OK, this is getting ridiculous — UNMOVIC inspectors were in Iraq before the war

I’ve always believed that “spin” is not tantamount to “lying.” Spinning is just putting a positive face on the truth. Spinning is not, to be sure, telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but it’s not the same thing as telling objective falsehoods. And when it comes to talking about U.N. inspections in […]

Ongoing pressure on Capitol Hill for a Plame investigation

Speaking of the Dems getting tough on White House scandals (see below), I wanted to follow up on something I mentioned two weeks ago. Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) unveiled a resolution in late-January to authorize an independent House inquiry into the Plame Game scandal. Holt, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, […]

Congressional Dems consider ‘secret WMD session’ in the face of GOP obstinacy

There was a really interesting item in Roll Call today about congressional Democrats, fed up with the Republicans’ unwillingness to look into White House scandals, talking openly about taking matters into their own hands. Frustrated by a lack of cooperation from the White House concerning pre-Iraq war intelligence data, Democratic Senators are considering forcing the […]

Looking ahead to the next two weeks on the trail

Yesterday’s mini-Super Tuesday is over, but the next two weeks will have plenty of excitement. The Final Four may be down to three by the time these contests are over. Saturday, February 7 Michigan (128 delegates) will host its primary. Dean effectively ignored the seven Feb. 3 states so he could concentrate, in part, on […]

There’s only so much media oxygen out there and Clark can’t catch his breath

The Carpetbagger Report isn’t a shill for anyone, but I can’t help but wonder why Wesley Clark keeps getting the short end of the media stick. Salon, for example, ran a major feature this morning, taking a look at the race for the nomination. The headline: “And then there were two.” A big picture accompanied […]

No big surprises yesterday

I enjoyed the excitement of yesterday’s seven primaries, but ultimately, everything went pretty much according to plan. Clark won Oklahoma, Edwards won South Carolina, Kerry won everything else, and Dean lost everywhere. That was what the polls said was going to happen and, in this case, the polls were right. Kerry looks increasingly inevitable with […]

All of a sudden, Bush’s military record is in play

The one thing that frustrated me most about the media’s coverage of the 2000 election was the absolute disinterest about Bush’s record of military service, or in this case, lack thereof. Paul Begala once said he did a search comparing how many stories focused on Bill Clinton’s Vietnam draft record vs. Bush’s. I can’t personally […]

‘We don’t know yet what we thought’

The Post’s Richard Leiby caught a fun Bushism from yesterday’s cabinet meeting at the White House. Terry Moran asked Bush, “Do you think that the country is owed an explanation about the Iraq intelligence failures before the election, so that voters have this information when they elect a new President?” Bush began by explaining how […]

Bush administration leaves Iraq and Afghanistan out of the budget — again

The New York Times noted today that the Bush administration’s $2 trillion budget leaves out two extremely costly expenditures — the cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why does this sound familiar? Because they pulled the same exact stunt last year. In the 2004 budget, the White House left out money for Iraq […]

Public still confused about Iraq

The good news about the most recent Newsweek poll was Bush’s approval rating dropping below 50%. The bad news was data showing continued wide-spread ignorance about Iraq, Saddam Hussein, and the war. When poll respondents were asked if Iraq had chemical or biological weapons before the March invasion, 55% said yes, only 32% said no. […]