News reports this morning confirm that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed last night in Iraq. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the mastermind behind hundreds of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings whose leadership of the insurgent group al- Qaeda in Iraq made him the most wanted man in the country, was killed Wednesday evening by an air strike near […]
The three big rally-the-base votes in the Senate — [tag]ban[/tag] on [tag]gay marriage[/tag], ban on [tag]flag[/tag] “[tag]desecration[/tag],” and permanent repeal of the [tag]estate tax[/tag] — are all expected to lose, but more importantly, they’re expected to put [tag]Democrats[/tag] on the defensive while uniting [tag]Republicans[/tag] and their base. But a funny thing happened on the way […]
The WaPo had an interesting item on Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) today, talking about the senator’s faith and conversion to Catholicism. There was one anecdote, however, that caught my eye. This notion of falling short is a big part of Brownback’s identity. He’s even humble about his own humility, saying there are others who surpass […]
State lawmakers in [tag]Louisiana[/tag] passed a pretty sweeping [tag]ban[/tag] on [tag]abortion[/tag] this week, dependent on the [tag]Supreme Court[/tag] overturning [tag]Roe v. Wade[/tag]. A leading sponsor of the bill, state Senator Ben Nevers (D), said, “I had a strong belief that we could finally protect the innocent life of an unborn child. This is about the […]
So, the [tag]FMA[/tag] failed again today, managing to do slightly worse than about the same as in 2004. How did supporters manage to regress after gaining allies in [tag]Congress[/tag]? I suspect exchanges like this one from a press conference on the Hill help explain part of the problem. [Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.)] held a news […]
The Bush administration’s policy on Iran was, for the most part, unambiguous. The president believed the United States should not take part in negotiations with the Iranians and Europeans, should not offer Iran nuclear fuel to be used in a peaceful [tag]nuclear[/tag] [tag]energy[/tag] program, and should not offer [tag]Iran[/tag] any incentives that might “[tag]reward[/tag] [tag]bad […]
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: * Just a few months after begging her to take on [tag]Hillary Clinton[/tag] in New York’s Senate race, Kathleen “KT” [tag]McFarland[/tag] is now under pressure to drop out. The New York Daily News […]
If you haven’t seen Sen. [tag]James Inhofe[/tag]’s (R-Okla.) remarks yesterday on the Senate floor about the [tag]Federal Marriage Amendment[/tag], it was quite a performance. Yes, the amendment is dead, and yes, the floor debate was largely sad political theater, but Inhofe’s tirade is worth considering anyway. Think Progress has a short video clip of one […]
The outcome was never in doubt, but now it’s official. The [tag]Senate[/tag] on Wednesday rejected a constitutional [tag]amendment[/tag] to ban [tag]gay marriage[/tag], but supporters said new votes for the measure represent progress that gives conservative Republicans reason to vote on Election Day. The 49-48 vote fell 11 short of the 60 required to send the […]
In May, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman [tag]Arlen Specter[/tag] (R-Pa.) talked tough in response to revelations about Bush’s legally dubious [tag]surveillance[/tag] efforts. At one point, Specter even complained publicly, “[T]here really has to be in our system of law and government, checks and balance, separation of powers, congressional oversight and…there has been no meaningful congressional oversight […]