The president gave a brief summary of his thoughts on the ongoing crisis in the Middle East during a speech at the Port of Miami today. I’ve been mulling over what he might have been trying to say, but it’s not altogether clear. “The current crisis is part of a larger struggle between the forces […]
Rumor has it, congressional Democrats can’t agree amongst themselves about a policy towards Iraq. They know Bush’s approach isn’t working, and they recognize the need for significant change, but getting Dems to nail down a unified, specific direction for the future of Iraq is tougher than it sounds. Or so the rumor goes. Today, to […]
In March, [tag]South Dakota[/tag] Gov. [tag]Mike Rounds[/tag] (R) signed legislation banning nearly all abortions in the state, a measure which generated an immediate lawsuit. But before the issue is decided in the courts, abortion-rights advocates turned in more than 37,000 signatures that asked voters to decide on whether to overturn the [tag]ban[/tag] through a [tag]ballot […]
Just to update an item from last week, the AP reported that the Army interrogated Bleu Copas, a decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist, about being gay before ultimately forcing him out of the military. As part of the questioning, Army officials asked Copas if he understood the military’s policy on homosexuals, if he had […]
Good news and bad news today on the [tag]global warming[/tag] front. First, the good news. Britain and California are preparing to sidestep the Bush administration and fight global warming together by creating a joint market for greenhouse gases. British Prime Minister [tag]Tony Blair[/tag] and California Gov. [tag]Arnold Schwarzenegger[/tag] plan to lay the groundwork for a […]
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: * With just over a week before the Democratic Senate primary in Connecticut, some major newspaper endorsements ran. The state’s two largest newspapers, the Hartford Courant and Connecticut Post both ran editorials backing […]
Every time I read about young conservative activists getting together at some organized event, I get a little less optimistic about the future. The New York Times took a fascinating look today at college-age conservatives who go to month-long retreats and conferences some attendees affectionately call “conservative boot camp.” The piece featured a retreat run […]
[tag]Lee Bandy[/tag], South Carolina’s legendary political reporter, had an interesting item today about how [tag]Republicans[/tag] have used the “[tag]tax-and-spend[/tag] [tag]liberal[/tag]” label so often, it’s reached the point that it no longer has any real meaning — or salience. “They’ve used it so often that they’ve milked all the meaning out of the phrase,” says Francis […]
[tag]Senate Intelligence Committee[/tag] Chairman [tag]Pat Roberts[/tag] (R-Kan.) has been playing a very annoying game for an embarrassingly long time. Initially, the committee was prepared to release a comprehensive report on pre-[tag]war[/tag] [tag]intelligence[/tag], what it said, and how it was handled. Then Roberts split the report in two — one on how wrong the intelligence was […]
Karl Rove spoke at my alma mater over the weekend, and delivered a couple of gems that were so jaw-dropping, it’s hard to believe he’d have the gall to say them out loud. Of course, we are talking about [tag]Karl Rove[/tag]. “It’s odd to me that most of these critics [of political professionals] are [tag]journalists[/tag] […]