A few years ago, Bush’s Department of Health and Human Services, like most other administration agencies, started creating fake-news segments and distributing them to local TV news stations. In HHS’s case, the agency hired a fake-reporter to do taxpayer-financed propaganda about various initiatives the department wanted to highlight. In each video, the fake-news segment included […]
Case Study #1. When pools of water began accumulating on the floor in some restrooms at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and the sinks pulling away from the walls, the problem was easy to pinpoint. On this campus, more than 10 percent of the students are Muslims, and as part of ritual ablutions required before their […]
Late last week, an NBC/WSJ poll (pdf) showed Democrats with huge advantages over the GOP on a variety of domestic issues. Yesterday on Hardball, Chris Matthews and CNBC’s Jim Cramer whined bitterly about the results. MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about politics. I just looked at The Wall Street Journal/NBC poll. And I have been […]
Poor Bob Novak. About a month ago, as part of a series of sycophantic meetings, the president invited conservative writers/pundits such as David Brooks, Rich Lowry, and Kate O’Beirne over to the White House for a chat. Novak wasn’t invited — and apparently he’s feeling a little bitter about it. From an appearance on The […]
A wide variety of conservative blogs are all atwitter today about a WSJ op-ed from Ion Mihair Pacepa, described as the “highest-ranking intelligence official ever to have defected from the Soviet bloc.” Pacepa argues that America’s standing in the world is in decline, and enemies of the U.S. are emboldened, not because of Bush’s tragic […]
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: * John Edwards turned up the heat a little on the Clintons yesterday, criticizing the former president for his NAFTA policy, which Edwards apparently believes was a mistake. The former senator also continued […]
There’s been plenty of discussion of late about the Democratic presidential candidates steering clear of the DLC’s annual convention this year. I won’t rehash the debate, but I think it’s interesting that the DLC seems to be making a concerted effort to reassert its relevance in Democratic politics. Today, for example, DLC Chairman Harold Ford […]
One of the more confusing moments of the Republican presidential debate in Iowa the other day came when the Des Moines Register’s David Yespen, one of the most respected political journalists in the country, noted to Rudy Giuliani that Gov. Pawlenty (R) in Minnesota is open to raising taxes in order to address infrastructure concerns. […]
I’ve generally avoided criticizing Iraq war supporters who, despite their enthusiastic hawkishness, have never served in the military. It’s tempting to suggest that if they believe the war is the key to the future of civilization, they would walk into their local recruiting station and sign up, but I try to resist that temptation — […]
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) has been a favorite of the Grover Norquist crowd for quite a while, in part because of his fealty to the far-right agenda on taxes and spending. But once in a while, reality gets in the way of conservative talking points. In the past two years, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of […]