Bush goes off-message

Bush was in Florida yesterday to hammer home the GOP’s message and attack Democrats. With torture, tribunals, warrantless searches, the war in Iraq, and discussions of terrorism dominating the discourse, it stood to reason that the president would go after the opposition party on … taxes. President [tag]Bush[/tag] began a blistering new political offensive on […]

O’Reilly targeted by al Qaeda?

One of my all-time favorite Stephen Colbert quips came a couple of weeks ago when he delivered a stinging rebuke to Geraldo Rivera and Bill O’Reilly, after the two criticized the Comedy Central hosts. Colbert told Jon Stewart: “What are you implying, John? That Geraldo and O’Reilly are narcissists that enthralled by their overblown egos? […]

The National Black Republican Association’s telling new ad

I realize the GOP is anxious to try to win Maryland’s competitive open Senate race, but this is truly ridiculous. (thanks to PWalker for the tip) Black Republican groups emerged from the political margins yesterday, launching a campaign to persuade African American voters to support Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele’s bid for the U.S. […]

McCain, Warner, and Graham cut and ran

I feel like I need to go to a chalkboard and write, 100 times, “I will not count on congressional Republicans to do the right thing.” For all the talk about the GOP “mavericks” who showed great courage and conviction standing up to a White House bent on torture, in the end, it didn’t amount […]

‘Karl Rove’s juggernaut’

Tom Edsall, one of my favorite, old-school political reporters in the country, has a great item in The New Republic about what he describes as “Karl Rove’s juggernaut.” Thanks to a link on Ezra’s site, the TNR piece is actually available to non-subscribers. There’s a lot to consider in the piece, but like Ezra, I […]

Bush, McCain reach agreement on detainee provisions

Details are still non-existent, but it seems there’s been a break in the stalemate. President Bush and Republican negotiators led by Sen. John McCain have reached an agreement on legislation covering tribunals for enemy combatant suspects, NBC News reported Thursday. Details on the deal were not immediately available, but Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said it […]

Name one thing that Congress has done in the past year that stands out

OK, one more post about the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. There’s plenty of data on Congress’ stunning unpopularity — the institution’s approval rating is down to just 25% — but I was even more impressed with some of the more obscure details. Two-thirds said Congress had accomplished less than it typically did in […]

‘Even if this were true…’

I don’t like to pick on PowerLine, a leading far-right blog, but as Jason Zengerle noted, this line from a post today is too amusing to ignore. “We stand accused of being over-the-top partisans who worship President Bush as a visionary. Even if this were true…” Please. In July, PowerLine ran an item that called […]

Slight ‘improvement’ on the Saddam-9/11 question

There’s a great deal to chew on in the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, and thanks to the fact that the NYT published some of its internals online (.pdf), it’s easy to start digging through the numbers and finding tidbits the Times’ article left out. In terms of the major, election-related questions, the results […]

‘I have flat-out been ticked at Republicans for the past two years’

[tag]Focus on the Family[/tag]’s James Dobson was in Pittsburgh yesterday for a “Stand for the Family Rally” to help rally support for Republicans, most notably, Sen. Rick Santorum (R). Dobson’s message to the religious-right activists in attendance, however, wasn’t exactly inspirational. (thanks to Rege for the tip) Standing before an enormous American flag in Mellon […]