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: * NYT: “At least two top members of Mitt Romney’s South Carolina operation appear to be connected to an anti-Fred Thompson Web site that was taken down today after reporters began to make […]
Four months ago, when it came time for Congress to vote on a spending bill for the war in Iraq with a timeline for withdrawal, a grand total of four Republicans stood with the Dems — two in the House, two in the Senate — to force the president’s hand. Putting aside whether the strategy […]
In a variety of instances and contexts, the president has described his responsibilities with heartening phrase: “We have an obligation and a duty to confront problems and not pass them on to future generations.” Of course, we’ve known for a quite a while that Bush doesn’t mean a word of it. On the environment, the […]
I feel like I need to write “I will not be so naive” on a blackboard 100 times to teach myself a lesson. At first, I thought there was no way Gen. David Petraeus would limit himself to just one media interview with Fox News, television’s most partisan news outlet. Why would a respected military […]
There were some brave and intrepid souls who endured every word of the six-and-a-half hours of testimony before the House Armed Services and House Foreign Affairs Committees. They heard Gen. David Petraeus point to impressive charts that looked encouraging — as long as you didn’t look too close. They heard Ambassador Ryan Crocker struggle to […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. *TPMM: “While Gen. Petraeus repeatedly cited the Sunni tribal turn against al-Qaeda as the most significant development in Iraq over the last year, he balks at the suggestion that his command is providing them with guns. ‘We have never given weapons to tribals,’ he said. ‘What we have done is […]
This lovely chart was a centerpiece of Gen. David Petraeus’ testimony this afternoon before the House Armed Services Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee. It purports to show the level of U.S. troops deployed in Iraq falling gradually over … some period of time. As withdrawal plans go, it not exactly encouraging. That bottom line […]
Well, I don’t imagine the right is going to care for this at all. Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson said Monday that while Osama bin Laden needs to be caught and killed, the terrorist mastermind would get the due process of law. Last week, when bin Laden’s latest tape emerged, Thompson said the terrorist responsible […]
It’s probably occurred to all of us that people on the left and right seem to think differently, but it’s nice to get clinical proof once in a while. Exploring the neurobiology of politics, scientists have found that liberals tolerate ambiguity and conflict better than conservatives because of how their brains work. In a simple […]
Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are testifying now before a joint hearing of the House Armed Services Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee. All three news networks are airing them live, and CNN.com and MSNBC.com both have live feeds online. There will be plenty to say about the testimony and exchanges, but in […]