The most disturbing piece of direct mail I’ve ever seen — which claims that “liberals” want to “ban” the Bible — was, in fact, a product of the Republican National Committee. The Republican Party acknowledged yesterday sending mass mailings to residents of two states warning that “liberals” seek to ban the Bible. It said the […]
Today’s must-read comes by way of the incomparable Dana Milbank, who noted that Republican arguments that Kerry and the Dems “are giving comfort to terrorists and undermining the war in Iraq” are pushing the boundaries of what has generally been considered acceptable political rhetoric. Appearing in the Rose Garden yesterday with Iraq’s interim prime minister, […]
I’ve heard the expression, “so easy, a child could do it,” but applying it to monkeys is a new one. Nevertheless, as several alert readers noted via email, monkeys have been able to manipulate touchscreen voting machines and manipulate vote totals. By all indications, this is not a joke. Critics of the Diebold touch-screen voting […]
John Kerry has been urging the Bush White House since March to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and start using its excess to help lower oil prices. The White House rejected the idea out of hand. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said…the administration opposed using supplies from the reserve because independent analysts have concluded […]
I’ve more or less sworn off national polling data — it’s a state-by-state race — but the latest poll from NBC/Wall Street Journal had a whole lot of interesting information that warrants attention. Let’s get the horserace out of the way. This poll shows Bush at 48%, Kerry close behind at 45%. Among likely voters, […]
In North Carolina last week, one of the few remaining Christian Coalition affiliates hosted their annual God & Country Banquet. As is often the case, sensible people stood outside and peacefully protested the group, its radical leaders, and dangerous agenda. So far, so good. But one of the featured speakers of the event was far-right […]
Being a press flack can be challenging in general, but I suspect it’s particularly tough when you work for Bush administration officials. After all, how do you defend the indefensible? In at least one case, by “repeating a string of expletives.” The Center for American Progress noted today that Tom Ridge, Bush’s Secretary of Homeland […]
I’ve been a bit of a skeptic about the possibility of Bush bringing back a military draft, but John Kerry struck a reasonable note yesterday on the issue. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, citing the war in Iraq and other trouble spots in the world, raised the possibility Wednesday that a military draft could be […]
Sam Gardiner, a retired Air Force colonel who has taught strategy and military operations at the National War College, Air War College and Naval War College, had a good item in Salon yesterday, which included an interesting observation. The White House Web site also reflects the strategy of withholding information. It used to actively provide […]
Slate’s Eric Umansky went through today’s papers this morning, as he does every day, and made an interesting observation: About 30 Iraqis were killed and 150 wounded in two car bombings and a battle with U.S. forces in Baghdad’s Sadr City. One GI was killed in that fighting and two were killed elsewhere. [No paper […]