We’ve seen a growing body of evidence of late that far-right social conservatives really are prepared to break with the Republican Party if Rudy Giuliani is the GOP’s presidential nominee. An LAT/Bloomberg poll released last week, for example, found that Giuliani is still the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, but “about one-third of GOP voters […]
The vile Westboro Baptist Church, made up of right-wing Christian fundamentalists who protest the funerals of U.S. troops killed in Iraq, has been the subject of an ongoing lawsuit. In March 2006, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder was being laid to rest when Fred Phelps and his family showed up with signs that read, […]
After staffing key diplomatic roles for years with inexperienced ideologues, the U.S. embassy in Iraq, and Amb. Ryan Crocker in particular, are desperate to have competent State Department officials in Iraq. Not surprisingly, State employees are, shall we say, reluctant to go. A few days ago, the State Department, left with too few volunteers, announced […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * The Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on Michael Mukasey’s nomination on Tuesday, Nov. 6. If Mukasey doesn’t answer the waterboarding question between now and then, expect the committee to reject the nomination. (It could, conceivably, move on to the floor for full consideration anyway.) * Malcolm Nance, a veteran […]
Following up on this week’s reports about Rudy Giuliani’s patently false healthcare claims, the Giuliani campaign has responded to the criticism. Sort of. If you’re just joining us, Giuliani, in his latest radio ad, tells voters, “I had prostate cancer, five, six years ago. My chance of surviving prostate cancer, and thank God I was […]
Nearly two years ago, then-White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan promised the press corps that a “thorough report” would be released “very soon” documenting contacts betwen the White House and disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Not surprisingly, that never actually happened. The Bush gang thought they could just stall, reporters would eventually stop asking, and […]
Of all the noteworthy exchanges from last night’s Democratic debate in Philadelphia, this one hasn’t gotten a lot of attention today, and that’s a shame. RUSSERT: Senator Dodd, you went on the Bill Maher show last month and said that you were for decriminalizing marijuana. Is there anyone here who disagrees with Senator Dodd in […]
It’s been a rough couple of months for Fred Thompson when it comes to public policy and reality. After being away from politics for a few years, it stands to reason he’d be a little rusty, but he’s had time to clear the cobwebs, read some white papers, and listen to some policy briefings. At […]
I’ve heard from a few folks this morning criticizing the quality of the questions from last night’s Democratic debate. I just went back through the transcript, and it’s true, there were a surprising number of “process” questions that probably don’t matter much to regular voters. There were questions intended to spur controversy between the candidates: […]
I’ve never been entirely clear on why Karen Hughes was tapped to be the Bush administration’s undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. Granted, Hughes is not without talents — she was a capable local journalist, she’s not a bad writer, and she manages to connect unrelated events to 9/11 quite well — […]