Snarlin’ Arlen isn’t lying about spying

Following up on an earlier item about the Bush White House quietly allowing the National Security Agency to spy on Americans, on U.S. soil, without getting a warrant, at least one Republican senator is bothered enough to consider hearings on the issue. A key Republican committee chairman put the Bush administration on notice Friday that […]

A different kind of hackery

There are plenty of people who follow Diebold and suspect voting machines closer than I do, but this story, brought to my attention by a reader in Florida, adds to the already considerable cause for concern. Voting machines used in four Central Florida counties might be flawed. There’s new evidence that computer hackers could change […]

Friday’s political round-up

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: * With Randy “Duke” Cunningham resigning in disgrace, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced yesterday that there will be an April 11 special election to fill the now-vacant California House seat. Among the Republicans likely to […]

Let’s see if they can avoid calling Murtha a coward this time

Just five short weeks ago, the House held what may charitably be described as a “debate” on withdrawal from Iraq, as part of the GOP’s blowback strategy against Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) plan for troop redeployment. Today, we may see the sequel. As you may recall, the results weren’t pretty. House Republicans unveiled a one-sentence […]

The Who’s-on-First Shuffle

After Bush’s interview with Brit Hume this week, Fox News posted “a partial transcript,” which included nearly all of the substantive parts of their discussion. But as the WaPo’s Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts reported today, towards the end of the conversation, Hume and the president began talking about less significant matters, including the president’s […]

Not a good week for administration spying revelations

When we learned earlier this week that the Pentagon has been spying on law-abiding, anti-war protestors, it was more than a little disconcerting. But learning that the Bush White House quietly allowed the National Security Agency to spy on Americans, on U.S. soil, without getting a warrant, is even worse. Months after the Sept. 11 […]

They really didn’t see the same intelligence

The most annoying facet to the White House talking point on congressional Dems seeing the same pre-war intelligence as the president is not just its inaccuracy, but also its repetition. Searching the White House website, Bush, Cheney, McClellan and the rest of the Bush gang have used the talking point at least 171 times. It’s […]

Reporters even more irritated at Bush than Dems

When the president expressed his belief in Tom DeLay’s innocence, it touched off a little flap that the White House has had trouble defending. Not surprisingly, congressional Dems are taking advantage of the opportunity. Democratic leaders sternly criticized President Bush yesterday for saying former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) is innocent of felonious campaign […]

‘The only awards that matter’

The terrific folks at Wampum are now accepting nominations for the all-important 2005 Koufax Awards, the annual honors for blogs that Atrios once accurately described as “the only awards that matter.” There are a total of 15 categories, and if readers were so inclined, you can nominate The Carpetbagger Report in a few of them. […]

DeLay says he’s innocent — and Bush believes him

The president hasn’t had to go out of his way to defend Tom DeLay against the multiple criminal and ethical charges surrounding him — as Scott McClellan once said, Bush considers DeLay a friend but “there are different levels of friendship” — so it was of particular interest when the subject came up yesterday when […]