For two weeks, revelations about U.S. war veterans, recuperating at [tag]Walter Reed[/tag] Army Medical Center, living in deplorable conditions and being ignored by a callous bureaucracy, have shocked Americans, cost some Pentagon officials their jobs, and generated a significant scandal. But we continue to learn more and more all the time. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) […]
Following on the previous post for a moment, there are a variety of unanswered questions about the prosecutor purge, many of which deal directly with the Justice Department. Certainly, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who has said many times that he’s anxious to “cooperate” with Congress, would want to answer any questions lawmakers may have about […]
Last week, when fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias responded to claims that he was dismissed due to on-the-job “performance” issues, the prosecutor explained that Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) was one of two lawmakers who pressured him about a New Mexico corruption case. Domenici was reportedly “persistent.” When Iglesias said an indictment wouldn’t be handed down […]
It’s one of those political truths that “everybody knows” — the party that wins the elusive middle wins the election. It’s all about the “center,” where most Americans are and where campaigns are decided. This seemed particularly true in 2006, when, the conventional wisdom tells us, the middle expressed its disgust with the status quo […]
At this point, no one really listens to either side’s weekly national radio address. It’s more or less symbolic — a way for the White House and the Dems to highlight an “issue of the week,” and perhaps in the Dems’ case, offer some publicity to a deserving Democrat. With this in mind, I don’t […]
In the 109th Congress, Republicans on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue had some fairly controversial policy ideas, which congressional Dems opposed vigorously. GOP and media critics started calling Dems the “party of no.” U.S. News’ Gloria Borger wrote, “Social Security reform? No. Clear some judges? No way, Jose. Find some agreement on national security? Nyet…. […]
[tag]Rudy Giuliani[/tag] is such an odd presidential candidate, it’s a challenge to understand the message of his campaign. Apparently, his pitch is this: he’s qualified to fight a successful “war on terror.” Does he have any foreign policy expertise? No. Does he have any foreign policy experience? No. Does he have any national security expertise? […]
For the past several weeks, the Bush administration offered a simple explanation for an unprecedented purge of U.S. Attorneys nationwide: the prosecutors’ on-the-job performance just wasn’t good enough, so the Justice Department fired them. All along it seemed obvious that the White House’s political agenda played a role, but the Bush gang denied any White […]
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) is a constant source of bizarre and inexplicable comments, but this may be his greatest hit yet. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) got the crowd cheering early in the day. “I have been called — my kids are all aware of this — dumb, crazy man, science abuser, Holocaust denier, villain of […]
First up from the God Machine this week is an internal squabble among leading evangelical Christians, many of whom are upset about global warming — for very different reasons. Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson and other conservative Christian leaders are calling for the National Association of Evangelicals to silence or fire an […]