Following yesterday’s front-page revelations about Karl Rove’s office offering detailed political briefings to diplomats and officials who help shape the administration’s international affairs, Tony Snow did his level best to argue the briefings were irrelevant. Q: Could you offer some reaction to the story today that members of the diplomatic corps got briefings about the […]
Years ago, I was having a conversation with a jazz pianist who told me, “When I hit a wrong note, I keep hitting it — so the audience will think it’s intentional.” To move away from the wrong note would be a subtle admission of a mistake. The president, apparently, lives by the same principle. […]
Andrew Cohen, who writes the Bench Conference online column for the WaPo, summed up the feelings a lot of us had yesterday, after watching Alberto Gonzales make a fool of himself before the Senate Judiciary Committee. No reasonable person watching Gonzales’ tragically comedic performance Tuesday’s on Capitol Hill … can any longer defend his appalling […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * I’ll have an analysis in the morning on Alberto Gonzales’ latest humiliation before the Senate Judiciary Committee, but in the meantime, go take a look at Paul Kiel’s last nine or so posts. As you might have expected, the Attorney General was in a hole before the day started, […]
For years, Republicans have seemed off-balance and directionless unless they have a specific American whom they could direct their rage. If they’re not turning a rival into a villain, they’re probably just trying to narrow down their enemies’ list. Too many adversaries makes for a muddled message — the GOP needs one person to hate […]
The interesting, and unexpected, political flap of the day is Hillary Clinton’s decision to go on the offensive against Barack Obama, following an interesting exchange from last night’s debate. First, a little context. A questioner asked whether, “in the spirit of…bold leadership,” the candidates would be willing to “meet separately, without precondition, during the first […]
It appears the president isn’t a great listener. The entrepreneur who hosted President Bush last week for a roundtable discussion on health care and small business said yesterday that he could barely get a word in as Bush opined on children’s health insurance and other health topics. If he had, Clifton Broumand would have told […]
Late last week, we learned the White House has come up with a creative approach to the principle of executive privilege: once the president claims it, he has exempted himself from any and all accountability. Under this approach, Bush can define the scope and limits of his own powers. Congress can hold White House officials […]
Remember last week when the Pentagon resisted efforts to tell the Senate Armed Services Committee about “contingency plans for the future withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq”? Perhaps the administration doesn’t want to talk about it because they’re planning to stay in Iraq for quite a while. While Washington is mired in political debate over […]
I know it’s serious, and I realize the gravity of the problem, but listening to the Senate Judiciary Committee grill Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been laugh-out-loud hilarious. Indeed, it’s not unusual for assembled spectators to chuckle if a witness and senator are joking around, but in this morning’s session, the audience was laughing at […]