If they’ve lost O’Reilly…

You want to know how bad things are for the Bush White House? Bill O’Reilly is sounding like Al Gore, calling on the president to “clean house” and fire incompetent administration officials who have screwed up the war in Iraq (via the Progress Report). This is not to say that O’Reilly has seen the light […]

A little more Reagan-related fact checking

I’m not trying to pile on here, but there’s a little more Reagan-related fact checking I wanted to mention. First is the notion that Reagan was among the most popular presidents of the century, if not the most popular. This has been a pervasive myth in recent years, espoused by those who would have Reagan’s […]

The Cuban-American political split

The partisan split within Florida’s Cuban-American community is well known. Old-timers, who fled Castro’s brutal revolution and have been in the U.S. for 30 or more years, have always been staunch Republicans. Younger Cuban-Americans, most of whom were born in the U.S., have proven to be less rigid about the embargo and partisanship. But I […]

White House puts on ‘media critic’ hat

Hmm. Let’s contrast this… President Bush’s national security adviser accused the Arabic-language broadcaster Al-Jazeera of ”purely inaccurate” reporting yesterday, suggesting the Qatar-based satellite station was presenting a biased account of developments in the Middle East. […] ”I do think people have suggested that it would be a good thing if the reporting were accurate on […]

Bush is above the law — Day Two

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal offered a stunning account of a classified Bush administration report that outlined how and why the president is not bound by domestic or international laws forbidding torture. Today, the rest of the press caught up. To be sure, the WSJ article is remarkable on its own. It details exactly how […]

And so the exploitation begins

I realize that political leaders who will exploit national tragedies and play on our worst fears aren’t predisposed to dignity. But even I’m a little surprised at the spend with which Republicans are exploiting Ronald Reagan’s death for political purposes. If nothing else, the GOP deserves credit for being efficient. It started quickly over the […]

Rumsfeld goes off the reservation — Part II

Donald Rumsfeld generated quite a bit of attention last fall when USA Today obtained a memo about his real thoughts on the war on terror. Contrasting with the upbeat rhetoric from his boss, Rumsfeld painted a bleak picture. In fact, Rumsfeld’s memo made it clear that he believes that the administration he serves has no […]

Dick Cheney and the Plame Game

In case you missed it, the New York Times reported (on Saturday’s front page) that Cheney was interviewed “recently” by federal investigators as part of the Plame Game scandal. Mr. Cheney was also asked about conversations with senior aides, including his chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, according to people officially informed about the case. […]

Durbin’s rule on amendments in an election year

Following up on a post from Friday, I enjoyed an LA Times editorial over the weekend, responding to the latest effort to revive a constitutional amendment on flag burning. The paper pointed to a smart lawmaker with a terrific idea. Sen. Dick Durbin has the right idea. By March, the Illinois Democrat and his colleagues […]

Support for torture was deliberate and widespread

U.S. abuse and torture of detainees is no longer dominating the news, but if this were a normal news day, a stunning report on the front page of today’s Wall Street Journal would be getting more attention. The opinions of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales are already widely known. Shortly after 9/11, Gonzales recommended that […]