Part of the new administration approach to Iraq is teaming up with Sunni militiamen, many of whom were killing Americans up until recently. Given the rivalries, this has made for a remarkably complicated battlefield. Abu Azzam says the 2,300 men in his movement include members of fierce Sunni groups like the 1920s Revolutionary Brigade and […]
When the Republicans filibuster Democratic legislation, as they do with practically every bill, they’re not literally filibustering. A GOP senator will use procedures to announce a pseudo-filibuster, prompting the majority to pull the bill after an unsuccessful cloture vote. No one has to stand on the Senate floor talking the bill to death; the minority […]
Oh great, another Republican senator is warning the White House about the caucus being this close to bolting with Bush on Iraq. …Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, told CNN that he warned Rove last week that “The president is a young man and should think about his legacy.” He should know history will not be kind […]
It hasn’t gotten a lot of attention lately, but the diplomatic progress with North Korea over the last week or so has been fruitful and encouraging. The United States is looking to build on momentum created by North Korea shutting down its nuclear reactor and will start deliberations on removing the regime from a list […]
The WaPo’s Christopher Lee noted over the weekend, “If anything looked like a sure thing in the new Congress, it was that lawmakers would renew, and probably expand, the popular, decade-old State Children’s Health Insurance Program before it expires this year.” It’s a no-brainer, right? Who’s going to balk at an established, successful program that […]
We’ve talked at some length about the White House using demonstrably false rhetoric about al Qaeda in Iraq as part of a cynical and deceptive strategy to rally public support under false pretenses. Americans don’t support U.S. staying in the middle of a civil war, but maybe, the Bush gang hopes, Americans will support a […]
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: * The mass exodus of John McCain’s staff continued this morning, when communications director Brian Jones stepped down, along with deputies Matt David and Danny Diaz. Research director Brian Rogers and South Carolina […]
About a month ago, Senate Republicans threatened a “major meltdown” in the chamber unless Senate Dems approved more Bush judicial nominees. The showdown is poised to get even more heated. Barring an unlikely confirmation of Leslie Southwick to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by the Judiciary Committee this week, Senate GOP leaders have […]
If this doesn’t help expose the problems with capital punishment, I don’t know what more it will take. A Georgia man is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Tuesday for killing a police officer in 1989, even though the case against him has withered in recent years as most of the key witnesses […]
The NYT’s Matt Bai had a fairly interesting piece yesterday exploring the importance of political experience in presidential candidates. He grudgingly acknowledges that Bush “lowered the bar for presidential preparedness,” which Bai believes is part of a broader trend. This, however, didn’t quite work. Through the long decades that saw the rise and fall of […]