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The article presents commentary on issues related to U.S. politics and government. The author discusses comments made by Republican party legislators, including Senator John Cornyn, regarding violence against judges, discrepancies between sworn statements and contents of a declassified memo from Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez regarding treatment of prisoners in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, and former National Security Advisory Sandy Berger's handling of secret documents on Al Qaeda.

The author claims that Republicans plan to play upon widespread opposition to gay marriage among Americans to win votes in the 2004 election. As George Bush's poll numbers began seriously dwindling, Karl Rove and the White House political strategists decided to reach into their bag of tricks and come up with a good old staple of reactionary politics: homophobia. The decision to scapegoat gay and lesbian Americans was poll-driven by an antigay backlash that gathered steam in the wake of the Supreme Court's June 26 decision, in Lawrence v. Texas, striking down laws making gay sex between consenting adults illegal -- the so-called sodomy laws. Just two days after Gallup released its poll showing the backlash, Bush unexpectedly used a Rose Garden press conference to announce that he'd assigned lawyers to come up with a plan to stop gay marriage. Since then, the Republicans have ratcheted up their anti-gay marriage crusade. At the state level, too, Republican antigay initiatives are snowballing. With 2004 shaping up as another close election, Rove & Co. want to energize the Christian-right base to which Bush is already so heavily indebted (it motored his 2000 primary victories against John McCain) and insure a maximum turnout among the AWOL evangelicals and other Christian traditionalists.The antigay bias that permeates the Republican Party can be clearly seen in Bush's judicial appointments. Among the unalloyed homophobes Bush has nominated for the federal bench: Jay Bybee, Michael McConnell, Charles Pickering, others. INSET: Judgment Day.

The paper addresses the issue of whether bloggers should be treated as journalists and the implications of the issue for both bloggers and traditional journalists in the U.S. Blogs can be devoted to one topic or no topic at all. The number of bloggers publishing in the U.S. is in the millions, with some estimates exceeding 10 million. Much of the controversy may stem from the fact that asking if bloggers are journalists makes it necessary to first answer the question, what is a journalist? something many First Amendment advocates are reluctant to do because it raises the specter of government licensing of journalists. For that reason, it may be a question that is much more important for journalists than it is for bloggers. In 2004 Apple Computer filed a pair of lawsuits over information about the existence of upcoming Apple products leaked to blogs. One case, filed against Nicholas Ciarelli, a Harvard University student and the owner of thinksecret.com, over his revealing Apple's Mac Mini computer before it was officially announced, is still in its early stages. The issue also was raised at a July 20, 2005 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the proposed federal reporter's shield law when Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) asked witnesses if the bill would apply to bloggers.

The article presents a memo sent by John Spong to Rick Noriega regarding his campaign for the U.S. Senate. Spong mentions that Noriega's campaign against John Cornyn for the U.S. Senate has caused various issues in the state. He points out that although Texas is still assumed to be a Republican state, President George W. Bush's popularity is very low there. He describes Noriega's campaign and candidacy as nascent.

This article features U.S. Senator John Cornyn. It discusses his previous work at the Texas Supreme Court, his performance in the Senate and his preparation for his reelection in 2008. It describes his views on various issues including the relations between the U.S. and India, the Military Citizenship Act and tobacco product regulation.

The article reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated no plans for repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) measure of Senate (S.) 2218. It mentions that Democrats are opposed to S. 2218 or IPAB introduced by Senator John Cornyn as it could cut federal subsidies for many people by 2014 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). It also notes that the 15-member IPAB is authorized to set rates for Medicare reimbursement under ACA.

The article focuses on the efforts of the government to socialize scientific, technical, and medical publishing in the U.S. through the Federal Research Public Access Act introduced by Senators John Cornyn and Joseph I. Lieberman. The bill would require all federal agencies to develop a mechanism for making the final author's version of scientific papers publicly accessible at no charge within six months of publication.

This article calls on the U.S. Congress to pass legislation that would mandate notification and protection of consumers' personal data and address the problem of personal information theft in the country. After the May 2 introduction of the bipartisan Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006 by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.--covered by Robin Peek in a NewsBreak--the debate on the legislation has been heated and passionate. If passed, the policy would require that agencies with research budgets of more than $100 million enact policy to ensure that articles generated through research funded by that agency are made available online within 6 months of publication.

Reports that U.S. immigration policies are shifting in favor of those favoring tighter laws. Reference to an essay written by David Brooks of the "New York Times" regarding the problems of illegal immigration; Failure of President George W. Bush on the issue of immigration; Discussion of a bill proposed by Senators Jon Kyl and John Cornyn that includes meaningful enforcement measures with a tighter temporary worker program; Need for more efforts to control the flow of illegal immigrants across the border; Praise for a bill sponsored by Representative Tom Tancredo.

The article offers the author's view on the efforts of Republican and Democrat parties in bringing skilled immigrants in the U.S. She mentions that Representative Lamar Smith as well as Senators John Cornyn and Chuck Schumer agreed to push a bill in increasing the amount of visas given to foreigners who graduate from technology and science programs at American universities. She also notes that lawmakers must decide on its feasibility in relation to immigration and benefit to the country.

The article highlights the U.S. Federal Research Public Access Act of 2010. This bill is reportedly being reviewed by the U.S. Congress and Senate in May 2010. The bill, which would require all taxpayer-funded research to be posted online six months before its publishing, was introduced by Representative Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania in 2006 and was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate in June 2009 by Senators Joe Lieberman and John Cornyn.