Considering that the [tag]Chicago Tribune[/tag] editorial page is pretty reliably conservative — it endorsed Bush twice — its exasperated editorial today was particularly welcome. The conservative Chicago Tribune editorial board apparently is fed up with Bush administration’s explanations of its involvement in the ever-expanding CIA leak case. In an editorial on Tuesday it declared that […]
Apparently, all the complaining from the White House and its allies about the “negative tone” of the media’s Iraq coverage has led ABC’s Good Morning America to seek some input from viewers. On March 22, the show went beyond reporting on the war coverage to ask viewers to suggest in e-mails the stories they would […]
[tag]Gallup[/tag] released a poll this morning on the public’s reaction to the latest [tag]leak[/tag] [tag]scandal[/tag]. The bad news for the [tag]White House[/tag] is that Americans strongly suspect Bush did something wrong. The good news for the White House is that the story has not yet captured their attention. Overall, 63% of Americans believe [tag]Bush[/tag] did […]
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: * Complicating [tag]Tom Kean Jr[/tag].’s (R) Senate campaign in New Jersey, conservative [tag]John Ginty[/tag] filed petitions with the state to take on Kean in a Republican primary. As the NYT reported, Ginty argues […]
When National Review’s William F. Buckley labeled the war in Iraq a failure, I was a little surprised. When Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly said the administration had made a “big mistake” with “the crazy-people underestimation,” and should “hand over everything to the Iraqis as fast as humanly possible,” this was even more unexpected. When Francis […]
Do you know what Bush really doesn’t need right now? Another criminal scandal that reaches the White House. I guess, therefore, that this story is really unwelcome news. Key figures in a phone-jamming scheme designed to keep New Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002 had regular contact with the White House and Republican Party as […]
One important angle to the debate over [tag]immigration[/tag] policy that hasn’t gotten much attention lately is that the president has decided that he simply doesn’t want to lead on the issue — and Republicans clearly aren’t happy about it. The House, Senate, immigration groups, civil right organization, and unions have been working on competing measures, […]
There were several interesting exchanges between the president and student at Johns Hopkins yesterday — on a question regarding global sex trafficking, [tag]Bush[/tag] told a student, “You know more about this subject than I” — but when it came to [tag]private military contractors[/tag] in Iraq, and the law that governs their conduct, the president seemed […]
The president finally addressed the controversy surrounding his decision to authorize the [tag]leak[/tag] of [tag]classified[/tag] information in the summer of 2003. Unfortunately, Bush’s explanation ranged from odd to incoherent. Responding to a student’s question about the [tag]Fitzgerald[/tag] investigation, [tag]Bush[/tag] suddenly became tongue-tied. The president explained, “Yes. No, I — this is — there’s an ongoing […]
It’s not unusual for Republicans to maintain a certain swagger, even when a fairly serious controversy arises. We’re talking about a group of people who take the strategy of “never let ’em see you sweat” very seriously. And yet, there’s something about the leak scandal that has them rattled. The predictable swagger is gone. Bloomberg […]