Well, this hardly comes as a surprise. President Bush, moving toward a constitutional showdown with Congress, asserted executive privilege Thursday and rejected lawmakers’ demands for documents that could shed light on the firings of federal prosecutors. Bush’s attorney told Congress the White House would not turn over subpoenaed documents for former presidential counsel Harriet Miers […]
We’ve all been thoroughly entertained by Dick Cheney’s “unorthodox” argument that he is not part of the executive branch, a policy position the White House has refused to comment on. Late Tuesday, the Office of the Vice President shifted its rhetoric a bit, arguing that Cheney ignored an executive order because the document exempted him […]
On Monday, Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) appeared to shake things up with a Senate speech in which he said Bush’s war strategy is not working and that the U.S. should downsize the military’s role in Iraq. Given Lugar’s stature in the GOP, it was perceived as a seminal moment. Lugar’s spokesperson added, however, that the […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Reuters: “World powers named Tony Blair as their Middle East peace envoy on Wednesday, handing the outgoing British prime minister a daunting new challenge on a day Israeli forces killed 12 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.” Gordon Brown was officially named the new British Prime Minister this afternoon. * […]
Just to follow up on yesterday’s item on the California Republican Party’s immigration problem, things have quickly gone from bad to worse (except for Dems, for whom the story has gone from entertaining to pass-the-popcorn hilarious). To briefly recap, the state GOP hired Christopher Matthews, a Canadian citizen, through a coveted H-1B visa, which seemed […]
Does it seem as if every time the Senate is poised to consider an important measure, Republicans launch a filibuster? That the party that whined incessantly about Democratic “obstructionism” for the last several years is blocking everything that moves, hypocrisy be damned? I knew it was bad; I didn’t know it was this bad. * […]
In a column otherwise directed at congressional Dems, Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, best known for being Bush’s chief speechwriter in his first term, is willing to acknowledge some flaws in his former boss’ Iraq strategy. History seems to be settling on some criticisms of the early conduct of the Iraq war. On the theory […]
Scott Collins has an entertainment column for the LA Times, in which he writes about television. Today, Collins decided to use his TV column to wade into a political debate. (via Too Sense) It’s become unfashionable in most media circles to stick up in any way for Fox News Channel, so it’s not surprising that […]
A few days ago, commenter bjobotts asked, “Now that the [Senate Judiciary Committee] has agreed they can issue subpoenas, how long will it be before they actually do?” Wait no longer. The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney’s office Wednesday for documents relating to President Bush’s warrant-free eavesdropping program. […]
I think this report, from Politico’s Mike Allen, is rather misleading. We know that the Office of the Vice President has come up with a new (and ridiculous) defense for ignoring an executive order about classified materials, but Allen argues it’s part of a “flip-flop” and an example of Cheney “throwing in the towel.” It’s […]