Today’s edition of quick hits. * Bloodshed in Burma: “Soldiers clubbed and dragged away activists while firing tear gas and warning shots to break up demonstrations Friday before they could grow, and the government cut Internet access, raising fears that a deadly crackdown was set to intensify. Troops also occupied Buddhist monasteries in a bid […]
Anytime she’s asked the “legacy” question, Sen. Hillary Clinton has a pretty good misdirection policy — she reminds everyone what a great president her husband was. That’s not a bad way of avoiding the subject, but the quality of Bill Clinton’s presidency isn’t really the issue. Forty percent of Americans have never lived when there […]
From what I hear, Fred Thompson, the actor-lobbyist-presidential candidate, has been having a little trouble raising money for his campaign. Perhaps, out of the goodness of our hearts, we could chip in and buy him a newspaper subscription. Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson said Thursday he was unaware that a federal judge had ruled last […]
When it comes to shaping U.S. policy in Iraq, there are two principal camps — those who want to stay the course (Bush and the vast majority of congressional Republicans) and those who want to change the mission and start bringing the troops home (the vast majority of congressional Dems and most Americans). I’d heard […]
Much of the political world arched an eyebrow last week when Rudy Giuliani interrupted a speech to the NRA to chat with his wife, a shtick he has pulled a couple of times on the campaign trail. In an interview posted today, Giuliani told TV preacher Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network exactly why he answered […]
If you’re just joining us, Media Matters reported yesterday that far-right radio host Rush Limbaugh dismissed U.S. troops who support a withdrawal policy in Iraq as “phony soldiers.” Veterans’ groups and sevearl leading Democrats, including the DNC and the DCCC, blasted Limbaugh for the comment, and urged Republicans to repudiate it. A variety of conservatives […]
It’s been a staple of political journalism for several years now — despite Bush’s intransigence, rigidity, and stubbornness, reporters insist on telling us intermittently that the president is “reassessing” his agenda. The latest is the WaPo’s Peter Baker. As he addresses a conference on climate change this morning, President Bush will face not only a […]
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: * After several months of lackluster fundraising, John Edwards’ presidential campaign will reverse itself and opt into the public finance system. The former senator insisted he made the decision out of a heartfelt […]
Earlier this week, Sen. Chuck Grassley, a conservative Republican from Iowa, offered Dems some advice. Grassley, one of the leading proponents of a bipartisan measure to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), said the majority party could keep bringing the children’s health legislation back up until Bush signed it or Republicans agreed to […]
It seemed like a clever little scam. California Republicans, far-right activists, and Swiftboat financiers, under the guise of “fairness,” would split California’s 55 electoral votes by congressional district, as opposed to the current winner-take-all system. There’s no real mystery behind the effort — the goal is to deny Dems about 20 fairly reliable electoral votes, […]