The news items about the prosecutor purge scandal have been flying fast and furious today, so perhaps it’s worthwhile to pause and consider what we’ve learned since the morning. * The New York Times reported that the White House “was deeply involved in the decision late last year to dismiss federal prosecutors, including some who […]
If there’s a way [tag]Alberto Gonzales[/tag] survives this scandal, I don’t see it. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday that “[tag]mistakes were made[/tag]” regarding the firing of eight U.S. attorneys and he accepts responsibility for the ordeal. “My pledge to the American people is to find out what went wrong here,” he said. “As we […]
Time’s Jay Carney has a message for the blogs who’ve been covering the prosecutor purge scandal from the beginning: We were right, he was wrong. Twelve days ago, after David Iglesias went public, I said that if there turned out to be a broad conspiracy behind the firing of the U.S. Attorneys, “I will take […]
I suspect it must be difficult to be a Republican press flack right now, given the political environment and multiple political scandals in the air, but this spin was unintentionally hilarious. The situation is surprisingly straightforward. Rep. Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is likely to ask White House […]
As the prosecutor purge scandal continues to become more serious and more damaging for the Bush gang, the right has struggled to come up with a coherent defense. They seem to have embraced one, but it’s surprisingly weak. Karl Rove got the ball rolling last week. “Look, by law and by Constitution [sic], these attorneys […]
The WaPo noted this morning that “administration officials say they are braced for a new round of criticism today from lawmakers who may feel misled by recent testimony” from Justice Department officials. Since those officials appear to have been lying blatantly, it appears that lawmakers have reason to “feel misled.” As it happens, this has […]
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: * A huge new poll from the New York Times is chock full of interesting data, including widespread ennui among Republicans. 40% of GOP voters expect a Dem presidential candidate to win next […]
Last night, during a report on Scooter Libby’s predicament, Andrea Mitchell told MSNBC’s audience that White House officials are “going to try to really tamp this down and appeal to the polling which indicates that most people think, in fact, that he should be pardoned. Scooter Libby should be pardoned.” I’m not quite sure where […]
After seeing a variety of media reports on Dick Cheney’s speech to AIPAC yesterday, I made the mistake of actually reading through the whole transcript. The Vice President was in rare form, even rolling out a new speech built around what Cheney described as four “myths.” 1. “Iraq has nothing to do with the global […]
I continue to wait patiently for a rational explanation as to why the government denies gays the right to serve in the military. To his enormous credit, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, put aside the nonsense and identified the actual reason for the unjustified discrimination. “I do not believe the […]