When the president speaks publicly about the war in Iraq, he often seems confused and uninformed. Maybe he speaks more intelligently in private? Maybe not. (via TP) At a luncheon in Chattanooga on Tuesday, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) spoke with 500 supporters about recent events, including recent discussions with the president about the war. Apparently, […]
Today’s shorter-than-usual edition of quick hits. * David Vitter has one big thing to be thankful for today: “A federal judge spared Sen. David Vitter an embarrassing appearance on the witness stand in a federal prostitution case when she abruptly canceled a hearing scheduled for next week. The Louisiana Republican was under subpoena to testify […]
One of the more painful political moments of Bush’s presidency came in the immediate run up to the 2002 elections. Bush was desperate to pin Dems down in support of an Iraqi-invasion policy, and Dems were desperate not to appear “weak” in the first national election cycle after the 9/11 attacks. Republicans were shamelessly demagogic, […]
The whining from congressional Republicans about Democratic earmark-filled spending bills has rung hollow for quite a while. Given the spending of the GOP-majority years, it’s not as if Republicans have room to complain now. But complain they have. House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), for example, lambasted the “Democrats’ Labor-H Spending Nightmare” before Bush vetoed […]
One assumes he’ll be branded a “phony soldier” by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, but the former commander of U.S. troops in Iraq is stepping up to endorse the congressional Democrats’ withdrawal policy. Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, who commanded U.S. troops in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, is scheduled to speak on behalf […]
Today’s shorter-than-usual installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * The suspense is over: New Hampshire will host the first presidential primary on Jan. 8. With that in mind, Jonathan Martin notes the January schedule is finally set: Iowa caucuses on […]
There was plenty of speculation over the summer about whether NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg might run as an independent candidate for president. He’d deny interest, but then tease reporters with some kind of ambiguous answer about intentions. This went back and forth for a while, until in August, Bloomberg stopped being coy. Asked by Dan […]
Once in a while, a high-profile Republican will slip and accidentally concede what everyone already knows: the Fox News has a political agenda. Here’s a coffee-shop encounter in Iowa City yesterday with Mitt Romney: A woman asked the former governor of Massachusetts: What can we do to stop the newspaper and television from attacking the […]
The WaPo has a front-page piece today that, at first glance, seems largely unremarkable: there’s a bureaucratic back-up at DHS, and immigrants to applied for citizenship over the last year are finding frustrating delays. Bush administration officials said yesterday that they had anticipated applicants would rush to file their paperwork to beat a widely publicized […]
Just a quick housekeeping note for readers checking in today. I’ll probably have a few posts today, but the posting schedule won’t be nearly as aggressive as usual. Tomorrow will likely be similar. As for the weekend, Morbo will have some words of wisdom for your reading pleasure on Saturday, and I’ll be around a […]