With all that’s been going on, it’s sometimes easy to forget that the Bush White House is still under a criminal investigation for the trivial matter of leaking the identity of an undercover CIA agent in order to help cover up its lies about the war in Iraq. Reuters is reporting, however, that the investigation […]
The revelations about FEMA Director Mike Brown’s background in yesterday’s New Republic were, alas, not the end of the story. Since Hurricane Katrina, the FEMA director has come under heavy criticism for his performance and scrutiny of his background. Now, an investigation by Time has found discrepancies in his online legal profile and official bio, […]
Yes, FEMA’s Mike Brown is under fire and yes, it’s tempting to stop piling on, but this isn’t just some random person filling a low-level job on the third floor of the OEOB. As recent events have shown all too well, the nation needs and depends on a skilled and capable FEMA chief — and […]
After investigating the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Tom Kean, Lee Hamilton, and their fellow commissioners highlighted system problems within the federal bureaucracy that prevent the government from responding efficiently in the event of a crisis. Unfortunately, many of their recommendations were ignored or put off — and now Kean and Lee Hamilton are saying “We […]
ABC News’ The Note reported this morning that Republicans in Congress “have decided (for now) that their political interests (as in 2002 and 2004) lie in solidarity with the Bush Administration. ‘We shall all hang together’ is the unofficial mantra.” But behind the veneer of unity, is there more discontent than Republicans are letting on? […]
As time goes on, and the public learns more, the reaction to the government’s handling of the Katrina crisis worsens. There’s a new CBS News poll out, for example, with bad news all around for public officials. President George W. Bush’s overall response to Katrina meets with disapproval today – a dramatic change from the […]
There have been so many clueless conservatives making outrageous Katrina-related comments, it’s hard to know which is the worst. Was it Dennis Hastert’s claim that a lot of New Orleans should be “bulldozed“? Or maybe Linda Chavez saying that New Orleans’ problem is its population is made up of people “for whom sitting and waiting […]
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: * California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) will reportedly announce his re-election campaign next week, sometime between Friday’s close of the 2005 legislative session and Sept. 16, the opening day of the state GOP’s […]
If you paid careful attention to yesterday’s press briefing with Scott McClellan, you might have picked up on the fact that FEMA Director Mike Brown and/or DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff might not be employed by the Bush administration much longer. It was subtle, but it was there. Consider this surprisingly-tense exchange between McClellan and NBC’s […]
At first blush, yesterday’s reports about a joint bi-partisan investigation into the failures before and after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast sounds like a positive development. Republican Congressional leaders on Wednesday announced a joint House-Senate inquiry into failures surrounding the response to Hurricane Katrina as the Bush administration requested $51.8 billion in new relief […]