The idea of a mainstream, adversarial press took another step backwards yesterday. This time, it was CBS. As Atrios and Sarah Posner noted, the network has reached out to the White House, promising to be nicer to Bush from now on. Let the fence-mending begin. According to a Broadcasting & Cable source in Washington, D.C., […]
Let’s be clear: House Republicans reversed course and decided to abandon ridiculous changes to their own ethics rules, not because of some sudden embrace of scruples, but because the alternative was politically unpalatable. Republican leaders last night abandoned a proposal to loosen rules governing members’ ethical conduct, as they yielded to pressure from rank-and-file lawmakers […]
Jeanne Phillips, who chairs Bush’s inaugural committee, offered an unusually helpful response recently to questions about the role of American troops in Bush’s upcoming festivities. NYT: I hear one of the balls will be reserved for troops who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Phillips: Yes, the Commander-in-Chief Ball. That is new. It will be […]
The president continues to insist, logic be damned, that he’s going to cut taxes, fight a war, expand Medicare, privatize Social Security, provide a $400 billion fix for the alternative minimum tax, and cut his already enormous budget deficit in half. I’ve been assuming that he’s just creating his own reality. It turns out, however, […]
By at least one estimate, the political campaign behind Bush’s drive to undermine Social Security is going to cost about $40 million, not including the money spent by those who oppose the scheme. On the other hand, Bush’s gang has figured out a way to cut campaign costs — misuse government resources. Senator Frank R. […]
I noticed over the weekend that James Dobson’s very-public threats over judicial nominations generated a lot of attention. I’m just not sure why. James C. Dobson, the nation’s most influential evangelical leader, is threatening to put six potentially vulnerable Democratic senators “in the ‘bull’s-eye’ ” if they block conservative appointments to the Supreme Court. In […]
Desmond Tutu, the Anglican archbishop who faced assassination threats as he fought apartheid in South Africa, has been watching American politics closely. The Nobel Peace Prize winner sounds discouraged, but offered a valuable perspective in a recent interview with Newsweek. Newsweek: You said George Bush should admit that he made a mistake. Were you surprised […]
By now, most of you have probably heard about the latest Bush administration plan to deal with detainees at Guantanamo Bay and other military prisons — hold them forever without bringing them to trial. Administration officials are preparing long-range plans for indefinitely imprisoning suspected terrorists whom they do not want to set free or turn […]
It’s rare when I agree so wholeheartedly with anything Chief Justice William Rehnquist has to say, but the ailing jurist was absolutely correct last week in his year-end report about dangerous, ongoing political attacks on the judiciary. “The Constitution protects judicial independence not to benefit judges, but to promote the rule of law: Judges are […]
I should probably save myself the aggravation and stop watching the darn show, but I continue to marvel at Meet the Press’ standards. Last week, it was Dr. Phil. This week, it was an example of the kind of ideological balance we’ve come to expect from the “liberal” media. The first half of the show […]