When your donor history matters more than your curriculum vitae

Howard Zucker seems to be an ideal candidate to serve as a top deputy secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services. He’s already a deputy assistant secretary for health, science technology and medicine, and when one considers his background, Zucker’s credentials are extraordinary. Of course, the Bush White House isn’t concerned […]

Soros seeks ethics probe of Hastert

Considering that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) slandered philanthropist George Soros on national television, an Ethics Committee investigation seems like the least Congress could do. Soros got the ball rolling yesterday. Billionaire philanthropist George Soros has asked the House ethics committee to investigate House Speaker Dennis Hastert over comments suggesting that Soros could […]

The ‘Excuse Presidency’

As the Kerry campaign has added some communications staffers (McCurry, Lockhart, etc.) of late, they’ve been experimenting with some new rhetorical lines of attack and campaign slogans. About two weeks ago, we were hearing a lot about “W stands for ‘Wrong,’” which isn’t bad. Last week, Kerry was using the “if you’re happy with Bush’s […]

About that AEI report…

You probably heard about that new report from the American Enterprise Institute (a conservative think tank) that was released Monday to the child-like glee of the Bush campaign. On the other hand, you may not have heard about some of the more interesting details of said report. Bush twice during the day cited what he […]

Limbaugh mocks McCain’s time as a prisoner of war

Describing an attack from Rush Limbaugh as a “cheap shot” is rather redundant, since he’s incapable of class or dignity, but it’s nevertheless noteworthy when the guy turns his guns on a fellow Republican. John McCain, one might assume, may finally have mended his fences with the far right after all that he’s done for […]

Ignoring Osama bin Laden

We used to hear plenty of tough talk about Bush’s search for Osama bin Laden, but as we all know, talk — particularly from this president — is cheap. For a while, it seemed like catching the man responsible for the 9/11 attacks was an actual priority for the president. At one point, Bush said, […]

Now’s a great time for a White House tour — there’s nobody there

Remember all of those Republican complaints about Kerry not spending enough time in the Senate during the campaign? I wonder how many of them will call on Bush to resign until after the election since he clearly doesn’t have any work to do at his office. If you’re looking for President Bush, don’t bother searching […]

The ongoing scourge of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but every time I see reports like this one… Kidnappings? Zarqawi. Church bombings? Zarqawi. Beheadings? Zarqawi. Truck bombs that slaughter Iraqi civilians by the dozen? Zarqawi. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is behind a small percentage of the bombings and terrorist attacks in Iraq. But his have been the bloodiest. This […]

Still no debate confirmation

I know time is flying by this campaign season, but did you realize the first Bush-Kerry presidential debate is scheduled to take place in just two weeks? We’re getting pretty close to having to finalize a schedule, but at this point, only one side (Kerry) has agreed to participate. The commission that proposed three presidential […]

Ashcroft just can’t seem to stay away from trouble

Poor John Ashcroft. Poor choices, twisted priorities, and widespread disdain have made his tenure as attorney general an embarrassing failure. He’s released memos that Bush later disavowed, he’s suffered crushing defeats at the Supreme Court, he’s issued highly dubious terrorist threat warnings, and he’s even fought with Congress over documents to which lawmakers are legally […]