Once again, the stage was set for a predictable result. John McCain had just won the New Hampshire primary, and was widely considered the undisputed frontrunner for the Republican nomination. The next key contest was the Michigan primary, which seemed to be McCain’s kind of place — it has an open primary, McCain enjoyed a […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Subprime mania continues to take its toll: “Citigroup announced a steep cut in its stock dividend and another big investment by foreign investors on Tuesday after taking more write-downs related to subprime securities and posting a $9.83 billion loss for the fourth quarter. Beginning what is expected to be […]
After the president’s rationale(s) for the war in Iraq fell apart, the White House crafted a post-hoc rationalization for the invasion — the United States was committed, above all else, to spreading democracies and toppling dictators across the globe. For Bush, this met our idealistic goals (spreading freedom), and our practical goals (more democracy means […]
The on-again, off-again debate over the Bush administration’s surveillance powers is, with Congress soon returning to work, on again. And with it, comes White House demagoguery. As readers no doubt recall, Congress approved a FISA revision — called, believe it or not, the “Protect America Act” — last fall, but given how tilted it was […]
I noticed that quite a few well-read conservatives were pretty livid today at something Mike Huckabee said, and initially, I was thrilled — because I thought the right was rejecting Huckabee’s stated desire to bring the Constitution in line with his religious beliefs. As it turns out, that wasn’t the comment that drew the right’s […]
I’m perfectly content — delighted, in fact — to move past the recent race-based unpleasantness between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Reasonable people can disagree about the specifics, most notably about whether the Clinton campaign intentionally coordinated a series of racially provocative comments, but I think most would agree that it’s best if the campaign(s) […]
The United States Constitution, the foundation of our system of government and a model for the world for more than two centuries, is an entirely secular document. It doesn’t mention God or any specific faith tradition, it only mentions religion at all to separate church and state. Apparently, that’s not quite good enough for Mike […]
Hostility towards John McCain among most leading conservative bloggers has been linked to the Arizona senator’s recent rise — the more McCain looks like the Republican frontrunner, the more conservatives express their ire. The past couple of days have been particularly striking in this regard. With polls showing McCain in a pretty good position right […]
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 Republican presidential primary in Michigan is today, and no one’s really sure what to expect. Polls show John McCain and Mitt Romney as the two leading candidates, with different polls showing […]
Two weeks ago, the Washington Post’s Richard Cohen devoted an entire column to criticizing Barack Obama over his use of a statistic — the senator claimed that more young African-American men are in prison than in college — that Cohen insists is false. The columnist used the disputed number, and nothing else, to accuse Obama […]