This item, from today’s Washington Times, has to be wrong. Half of Americans now say [tag]Iraq[/tag] had [tag]weapons of mass destruction[/tag] when the United States invaded the country in 2003 — up from 36 percent last year, a [tag]Harris[/tag] [tag]poll[/tag] finds. Pollsters deemed the increase both “substantial” and “surprising” in light of persistent press reports […]
Yesterday, the WaPo reported that [tag]Pakistan[/tag] has plans to build a large plutonium-production [tag]reactor[/tag], which reportedly will be capable of producing enough plutonium for as many as 50 bombs each year. A few hours later, the [tag]White House[/tag] said, “Yeah, we knew that.” The acknowledgment came as arms-control experts and some in Congress expressed alarm […]
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman [tag]James Inhofe[/tag] (R-Okla.) has been on quite a roll lately. Just in the past few weeks, he’s been caught using taxpayer money to try and smear [tag]Al Gore[/tag], followed by an on-air tirade in which Inhofe said Gore was “full of crap” and global warming “is a hoax.” […]
In recent months, as [tag]Ann Coulter[/tag] has put more effort into being less sane, a few newspapers that carry her nationally-syndicated column have begun questioning the wisdom of giving Coulter an outlet. Earlier this month, The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had seen enough and dropped her column. The paper in Shreveport, La., is apparently […]
Last week, [tag]White House[/tag] Press Secretary [tag]Tony Snow[/tag] raised the rhetorical stakes in the debate over [tag]stem-cell[/tag] r[tag]esearch[/tag] by arguing that the policy is “[tag]murder[/tag].” More specifically, asked to explain the president’s position on the issue, Snow said, “The simple answer is he thinks murder’s wrong.” Snow’s choice of words put White House Chief of […]
During the 2004 presidential campaign, the Bush-Cheney campaign enforced a rigorous “bubble,” which limited audiences to pre-screened sycophants, some of whom were asked to sign loyalty oaths. During Bush’s campaign to privatize Social Security, a strictly-enforced bubble was used again, ensuring that the president would only take “questions” from those who were already convinced Bush […]
The Republican National Committee sent an email to its members today, “written” by the president himself. It has a lot of the usual palaver — I counted four times the email used “Democrat” when it should have used “Democratic” — but I was a little surprised by what the email didn’t say. Republicans understand that […]
There’s a new book coming out called “Applebee’s America,” which purports to offer some helpful insights into the political landscape. But if the quiz the authors are using is any indication, I’m a little concerned about the book’s reliability. In this era of technology, terror, and massive social change, it takes a deft touch to […]
In [tag]Afghanistan[/tag], freedom is also on the march — including the freedom to be harassed by a government agency that the Taliban used a little too effectively. Under the [tag]Taliban[/tag], officials from the [tag]Department for the Prevention of Vice[/tag] and [tag]Promotion of Virtue[/tag] struck fear into women’s hearts, beating those who let a glimpse of […]
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: * A poll released over the weekend from the Columbus Dispatch shows Dems surging to big leads in both of Ohio’s key statewide elections. In the gubernatorial race, the Dispatch poll shows Rep. […]