This may come as a surprise to … absolutely no one, but what Rudy Giuliani says and what he does are frequently at odds with one another. In the latest example, Candidate Giuliani hates earmarks, but Businessman Giuliani loves ’em. On the campaign trail, Rudy Giuliani rails against congressional spending set aside for lawmakers’ pet […]
Among the many dejecting developments in Iraq in recent years are the millions of Iraqis who were forced to flee their homes and their country. As part of the broader effort to bolster the performance of the Maliki government, officials are touting impressive numbers allegedly showing these Iraqis finally coming home. On Nov. 7, Brig. […]
Having just returned from a Thanksgiving trip to Iraq with John McCain and Joe Lieberman, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) appeared on Fox News yesterday to — you guessed it — hail Bush’s Iraq policy with unrestrained hyperbole. “[The existing policy is] working amazingly well, beyond my expectations. I think history will judge the surge as […]
Following up on this morning’s item, there are a variety of official and unofficial reasons for Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), just one year after asking voters in Mississippi to give him another six-year term, giving up his seat before the end of the calendar year. Some are more plausible than others. * Explanation #1: “Spend […]
Way back in February 2006, Tom Engelhardt noted that the “debate” over permanent U.S. bases in Iraq was practically non-existent. After a search of the LexisNexis database, he explained, “American reporters adhere to a simple rule: The words ‘permanent,’ ‘bases,’ and ‘Iraq’ should never be placed in the same sentence, not even in the same […]
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: * Slowly but surely, Rudy Giuliani’s scandalous personal life is becoming more of a campaign issue: “‘It just drives me nuts, I have to be honest with you, when politicians get up and […]
One of the more embarrassing setbacks for the Bush administration’s policy in the Middle East came after the Palestinian elections nearly two years ago. The White House was convinced, naively, that in all circumstances, democracy equals peace. If given a choice, no group of people would intentionally choose to support terrorists in a free election. […]
A 9/11 poll was released late last week that caused quite a stir over the weekend. I have a hunch the agitation is misplaced. Nearly two-thirds of Americans think it is possible that some federal officials had specific warnings of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, but chose to ignore […]
In Iraq, the Bush administration has had so little success meeting its own benchmarks, officials have quietly thrown out its list of goals and redefined “success” by moving the goalposts closer. In Afghanistan, regrettably, it’s more of the same. A White House assessment of the war in Afghanistan has concluded that wide-ranging strategic goals that […]
Under normal circumstances, the public officials most likely to decry Fox News’ irresponsible brand of journalism are Dems who can’t help but notice that the partisan network is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Republican Party. Yesterday, however, the network was accused of bias by a Republican. Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) suggested on Sunday that […]