Way back in July, I wrote a bit about the possibility of a civil suit in the Plame scandal. It seems to be an idea that’s catching on. In an interview yesterday, [Joseph] Wilson said that once the criminal questions are settled, he and his wife may file a civil lawsuit against Bush, Cheney and […]
For weeks, all we’ve heard from Tom DeLay and his allies is that Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is on some kind of partisan vendetta. Earle wanted to force DeLay from his leadership post, we’ve been told. Earle wants to see DeLay in jail, the right has argued. Except none of these claims seem […]
Everyone is desperate to know what’s on Patrick Fitzgerald’s mind. Time quoted a lawyer with ties to the White House saying, “If he played his cards any closer to the vest, they’d be in his underwear.” Sounds about right. With this in mind, we’re left interpreting (over-analyzing?) every little announcement as a key clue as […]
When it comes to Dick Cheney and the Plame scandal, the hits just keep on coming. Two weeks ago, it was George Stephanopoulos reporting that Cheney was “actually involved in some of these discussions” regarding smearing Joseph Wilson. Yesterday, it was Bloomberg reporting that Patrick Fitzgerald is focusing on whether Cheney played a role in […]
Karl Rove has not yet been indicted. We don’t know if he will be indicted. We don’t even know for sure if he’ll resign — or even be pardoned — if charges are brought against him. But if we didn’t engage in a little baseless speculation about what the political world would be like if […]
Recent polling data suggests only about a third of Americans approve of how the Republican-dominated Congress is doing its job, the lowest in a decade. A new NBC poll shows voters preferring a Dem-run Congress by a fairly wide margin. All the while, the Republican establishment seems to be drowning before our very eyes under […]
Every activist group, regardless of ideology, has some kind of schtick. Some prefer working on TV ad campaigns, others like lobbying, others prefer press manipulation. The American Family Association, unfortunately, only has one move: boycotts. It’s getting embarrassing. As a rule, the AFA boycotts are counterproductive. A few months ago, for example, the group announced […]
The Weekly Standard’s Jeffrey Bell and William Kristol wrote a fairly predictable piece on the Republican culture of corruption in general, and the Plame scandal in specific, and not surprisingly, dismissed all the substantive charges out of hand. The amusing part, however, was their rejection of the Plame matter through the “everybody does it’” defense. […]
I realize this is an era for more creative forms of political propaganda. The president can’t even talk to troops during a war without turning the event into an infomercial. But when the pharmaceutical industry gets involved in commissioning a novel to scare Americans, you know things have gotten out of hand. In a tale […]
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: * In Ohio’s Senate race, it looks like Dems will not be able to steer clear of a primary fight. Rep. Sherrod Brown (D) is in and has begun building a base of […]