Al Gore went on the offensive yesterday; the White House responded today. End of story? Not exactly — Gore issued a statement today, offering some fact-checking to the Bush gang’s response. (via News Unfiltered) “The Administration’s response to my speech illustrates perfectly the need for a special counsel to review the legality of the NSA […]
Responding to the limited media interest in Al Gore’s remarks yesterday, Atrios raised a point yesterday that got me thinking. I’m not going to claim that CNN was obligated to carry a speech by a former vice president currently not directly involved in politics. But I do think responsible news organizations should ask themselves if […]
The vaunted White House political machine had a full day to craft a compelling, persuasive response to Al Gore’s sweeping condemnation of the president’s warrantless-search program (among other things). They had time to work with language, do plenty of research, and come up with the best spin possible. And yet, they’ve got nothing. The White […]
Just two weeks ago, we learned that best-selling compiler and conservative radio talk-show host Bill Bennett was poised to make the transition from Fox News to CNN, despite his recent controversies and his controversial government contracts with the Bush administration. Now, it’s another conservative radio talk-show host headed for CNN. CNN Headline News is continuing […]
The Bush administration has argued for years that it could block an Oregon law permitting physician-assisted suicide. Today, the Supreme Court disagreed. The Supreme Court upheld Oregon’s one-of-a-kind physician-assisted suicide law Tuesday, rejecting a Bush administration attempt to punish doctors who help terminally ill patients die. Justices, on a 6-3 vote, said that a federal […]
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 just a few minutes, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) will formally announce whether he will seek re-election this year or retire from the Senate. Though Lott has been coy for weeks, he […]
It was only a matter of time before Bush’s warrantless-search program faced a serious court challenge. It looks like two court filings will get the ball rolling today. Two leading civil rights groups plan to file lawsuits Tuesday against the Bush administration over its domestic spying program to determine whether the operation was used to […]
Some political observers may have missed it over the weekend, but far-right critics of Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) redeployment plan for troops in Iraq have decided not to attack his approach, but rather, attack his military service. In an eerie replay of the Swiftboat hacks, a conservative “news” site called Cybercast News Service ran an […]
I don’t know if Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was scheduled to hit the prime-time talk shows last night before Al Gore’s speech, but the former Vice President seems to have pushed the administration into a defensive posture with his sweeping condemnation of Bush’s disregard for the rule of law. Gonzales apparently hasn’t thought of any […]
The New York Times seems to have the story of the day on this morning’s front page, reporting that the National Security Agency collected a “flood” of tips after the agency boosted domestic surveillance after 9/11, overwhelming the FBI with leads that amounted to practically nothing. In the anxious months after the Sept. 11 attacks, […]