In the weeks leading up to the war, I mentioned several diplomatic debacles committed by the Bush administration, including failures with several key allies, such as Russia, Turkey, and Mexico, just to name a few. This week, we can add Canada to the list. As has been mentioned by several excellent bloggers, including Dan Drezner […]
The ridiculous “fasting and prayer” resolution I mentioned yesterday is scheduled for a floor vote in the House today. The question isn’t whether it will pass or not, it’s whether anyone will have the guts to vote against it. There are usually four or five members who take church-state separation seriously enough to vote against […]
It’s pretty common for candidates vying for their party’s presidential nomination not to get along. Bush infuriated Reagan for calling his tax policies “voodoo economics” in 1980, Dukakis hated Gore for bringing up problems with Massachusetts’ prisoner furlough program in ’88, and Clinton resented Tsongas’ accusations attacking his integrity in ’92. Sometimes intense rivals can […]
I’ve seen potential scandals surrounding House Majority Leader Tom DeLay arise before, only to be disappointed. But spring is a time of renewal and hope, so the latest questions surrounding DeLay lead me to some inklings of optimism. Four years ago, The New Republic reported on DeLay’s apparently conflicting statements under oath stemming from a […]
It’s difficult to say how maddening it is to see the White House manipulating support for our troops to justify a reckless political agenda. I’m going to give it a try anyway. Earlier today I noted the success Senate Democrats and a handful of GOP moderates had in reducing the size of Bush’s proposed $726 […]
I saw a disappointing quote in the Washington Post last night from a Baghdad resident who appreciated a harsh sandstorm that was keeping U.S. military forces from the city. The resident, Imad Mohammed, saw the storm as divine intervention. God, he thought, was keeping the Americans at bay. “The storm is from God,” Mohammed said. […]
Late last week, the Senate appeared poised to take a dramatic swipe at President Bush’s tax cut plan. Led by a series of moderate Dems and Republicans, the coalition of centrists had nearly garnered the votes to cut the size of the tax cut from $726 billion to $350 billion. The move was undercut, however, […]
I usually don’t draw inspiration for commentary from the comics page of the paper, but Doonesbury isn’t really a cartoon, so it’s okay. Without going into too much detail, today’s Doonesbury features a character, Ray Hightower, serving in Iraq. He mentions to his commanding officer, “A year ago, it hadn’t even occurred to anyone we […]
David Frum wants Democrats to like President Bush. In fact, in an op-ed in today’s Los Angeles Times, Frum expresses bewilderment that Democrats strongly oppose the president and his agenda, saying that Democrats’ hostility to Bush “makes no sense at all” and that the president’s “symbolic and substantive bipartisanship” should make him at least palatable […]
For those of you who know me personally, you’re well aware of my disdain for television news. I read a few things over the weekend to only intensify my loathing, this time regarding coverage of the war. Much has been written about Fox News and its shameless conservative tilt (some have even taken to calling […]