The conventional wisdom for the last week, which I’ve largely bought into, is that Bush nominated Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court out of weakness. With his political support in freefall, the argument goes, Bush didn’t want a massive political fight over a well-known right-winger right now, so he picked a nominee who could generate […]
How worried is the White House about Plame-related indictments? They’ve resorted to calling the special prosecutor names. As top Bush aide Karl Rove prepares for his fourth grand-jury appearance, the federal probe into who leaked CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity to the media is believed to be wrapping up. But the investigation has taken a […]
In last month’s edition of Celebrity-worship gone awry, I marveled at the fact that Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, would rely on “expert” testimony from a novelist when shaping federal environmental policies. This month, it’s the Bush administration rewarding an actor with a prestigious diplomatic post. On […]
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 independent voters starting to shift a bit, Sen. Jon Corzine’s (D) lead over Doug Forrester (R) shrunk in the latest Star-Ledger/Eagleton-Rutgers poll. The survey shows Corzine up seven points, 44% to […]
After humiliating himself and becoming an international punch-line in August, TV preacher Pat Robertson probably should have taken it easy for a while and steered clear of the national media. It turns out, the guy just can’t help himself. Pat was on CNN’s Late Edition yesterday, primarily to discuss his support for Harriet Miers. But […]
Last week, I contacted every friend I know on the Hill, asking them to raise a fuss about James Dobson’s role in the Harriet Miers nomination. Dobson received a briefing on Miers directly from Karl Rove and then told Fox News, “I do know things that I am not prepared to talk about here.” Dobson […]
When Tom DeLay ran the House, the process of holding a vote on a controversy bill was circus-like. Amendments would be added secretly with give-aways for special interests, Republicans would be forced to change their votes if they disagreed with DeLay, and set time limits for the vote would ignored until DeLay was satisfied with […]
To follow up on the last item on Plame-related program activities, perhaps the most interesting revelation of the weekend was Murray Waas’ investigative report explaining that the president did ask Rove if he engaged in an effort to disclose Plame’s identity. Apparently, despite fairly obvious evidence that he did, Rove denied it. Senior aide Karl […]
When the book is written on the Plame scandal, there could probably be a whole chapter filled with details from the last few days. Other than the Bush-Rove conversation, which I’ll do a separate post on, here’s a rundown: * The New York Times’ Judith Miller, after testifying before the grand jury, “discovered” notes of […]