For all the talk in some circles that “obstructionism” is politically dangerous for Democrats (Sebastian Mallaby, I’m looking in your direction), evidence keeps mounting that the current Republican agenda is fundamentally unpopular with the public. Yesterday, there was the new Washington Post/ABC News poll showing support for Bush’s handling of Social Security falling to just […]
The circumstances surrounding Clark Kent Ervin’s firing as the inspector general from the Department of Homeland Security have always been rather fishy. Ervin generated broad and bi-partisan praise for his efforts to improve the agency and point out its shortcomings, but was shown the door a year after starting. (Ervin got the job during a […]
If you haven’t already, you may soon be hearing about John Gasquet. He hasn’t done anything remarkable, but he may have received a phone call recently that would mark a whole new, Stalin-like chapter in the White House’s efforts to shield Bush from dissent (via Cursor). “The man who called was very polite and nice,” […]
When the president introduced Bernard Kerik as his nominee to be the Secretary of Homeland Security, Bush described him as a man who has demonstrated a “deep commitment to justice” and “a heart for the innocent.” Within weeks, we learned that the White House also knew about a man who has demonstrated a willingness to […]
Just yesterday, in that excellent report on administration propaganda, we learned that one of the many fake news segments focused on the Bush administration’s “drive to strengthen aviation security.” Americans were told the administration’s drive in this area is “one of the most remarkable campaigns in aviation history.” Of course, as the NYT explained, the […]
My new daily feature about campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may nevertheless be of interest to political observers: * Asa Hutchinson (R) surprised absolutely no one over the weekend by announcing that he will run for Arkansas governor next year. Hutchinson, a former congressman and former undersecretary of […]
Raise your hand if you’re surprised by this one. In covering the Iraq war last year, 73 percent of the stories on Fox News included the opinions of the anchors and journalists reporting them, a new study says. By contrast, 29 percent of the war reports on MSNBC and 2 percent of those on CNN […]
There was a tremendous front-page piece in the New York Times yesterday on the Bush administration’s outrageous proclivity for creating fake news segments — with our money — to get its message out to news outlets nationwide. The story painted a painful picture, but let’s not lose sight of the punch-line. Under the Bush administration, […]
Five months after winning a second term by smearing his rival with deceitful, occasionally outrageous, advertising, Bush wants the public to discount “scare ads.” President Bush and Democrats took their differences over Social Security to the airwaves on Saturday, with Bush complaining about “scare ads” against his plan…. Bush reiterated his promise of no changes […]
Dems really should write the White House a big thank you note for making Social Security privatization Bush’s signature domestic policy goal. It just keeps getting worse for the president. Barely a third of the public approves of the way President Bush is dealing with Social Security and a majority says the more they hear […]