Bob Novak reports that Karl Rove believes he knows how to get the GOP back on solid ground. Karl Rove, President Bush’s political lieutenant, told a closed-door meeting of 2008 Republican House candidates and their aides Tuesday that it was less the war in Iraq than corruption in Congress that caused their party’s defeat in […]
In any presidential campaign, critical media narratives develop around candidates, which are often tough to break. Al Gore, for example, was labeled a “serial exaggerator.” It was a bogus story, but it dogged Gore throughout 2000, and raised doubts about his veracity. Reporters haven’t picked up on it yet, but Rudy Giuliani is offering his […]
Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee earlier this month that he wanted to use his stature as the “nation’s doctor” to speak out on public health issues, but the Bush gang wouldn’t let him: “Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological, or political agenda is […]
The New York Times apparently wasn’t won over by the data-mining defense. Today, the paper’s editorial board raises the specter of impeaching the attorney general. As far as we can tell, there are three possible explanations for Mr. Gonzales’s talk about a dispute over other — unspecified — intelligence activities. One, he lied to Congress. […]
In lieu of a Sunday Discussion Group, I thought it best to jump right into the big news coming out of the Bush administration. Apparently, in carefully-placed leaks to the NYT and the WaPo, the Bush gang has a new defense to protect Attorney General Alberto Gonzales from perjury charges. Not surprisingly, it’s a weak […]
In the 1980s, the Reagan administration sold fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, sparking a considerable controversy about Israel and a regional arms build-up. In 2007, just as we’re learning about the aid Saudi Arabia is giving to Sunni militias in Iraq, the Bush administration is planning a large arms deal with the president’s long-time allies. […]
In reviewing Ian Shapiro’s new book, Containment: Rebuilding a Strategy Against Global Terror, Samantha Powers emphasizes a point that has been completely lost on Republican presidential candidates (and the man they hope to replace): Shapiro is at his most persuasive when he argues against lumping Islamic radical threats together. He points out that at the […]
As part of the response to Bill O’Reilly latest offensive against blogs, the netroots pressured Lowe’s to end its advertising of the Fox News personality’s talk show. It worked. Here’s part of a letter sent to a Lowe’s customer who had complained about the chain’s advertising. Thank you for your comments regarding the program, The […]
I don’t think Giuliani has thought this one through. Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani called Democrats “the party of losers” for demanding a scheduled pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq. “Democrats have already declared we’ve lost,” the former New York mayor said during a campaign stop in Texas. “It’s really strange. The Democrats want to […]
The political media establishment has an awkward habit when it comes to stories reporters want to cover, but feel kind of embarrassed about. What many news outlets will end up doing is reporting on the reactions to a controversy, as a way of adding a layer of detachment. “Oh no, we’re not covering that unseemly, […]