The White House and its political allies have been less than subtle in saber-rattling towards Iran over the last year or so, specifically emphasizing the threat posed by a nuclear-weapons program that doesn’t exist. Yesterday’s conclusions from the National Intelligence Estimate make clear that for attack-Iran-now conservatives, it’s back to the drawing board. Obviously, as […]
At a White House press conference this morning, a reporters asked the president to explain the enormous discrepancy between his comments about Iran’s nuclear program and the National Intelligence Estimate. It didn’t go well. For those of you who can’t watch clips online, Bush said, “…I was made aware of the NIE last week. In […]
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: * A new national USA Today/Gallup poll shows the Democratic presidential race narrowing considerably over the last month. Hillary Clinton still leads, but her margin has been cut nearly in half. According to […]
Anyone who’s watched the Republican presidential candidates’ debates knows that the GOP hopefuls go to great lengths to avoid mentioning the word “Bush.” The audience will hear plenty of references to Hillary Clinton, and quite a few mentions of Ronald Reagan, but it’s not unusual to go entire debates without a single candidate mentioning the […]
The Center for Constitutional Rights created a tough, hard-hitting ad, accusing the Bush administration of “destroying the Constitution” through its use of renditions, torture, and other scandalous foreign policy tactics. The CCR is mounting a “Rescue the Constitution” campaign, of which the ad is the centerpiece. Fox News, taking the most literal interpretation imaginable, has […]
The release yesterday of the conclusion of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran answered one big question: Iran does not have an active nuclear weapons program, which Tehran shut down more than four years ago. It’s a debate-changing revelation that fundamentally alters how national security and foreign policy professionals perceive events in the Middle East. […]
When Hillary Clinton’s Democratic skeptics list their biggest electoral concerns, near the top is the belief that she would undermine Democratic candidates’ chances down-ballot. It’s a pretty straightforward idea: Clinton is a “polarizing” Dem who generates strong negative feelings in most “red” states. If Clinton is at the top of the ballot, and Republicans are […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * A pleasant surprise in Venezuela: “Venezuelan voters delivered a stinging defeat to President Hugo Chavez on Sunday, blocking proposed constitutional changes that would have given him political supremacy and accelerated the transformation of this oil-rich country into a socialist state. Hours after the final ballots were cast, the National […]
To be sure, the first reaction to the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran is simple relief — the Bush administration is less likely to launch a unilateral, pre-emptive military strike against a nuclear program that doesn’t exist. But then there are the second and third reactions, which are nearly as important in providing context. […]
I know I alluded to this earlier, but Hillary Clinton’s latest attack on Barack Obama is so foolish, it deserves a stand-alone piece. Yesterday, I got an email from a regular reader noting that Clinton’s campaign had referenced in a press release an essay Obama wrote when he was in kindergarten, titled, “I Want To […]