House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), whose bizarre comments on Iraq have stirred controversy before, went off the deep end yesterday with remarks that undermine any shred of credibility he claims to have on the war. First, he connected Iraq and 9/11. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), in a conference call from Iraq, told […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said at a Capitol Hill news conference today that Bush’s plan to withdraw 30,000 U.S. troops home by next summer is “unacceptable.” He added that the White House approach “is neither a drawdown or a change in mission that we need. His plan […]
I’ve been really anxious to see how traditional media outlets respond to the new Media Matters report, which documents the way nation’s op-ed pages skew heavily to the right. Something is clearly amiss, and I’ve been curious to see how news outlets respond. The Chicago Tribune’s Frank James offers a response, suggesting this may have […]
Following up on an item from this morning, the White House has indicated that the president will announce tomorrow night his intention to withdraw up to 30,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by next summer. He’s making the announcement because he has to, but he’s characterizing it as some kind of breakthrough success for his Iraq […]
Sometimes, these guys make it too easy. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, today: “No, benchmarks were something that Congress wanted to use as a metric. And we’re going to produce a report. But the fact is that the situation is bigger and more complex, and you need to look at the whole picture.” Reality, […]
Media Matters took on a fascinating task, researching which newspaper columnists have the widest reach, and the most readers, in the country. It appears to be the first time anyone has amassed this data on every daily newspaper in the country, with MM contacting each paper individually to ask which syndicated columnists are published on […]
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals is now one-third empty: there are five vacancies on the 15-member bench. The Senate wants to fill those vacancies, but the president’s nominees have proven to be so controversial that he’s been forced to pull a few who couldn’t even pass an up-or-down vote. To help Bush out, Virginia’s […]
Two short weeks ago, it looked as if the White House wanted to play nice when it came to replacing Alberto Gonzales. The NYT reported that the Bush gang had even gone so far as to ask Dems on the Senate Judiciary Committee for input on the next Attorney General nominee. “In the past,” Chuck […]
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: * AP: “Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is calling for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. combat brigades from Iraq, with the pullout being completed by the end of next year…. ‘The best […]
I’ve been assuming for months that Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign would start to falter, as more Americans heard about his tarnished 9/11 halo, his megalomaniacal tendencies, his shameless exaggerations, and for GOP primary voters, his beliefs on practically every social issue they care about (abortion, gays, immigration, guns, and stem-cell research). And yet, where’s the […]