I suppose, given the significance of this story here and elsewhere, I can’t very well let this go without commenting. I’m just not sure what I think about it. Days after Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards decided against firing two liberal bloggers with a history of inflammatory writing, one resigned last night with a blast […]
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: * To fairly mild fanfare, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) officially launched his presidential campaign this morning. Perhaps the most noteworthy part of the announcement wasn’t what Romney said, but where he […]
In New Hampshire over the weekend, Barack Obama told an audience that “we ended up launching a war that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged, and to which we now have spent $400 billion and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted.” It was a well-received […]
Maybe conservatives can remind us again about which side of the political divide really supports the troops. The Bush administration plans to cut funding for veterans’ health care two years from now — even as badly wounded troops returning from Iraq could overwhelm the system. Bush is using the cuts, critics say, to help fulfill […]
Just last week, Paul McNulty, the deputy attorney general, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the U.S. Attorneys purged from their positions “had been urged to leave because of poor performance.” Even at first blush, it was an odd argument. Bud Cummins, removed in Arkansas so a Karl Rove acolyte could replace him, was highly […]
In April 2006, when John McCain announced that he had reconciled with Jerry Falwell — despite the televangelist having said America “deserved” 9/11 — and would appear at Falwell’s Liberty University, the senator appeared briefly on The Daily Show. Jon Stewart, who has never shied away from praising McCain, asked him, “Are you freaking out […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Peter Pace went off-message today, telling reporters he’s seen no evidence linking explosives killing Americans in Iraq and top Iranian officials. * U.S. News: “A federal judge has ruled that a CIA agent identified only as ‘Doe,’ allegedly fired after he gathered prewar intelligence […]
I’ve done a couple of posts about the TV show “24,” and how the right has mistakenly interpreted it as an endorsement of the Bush administration’s least defensible policies. As it turns out, I might have been a little hasty. Jane Mayer has a fascinating piece in the latest issue of The New Yorker about […]
Joe Lieberman, for all of his offensive Republican tendencies, still seems to have a little fiscally-responsible Democratic voice in his head, wondering how the country can afford to pay for Bush’s foreign policy. My friend Cliff Schecter noted today that Lieberman even went so far as to propose a solution that his new GOP buddies […]
For all the wrangling in the Senate over how many anti-escalation resolutions lawmakers will consider, how they’ll be worded, and when senators might debate them, the House is taking a far more direct approach. As the House this week launches its first major debate over the Iraq war since the November elections, Democrats are counting […]