The New York City Police Department issued a disconcerting report this week called, “Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat.” In a nutshell, investigators and researchers concluded that the most serious threat the nation faces come from small groups of disaffected men who become radicalized. The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan noted the report in […]
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: * The GOP congressional leadership realizes that if they’re going to have any kind of success in 2008, they’ll have to keep incumbent retirements to a minimum. Fourteen months out, the strategy isn’t […]
Nyles Reed, a 75-year-old Texan, sustained injuries during combat in Korea in 1952. Last week, the Pentagon sent him a letter to let him know he qualifies for a Purple Heart. But the Defense Department didn’t actually give Reed a Purple Heart; it just sent him a certificate saying he’d earned one. The mailing included […]
Last week, Rudy Giuliani made one of the more startling mistakes of the presidential campaign to date. Talking to reporters, on camera, Giuliani said he was at Ground Zero “as often, if not more” than the rescue, recovery, and cleanup workers who spent a year sifting through human remains and rubble. He added, “So in […]
Following up on an item from late yesterday, FBI Director Robert Mueller agreed to share (redacted) notes he took about the now-infamous hospital visit with John Ashcroft in 2004 with the House Judiciary Committee. Chairman Conyers emphasized revelations about the White House seeking Ashcroft’s authorization for Bush’s warrantless surveillance program. But let’s not overlook that […]
Michael Gerson, Bush’s former chief speechwriter, came under fire this week, when Matthew Scully, Gerson’s former speechwriting colleague, blasted Gerson in a jaw-dropping piece for The Atlantic. Scully tries to destroy the Myth of Gerson entirely, characterizing him as a phony, self-aggrandizing, shameless publicity hog who took credit for work he didn’t do. With that […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Don’t get too excited about pseudo-political breakthrough in Baghdad: “Iraq’s political leaders emerged Thursday from three days of crisis talks with a new alliance that seeks to save the crumbling U.S.-backed government. But the reshaped power bloc included no Sunnis and immediately raised questions about its legitimacy as a […]
I received an interesting press release today from House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel. The headline read: “Emanuel Statement On White House Iraq Report.” Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel issued the following statement today regarding the forthcoming report from the White House on the status of the war in Iraq: “From […]
When we last heard from FBI Director Robert Mueller, he was indirectly explaining to the House Judiciary Committee that Alberto Gonzales was lying about the now-infamous hospital visit with John Ashcroft in 2004. During the same hearing, however, Mueller indicated that he took notes about the ordeal, because it was such an unusual incident. Naturally, […]
Several years ago, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that Jose Padilla, an American citizen, was apprehended “exploring a plan to build and explode a radiological dispersion device, or ‘dirty bomb,’ in the United States.” That turned out to be false; there was no such plan. Shortly thereafter, the Bush administration said Padilla was involved with […]