Guest Post by Morbo My kids went back to school this week, which got me thinking about one of my favorite topics: the state of public education in America. What combination of factors makes a good school? Can the success of public schools in affluent suburbs be duplicated in troubled areas? How do we encourage […]
Rasmussen Reports conducts a national tracking poll of 15,000 voters per month, and in its latest round of polling, they found fewer and fewer people who wanted to identify themselves as Republicans. The number of Americans calling themselves Republican has fallen to its lowest level in more than two-and-a-half years. Just 31.9% of American adults […]
After several days of White House rhetoric about progress in Iraq, the Pentagon released a report to Congress today (Friday afternoon, long weekend) on conditions in Iraq. If there’s any good news in the report, it’s hiding well. Sectarian violence is spreading in Iraq and the security problems have become more complex than at any […]
With the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks coming up, different TV networks will mark the occasion in different ways. CNN is scheduled to air a new documentary, “CNN Presents: In the Footsteps of bin Laden,” reported by Christiane Amanpour and partially based on CNN terrorism expert Peter Bergen’s book, “The Osama bin Laden I […]
Donald [tag]Rumsfeld[/tag] certainly is an interesting character. After delivering a controversial speech to the American Legion this week, the Defense Secretary responded to the ensuing hullabaloo with an LA Times [tag]op-ed[/tag] — in which he proceeded to make the exact same points that made his speech controversial in the first place. In speaking to our […]
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 California, a new Rasmussen poll shows Gov. [tag]Arnold Schwarzenegger[/tag] (R) leading Democratic [tag]Phil Angelides[/tag] by six points, 48% to 42%. Angelides hasn’t lost or gained any ground since last month’s poll, […]
The Lieberman-Lamont showdown was characterized, far and wide, as the political showdown of the year. It was an “inquisition” from the far-left against an incumbent who “occasionally” broke party ranks. The party establishment rallied behind the senator, but the party’s base — portrayed as “radicals” in the media — embraced the challenger. After Lamont’s victory, […]
Following up on an item from last week, the congressional Dems’ idea for a “[tag]no confidence[/tag]” [tag]vote[/tag] on Donald [tag]Rumsfeld[/tag] seems to be gathering steam. Under assault from Republicans on issues of national security, congressional Democrats are planning to push for a vote of no confidence in Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld this month as […]
With this week’s revelations that former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage was Robert Novak’s other Valerie Plame source, supporters of the White House have done an odd kind of victory dance. Armitage’s role is proof, they say, that there was no concerted effort to punish Joseph Wilson and expose [tag]Plame[/tag]’s identity because [tag]Armitage[/tag] wasn’t […]
For the third time in less than a year, the [tag]Bush[/tag] [tag]White House[/tag] has initiated a “major public-relations offensive” to bolster support for the [tag]war[/tag] in [tag]Iraq[/tag]. Round Three began yesterday with an address to the [tag]American Legion[/tag]’s national convention. If you listened with an ear for new ideas, you were left wanting. There was, […]