This one’s been percolating for about a week now, but with Speaker Pelosi’s office weighing in yesterday, it’s a good time to review one of the Bush administration’s more embarrassing new scandals (not to be confused with the multitude of old ones). It starts with Steven Griles, a former lobbyist who’s due to be indicted […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Filmmaker Robert Greenwald has a great new project. It’s called Fox Attacks. As part of the project’s first endeavor, Fox Attacks highlights the way in which the network has smeared Barack Obama of late. Take a look. * Don’t expect a verdict in the Libby trial anytime soon — […]
I have to admit, I’m a little surprised the Alishtari story isn’t a bigger deal. If the DCCC had accepted money from an accused terrorist financier, and kept the money, it seems safe to assume it’d get quite a bit of attention. For those of you just joining us, here’s a quick review. Abdul Tawala […]
As debates go, my favorite of all possible mediums is trading essays. On television, rivals don’t have time to organize their thoughts. In forums, there’s a strict time limit on how long someone can address a topic. But in print, particularly online, people can organize their thoughts, respond carefully to the other side’s claims, and […]
The war in Iraq can apparently turn even more deadly. In addition to the traditional combat forces, militias, and snipers, U.S. troops had to endure improvised explosive devices. Then explosively formed penetrators. More recently, insurgents have developed the ability to shoot down helicopters. And now chlorine gas has been added to the very lethal mix. […]
Shortly after the 2006 elections, discussing whether he’d bolt the party, Joe Lieberman told the NYT, “This is not so much to threaten anybody, but….” Shortly thereafter, on the possibility of bolting the party, Lieberman told Tim Russert, “I’m not ruling it out, but….” Needless to say, this causes great consternation among Dems everywhere, not […]
Yesterday, I published my 10,000th blog post, and tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of the start of The Carpetbagger Report, so I thought I’d take a moment to offer a quick progress report to readers. (I generally avoid navel-gazing posts; consider it a once-a-year-indulgence.) To borrow a presidential cliche, the State of the Blog is […]
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: * Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) endorsed Barack Obama yesterday, offering the Illinois senator one of his highest profile Senate endorsements to date. Daschle said Obama has a “great capacity to […]
I read the transcript of the president’s “roundtable on health care initiatives” held at the Chattanooga Convention Center yesterday, and was amazed at how well the participants stayed on message. There was the uninsured father of two who really loved the idea of the president’s idea of changing the tax code to help the uninsured. […]
Thousands of National Guard and Reserve troops had been told they could expect a longer break between deployments to Iraq. In some cases, reservists were promised they would get years between deployments. Now, they’re being told to forget what they’d been told; Bush’s escalation strategy demands more sacrifice. The Pentagon is planning to send more […]