Apparently, we’re ‘under attack’ from ‘invaders’ who want to ‘colonize’ the U.S.

The conservative [tag]Washington Times[/tag] ran a short item today, noting a recent floor speech from Rep. [tag]Ted Poe[/tag], a [tag]Texas[/tag] [tag]Republican[/tag], on the issue of [tag]immigration[/tag]. It’s a doozy. “Mr. Speaker, the United States is [tag]under attack[/tag],” Mr. Poe declared in recent days. “And like December 7, 1941, we are asleep on a Sunday morning. […]

The NYT rediscovers its fascination with the Clintons’ love life

I’m having a hard time understanding why the [tag]New York Times[/tag] ran a 2,000-word article on its front page today on the frequency with which [tag]Bill[/tag] and [tag]Hillary[/tag] [tag]Clinton[/tag] spend evenings and weekends together. The piece seems to have pulled off a rare feat: it is equal parts [tag]salacious[/tag] and [tag]pointless[/tag]. Bill and Hillary Clinton […]

Let’s not quibble about who caused which environmental catastrophe…

[tag]Bush[/tag] was in [tag]Chicago[/tag] today for a speech to the National Restaurant Association. As part of the [tag]president[/tag]’s new-found interest in Q&A, Bush took questions from the rather-friendly audience for about 45 minutes. There was plenty of boilerplate rhetoric, but one exchange stood out. Someone from Arlington, Texas, asked Bush, “Will you see [tag]Al Gore[/tag]’s […]

A man and his legacy

Just the other day I was chatting with a Carpetbagger regular via email about [tag]Bush[/tag] and his concern for his “[tag]legacy[/tag].” It’s a word that the media liked to associate with [tag]Clinton[/tag] — who reportedly spent much of his second term concerned about how [tag]history[/tag] would remember him — but my friend and I agreed […]

‘At the very least, conservatives must stop funding the Republican National Committee’

If you missed it, [tag]Richard Viguerie[/tag]’s op-ed over the weekend was as thorough a take-down as I’ve seen to explain why the conservative base is fed up with their Republican Party. If nothing else, it offers a fairly comprehensive list of grievances — No Child Left Behind Act, Medicare Plan D, huge spending increases, McCain-Feingold, […]

An almost Bush-like tolerance for dissent

As you probably heard, Sen. [tag]John McCain[/tag] delivered the commencement address at [tag]New School[/tag]’s graduation ceremony in NYC over the weekend. He was not well received. And while the audience made its displeasure with McCain clear, the key moment during the event was when undergraduate keynote speaker [tag]Jean Sara Rohe[/tag], who decide to forgo her […]

Clarence Thomas thinks Bush is in ‘real trouble’

Apparently, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas keeps up with political news. Just how bad are things for President Bush? Pretty bad, I’d say, if even [tag]Clarence Thomas[/tag] is worried about him. The other night at a Washington book party for the President’s [tag]sister[/tag], [tag]Doro[/tag] [tag]Bush[/tag] [tag]Koch[/tag], the Supreme Court justice arrived with his wife, Ginny, […]

Monday’s political round-up

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: * Over the weekend, New Orleans voters narrowly re-elected Mayor [tag]Ray Nagin[/tag] (D) over Lt. Gov. [tag]Mitch Landrieu[/tag] (D), 52% to 48%. The victory gives Nagin another four years to oversee one of […]

‘Tens of thousands of Americans had had their calls monitored in one way or the other’

Since USA Today broke word about a massive [tag]NSA[/tag] [tag]database[/tag] that catalogs most of the nation’s [tag]domestic[/tag] [tag]phone calls[/tag], one of the principal defenses for the program is that officials aren’t [tag]listen[/tag]ing to Americans’ conversations, just tracking who calls whom. The administration could [tag]eavesdrop[/tag], the [tag]Bush[/tag] gang argues, but it’s decided that it won’t. Today, […]

It’s not just the war — redux

In light of Sen. [tag]Joe Lieberman[/tag]’s poor showing at the hands of his fellow Connecticut Dems Friday night, the NYT’s [tag]Paul Krugman[/tag] raised a point today that’s bothered me for a while: the discontent over [tag]Lieberman[/tag] extends well beyond the [tag]war[/tag] in [tag]Iraq[/tag]. What happened to Mr. Lieberman? Some news reports may lead you to […]