I was pleased to see Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pull the Defense appropriations bill yesterday, after the latest in a seemingly endless stream of Republican filibusters. Reid was fed up with the obstructionism, and effectively told the GOP, “We can vote on appropriations when you let us vote on amendments.” Good for him. There […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * In light of all the many, many Justice Department scandals, rumor has it Alberto Gonzales has struggled to fill several top positions, because no one wants to tarnish their reputation by working with him. Nevertheless, filling one of the many empty positions left vacant by the U.S. Attorney scandal, […]
We’ve heard quite a lot of stupidity about Iraq lately, but this is a jaw-dropper. On the July 18 edition of MSNBC Live, during a discussion of Senate Republicans’ move blocking an up or down vote on a Democratic amendment aimed at withdrawing troops from Iraq, Washington Post staff writer Shailagh Murray asserted that “most […]
Well, this might raise a few eyebrows on the Hill (via Atrios): LARRY KING: Does that mean you have phone numbers that you’re following up? LARRY FLYNT: Not just phone numbers. KING: Names? FLYNT: We’ve got good leads. We’ve got over 300 initially. And they’re down to about 30 now which is solid. KING: When […]
Homeland Security Advisor Frances Fragos Townsend was able to bamboozle reporters yesterday with bogus arguments, but today on NPR, Steve Inskeep challenged Townsend with reasonable questions — which she wasn’t able to answer. INSKEEP: Well, you know that one of the intelligence officials that helped to draft this report has been briefing reporters, and has […]
It took six years, but the WaPo finally got its hands on the heretofore secret meetings Dick Cheney held as part of his energy task-force in 2001. In news that will surprise absolutely no one, it turns out the VP listened to the energy industry when shaping the administration’s policy. One of the first visitors, […]
Over the weekend, William Kristol wrote a transparently ridiculous WaPo column praising Bush’s presidency. He began his love letter, “I suppose I’ll merely expose myself to harmless ridicule if I make the following assertion: George W. Bush’s presidency will probably be a successful one.” And sure enough, Kristol was ridiculed relentlessly by those who’ve been […]
Following up on yesterday’s item, in which we talked about Bill O’Reilly labeling DailyKos “one of the worst examples of hatred America has to offer,” and vowing to boycott JetBlue for its sponsorship of YearlyKos, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign issued an interesting statement this morning in a Kos diary. From Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson […]
What a remarkable coincidence. Just as the Senate begins debating Iraq policy, the White House releases a National Intelligence Estimate it falsely believes helps the president’s position, and then (careful not to step on the NIE headlines) announces a major terrorist capture. And wouldn’t you know it, the terrorist is on-message, too. The highest-ranking Iraqi […]
About an hour ago, Senate Republicans successfully blocked the Reed-Levin amendment from coming to the floor, following a 52-47 vote. A majority of the Senate wanted to approve the measure, but like all of the other possible Democratic amendments, the GOP insisted it could not allow up-or-down votes. So, apparently, Harry Reid has decided to […]