To be fair, we were warned. The White House press corps specifically asked if there would be anything resembling fresh material in the president’s prime-time address on the war in Iraq. Scott McClellan said: “I think many Americans have not heard much of what the President has to say tomorrow night.” Now I understand what […]
Bill Frist is going to deliver a speech to the Heritage Foundation this afternoon on judicial nominations and how the Senate should approach the likely Supreme Court vacancy. According to The Note, which obtained a copy of Frist’s speech, the Senate Majority Leader will emphasize the need for “civility.” I won’t be on hand for […]
OK, one more post about the Ten Commandments rulings from yesterday. In a strange dissent in the Van Orden case, Justice Clarence Thomas not only argued that public officials should be able to promote the sacred text in official settings, he also explained his belief that the First Amendment shouldn’t apply to state governments. This […]
After my yesterday’s post on the Denver Three, a handful of you wrote to ask why I find this particular controversy so fascinating. At last count, I’ve written 16 posts about the incident, most other blogs don’t seem nearly as interested, my comments section doesn’t exactly light up at the mention of the story, and […]
Polling firm SurveyUSA has been quite the font of information lately, hasn’t it? First it did a poll of all of the nation’s governors, then all of the senators, and today it released data showing Bush’s support on a state-by-state basis. There are lots of entertaining ways to break down the numbers, but I was […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * Just a couple of weeks after Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) announced her Senate campaign, GOP officials seem to be underwhelmed — and looking for an alternative. State House Speaker Allan Bense (R) […]
Let’s see, who do you suppose was exploiting the tragedy of 9/11 the most blatantly over the last week? Was it: a) White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan at yesterday’s press briefing “I think if you go back to September 11th — remember, on September 11th the threats of the 21st century were brought to […]
Bush will deliver a nationally televised address tonight, on the first anniversary of Iraq’s alleged sovereignty, hoping to help turn the rhetorical tide regarding the war. As is always the case, the stagecraft has been carefully planned — Bush will speak at Fort Bragg, N.C., home of the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division,, using soldiers […]
Generally speaking, when the Supreme Court takes on an issue and issues its ruling, the legal controversy ends. Yesterday, however, the high court wrapped up two Ten Commandments cases with ten separate rulings, which I’m afraid will likely prompt more litigation, not less. To summarize what we learned yesterday, officials cannot promote religion, but they […]
I don’t mean to belabor the point, but Rep. John Hostettler (R-Ind.) is just a little too nutty to ignore. Let’s review for a moment. There’s a Ten Commandments case in Hostettler’s congressional district that he wants to keep in place. In February, he wrote to the president, urging Bush, as head of the executive […]