Last week, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R) took election-year pandering — and attempted bribery — to new depths by unveiling a plan to give most Americans a $100 “rebate check” to help pay for a couple of tanks of gas. Even by Frist’s low standards, this was just embarrassing. Apparently, this was a common […]
Michael had a terrific guest post yesterday on the bizarre controversy surrounding singing the [tag]national anthem[/tag] in [tag]Spanish[/tag], but I thought I’d add to it today by noting that when it comes to this issue, the Republicans have just begun to fight. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) introduced a resolution yesterday calling for “The Star-Spangled Banner” […]
Hotline on Call noted today that Vanity Fair’s Todd Purdum interviewed Dick Cheney for the June issue and explored an important issue that usually generates almost zero attention: the Vice President’s health. “He takes a range of medications that he and his doctors decline to detail. The extent of his atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries, […]
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: * Sen. [tag]Joe Lieberman[/tag] (D-Conn.) has been very nervous about his political future in light of [tag]Ned Lamont[/tag]’s primary challenge, but a new Quinnipiac poll shows Lieberman in fairly good shape. Despite the […]
As you probably heard, the Boston Globe ran a deeply disturbing item a few days ago, which highlighted the fact that the [tag]president[/tag] has “claimed the authority to [tag]disobey[/tag] more than 750 [tag]laws[/tag] enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to [tag]set aside[/tag] any statute passed by [tag]Congress[/tag] when it conflicts […]
Leading the way on the list of “things that will never happen,” Nancy [tag]Pelosi[/tag] suggested yesterday that House Speaker Dennis [tag]Hastert[/tag] help launch an ethics committee [tag]investigation[/tag] into whether two defense contractors supplied Duke Cunningham and other lawmakers with [tag]prostitutes[/tag]. Citing media reports, Pelosi wrote to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) to urge the House’s top […]
Last week I promised not to report on [tag]Bush[/tag] polls unless they showed him reaching new lows. As it turns out, there are two new national [tag]poll[/tag]s that do just that. First up is USA Today/[tag]Gallup[/tag]. Six months before [tag]Republicans[/tag] try to hold on to control of [tag]Congress[/tag] in the fall elections, a new poll […]
Nearly three months ago, Raw Story reported that Valerie [tag]Plame[/tag], before being outed by the [tag]Bush[/tag] White House, was “part of an operation tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from [tag]Iran[/tag],” while working on the clandestine side of the [tag]CIA[/tag] in the Directorate of Operations as a non-official cover […]
Way back on Jan. 4, Scott McClellan promised reporters a “thorough report” on Jack [tag]Abramoff[/tag]’s [tag]White House[/tag] contacts “very soon.” Shortly thereafter, [tag]McClellan[/tag] decided he didn’t want to talk about the issue anymore. At this point, the White House must be working quite diligently on McClellan’s “thorough report,” because no one’s heard a peep on […]
I’m finally back at my desk, about 40 hours later than I was supposed to be. I can say with considerable confidence, however, that I’ve learned several important things. First, Michael J.W. Stickings from The Reaction came through for me in a huge way. I’m not surprised his guest posts were terrific, because I’ve long […]