I have to admit, I’m torn. Part of me assumes Bush will be successful in gutting Social Security because he’s been successful in pretty much everything else he’s gone after, whether the merits of the idea were ridiculous or not. But the other part of me continues to marvel at the number of congressional Republicans […]
I know the media adores John McCain, but this national AP story, which seems to be popping up all over, is just silly. Sen. John McCain, the straight-talking Republican who often challenges the GOP establishment, has taken on a headline-grabbing issue steroids in baseball and generated talk of a presidential bid in 2008. Amid revelations […]
Rumor was that FDA Commission Mark McClellan would get the post, but the White House announced this morning that EPA chief Michael Leavitt is Bush’s pick to replace Tommy Thompson as the secretary of Health and Human Services. Bush praised Leavitt as a “fine executive” and “a man of great compassion.” “He’s an ideal choice […]
Bush, like every president, undergoes a physical every year, the general results of which are highlighted in the media. We learned over the weekend, for example, that Bush is healthy but gaining a little weight. “The president is someone who remains in great physical shape,” White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Friday in previewing […]
After the Abu Ghraib scandal broke, and the world saw the Justice Department memos that outlined the Bush administration’s broad tolerance for torture, the White House distanced itself from the policy and said a more accurate, legal policy on interrogations would be forthcoming. Indeed, on June 22, White House counsel Alberto Gonzales renounced the torture […]
By now, everyone knows that Bernard Kerik, Bush’s choice to head the Department of Homeland Security, has withdrawn from the process. Everyone also probably knows that Kerik’s “nanny problem” was only part of a web of personal crises that doomed the nominee’s fate. But I’d like to explore, for a moment, the question of White […]
Speaking of Rumsfeld, he seems to be losing Republican friends quickly. Last week, it was John McCain. The Arizona Republican, who has frequently been critical of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, said Sunday that he respects President Bush’s decision to keep Rumsfeld in his post. But McCain declined to give the decision an endorsement. “I respect […]
Donald Rumsfeld, last week: “I talked to the General coming out here about the pace at which the vehicles are being armored. They have been brought from all over the world, wherever they’re not needed, to a place here where they are needed. I’m told that they are being — the Army is — I […]