Dick Cheney has routinely enjoyed scrutiny-free weekend hunting trips, with reporters having shown little interest in covering the VP’s occasional recreational breaks. First, unlike the president, Cheney refuses to release a schedule. Second, pictures of Cheney shooting a quail hardly make for interesting journalism. As a result, Cheney can usually come and go without much […]
While reviewing the administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina, members of Congress were particularly interested in Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff’s emails. When and how was he notified about the storm and the subsequent crisis? Lawmakers, however, never got to see the documents. It wasn’t because they were kept hidden — it’s because they didn’t exist. […]
I really want to have confidence in the administration’s ability to pursue and prosecute terrorist suspects, but sometimes, it’s not easy. Federal officials in Dallas mistakenly disclosed classified counter-terrorism information in a breach of national security that could also threaten one of the country’s biggest terrorism prosecution cases, newly unsealed court records show. The blunder […]
There are plenty of lose ends, unanswered questions, and implausible explanations still surrounding Dick Cheney’s accidental shooting, and according to this report, from the Dallas Morning News, local law enforcement isn’t quite done looking into the incident. Kenedy County sheriff’s deputies have redoubled their efforts to investigate the case after criticism of their decision not […]
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: * Iowa’s gubernatorial race is shaping up to be one of the nation’s most competitive contests this year. With Patty Judge (D) dropping out, the Dem primary has narrowed to Iowa Secretary of […]
I appreciate the fact that novelist Michael Crichton is fairly popular, but the idea that his fiction is helping influence the president’s science policies is, as my friend Chris Mooney explained, rather disconcerting. The LA Times’ Ron Brownstein reviewed Fred Barnes’ oddly-sycophantic new book, “Rebel-in-Chief,” and highlighted an anecdote that suggests the president’s opposition to […]
The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan — who, it’s worth noting, went on a leave of absence in 2004 to help the Bush/Cheney campaign — wrote a provocative column today that may have been a bit of trial balloon for White House insiders. The headline read: “Hit Refresh? Why Bush may be thinking about replacing […]
Yesterday, in a speech that almost no one paid a moment’s attention to, the president visited Wendy’s headquarters in Ohio to talk about health care. He’s still on his Health Savings Account kick, but he’s still having trouble selling it. “It means most Americans have no idea what their actual cost of treatment is. You […]
The New York Times’ Bob Herbert hasn’t been pulling any punches when it comes to the Bush White House, but today, I’m fairly sure Herbert became the first writer for a major newspaper to call for Dick Cheney’s resignation. Herbert uses the shooting incident as a kick-off point, but his case has far more to […]
I was cautiously optimistic that Dick Cheney’s Fox News interview would begin to offer a coherent explanation for what happened during the hunting accident and what caused the lengthy delays after it. It wasn’t to be; aside from a few welcome words of contrition, Cheney’s account of recent events still doesn’t make a lot of […]