‘Even if this were true…’

I don’t like to pick on PowerLine, a leading far-right blog, but as Jason Zengerle noted, this line from a post today is too amusing to ignore. “We stand accused of being over-the-top partisans who worship President Bush as a visionary. Even if this were true…” Please. In July, PowerLine ran an item that called […]

Slight ‘improvement’ on the Saddam-9/11 question

There’s a great deal to chew on in the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, and thanks to the fact that the NYT published some of its internals online (.pdf), it’s easy to start digging through the numbers and finding tidbits the Times’ article left out. In terms of the major, election-related questions, the results […]

‘I have flat-out been ticked at Republicans for the past two years’

[tag]Focus on the Family[/tag]’s James Dobson was in Pittsburgh yesterday for a “Stand for the Family Rally” to help rally support for Republicans, most notably, Sen. Rick Santorum (R). Dobson’s message to the religious-right activists in attendance, however, wasn’t exactly inspirational. (thanks to Rege for the tip) Standing before an enormous American flag in Mellon […]

Thursday’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: * In Pennsylvania, Sen. [tag]Rick Santorum[/tag] (R) closed the gap recently against [tag]Bob Casey[/tag] (D), but he’s still not close to catching up to his challenger. A new Keystone Poll shows Casey leading, […]

Alphonso Jackson is doing a heckuva job

About four months ago, we learned that [tag]Housing and Urban Development[/tag] Secretary [tag]Alphonso Jackson[/tag] spoke at a public forum in Dallas and explained that he denied funding to a qualified minority contractor because the contractor said he didn’t like the [tag]president[/tag]. In fact, Jackson went into considerable detail about the incident, explaining that the [tag]contractor[/tag] […]

‘I Have Been…Against This Bullsh*t War From The Beginning’

Since I have been known, on occasion, to criticize MSNBC’s [tag]Chris Matthews[/tag], I thought it only fair to offer him some praise for his comments this morning on Imus. For a guy who has, just recently, blamed Clinton for 9/11, kissed up to Tom DeLay, and compared war critics to terrorists, Matthews seems to have […]

For Bush, democracy was God’s gift to some of humanity

Let me admit from the outset that I don’t know much about Thailand’s political system. In fact, before this week, I knew practically nothing. That said, its recent military coup is a major international development — with implications for the Bush White House. [tag]Thailand[/tag]’s up-until-recently Prime Minister Thaksin [tag]Shinawatra[/tag] was, as the Washington Post described […]

Bush still can’t keep his bin Laden story straight

The [tag]president[/tag] sat down with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer yesterday and addressed the subject of sending troops to bring Osama bin Laden to justice. Unfortunately, the response was a little flawed. BLITZER: If you had good, actionable intelligence in Pakistan where [Osama [tag]bin Laden[/tag], Ayman al- Zawahiri, Mullah Muhammad Omar] were, would you give the order […]

Is Bush in the midst of a popularity surge?

Because the president’s popularity (or lack thereof) is linked so closely to the midterm elections, it’s probably worth taking a moment to consider whether Bush is currently on the upswing. Greg Sargent has seen the reports indicating that the president’s national support is “rising,” and that “the real beneficiary of that could be House Republicans,” […]

‘The most popular Republican in the country right now’

Dan Froomkin noted today that the White House is in the midst of a “full-on PR blitz” for one of its own. Oddly enough, it’s not the President or the Vice President; it’s the [tag]First Lady[/tag], who apparently is beginning to take on some policy responsibilities. What’s more, the public relations efforts are apparently paying […]