After the Michael O’Hanlon/Ken Pollack op-ed appeared in the NYT a few weeks ago, the political response was overwhelming. It was read, repeatedly, on the floor of Congress; it was cited frequently by administration officials and its ideological allies; and O’Hanlon and Pollack became fixtures on the talking-head shows. The piece, and the story behind, […]
Apparently, former Sen. Sam Nunn, a conservative Democrat from Georgia who voluntarily left politics more than a decade ago, is eyeing a return to the national stage. Maybe he’s hoping to join a Democratic president’s cabinet? Perhaps he thinks he can position himself as a credible running mate? No, Nunn is apparently chatting with Unity08. […]
Not only has the Bush White House strongly resisted a bipartisan congressional effort to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Plan to include 4 million uninsured American children, now our “compassionate conservative” president is forcing states to limit access for kids, too. The Bush administration, continuing its fight to stop states from expanding the popular Children’s […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Interesting timing: “The White House revealed today that General David Petraeus’ testimony before Congress on progress in Iraq has now been scheduled — and the chosen date just happens to be September 11, the sixth anniversary of the attacks. Why the timing? The White House said today that it’s […]
The Senate Judiciary Committee requested information from the Bush gang on the legal basis for the president’s warrantless-surveillance program. The White House stalled. The Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas; the White House delayed. Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) was accommodating, extending the deadline for materials a few times. Today was the “final” deadline. Leahy told the […]
On Friday afternoon, CNN’s John King chatted with one-of-these-days presidential hopeful Fred Thompson at the Iowa State Fair. The actor-senator-lobbyist — who was mocked for wearing Gucci loafers to the fair — seemed a little confused about his position on gay marriage. KING: You met this morning privately with some conservative activists in this state, […]
Following up on this morning’s item, Noam Scheiber notes this amusing exchange between Karl Rove and Fox News’ Chris Wallace. WALLACE: But, Mr. Rove, there was tremendous opposition from your own party on immigration reform and, frankly, not much support on Social Security reform. ROVE: Well, look. On Social Security it’s a tough issue. This […]
The Center for American Progress and Foreign Policy, an influential journal published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, launched an interesting project a year ago. CAP and FP asked 100 leading American foreign-policy analysts, from both sides of the aisle, for their perspectives on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, Iraq, and counter-terrorism. […]
With his announcement last week that he’s stepping down from the White House, Karl Rove has been the center of the political world’s attention (again). The surprising part, however, is that Rove using his time in the spotlight to blast Hillary Clinton quite a bit. Master GOP strategist Karl Rove won’t let up in his […]
I’ve never fully understood how anyone paying attention to current events could seriously believe the Bush White House is committed to an assertive policy of democracy promotion. Last month, David Brooks called it Bush’s “Big Idea,” on which the president cannot, and will not, give up. This has always been rather silly. Bringing God’s gift […]