I noted last week that the conservative side of the blogosphere has fallen on hard times of late. First there was Cliff May’s email from a Marine about Iraq and the media, which conservatives jumped all over, which turned out to be wrong. Then there was a picture of John Kerry in Iraq that was […]
Cintra Wilson recently wrote a piece on GOP presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, whom she described as a “narcissist” and “hubristic bully.” As if to prove the point, it appears the former New York mayor has gone so far as to trademark himself. Rudy Giuliani never shrank from defending his image as mayor, but as a […]
Everyone’s heard the now-famous exchange between Gen. John Abizaid and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) from November, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing about sending more troops. What’s sometimes overlooked, however, was the second part of Abizaid’s comments. The general told McCain, “I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, the core commander, General Dempsey, […]
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: * Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) will officially enter the presidential race in about two weeks. “He will be fully announcing on January 20 in Topeka, Kansas,” Brian Hart, the senator’s spokesman, said Friday. […]
Nearly four months ago, the New York Times reported that the Bush administration had embraced a new strategy for Iraq that included specific milestones, or “benchmarks.” What would happen if Iraqis failed to meet the benchmarks? Administration officials hadn’t figured that out yet. They still haven’t. President Bush’s new Iraq policy will establish a series […]
Religious right groups and their members have been in a funk for a couple of years now. After the 2004 election, the Dobson wing of the GOP thought it finally would get everything it wanted from Washington, which would be dominated by its like-minded allies. Two years later, the movement’s to-do list had very few […]
During a Face the Nation interview yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested she has not ruled out repealing some of the White House’s tax cuts, particularly for the very wealthy. “It may be that [repealing] tax cuts for those making over a certain amount of money, $500,000 a year, might be more important to the […]
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of only a handful of congressional cheerleaders for a troop escalation in Iraq, repeated most of the predictable talking points during his appearance on Meet the Press yesterday, but Tim Russert, to his credit, asked the question I was anxious to hear: “If the surge doesn’t work, will Republicans senators […]
Just to follow up on the earlier post, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), following up Friday’s strongly-worded letter, suggested on Face the Nation that she’s more than open to refusing funding for Bush’s troop escalation — if the president fails to offer a compelling justification for his plan. Pelosi stated clearly that Congress will fully […]
In all likelihood, if every leak of the last several weeks is to be believed, the president is going to unveil his “new way forward” in Iraq in a couple of days. Democrats, in Congress and out, aren’t going to like it — the strategy will probably include an escalation of thousands of troops, it […]