The last time the New York Sun looked beyond the existing Republican presidential field for their dream candidate, the conservative paper’s editorial board begged Dick Cheney to throw his hat into the ring. Today, the Sun’s imagination went in an even more creative direction. “I am prepared, even eager, to command our forces in this […]
It’s not that I’m necessarily opposed to some kind of compromise on Iraq. There’s a Democratic Congress and a Republican White House. The Senate is practically split right down the middle. Given reality, it should be fairly obvious that the president’s policy is misguided and lawmakers have to impose a major change in direction, but […]
Hoping desperately to maintain the status quo, the Bush administration insists that Iraq is less violent now than it was before the “surge” policy went into effect. Forget political progress, reconciliation, and the agreed-upon benchmarks, they say; reduced violence proves how effective the strategy is. The WaPo’s Karen DeYoung wrote a must-read on the subject […]
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: * As expected, actor/lobbyist/senator Fred Thompson launched his presidential campaign last night on The Tonight Show. When Jay Leno asked about the delay, Thompson said, “I don’t think people are going to say, […]
I always enjoy listening to conservatives explain why they oppose gay marriage. Given the seriousness with which they take the issue, and their campaign for a constitutional amendment, you’d think they would have come up with some compelling reasons by now. Except, in most instances, they’re surprisingly incoherent. Usually it comes down to an inherent […]
Next week, the White House will unveil the progress report on Iraq, ostensibly written by Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker (but really written by the president’s team), which will no doubt make quite a splash. But in the meantime, we’re seeing the release of several key reports, all of which offer a credible, […]
So, what’s the latest from Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho)? Keeping up is getting tricky, but the senator is apparently convinced that he can “clear his name.” The Senate Ethics Committee, however, isn’t anxious to help in that endeavor. The Senate Ethics committee late Wednesday rejected Sen. Larry Craig’s request to drop ethics charges against him, […]
It’s still very hard to fathom how something like this can happen, even accidentally. I realize that there are occasional bureaucratic snafus in any multi-layered system, even one as sophisticated as the U.S. military, but I simply cannot wrap my head around the notion that an Air Force bomber accidentally flew six cruise missiles armed […]
On “The Tonight Show” last night, Jay Leno asked Fred Thompson why he’d decided to skip the GOP debate in New Hampshire. “I’ll do my share, but I don’t think it’s a very enlightening forum, to tell you the truth,” Thompson said. As it turns out, as is usually the case, Thompson was wrong. I’d […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Jaw-dropper from the AP: “A B-52 bomber was mistakenly loaded with five nuclear warheads during a flight from North Dakota to Louisiana, a newspaper reported Wednesday. The bomber carried advanced cruise missiles as part of a Defense Department program to retire 400 of the missiles, the Military Times said.” […]