Mastering the art of ‘mixing politics and policy’

The LA Times’ [tag]Peter Wallsten[/tag] and [tag]Tom Hamburger[/tag], who have a new book coming out, mentioned the kind of anecdote yesterday that speaks volumes about how the [tag]Bush[/tag] gang approached public [tag]policy[/tag]. Or, in every possible instance, doesn’t. Perhaps more than any other administration, the White House of George W. Bush has mastered the art […]

Constitutional convention talk refuses to go away

I mentioned a few weeks ago that some of the less-sane members of the GOP base are openly considering a [tag]constitutional convention[/tag] because of the Senate’s failure to pass an [tag]amendment[/tag] banning [tag]gay marriage[/tag]. Unfortunately, talk of such a ridiculous idea seems to be increasing, not decreasing. Two weeks ago, the far-right Family Research Council […]

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: * Missouri’s back-and-forth Senate race has swung back in the Dems’ direction. According to the latest St. Louis Post-Dispatch/KMOV poll, state Auditor [tag]Claire McCaskill[/tag] (D) is ahead of incumbent Sen. [tag]Jim Talent[/tag] (R) […]

Santorum, Hoekstra back for more

Last week, Sen. Rick [tag]Santorum[/tag] (R-Pa.) and Rep. Peter [tag]Hoekstra[/tag] (R-Mich.) caused quite a stir when they held a press conference to announce, “We have found [tag]weapons of mass destruction[/tag] in [tag]Iraq[/tag].” The were a few flaws in the claim. OK, more than a few. As Michael J.W. Stickings explained in a guest post last […]

About those sweeping lobbying-reform proposals…

In January, at the height of the [tag]Abramoff[/tag] [tag]scandal[/tag], House [tag]Republicans[/tag] stepped up to show they were serious about curtailing the influence of lobbyists on Capitol Hill. Sure, there were some pretty serious loopholes, and it was likely that the House GOP plan was worse than the status quo, but those pesky details aside, the […]

Drumheller’s warnings were ignored — redux

In a way, veteran CIA officer [tag]Tyler Drumheller[/tag]’s revelations about pre-[tag]war[/tag] [tag]intelligence[/tag] aren’t news anymore, but at the same time, they never really generated the attention they deserved when the first came to the public’s attention. In a very real way, [tag]Drumheller[/tag] should be a household name — it’s his perspective that utterly and completely […]

Norquist, Rove cooperate on selling White House access

It’s probably a little too late to go back and review all the interesting tidbits from last week’s Jack [tag]Abramoff[/tag] report from John McCain’s Senate Indian Affairs Committee — suffice it to say, there was plenty of bad news for Bob Ney and Ralph Reed — but there’s one revelation about [tag]Grover Norquist[/tag] and [tag]Karl […]

Has Gen. Casey joined the cut-and-run caucus?

For weeks, all we’ve heard from the GOP is that anyone who has the gall to consider troop withdrawals from Iraq right now is “waving the white flag” against [tag]terrorists[/tag]. They’re cowards, [tag]Republicans[/tag] say, who are tacitly siding with al Queda with a “[tag]defeat and retreat[/tag]” and “[tag]cut and run[/tag]” attitude. There’s no word yet […]

Housekeeping

After a relatively quick break, I’m back. Many, many thanks to Michael J.W. Stickings and Tom Schaller for their terrific work and guest posts in my absence. You can (and should) read Michael every day over at his fine blog, The Reaction. Tom still occasionally posts words of wisdom at The Gadflyer, but even more […]