At first blush, the Bush administration’s initiative to spend $1.5 billion on a new proposal to promote marriage may sound uncontroversial. Regardless of one’s ideology or political perspective, marriage is generally considered a good thing in society. If the Bush White House wants to help train people to sustain “healthy” marriages, what’s the harm? The […]
A month ago, it looked like the results from Iowa and New Hampshire would be pretty straightforward and easy to predict. Dean had a double-digit lead over Gephardt in Iowa, with Kerry and Edwards far behind. At the same time, Dean had a ridiculously large lead over Kerry in New Hampshire, with Clark and Lieberman […]
This isn’t even a rumor; it’s just an idea I had. Wesley Clark has picked up plenty of key endorsements in recent months, including high-profile support from members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and American Indian community. Howard Dean, for his part, has also done well with earning support from these same […]
The Bush administration has a number of really annoying habits, but the most Orwellian of their practices is changing government reports for political and public relations purposes. Chris Mooney and Kevin Drum are noting that the latest in a long line of controversial edits has recently been used to “touch up” an HHS report on […]
Far be it for me to mock someone else’s typos, considering all the ones I make, but this one struck me as funny. Today’s Burlington Free Press, Howard Dean’s hometown paper, had a short item about a typo in this month’s issue of Vogue. Apparently, in a profile of Dean, Vogue describes the former governor […]
I know Paul O’Neill is slowly backing away from his earlier remarks about Bush drawing up war plans immediately upon taking office, but something funny struck me about O’Neill’s earlier comments. Originally, you may recall, O’Neill characterized the administration as looking for an excuse to justify an invasion. “From the very beginning, there was a […]
I’m sure many of you were up half the night wondering about the results from the first-in-the-nation primary fight in the District of Columbia. To set your mind at ease, here’s how it turned out, with 96% of precincts reporting: Dean — 43% (17,584 votes) Sharpton — 34% (14,090 votes) Braun — 12% (4,776 votes) […]
I knew the White House would go after former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill for sharing some of Bush’s embarrassing secrets, but I didn’t expect this. I figured they’d call him a disgruntled ex-employee, or maybe a bitter man looking for attention, etc. But to accuse him of criminal activity? C’mon. The big news of the […]
Article VI of the Constitution makes things pretty clear: “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Unambiguous, right? Not to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R). Talkleft and Demagogue are bringing valuable attention to an article in the Miami Daily Business Review detailing […]
You may have heard that the first voters to cast ballots in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination won’t be in Iowa or New Hampshire, but rather, in the District of Columbia. Technically, that’s true. But practically, it’s a waste of time and resources. The Democratic National Committee mandates that in the nominating process, […]