It’s encouraging to see at least a couple of Republican senators agree with Dems that top-ranking administration officials should be compelled to answer questions about what they told the nation before the war. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has emerged as a leading opponent of the Bush administration’s policy on interrogating detainees in the war […]
The American Family Association is like a jukebox that only plays one song. The religious right group doesn’t have a lot of money, or members, or influence, but they can organize a boycott at the drop of a hat. According to an alert issued yesterday by James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, the AFA is […]
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: * Sen. Hillary Clinton may be cruising to re-election in New York, but she may have a primary opponent before taking on Jeanine Pirro. Newsday reported today that Steven Greenfield, a sax player […]
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) did some appearances together in South Carolina yesterday, and were about half right about their party’s troubles. With the war in Iraq, higher energy costs and breakneck government spending, the GOP faces a tough round of congressional elections in 2006 unless things change, two key Republican senators […]
In a year filled with embarrassing, often shameful, congressional theatrics, last Friday’s “debate” on withdrawal from Iraq was among the more disturbing. Apparently, we may see a repeat soon. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) called for a redeployment of U.S. troops in Iraq, prompting the GOP to pull a little stunt. House Republicans unveiled a one-sentence […]
Last week, Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) lashed out at Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) on the House floor, and relayed remarks she claimed to have received from Marine Colonel Danny Bubp: “[He] asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message, that cowards cut and run, Marines never do.” As Avedon noted yesterday, Col. Bubp’s background suggests […]
It’s difficult to overstate just how much Michael Scanlon’s plea deal strikes fear into the heart of Congress. A onetime congressional staffer who became a top partner to lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to bribe a congressman and other public officials and agreed to pay back more than $19 million he fraudulently […]
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 […]