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: * After Tom DeLay’s re-redistricting scheme forced him out of office, former Rep. Chris Bell (D-Texas) started eyeing a different job: governor. This week, he made it official, telling supporters that he will […]
I have to admit, I’m mystified by the conservative reaction to a new TV show, which will debut in the fall, called “Commander-in-Chief.” The ABC show, starring Geena Davis, will focus on a woman vice president — and political independent — being elevated to the Oval Office after the elected president dies of a massive […]
I’m delighted to see Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) end up in the right place on funding for stem-cell research, and his support may help finally get this bill out of the Senate, but it’s worth taking a moment to note how Frist has been all over the map on this issue. * On July 18, 2001, […]
Some people just don’t know when to quit. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) raised more than a few eyebrows a couple of weeks ago when he publicly suggested bombing Mecca in the event of a terrorist nuclear strike in the U.S. Talk show host Pat Campbell asked the Littleton Republican how the country should respond if […]
Much of the Dem grassroots expressed quite a bit of frustration yesterday with the 15 Dems who broke party ranks and voted with the GOP on the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The aggrieved will be pleased to know that Nancy Pelosi is at least as livid as they are. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi […]
It seemed like a pretty straightforward, easy-to-answer question. Asked to fill out a Senate questionnaire about his professional background, U.N. ambassador-nominee John Bolton said he had not been interviewed or given testimony in any federal investigations over the last five years. As of yesterday afternoon, the Bush administration stood by Bolton’s claim, insisting that the […]
Given what we’ve seen of late, you might assume I’m making this up, but this news report is real. Democrats and their allies are demanding that Sen. Pat Roberts hold hearings on presidential advisor Karl Rove’s role in the unfolding Valerie Plame scandal. But Roberts, who chairs the Select Senate Committee on Intelligence, isn’t budging, […]
On Sept. 10, 2001, the National Security Agency picked up suggestive comments by al Queda operatives, including, “Tomorrow is zero hour.” The tape of the conversation was not translated until after 9/11. Soon after, as Newsweek reported, FBI Director Robert Mueller established a 12-hour rule: all significant electronic intercepts of suspected terrorist conversations must be […]
One of the things that amazes me most about Bush administration officials is their ability to do something wrong, get caught, and pretend nothing happened. It’s a truly remarkable skill that combines a strong sense of denial, incompetence, and blind loyalty to a rigid ideology. Take our friend Ken Tomlinson, chairman of the Corporation for […]
Sometimes the Bush gang edits scientific reports they don’t like, other times they re-write them, and once in a while, they hide them just long enough to avoid political consequences. With Congress poised for a final vote on the energy bill, the Environmental Protection Agency made an 11th-hour decision Tuesday to delay the planned release […]