To fully appreciate the ideology of large parts of the Republican Party, one needs to look past Capitol Hill and consider what state GOP officials are up to. Take Utah, for example. Several top Republican officials in Utah — including the lieutenant governor, the state attorney general, and U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon — gathered yesterday […]
This week’s Democratic presidential debate featured eight candidates, of varying degrees of “competitiveness” (likelihood of getting the nomination). This upcoming week, the Republican hopefuls will face off with ten candidates sharing a stage, only some of whom have a legitimate shot at being the GOP nominee. I’m wondering, should the parties, in conjunction with event […]
Earlier this week, the president told Charlie Rose that we’ll know about the success of his “surge” policy by August. So much for that idea. The Bush administration will not try to assess whether the troop increase in Iraq is producing signs of political progress or greater security until September, and many of Mr. Bush’s […]
In 2004, the State Department’s report on global terrorism showed a decline in international attacks, a result which was hailed by administration officials as proof of the efficacy of the president’s strategy. Soon after, we learned that the State Department cooked the books and undercounted — by half — the number of people killed in […]
Oh my. A senior Justice Department official has resigned after coming under scrutiny in the department’s expanding investigation of convicted super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to federal law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case. Making the situation more awkward for the embattled Justice Department, Robert E. Coughlin II was deputy chief of staff for the […]
First up from The God Machine this week is a bizarre religious critique of Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, who mentioned his religion at an event honoring those killed in the Virginia Tech slayings. As my friend Cliff Schecter noted, The Politico’s Roger Simon hammered Edwards for his God talk. Does John Edwards include Jews […]
By any reasonable measure, Randall Tobias was never a sound choice to be the administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). About a year ago, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice merged USAID into the State Department and tapped Tobias, a conservative ideologue, former pharmaceutical executive, and Bush campaign donor, to run the program. […]
James Kirchick, writing for The New Republic’s blog, directed readers last night to Michael Kelly’s infamous hit job, “Ted Kennedy on the Rocks,” which Kirchick describes as “one of the best pieces of political reportage I have ever read.” Kirchick features a couple of paragraphs from Kelly’s article about Kennedy and Democratic presidential hopeful Chris […]
Guest Post by Morbo An interesting milestone was reached this week, one you might have missed: The Innocence Project has just cleared its 200th client. Jerry Miller, a Chicago man, served 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. Miller had been paroled a few years back, but now, thanks to the […]
Guest Post by Morbo This weekend, a collection of far-right religious figures is gathering in Virginia Beach to “rededicate” America to Christ. According to this gang, it’s a rededication because the first dedication took place 400 years ago, when a clutch of European settlers reached Jamestown, Va. Various Religious Right leaders have convened a conference […]