A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned Blake Gottesman, the president’s “body guy,” who sticks close behind Bush for 14 to 18 hours a day. (If you’ve seen the TV show, “The West Wing,” Gottesman is like Charlie.) Gottesman, despite having less than one year of undergraduate work under his belt, is off to Harvard […]
Talk about your [tag]soft bigotry of low expectations[/tag]; the New York Times ran a lengthy article yesterday that offers the [tag]president[/tag] credit for — get this — schmoozing with [tag]Republican[/tag] lawmakers. Senator John W. Warner and his wife were at the [tag]White House[/tag] for a Memorial Day photo session with veterans when they received an […]
[tag]Allen Raymond[/tag], a former [tag]RNC[/tag] official and one of the few Republican officials to go to jail as a result of the New Hampshire [tag]phone-jamming[/tag] [tag]scandal[/tag] of 2002, sat down this week with the Boston Globe for his first post-incarceration interview. Apparently, he’s had time to reflect on what his party is all about. [Raymond] […]
Just a couple of items to mention briefly this morning…. * My guest stint at Washington Monthly, which I enjoyed thoroughly, ended yesterday. Many thanks to Kevin Drum for the opportunity. This week, I’m going back to a relatively normal schedule writing here and co-editing the Daou Report. * There were a couple of items […]
Former Rep. [tag]Tom DeLay[/tag] (R-Eighth Ring) left the House this week, delivering a speech from the House floor in which the former exterminator did what he’s always done: he lashed out at his critics, blasted liberalism, insisted that he’s as pure as the driven snow, and encouraged Republicans to resist compromising on any part of […]
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane [tag]Katrina[/tag], and for months afterwards, former [tag]FEMA[/tag] director [tag]Michael Brown[/tag] was excoriated for his response (or lack thereof) to the crisis along the Gulf Coast. “[tag]Brownie[/tag]” has tried to resuscitate his image a bit more recently, and yesterday told CNN that he received an e-mail before his resignation stating […]
[tag]Washington[/tag] is allegedly filled with [tag]smoke-filled rooms[/tag], but DC recently implemented a smoking ban for office spaces citywide. It affects everyone — except, apparently, lawmakers on Capitol Hill who haven’t decided if they’ll follow the city law or not. This week, Rep. Henry [tag]Waxman[/tag] (D-Calif.) and 18 of his Democratic colleagues asked Speaker Dennis Hastert […]
First up from the God machine this week is an unfortunate story, brought to my attention by several alert readers, about a man who didn’t understand that theists generally believe God tests them, not the other way around. A man shouting that God would keep him safe was mauled to death by a lioness in […]
Guest Post by Morbo Last week I criticized [tag]religious[/tag] [tag]right[/tag] activists for insisting that [tag]same-sex[/tag] unions somehow threaten [tag]heterosexual[/tag] [tag]marriage[/tag] and [tag]children[/tag]. If marriage is in trouble, I asserted, straight people have no one to blame but themselves. I don’t see a lot of evidence that [tag]gays[/tag] are busting up heterosexual [tag]marriage[/tag]s and consigning children […]
Guest Post by Morbo This week the Carpetbagger asked what it takes for a conservative pundit to achieve pariah status. How about an active campaign to put him or her there? Ann Coulter’s grotesque attacks on four 9/11 widows will be forgotten next week — unless the progressive community takes a page from the right […]