jan. 6, 2003 - Meme Watch: Bushies Get Cold Feet The "tax the poor" movement goes underground.
Jan. 2, 2003










