Slate’s William Saletan believes that Dems, after 12 years in the wilderness, bring a diverse caucus with competing ideas to the table, and could use “an idea” that can hold the party together. Oddly enough, Saletan recommends abortion — specifically, reducing the number of abortions — as the Dems’ signature social issue. If ever there […]
This came up a couple of weeks ago, but the news was initially reported on the Saturday before the election, so it was largely lost in the shuffle. The WaPo had an editorial on the subject today, which is as good a reason as any to revisit the issue. Buried within a recent government brief […]
As recently as January, public opinion research showed that most Iraqis wanted U.S. troops to remain in the country until security conditions improved. Now, they just want us out. Eight out of ten Shias in Baghdad (80%) say they want foreign forces to leave within a year (72% of Shias in the rest of the […]
I’ve always kind of assumed that former House Speaker [tag]Newt Gingrich[/tag] was dipping his toes in the presidential waters as an ego-driven vanity exercise. He didn’t seem to believe he could win a national campaign, but he enjoyed a) hearing the sound of his own voice; b) ample attention; c) selling books; and d) a […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * That ridiculous O.J. Simpson project we’ve all been hearing about? It’s been scrapped. As the AP reported, News Corp. says it has canceled publication of the book and television special “If I Did It.” Rupert Murdoch reportedly decided that the project was “ill-considered.” * The Bush gang intervened to […]
Rick Warren is one of those evangelical leaders with more power and influence than they know what to do with. He wrote “The Purpose Driven Life,” which, at last count, had sold 18 gazillion copies. Warren has also created a widely-used congregation-building plan, heads up a 20,000-member megachurch, and unlike some of his brethren, he […]
I think what offends me most about the Fox News Channel is the way in which it makes a mockery of news broadcasts. It’s as biased as the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, and it has all the buffoonery of several far-right blogs, but neither claim any moral high ground. Fox News actually claims to […]
Seymour Hersh has a rather astonishing piece in the latest edition of the New Yorker, concluding that, White House bluster notwithstanding, a draft intelligence assessment by the CIA has found “no conclusive evidence, as yet, of a secret Iranian nuclear-weapons program.” (thanks to SKNM for the heads-up) Naturally, the Bush gang isn’t terribly impressed — […]
There’s a certain temptation to forget about an election cycle once it’s over, and begin to focus attention on the immediate future. That’s particularly true when your side wins — whatever the other side was up to doesn’t matter as much, because they lost. But looking back at some of the GOP’s tactics in the […]
About 13 years ago, Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) not only supported the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, he also helped write it. He’s since come around. In 2005, Meehan championed the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, which would repeal the policy based on the belief that the ban undermines national security at a time when […]