Way back in February 2006, Tom Engelhardt noted that the “debate” over permanent U.S. bases in Iraq was practically non-existent. After a search of the LexisNexis database, he explained, “American reporters adhere to a simple rule: The words ‘permanent,’ ‘bases,’ and ‘Iraq’ should never be placed in the same sentence, not even in the same […]
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: * Slowly but surely, Rudy Giuliani’s scandalous personal life is becoming more of a campaign issue: “‘It just drives me nuts, I have to be honest with you, when politicians get up and […]
One of the more embarrassing setbacks for the Bush administration’s policy in the Middle East came after the Palestinian elections nearly two years ago. The White House was convinced, naively, that in all circumstances, democracy equals peace. If given a choice, no group of people would intentionally choose to support terrorists in a free election. […]
A 9/11 poll was released late last week that caused quite a stir over the weekend. I have a hunch the agitation is misplaced. Nearly two-thirds of Americans think it is possible that some federal officials had specific warnings of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, but chose to ignore […]
In Iraq, the Bush administration has had so little success meeting its own benchmarks, officials have quietly thrown out its list of goals and redefined “success” by moving the goalposts closer. In Afghanistan, regrettably, it’s more of the same. A White House assessment of the war in Afghanistan has concluded that wide-ranging strategic goals that […]
Under normal circumstances, the public officials most likely to decry Fox News’ irresponsible brand of journalism are Dems who can’t help but notice that the partisan network is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Republican Party. Yesterday, however, the network was accused of bias by a Republican. Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) suggested on Sunday that […]
There have been rumors about Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott’s (R-Miss.) future plans, but this news will almost certainly catch the political world off-guard. NBC News has learned that Trent Lott’s in the midst of informing close allies that he plans to resign his senate seat before the end of the year. It’s possible a […]