I alluded briefly yesterday to something interesting going on today. Sorry for being cryptic. The “news” is that Josh Marshall has asked me to help out at Talking Points Memo on weekends, and today’s my first day. It’s an exciting opportunity to contribute to one of the blogs that inspired me to start this site […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * AP: “A federal judge approved an immunity deal Friday allowing former Justice Department aide Monica Goodling to testify before Congress about the firing of eight federal prosecutors. Goodling, who served as the department’s White House liaison, has refused to discuss the firings without a guarantee that she will not […]
Following up on an earlier item, CBS News yesterday fired Major Gen John Batiste (Ret.), former commanding general of the first infantry division in Iraq, 48 hours after he appeared in a television ad criticizing the president’s war policy. This afternoon, ThinkProgress spoke with Linda Mason, CBS News’ vice president for Standards and Special Projects, […]
After all the scandals and corruption-related difficulties congressional Republicans have experienced the past few years, you’d think they’d eventually learn a few lessons. Especially after having lost both chambers of Congress, the GOP leadership on the Hill could use this opportunity to clean up their self-created mess and start demonstrating to voters that they care […]
Dick Cheney sat down with Fox News’ Bret Baier yesterday for a fairly lengthy interview, focused almost exclusively on the Middle East and the war in Iraq. There were a few interesting exchanges, but this was my favorite: QUESTION: You are portrayed by your opponents and some in the media as this sinister figure, as […]
Yesterday, we learned that the 11 House Republicans met with the president and his senior aides at the White House this week for an “unvarnished” conversation about the administration’s war policy in Iraq. Various media accounts of the 90-minute meeting suggested that the GOP lawmakers are nervous about what the war is going to do […]
When Don Imus called the Rutgers’ women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos,” it took two weeks and a national uproar before CBS decided to fire him. In contrast, Major Gen John Batiste (Ret.), former commanding general of the first infantry division in Iraq, appears in a new television ad criticizing the president’s war policy. Just 48 […]
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: * Bush was the featured speaker for the national Republican Party at its annual gala last night, helping the party raise $10.5 million. The AP noted that it was a paltry sum, compared […]
When it comes the administration’s approach to the war in Iraq, there’s obviously no clear sense of what Bush’s “Plan B” might look like, but moreover, it’s never been clear whether the president’s team even thinks a backup strategy is necessary. In January, Condoleezza Rice told senators that it would irresponsible to even consider the […]
Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign, disorganized and off-message for a few too many weeks, didn’t need another controversy that makes the candidate look ridiculous. It got one anyway. In advance of a campaign swing through Iowa, a Giuliani aide contacted Deb and Jerry VonSprecken, farmers who had recently donated to Giuliani’s campaign. The staffer asked if […]