Yesterday, Atrios offered a blunt-but-accurate assessment of the U.S. presence in Iraq: “When an occupying force is seen by a sufficient number of the people as an unwelcome occupier to be opposed, then there’s no way that occupier can be responsible for creating and maintaining order.” The NYT’s Nicholas Kristof fleshed this point out in […]
So, what did the Senate Judiciary Committee learn from former White House political director Sara Taylor yesterday? Ostensibly, the hearing was about the Bush gang’s role in the U.S. Attorney purge scandal. Taylor agreed to appear, despite the White House “directing” her not to cooperate, under a dubious claim of executive privilege. It led to […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * This afternoon, based on no law that anyone can recognize, the White House ordered former WH Counsel Harriet Miers to disobey a congressional subpoena. Unlike Sara Taylor, who appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee but declined to answer some questions, Miers will not show up at all. Her successor, […]
About a month ago, Dennis Milligan, the chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party, sounded pretty excited about the prospect of domestic terrorism. “At the end of the day, I believe fully the president is doing the right thing, and I think all we need is some attacks on American soil like we had on [Sept. […]
The president’s speech in Cleveland yesterday wasn’t just a bizarre defense for the status quo in Iraq; it managed to also include some bizarre ideas about healthcare. This gem, for example, won the coveted Clueless Quote of the Day from Dan Froomkin. “The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private […]
In response to Joe Lieberman’s assertions about all the terrific progress the U.S. is making in Iraq, Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) told CNN yesterday, “I don’t know where Sen. Lieberman gets his opinions about how well we’re doing.” In the same afternoon, on the same network, CNN’s Michael Ware was even more blunt. (thanks to […]
Stephen Biddle probably isn’t a household name, but he’s a pretty serious player on foreign policy. Biddle is not only a senior defense policy analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, but he’s also served as an advisor to Gen. David Petraeus. Today, in an important Washington Post op-ed, Biddle argues that lawmakers should stop […]
Of all the Democratic amendments to the Defense appropriations bill, the measure championed by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) was the most obvious no-brainer. The amendment, which was co-sponsored by another decorated war hero, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), didn’t have a direct impact on troop withdrawal or timelines, so it should have been easier for Republicans […]
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 exodus from John McCain’s staff continued late last night, when Mary Kate Johnson, the finance director for the senator’s presidential campaign, joined the stampede. As Chris Cillizza noted, “With Johnson gone, […]
We talked a bit yesterday about how former Surgeon General Richard Carmona was disgusted by the politicization of his office by the White House. He told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that he wanted to use his stature as the “nation’s doctor” to speak out on public healthy issues, but the Bush gang […]