OK, one more post on the attempted smear of Barack Obama and the bogus claim that the senator was educated, at age six, in a terrorist-sympathizing madrassa. The story has been debunked, repeatedly, by news outlets large and small, and I’d assumed that there wasn’t much left to say. But the New York Times’ David […]
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: * Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is kicking off his presidential campaign today with the creation of an exploratory committee. “I think this is an opportunity to show the American dream is […]
Over the weekend, Maureen Dowd unloaded on Dick Cheney. “Delusional doesn’t begin to capture the profound, transcendental one-flew-over daftness of the man,” Dowd said. “Has anyone in the history of the United States ever been so singularly wrong and misguided about such phenomenally important events and continued to insist he’s right in the face of […]
Conservative activist/writer Dinesh D’Souza has, for some reason, apparently been criticized for blaming the left for the terrorists’ hatred of the United States in general, and 9/11 in specific. Apparently, it’s all about the culture. As D’Souza explains it, Osama bin Laden and other dangerous Islamic radicals believe the U.S. is too secular, too permissive, […]
If it weren’t a 51-49 Senate, Democrats would have to take away Joe Lieberman’s committee chairmanship, block him from attending caucus meetings, and tell him he can forget ever putting a “D” after his name again. It is, however, a 51-49 Senate, so there are no consequences for Lieberman saying things like this. Connecticut Sen. […]
The conservative case in support of the president’s escalation policy in Iraq appears to be premised on five central myths. The first is the notion that opposition to escalation “undermines” the troops. This, on its face, is absurd — Bush is overstretching the military and sending thousands more soldiers into the middle of a civil […]
The NYT’s Thomas Friedman wrote the other day that the State of the Union was almost unnecessary. “[T]he American people basically fired George Bush in the last election,” Friedman said. “We’re now just watching him clean out his desk.” The latest Newsweek poll, released yesterday, suggests Friedman’s analysis is about right. President George W. Bush […]
The presidential fields, on both sides of the aisle, are slowly taking shape. Exploratory committees are in place; fundraising is underway; the race for staffers is fairly intense; and we’re already seeing early polls in Iowa and New Hampshire. Voters, activists, reporters, and establishment types are starting to decide what, exactly, is the most important […]
Rudy Giuliani has been reluctant to talk too much about the war in Iraq, in large part because he apparently realizes how incredibly unpopular it is, and the extent to which the crisis has brought nothing but ruin to Bush’s presidency. But now that Giuliani is getting closer to launching his presidential campaign in earnest, […]
Take a look at this map, and notice how the climate zones have changed over the last 17 years. For those concerned with gardening, landscaping, and agriculture, it’s pretty obvious that areas that were once too cold for certain kinds of plants are suddenly warm enough to find themselves in an entirely new zone. Warmer […]