The president spoke with new CBS News anchor Katie [tag]Couric[/tag] yesterday and acknowledged a point a lot of us have been talking about for years. “One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” So true, so true. And speaking of the Couric Q&A, it’s generally difficult […]
Given that the war in Iraq offers precious little to be encouraged about, news that the death toll in August was down considerably was welcome. Whereas in July the Baghdad morgue received more than 1,800 bodies, U.S. and Iraqi officials boasted a little over a week ago that the death toll was reduced dramatically in […]
And the ABC docudrama hits just keep on coming. James Bamford, an author and journalist who has written about security issues, appeared on MSNBC to discuss “The Path to 9/11.” Bamford revealed that an FBI agent who worked as a consultant to the film quit halfway through production of the mini-series because he believed the […]
Probably the most important moment in the president’s speech yesterday dealt with his defense of torture. It was, perhaps, [tag]Bush[/tag] at his most twisted. “Within months of September the 11th, 2001, we captured a man known as Abu [tag]Zubaydah[/tag]. We believe that Zubaydah was a senior terrorist leader and a trusted associate of Osama bin […]
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: * New Jersey’s closely-watched Senate race continues to go back and forth, and in the latest poll, it’s the Republican on the upswing. The latest Rasmussen poll shows state Senator [tag]Tom Kean[/tag] Jr. […]
The latest Zogby poll included a [tag]civil-liberties[/tag] question I haven’t seen asked in a long while. It turns out, those who generally claim to be most concerned about big government are the same ones who are willing to welcome a voluntary police state. Poll respondents were asked about specific methods and asked if they’d favor […]
In 2004, the gender gap shrunk. Kerry beat Bush among women voters, but by a narrow three-point margin, which was significantly smaller than the advantage Clinton and Gore had in previous cycles. Among women in the South, the gap swung in the other direction entirely — Bush won 54% of Southern female voters. The AP, […]
I wish I found this surprising, but at this point, it sounds consistent with everything we’ve heard about the president for years. President [tag]Bush[/tag] was driven by a visceral hatred of [tag]Saddam Hussein[/tag], which he privately demonstrated in expletive-laden tirades against the Iraqi dictator. In May 2002 — months before he asked Congress for authority […]
With every passing day, the controversy over ABC’s factually-challenged [tag]docudrama[/tag], “The Path to 9/11,” gets a little bigger. Yesterday, some of the people smeared by the film started being more assertive in their defense. Three members of the Clinton administration have written the chief executive of the Walt [tag]Disney[/tag] Company, [tag]ABC[/tag]’s parent, to complain that […]
At first blush, this sounds rather encouraging. But as with most announcements from the Bush White House, particularly about national security, context makes all the difference. President Bush today announced the transfer to the Guantanamo Bay naval base of 14 al-Qaeda terrorist suspects previously held by the CIA in a secret detention program, and he […]