About a month ago, the Washington Times ran an item explaining that some House Republicans are “looking closely at ending birthright citizenship.” Legally, if you’re born in the United States, you’re a citizen. The Times said “a task force of party leaders and members active on immigration” were reviewing proposals to change that standard permanently. […]
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, apparently aware of the fact that too many of his colleagues have ignored congressional ethics rules, reportedly suggested that lawmakers get more extensive training on what’s allowed and what’s not. House members and aides said Mr. Hastert broached the subject in a closed-door session with House Republicans while they discussed former […]
According to the New York Daily News’ Thomas DeFrank, there might be a very interesting shake-up at the Pentagon within the next month or so. White House officials are telling associates they expect Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to quit early next year, once a new government is formed in Iraq, sources said yesterday. Rumsfeld’s deputy, […]
If you look at the WaPo’s coverage of Condoleezza Rice’s remarks about the U.S. approach abusive tactics, you might think the Secretary of State said something genuinely encouraging. She didn’t. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that the United States prohibits all its personnel from using cruel or inhuman techniques in prisoner interrogations, whether […]
News websites routinely run online “polls” in which readers can weigh in on some controversy of the day. It’s just a web gimmick — the polls aren’t scientific, don’t even pretend to fine representative samples, and have zero predictive value. They’re just supposed to be fun. Validity aside, these “polls” tend to get attention. For […]
There seems to be great consternation among Dem leaders every time a high-profile Dem criticizes the war, but according to one new national poll, the public’s views aren’t terribly different from the party’s. [A]lmost 60 percent of voters say the U.S. should withdraw its troops from Iraq, with 40 percent who say get out immediately, […]
DNC Chairman Howard Dean, who, as some may have noticed, has a tendency to make headlines with controversial remarks, raised a few eyebrows yesterday for suggesting that the United States may not win the war in Iraq. “The idea that we’re going to win this war is an idea that unfortunately is just plain wrong,” […]
Quick, name three bills the Senate has voted on this year that made religious conservatives happy. Let’s see, there was the Terri Schiavo debacle … and that’s about it. Unfortunately for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the far-right has noticed. It’s worth remembering that religious conservatives expected 2005 to be their watershed year ever for […]
I didn’t intend to do two “war on Christmas” posts in the same day, but I saw a poll that needs more attention. The story has generally been a tongue-in-cheek commentary for weeks. There isn’t a real conflict because only one side is doing all the complaining. When the O’Reilly/Falwell/AFA crowd starts a letter campaign […]
I don’t mind that the New York Times created a blog devoted to movies. I do, however, mind the name they came up with for the blog. What’s worse, it doesn’t really make any sense in a movie context. “Carpetbagger” clearly has its roots in a political context and is still used with political connotations. […]