We’ve been hearing conservative bluster for months about the alleged need for a military confrontation in Iran. As it turns out, we may be dealing with more than just bluster. Air Force Col. Sam [tag]Gardiner[/tag] (Ret.), for example, appeared on CNN last night and suggested, “We are conducting military operations inside [tag]Iran[/tag] right now. The […]
The issue isn’t officially on the congressional calendar this week, but torture is likely to dominate the debate in DC this week, with White House lobbying, negotiations, and media attention focused on debate. Paul Krugman takes a step back, however, and asks a big-picture question that doesn’t get enough attention: “Why is Mr. Bush so […]
I would have been more than happy to let ABC’s absurd docudrama, “The Path to 9/11,” fade away into obscurity, but we can’t let it go just yet. Cyrus Nowrasteh, the conservative writer who did the screenplay for the movie, wrote a full-throated defense for the debacle for today’s Wall Street Journal. It wasn’t particularly […]
I imagine that having a lot of people — senators, state officials, grassroots activists — urge you to run for president starts to have an effect on your perspective. On the Democratic side of the aisle, there are plenty of credible people who feel they are up to the job but have to work to […]
The AP’s Liz Sidoti had an interesting item today about how many working-class Americans hear the Republicans’ talk about a vibrant economy, but for them and their families, the rhetoric rings hollow. It’s a pretty straightforward idea, which we’ve all seen repeatedly of late, about people who are constantly struggling to get by. But there […]
A week ago, the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks clearly dominated the public’s attention. Today, however, is another important five-year anniversary related to the war on terror, which probably won’t generate much in the way of news items, but shouldn’t go overlooked. As Shayana Kadidal and Ari Melber explained in a terrific Baltimore Sun […]
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: * Minnesota’s closely-watched Senate race appears to be increasingly out of reach for Republicans. A new Minnesota Poll shows [tag]Amy Klobuchar[/tag] (D) leading Rep. [tag]Mark Kennedy[/tag] (R), 56% to 32%. Independence Party candidate […]
Shortly before the 2004 presidential election, the Rev. George F. Regas, the former rector of [tag]All Saints[/tag] [tag]Episcopal[/tag] Church in Pasadena, told his congregation about his perspective on the president and the war in Iraq. Regas imagined Jesus participating in a political debate with [tag]Bush[/tag] and [tag]Kerry[/tag] and said that “good people of profound faith” […]
[tag]John Danforth[/tag], a former three-term U.S. senator, Bush’s former ambassador to the United Nations, and an Episcopal minister, has been rocking the GOP’s boat to a surprising degree the last couple of years. In March 2005, Danforth wrote a blistering New York Times op-ed, criticizing what he saw as the transformation of the [tag]GOP[/tag] “into […]
Anyone who has followed the administration’s assault on the rule of law is familiar with the work of John Yoo, the former Justice Department lawyer and current Berkley law professor. Yesterday, Yoo did all of us a small favor: he put his entire twisted approach to the law in a single New York Times op-ed, […]