The Washington Post had a good story on the front page today on the latest developments regarding Niger-gate. In my continuing efforts to give my readers a play-by-play of the scandal, I thought I’d summarize it for you. (And if you’re thinking that my “summaries” are usually longer than the original articles I refer to, […]
I saw two interesting articles today about how the Bush administration reacts to those who undermine its agenda. Both are disconcerting, but when taken together, the stories seem even worse. We begin with Ambassador Joseph Wilson, whose now-famous op-ed in the New York Times helped kick Niger-gate into high gear. The White House began attacking […]
A few days after Niger-gate really started hitting the fan, the White House crafted a strategy Bush officials were sure would keep blame away from the president: the whole thing was the CIA’s fault. It was, to say the least, an unpersuasive argument. The administration’s line was, in essence, that the CIA, and by default, […]
It looked for a while like Orrin Hatch was going to try and push Bill Pryor’s judicial nomination through the Senate Judiciary Committee despite the revelations of fundraising improprieties, but it fell apart at the last minute. The committee vote has been delayed until next Wednesday, the third — and probably final — delay. Dems […]
Yesterday I saw that N. Gregory Mankiw, who earlier this year became chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, has written a spirited defense of the Bush administration’s record-high budget deficits, pegged this week at $455 billion. Now I’m not going to question Mankiw’s expertise on economics. Unlike too many folks at the […]
Since Niger-gate began to unfold, there have been countless important questions. What did the White House know about the forged documents? Who was pushing to have the claim in the State of the Union? What did the State Department know? Did Joseph Wilson’s report reach the Office of the Vice President? And, how in the […]
Most news outlets covered CIA Director George Tenet’s testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday, but what I found interesting wasn’t the point that the press was emphasizing. The articles explain that Tenet continued to take responsibility for the fact that the CIA did not fight enough to stop the White House from repeating the […]
Bill Pryor’s nomination to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals took an interesting turn yesterday, one that could make the already controversial judicial nominee even more contentious. The Washington Post reported in a tremendous front-page scoop that six Republican attorneys general, all of whom are members of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), have solicited […]
Believe me, I’d love to stop writing about TV preacher Pat Robertson, but he keeps giving me more material and I just can’t help myself. Today, Robertson did his best to respond to the criticisms surrounding his “21-day prayer offensive,” which, as I mentioned yesterday, asks God to remove three Supreme Court justices so Bush […]
I know there are some Republicans who would enjoy seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger become governor of California, but I thought I could take solace in the fact that the Terminator could never be President. After all, he was born in Austria, and Article 2, Sec. 1, of the Constitution says you have to be a “natural […]