On Wednesday, the WaPo had a major scoop: the White House has been quietly been searching for a “high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The person would apparently be the new Commander in Chief — coordinating military policy and having the power to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department, […]
So, where are we with Karl Rove’s “lost” emails? Let’s turn to Dan Froomkin for a quick overview. From 2001 to 2004, the RNC’s highly unusual “document retention” policy was to intentionally destroy all e-mails that were more than 30 days old. In the summer of 2004, due to “unspecified legal inquiries,” the RNC changed […]
The disconnect was awkward and difficult to explain. On Tuesday, Bush said extending tours of duty for U.S. troops in Iraq is “unacceptable.” On Wednesday, Bush’s Defense Department announced that extending tours of duty is now administration policy. Yesterday, I urged someone in the White House press corps to ask presidential spokesperson Dana Perino if […]
Set your TiVo now. Variety: Conservative pundit-turned-MSNBC anchor Tucker Carlson is launching yet another new career: gameshow host. Carlson has been tapped to host “Do You Trust Me?,” the quizzer format Phil Gurin (“The Weakest Link”) is piloting for CBS (Daily Variety, March 14). Format revolves around strangers forced to put their trust in one […]
Most of the recent political reporting on the Hill has noted that Dems are, for the most part, unified on their war policy. The party stuck together to vote for adding a timeline for withdrawal a few weeks ago, and Dems haven’t backed down since. Congressional reporters have noticed and the news has reflected this […]
The president attended the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast this morning in DC, and addressed his ongoing (and alleged) desire to establish a “culture of life” in America. From the transcript: “Renewing the promise of America begins with upholding the dignity of human life. (Applause.) In our day, there is a temptation to manipulate life in […]
As readers have no doubt noticed, the site’s been loading very slowly the past couple of days, which has been frustrating (for you and me). I’ve talked to our hosting company, which assures me it’s not a server problem. We’re in the process of trying to identify exactly what’s causing the trouble — is there […]
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 MoveOn.org’s online Town Hall Forum this week on the war in Iraq, the group asked members to participate in an online straw poll on which is the best Democratic presidential candidate […]
[tag]Paul Krugman[/tag] devoted today’s column to an issue near and dear to my heart: the religious right movement and its influence on the government. For a change, I’m not entirely sure Krugman has it entirely right. After working at Americans United for Separation of Church and State for several years, I learned quite a bit […]
Reason #1,684,349 why I do not watch television news. This was CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric in last night’s “Notebook” segment: “Hi, everyone. Is America ready to elect a president who grew up praying in a mosque? “Barack Obama has arguably the most diverse religious background of any candidate ever. He was raised in […]