It’s only natural, I suppose, to compare the federal response to Hurricane Katrina and the wildfires in Southern California. The natural disasters aren’t exactly analogous, but they both featured the need for mass evacuations, and a massive government response. (Well, that and the need to use a football stadium as a refuge for the evacuated.) […]
The last Republican candidate Sam Brownback would possibly consider endorsing is Rudy Giuliani. The Kansas senator made opposition to abortion rights the centerpiece of his unsuccessful presidential campaign. As recently as a few weeks ago, Brownback said during a debate that he would only support the GOP nominee if he’s “somebody that is pro-growth and […]
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 McCain’s new “tied up” commercial is drawing fire from an unexpected source: Fox News. Because the senator used footage from a Fox News debate as the basis for the commercial, the […]
It was only a matter of time before a Republican presidential hopeful went there; Mitt Romney decided to go first. Mitt Romney’s message to “family values” voters: Don’t let the Clintons anywhere near the Oval Office again. Although Republican presidential candidates have been merrily mocking Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s policy leanings, Romney took the rare […]
Following the Hurricane Katrina debacle, FEMA has been the subject of close scrutiny this week, as the agency scrambles to help respond to the wildfires in Southern California. Naturally, that includes effective public-relations efforts, and feeding news outlets evidence that FEMA knows what it’s doing. So, on Tuesday, Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson, FEMA’s deputy […]
I have some conservative relatives — I suspect everyone does — who forward on bizarre right-wing chain emails. The content usually ranges from the absurd to the offensive, but the common thread is always the same: the emails are as conservative as they are wrong. (I used to write back, explaining why the chain email […]
For the last several weeks, there’s been plenty of talk about a third-party campaign, but all of it has been focused on the GOP’s religious right base. James Dobson, Tony Perkins, and other far-right social conservatives have been surprisingly candid about their intentions to break with the Republican Party, if the presidential nomination goes to […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * All things considered, I’d consider today’s hearing a success: “House Democrats on Thursday accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of grossly mismanaging diplomatic efforts in Iraq and concealing information from Congress. The charges put a visibly frustrated Rice on the defensive. At a hearing by a congressional watchdog committee, […]
Salon’s Tim Grieve flagged an illustrative gem from today’s House Oversight Committee hearing, featuring testimony from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee today, Republican Rep. Chris Shays told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he “can’t think of hardly anything this new Congress, […]
Sweet Jeebus, it’s amazing what the right will find to whine about. When it comes to Barack Obama, first it was his middle name. Then it was the “madrassa” nonsense. Soon after, it was the absence of a flag pin on his lapel. And now, the Fox News crowd is fascinated by whether the senator […]