One side note to the [tag]Tom DeLay[/tag] resignation story that didn’t get much attention last week was the fact that [tag]DeLay[/tag] was poised to step down for quite a while, but had to pretend to be interested in keeping his seat, in part for financial reasons. An additional impetus for putting off the resignation until […]
Just a couple of weeks ago, retired Army Major General Paul D. [tag]Eaton[/tag], the military official in charge of training the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004, said Defense Secretary Donald [tag]Rumsfeld[/tag] has created “a climate of groupthink” that has led him to “put the Pentagon at the mercy of his ego.” He insisted that […]
The good news is Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen [tag]Specter[/tag] (R-Pa.) is taking a firm stand and arguing that it’s incumbent upon the president and vice president to explain the circumstances surrounding their classified leaks. The bad news is it’s [tag]Arlen Specter[/tag], who has a history of talking tough at the beginning of a story […]
Every once in a great while, when Patrick [tag]Fitzgerald[/tag]’s criminal investigation becomes a little too embarrassing for the [tag]White House[/tag], some of [tag]Bush[/tag]’s media allies will roll out a half-hearted attack on Fitzgerald’s credibility. It never works, and the criticisms are usually pretty pathetic, but it appears some conservatives feel the need to go through […]
It’s been a few days since the Scooter [tag]Libby[/tag] bombshell revealed that the president himself authorized the [tag]leak[/tag] of [tag]classified[/tag] information as part of a political pushback. It was easy to tell that this was a difficult scandal for the [tag]Bush[/tag] [tag]White House[/tag] because they struggled to come up with a coherent explanation for the […]
[tag]Seymour Hersh[/tag] argues in the latest issue of the New Yorker that a war with [tag]Iran[/tag] is quickly become a top priority for the Bush administration. The Bush Administration, while publicly advocating diplomacy in order to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon, has increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible […]
During yesterday’s [tag]White House[/tag] press briefing, [tag]Scott McClellan[/tag], facing a barrage of confrontational questions, preferred to answer questions that weren’t being asked. At one point, he told a reporter, “I think we’re talking past each other a little bit.” [tag]McClellan[/tag] made the comment with a bit of smirk — he knew he was stonewalling, and […]
Well, at least Knight Ridder gets it. The revelation that President Bush authorized former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby to divulge classified information about Iraq fits a pattern of selective leaks of secret intelligence to further the administration’s political agenda. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other top officials have reacted angrily at […]
Remember the Ben Domenech brouhaha from a few weeks ago? The Washington Post decided it could achieve some kind of journalistic “balance” by hiring a 24-year-old Republican activist to write a blog that promotes conservative ideas to counter a professional journalist who’s written for several newspapers over the course of a sterling 18-year career. Josh […]
First up from the [tag]God [/tag]machine this week is a follow-up from last week, about a progressive Christian denomination that’s not only having a little trouble reaching the public airwaves, but also staking out ground in trying to reclaim [tag]Christianity[/tag] from far-right conservatives. After years of turning the other cheek, the [tag]United Church of Christ[/tag], […]