If we use the framework of a full-fledged political campaign to consider the Supreme Court nominating fight, I think it’s fair to say that Alberto Gonzales is, at a minimum, acting like a candidate. As speculation swirled in recent weeks about a vacancy on the Supreme Court — and the potential that Mr. Gonzales might […]
Guest post by Ed Stephan How about bringing back the “Fairness Doctrine“? Except for Air America virtually all radio and much of TV — though federally licensed to broadcast over public airwaves — seems to be little more than a propaganda arm for the GOP. For many years, television and radio stations were required to […]
In light of recent developments with Matt Cooper and Judith Miller, lawmakers are suddenly interested in discussing a federal shield law for journalists. The Senate Judiciary Committee could be the next stop for the those involved in the federal probe into who exposed undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame as it weighs a bill that would […]
The Bush administration took a lot of well-deserved flack for intervening in the Justice Department’s case against Big Tobacco, insisting that the industry pay $10 billion, instead of the $130 billion previously recommended by a government expert witness. But less well known is the administration’s bizarre handling of the international tobacco treaty. Considering the fact […]
Just to follow up quickly on yesterday’s post, Karl Rove’s claim that “throughout the history of the republic, Supreme Court nominations receive an up-or-down vote,” is terribly untrue. I noted that Republicans filibustered LBJ’s nomination of Abe Fortas, but David Greenberg had an item in Slate yesterday explaining that Senate problems with nominees goes back […]
Time’s Matt Cooper was prepared to go to jail to protect his source, but received word early yesterday from his source that he had been released from his promise of confidentiality. And who was this secret source? Surprising absolutely no one, it was Karl Rove. “A short time ago, in somewhat dramatic fashion, I received […]
A horrifying morning in London. Near simultaneous explosions have rocked London, killing several people and injuring dozens in what UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said was an apparent terror attack coinciding with a meeting of G8 leaders in Scotland. A series of four explosions caused mass panic and brought the London transit system to a […]
Of all the political fights associated with filling the newly-announced Supreme Court vacancy, I didn’t expect the most divisive and contentious to be the bitter dispute between conservative Republicans and far-right conservative Republicans over whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales belongs on the short list. And yet, that’s what we have. The White House and the […]
Guest post by Ed Stephan George Will wrote a Fourth-of-July column praising David McCullough’s “1776”. To introduce his paean, he set up a sort of straw man in the form of “historicism”: What is history? The study of it — and the making of it, meaning politics — changed for the worse when, in the […]
Carpetbagger regular Bubba alerted me to today’s AP story on the Plame grand jury that included an interesting tidbit. In a high-stakes battle over press freedom, two reporters face jail, possibly as early as Wednesday, for refusing to divulge their sources to a prosecutor investigating the Bush administration’s leak of a CIA officer’s identity. “Journalists […]