For an FDA filled with difficulties, the leadership of the agency’s women’s health office has been a particular embarrassment. First, Susan Wood resigned because of the FDA’s ridiculous handling of the review process for Plan B emergency contraception. Then, the administration announced Wood’s replacement at the women’s health office would be Norris Alderson — who […]
I wish I had the patience to go through, point by point, every sentence in Dick Cheney’s speech on the war on terror today, pointing out every error of fact and judgment, but I’m afraid it’d just take too long. The Vice President has a unique ability to mislead, and today he was in rare […]
For a man with only 11 months in the Senate under his belt, Barack Obama has a knack for impressing people. The sage of money and finance, America’s second-richest man, seldom becomes invested in politicians. But [Warren Buffett] has made an exception for the junior senator from Illinois, which is precisely why Obama has arrived […]
It was, unfortunately, terribly predictable. Almost immediately after Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) delivered his now-famous remarks about the war, his Republican colleagues began hinting that Murtha ran afoul of House ethics and they’d push for a formal Ethics Committee investigation. Kevin mentioned this rather clumsy attempt at intimidation the other day, but before the “Murtha […]
I imagine it’s difficult for adamant supporters of the war in Iraq to understand when people change their mind about the value of the war, but when faced with grieving parents, who’ve lost sons or daughters in Iraq, members of Congress should probably avoid questioning the parents’ sanity. “You’ll have a parent or two here, […]
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: * Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) made his initial foray into New Hampshire over the weekend and it reportedly went pretty well. U.S. News ran an item this week calling him “white-hot on […]
Discussions over the death penalty can include a variety of compelling angles, but one argument that’s tough get around is the fact that it’s one of the only forms of punishment that can’t be undone. It’s something to keep in mind when considering what happened in Texas to Ruben Cantu. Texas executed its fifth teenage […]
The Bush White House’s “Bubble Boy” policies — which, for years, have excluded anyone from presidential events that isn’t a pre-screened sycophant — have become the stuff of legend. But there’s always been something a little different about the Denver Three. In March, Denver residents Alex Young, Karen Bauer, and Leslie Weise obtained tickets from […]
The escalating debate over the Bush administration’s use (and misuse) of intelligence has kept the White House off-balance, but nevertheless focused on a couple of key talking points. Among them is the idea that our international allies saw intelligence pointing to the Iraqi threat and agreed with the president’s conclusions. Unfortunately for the Bush gang, […]
Votes on symbolic resolutions are so common in Congress, they hardly ever spark any controversy at all. Lawmakers from both parties, in both chambers, honor someone from their district or state, they give a laudatory speech, and their resolution passes unanimously. It couldn’t be any more routine. Unless, that is, the resolution is honoring an […]