Ken Tomlinson’s partisan, ideological, and generally ridiculous work as chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting helped lead to his recent resignation from the CPB. But what we didn’t know before now is just how much Tomlinson violated the law. The former chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting broke federal law and repeatedly violated […]
Deadly terrorist bombings in Amman, Jordan, last week killed 60 and shook the Jordanian people and government badly. Yesterday, there were political consequences. Eleven officials in Jordan’s royal court were fired Tuesday by King Abdullah II, Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said. Among them was the country’s national security adviser, Muasher said. The reshuffling came […]
Last week, the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing over escalating energy prices, featuring testimony from the CEOs from the nation’s biggest oil companies. Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) rejected calls to have the executives testify under oath. Today, it’s a little clearer why. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) asked the five CEOs if their company, […]
The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward has consistently downplayed the significance of the Plame scandal. He’s said there were “reasonable grounds” for the White House to go after Joseph Wilson; he’s dismissed the Plame leak as “gossip“; and said he had no “bombshell” to share. As it turns out, however, Woodward had a first-hand view of […]
When it comes to the war in Iraq, part of the president’s problem is that he manipulated information, removing context and meaning, in order to get the results he wanted. So, now that he’s under fire, how does he defend the war? As Ryan Lizza noted in a terrific TNR piece today, Bush’s new strategy […]
Yesterday, a Washington Times report highlighted Samuel Alito’s staunch opposition to abortion rights, among other things, in a 1985 application to become deputy assistant to Attorney General Ed Meese. By late afternoon, even more documents were released about Alito that help shed more light on the ideology of the man Bush wants to see on […]
The Senate took up two measures today, both of which require the administration to provide lawmakers with extensive quarterly reports on progress in Iraq and call on the White House to lay out its strategy for ending the war. One passed. The first vote was on a Democratic amendment that would have pressed Bush to […]
Senior White House aide Dan Bartlett has been making the rounds on the TV talk shows this week, as part of the White House’s new offensive. On CNN yesterday morning, Bartlett repeated many of the predictable talking points, but one of his remarks deserves special attention. Soledad O’Brien: Let’s talk a little bit about how […]
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: * In Florida, Rep. Katherine Harris (R) continues to struggle in her uphill Senate campaign. A new Quinnipiac poll released today shows incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D) way ahead of Harris in next […]
As part of its apparent new drive to get back on the offensive, the White House has done something unusual the past several days — the Bush gang has gotten personal. It started in earnest on Friday, when the president used his Veterans’ Day to single out John Kerry for criticism. Later that day, the […]