Today’s edition of quick hits. * The White House censure resolutions were officially unveiled today: “U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and U.S. Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) have introduced two censure resolutions in their respective chambers condemning the president, vice president and the attorney general for misconduct regarding our military involvement in Iraq and for their […]
(This post was delayed until I could track down a reliable transcript.) The Republican field met for only its fourth debate yesterday, the first in two months, at a relatively low-key event in Iowa. As the early-morning debate (8am local) got underway, George Stephanopoulos told the candidates, “Our goal today is to get a real […]
About a month ago, Florida State Rep. Bob Allen (R), a co-chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign in the Sunshine State, ran into a little trouble with the law. He was arrested in a public park after allegedly offering to pay to perform oral sex on an undercover police officer. Not a good career move. […]
The White House has every reason to be pleased with the results of the latest “debate” over surveillance powers in Congress. Bush wanted sweeping new powers to spy on Americans without court orders or oversight, and at least for the next six months, lawmakers delivered. Now, from the Bush gang’s perspective, there’s an easy spin: […]
Historically, the political world didn’t pay too much attention to who presidential campaigns brought on as policy advisors, but it’s hard to deny the significance of these staffers. For one thing, they help shape the candidates’ worldviews (particularly among the Republicans’ top tier, made up of men who lack ideas and principles of their own). […]
About a year ago, in a speech before a left-leaning religious group, Barack Obama delivered a fairly provocative speech urging progressives to do more to “acknowledge the power of faith in the lives of the American people.” Last week, Obama chatted with TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network and had some advice for the […]
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: * Jerome Hauer, who served as Rudy Giuliani’s emergency management director in NYC, is criticizing his former boss’ presidential ambitions. “Rudy would make a terrible president and that is why I am speaking […]
One of the points emphasized in the “No End in Sight” documentary, which is excellent, is that through carelessness, the Bush administration inadvertently helped provide weapons to the Iraqi insurgency. The most well known example was the debacle at Al Qaqaa, but as we learned in March, the administration’s faulty planning left millions of tons […]
I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that the White House would try to punish a whistleblower with criminal charges, but this is nevertheless startling. The controversy over President Bush’s warrantless surveillance program took another surprise turn last week when a team of FBI agents, armed with a classified search warrant, raided the suburban Washington […]
The past few years, we’ve taken to highlighting certain anniversaries, many of them painful. The fifth anniversary of 9/11, the fourth anniversary of the Iraqi invasion, the third anniversary of the “Mission Accomplished” speech, etc. It hasn’t received much recognition in previous years, but today, Aug. 6, is a noteworthy anniversary as well — six […]