The president could make the case that Americans are just wrong about the war. He could tell the nation, “Look, I know most of you disagree with my judgment, but I’ve decided that my policy is the only way to go. Americans showed they prefer a change when the voted for Democrats last November, but […]
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: * Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) delivered a speech yesterday in which he characterized global warming as a key national issue that he takes seriously. Shortly thereafter, the McCain announced that former Defense Secretary […]
As you’ve probably heard by now, House and Senate Dems agreed in conference yesterday to a $124 billion war-funding bill. Unlike the White House’s approach, congressional Dems were willing to make plenty of compromises. Here’s the final plan: Dems fully fund the troops and their mission, while cutting back on some of the extraneous spending […]
Stories like this one deserve quite a bit more attention than they generally receive. Security practices at the White House are dangerously inadequate say current and former employees of the security office there, according to a letter sent today from the House Oversight Committee to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, asking that […]
A Purple Heart is a unique and special honor of the U.S. military. There are a variety of medals to pay tribute to soldiers who put their lives on the line, but the Purple Heart is given exclusively to those who are injured or killed during their service. It is not supposed to go to […]
The Office of Special Counsel is generally a fairly obscure federal investigative unit. The OSC is generally responsible for looking into whistleblower complains, Hatch Act violations, charges of discrimination in the federal workforce, etc. Important work, to be sure, but rarely front-page stuff. Now, however, the OSC is launching an investigation into a bigger matter. […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * AP: “Former President Boris Yeltsin, who hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union by scrambling atop a tank to rally opposition against a hard-line coup and later pushed Russia to embrace democracy and a market economy, died Monday at age 76.” * The GOP Machine continues to go after […]
At a brief White House event this morning, a reporter asked the president, “The Attorney General is still getting a lot of criticism over the U.S. attorneys situation. Was his explanation sufficient, or is there more he needs to do to try to turn things around?” This is the entirety of Bush’s response. “The Attorney […]
The Washington Post’s David Broder, generally considered the “dean” of the DC political establishment, has been off his game lately. It’s hard to say for sure what exactly got Broder off track, but it seemed to start shortly after the start of the 110th Congress, just a week or so after Nancy Pelosi took the […]
Bush, today: “I believe strongly that politicians in Washington shouldn’t be telling generals how to do their job…. And therefore I will strongly reject an artificial timetable withdrawal and/or Washington politicians trying to tell those who wear the uniform how to do their job.” Washington Post, in January: When President Bush goes before the American […]