Increasingly anxious to appear competent and in control, the Bush gang is reportedly looking for a “war czar” who would oversee the United States’ role in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are, of course, a few problems with this, not the least of which is the fact that no one actually wants the job. The White […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Bush told Dem leaders today that he will not negotiate with them on Iraq. Reid and Pelosi responded shortly thereafter: “The President is demanding that we renew his blank check for a war without end. Despite the fact that the President persists in trying to score political points at […]
For all of the president’s problems with grammar, language, pronunciation, and extemporaneous speaking, he’s occasionally decent on the stump. No one will ever label Bush the Great Communicator, but if you hand him something to read, and put it on a teleprompter, he can usually impress a sympathetic crowd and get by without embarrassing himself. […]
From yesterday’s Morning Edition on NPR: This is the morning that kids were invited to the White House for the Easter egg roll. The roll for Laura Bush includes reading a children’s book. It’s called, “Duck for President.” The first lady will read the story of a duck who takes over the farm, then runs […]
The Washington Post’s Richard Cohen devoted his column today to defending Monica Goodling’s decision to plead the Fifth and refuse to talk to lawmakers about her role in the prosecutor purge scandal. His reasoning is so odd, I initially thought he might have been kidding. No such luck. The standard question about Goodling is: What […]
Yesterday, congressional Democrats started pressuring the Justice Department about a series of key documents pertaining to the prosecutor purge scandal, which the DoJ hasn’t turned over. Specifically, lawmakers want internal rankings that the Justice Department made of all 93 U.S. attorneys, employment charts that Monica Goodling put together for those deciding who to fire, and […]
The White House is probably aware of the public relations benefits involved with chatting with one’s rivals. When it comes to the war in Iraq, House and Senate Democratic leaders, perhaps foolishly, have indicated many times that they’re willing to broker some kind of compromise with the White House over funding. Dems don’t want a […]
The Washington Post’s David Broder wrote half of a good column today about the war in Iraq. It’s the other half that’s the problem. Broder seems to understand the broader dynamic quite well — Dems are right about the war, they’re right about withdrawal, and the public firmly stands behind them in this political fight. […]
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: * In case there was any doubt about the status of the scheduled debate co-hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute and Fox News, Hillary Clinton joined John Edwards and Barack Obama in […]
Sometimes, politicians accused of corruption do hysterical things. Take Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R), for example. Gibbons, who was a Republican House member up until last year, is facing a federal criminal investigation for alleged bribes. By any reasonable measure, what we know of the controversy looks pretty bad for the new Nevada governor. Here’s […]