Guest Post by Morbo I hate to bore readers with what may appear to be provincial stories about politics in my adopted home state of Maryland, but here’s one you might find interesting: Maryland’s comptroller is a decrepit, embarrassing has-been ex-governor who pretends to be a Democrat named William Donald Schaefer. On Feb. 15, Schaefer […]
On Monday, Scott McClellan featured a White House press corps that was angry and aggressive. McClellan made his case, as best he could, but reporters were clearly under the impression that the Bush gang was hiding something. Just one day later, McClellan announced that the story was now done. Reporters should ask no more questions […]
I think I can hear Karl Rove removing Chuck Hagel from the White House Christmas-card list right about … now. Hagel also got in a gibe at Vice President Dick Cheney’s accidental shooting of a hunting partner last weekend. Referring to Cheney’s repeated draft deferrals during the Vietnam War, Hagel said, “If he’d been in […]
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: * As if Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) didn’t have enough to worry about with a possible Abramoff-related indictment looming, now he has a new problem: a primary challenger back home. James Brodbelt Harris, […]
I imagine it’s difficult for Dick Cheney’s allies and staffers to defend the Vice President’s penchant for secrecy, but when responding to criticism of Cheney’s proclivity to hide information, they really shouldn’t make things up. Yes, Mary Matalin, I’m looking at you. Matalin appeared on NBC’s Today show yesterday to defend Cheney when Katie Kouric […]
SurveyUSA has another one of those interesting 50-state polls out this week, breaking down Bush’s approval rating on a state-by-state basis. For the White House, there isn’t much in the way of good news. * Bush has dropped below the 50% threshold in 47 states. He’s at 40% or lower in 23 states. He’s at […]
Here’s an odd question that I’ve never been able to figure out: how does the media decide which trials become the next Trial of the Century? Celebrity trials I sort of understand. News outlets lose all sense of perspective, but reporters know that readers, for some reason, care about famous people who are on trial […]
For a while there, it looked like Congress was poised to take the president’s warrantless-search program seriously. Senate Republicans acted as if they believed the White House circumvented the law; some House Republicans wanted a thorough investigation; and even conservative scholars and activists were willing to acknowledge that Bush had gone too far. And yet, […]
If you listen closely, you can almost hear the Cheney-shoots-a-guy balloon lose its air. Going over today’s papers, it reads like a wrap-up on a controversy that won’t make any headlines at all next week. For one thing, the local law enforcement investigation is now officially over. The sheriff’s department responsible for investigating Vice President […]
When the vice president sat down with Fox News’ Brit Hume yesterday, the political world waited to see what, exactly, Dick Cheney might say about having shot a man last weekend. Looking forward, however, the most interesting exchange may have come near the end, on a subject that has nothing to do with Harry Whittington. […]