This is just starting to make it into the news, but it warrants close attention. North Korea’s Kim Jong Il has purged some of his closest relatives, accusing them of trying to seize power, reports in Beijing and Seoul said. The purge began some months ago when Kim Jong Il put his brother-in-law, Chang Song-taek, […]
This year, the House Ethics Committee, led by Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.), issued multiple admonishments of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. In response, congressional Republicans are taking steps, not to replace DeLay, but to replace Hefley. How typical. Unfortunately, this isn’t a terrible surprise. In October, Hefley was already feeling considerable heat. House ethics committee […]
Yes, Christmas is over and the alleged war to drive the holiday from the public’s mind through subversive “happy holidays” greetings can go back underground for another year. But before we drop the issue entirely, I have a final thought. Bill O’Reilly, Charles Krauthammer, and the truly ridiculous Committee to Save Merry Christmas have been […]
If I didn’t know better, I’d say we have a genuine meme going here. Washington Post, Dec. 10: To build public support and circumvent critics in Congress and the media, the president will travel the country and warn of the disastrous consequences of inaction, as he did to sell his Iraq and terrorism policies during […]
I realize presidential pardons have gotten a bad wrap lately. Clinton’s Marc Rich fiasco didn’t go well. The first President Bush pardoned — on Christmas Eve — the very officials who could have implicated him in the Iran-Contra scandal, not to mention a Pakistani heroin smuggler. Nevertheless, this President Bush’s stinginess when it comes to […]
If we privatized Social Security, and you could invest that money on your own instead of financing the retirements of today’s senior citizens, you’d have more money for your own retirement, right? Well, not exactly. At the heart of President Bush’s plan to sell Social Security private accounts is a simple notion: You’re always better […]
I remain skeptical about the charges of voter fraud in Ohio, but this is hardly the kind of development that will help inspire confidence in the system. Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has requested a protective order to prevent him from being interviewed as part of an unusual court challenge of the presidential vote. Blackwell, […]
The Bush administration officials who’ve been right about the things the president got wrong have two things in common: they’re small in number and they’ve been discouraged from sticking around. With this in mind, these competent few deserve more recognition. Near the top of the list has to be Ret. Gen. Eric Shinseki, profiled the […]
Yesterday, in response to the administration’s announcement that the United States was donating $15 million to the relief efforts after the weekend’s devastation in Asia, one high-profile U.N. official described us as “stingy.” But U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland suggested that the United States and other Western nations were being “stingy” with relief […]
When it comes to the White House and the ongoing — and ever escalating — torture scandals, it’s hard not to feel like we’re stuck in some twisted Twilight Zone episode. The tolerance Bush has shown for these crimes seems to know no bounds. No one’s been fired; no independent investigations have been launched; no […]