As recently as two weeks ago, White House officials were leaking word that the president decided on a new war policy in part by doing the opposite of what the Iraq Study Group suggested. The Bush gang was intent on “looking distinctive” from the ISG. As the Washington Post reported, “As described by participants in […]
In the grand scheme of things, there are probably more important matters to get worked about than whether the president can bring himself to utter the words, “Democratic Party.” But so long as it’s an issue, consider what Bush said in last week’s State of the Union address, according to the official White House transcript. […]
Over at my other gig, I highlight about a dozen conservative blog posts a day, some of which are written by smart, engaging people with whom I generally disagree (such as James Joyner), though most are from writers who I find offensive and distasteful. In all, I probably go through 30 or so conservative blogs […]
You want congressional oversight hearings? Henry Waxman is going to deliver oversight hearings. With a Democrat now in the driver’s seat, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is set to hold Congress’s first in-depth hearings into charges of waste and fraud involving money spent on reconstruction in Iraq. Three days of hearings — the […]
OK, one more post on the attempted smear of Barack Obama and the bogus claim that the senator was educated, at age six, in a terrorist-sympathizing madrassa. The story has been debunked, repeatedly, by news outlets large and small, and I’d assumed that there wasn’t much left to say. But the New York Times’ David […]
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: * Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) is kicking off his presidential campaign today with the creation of an exploratory committee. “I think this is an opportunity to show the American dream is […]
Over the weekend, Maureen Dowd unloaded on Dick Cheney. “Delusional doesn’t begin to capture the profound, transcendental one-flew-over daftness of the man,” Dowd said. “Has anyone in the history of the United States ever been so singularly wrong and misguided about such phenomenally important events and continued to insist he’s right in the face of […]
Conservative activist/writer Dinesh D’Souza has, for some reason, apparently been criticized for blaming the left for the terrorists’ hatred of the United States in general, and 9/11 in specific. Apparently, it’s all about the culture. As D’Souza explains it, Osama bin Laden and other dangerous Islamic radicals believe the U.S. is too secular, too permissive, […]
If it weren’t a 51-49 Senate, Democrats would have to take away Joe Lieberman’s committee chairmanship, block him from attending caucus meetings, and tell him he can forget ever putting a “D” after his name again. It is, however, a 51-49 Senate, so there are no consequences for Lieberman saying things like this. Connecticut Sen. […]
The conservative case in support of the president’s escalation policy in Iraq appears to be premised on five central myths. The first is the notion that opposition to escalation “undermines” the troops. This, on its face, is absurd — Bush is overstretching the military and sending thousands more soldiers into the middle of a civil […]