Graham drops out

Bob Graham made it official last night, appearing on Larry King Live to announce he will no longer be a presidential candidate. “I have made the judgment I cannot be elected,” Graham said. As I’ve said before, I think the entire Graham campaign has been quite a shame. He’s a serious, intelligent lawmaker with an […]

The White House moves on to Plan C for Iraq

The White House really wants to us to believe that everything is going well in Iraq. When anyone points to the ongoing fighting, the daily, violent attacks on our troops, the infrastructure problems, the missing WMD, the riots, the lack of international cooperation, or the escalating costs, the administration fires back that we’re only focusing […]

The White House crosses a couple more names off the list

One of the things that’s been bothering me about the Plame Game scandal since the beginning is the White House’s passive disinterest in determining which two senior administration officials were responsible for the leak. Despite the occasional rhetoric about leaks being “bad things,” and Bush’s alleged interest in “wanting to know” who’s responsible, the White […]

Where are the committee hearings on the Plame Game?

Zero. Not one congressional committee in the House or Senate has expressed even a little interest in holding hearings on the White House illegally leaking the name of a covert CIA agent to the press. I know congressional Republicans are inclined to do Bush’s bidding in most instances, but I have to admit I expected […]

Study shows Fox News viewers misinformed about war, Iraq, WMD

I have naively believed for years that staying informed about current events by getting some news is better than blissful ignorance derived from getting no news. Then Fox News Channel helped demonstrate just how wrong I was. The Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland conducted a thorough study of public knowledge […]

Norquist crosses the line by comparing the Estate Tax to the Holocaust

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, is not just another political lobbyist in DC. He’s the top GOP activist in America. Outside of elected GOP lawmakers and Bush administration officials, Norquist has unparalleled influence on politics and public policy in Republican circles. Norquist helped shape, for example, Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, as […]

North Carolina Republican blames Muslims for his failed marriage

When we last heard from Rep. Cass Ballenger (R-N.C.), he was admitting to having “segregationist feelings” against African Americans after working alongside an African-American congresswoman whom he disliked. Less than a year later, Ballenger is making headlines again. This time he’s blaming his home’s proximity to a Muslim non-profit organization for the breakup of his […]

Louisiana election results

On Saturday, Louisiana held its first round of statewide elections as part of its “unique” (read: bizarre) campaign system. The state holds a round of elections on the first Saturday in October featuring a full slate of candidates from both parties (no primaries). If no candidate wins a pure majority, the top two enter a […]

Is Bush hinting that we’re not really a ‘free nation’?

I noticed the other day (via Atrios) that Bush offered an interesting comment about Iraq at a White House event on Friday. “Free nations don’t develop weapons of mass destruction,” Bush said. While that may sound like a nice sentiment, it raises an important question: Don’t we develop weapons of mass destruction? Indeed, with our […]