Friday’s political round-up

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: * Connecticut’s Dem Senate primary is getting a little closer, though Sen. [tag]Joe Lieberman[/tag] (D) still enjoys a sizable lead. According to a new Rasmussen poll, Lieberman leads businessman [tag]Ned Lamont[/tag] (D), 51% […]

Maybe we’d be safer with a Canadian flag on the side of the bus

The World Cup [tag]soccer[/tag] tournament will kick off in June in [tag]Germany[/tag], with 32 nations competing in one of the world’s biggest sporting events. Thirty one of the teams will prominently feature their nation’s flag on their team bus. Guess which one won’t (via TP). The official team [tag]bus[/tag] to be used by the [tag]United […]

Maybe if we don’t talk to them, they’ll go away

Knight Ridder had an interesting piece today on the [tag]Bush[/tag] [tag]administration[/tag]’s approach to [tag]diplomacy[/tag], or in the case of countries we don’t like, lack thereof. Last month, the chief U.S. negotiator with North Korea wanted to meet privately with his North Korean counterpart, hoping he could persuade Pyongyang to return to talks on eliminating its […]

Flag burning amendment one step closer to floor vote

It’s an election year, [tag]Republicans[/tag] are desperate, so it stands to reason that a constitutional [tag]amendment[/tag] on [tag]flag burning[/tag] is making progress in the [tag]Senate[/tag]. A Senate panel approved a measure on Thursday that would change the [tag]Constitution[/tag] to let Congress [tag]ban[/tag] burning of the [tag]American flag[/tag], setting up an election-year debate over a perennial […]

‘Things we projected to occur in 2080 are happening in 2006’

[tag]Global warming[/tag] isn’t just about glaciers and ice caps. Valere Rommelaere, 82, survived the D-Day invasion in Normandy, but not a mosquito bite. Six decades after the war, the hardy Saskatchewan farmer was bitten by a bug carrying a disease that has spread from the equator to Canada as temperatures have risen. Within weeks, he […]

Donald Rumsfeld meets Ray McGovern

If you haven’t seen it, Defense Secretary [tag]Donald Rumsfeld[/tag] spoke in Atlanta yesterday and had a few substantive exchanges with an interested and well-informed member of the audience. Well, at least the questions were substantive. Speaking in Atlanta today, Secretary of Defense Donald [tag]Rumsfeld[/tag] was sharply questioned about his pre-war claims about WMD in Iraq. […]

Pelosi throws Jefferson overboard

I think it’s probably fair to say Rep. [tag]William Jefferson[/tag] (D-La.) will not be missed by the Dem caucus. A Kentucky technology executive pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of [tag]bribing[/tag] a member of Congress in an investigation that has centered on Representative William J. Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat. While court papers have not referred to […]

Could George Allen’s ‘flag fetish’ help his political prospects?

Last week, TNR’s [tag]Ryan Lizza[/tag] caused quite a stir with a devastating article on Sen. [tag]George Allen[/tag] (R-Va.), whose disconcerting background on racial issues — and odd affinity for the [tag]Confederacy[/tag] — made for a series of embarrassing questions for the presidential hopeful. Allen and his allies have fought back against the Lizza article, accusing […]

Eric Boehlert takes on ‘Lapdogs’

Readers will definitely want to check out Eric Boehlert’s book excerpt in Salon.com today, in which we get a lengthy look at the new book, “Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush.” Boehlert calls it a look insider “one of the great journalistic collapses of our time,” and if today’s excerpt is any indication, […]

The First Lady’s quick change of heart

Laura Bush, on how the national anthem should be sung. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with singing it in Spanish. The point is it’s the United States national anthem and what people want is it to be sung in a way that respects the United States and our culture. At the same time, […]