By now, the mere mention of Bush’s “16 words” brings to mind Niger-gate and Bush’s since-debunked claim that Saddam Hussein sought uranium for a nuclear weapons program from Africa. What has generated far less attention was the paragraph those 16 words were part of, and the point Bush was trying to get across by explaining […]
It’s the first of the month, so we return, as we do every month at this time, to my completely subjective rankings for the Democrats running for president. As always, these rankings are my impression on where the candidates stand as of today, though not necessarily where I think they’ll end up a year from […]
Since I’m still angry about the Republicans accusing Senate Dems of anti-Catholic bigotry, I wanted to alert you to an excellent op-ed on the issue by Ellen Goodman (which was brought to my attention by a loyal Carpetbagger reader; let’s call her Madre.) Goodman summarized the Pryor attacks nicely: “So it takes an ecumenical group […]
Two key economic indicators were announced yesterday: the unemployment rate and growth in the gross domestic product. Unlike recent reports, yesterday’s news was not all bad. It was not, however, all good either. First, the unemployment rate dropped a little in July to 6.2% after reaching a nine-year high in June of 6.4%. That’s the […]
We all had some fun at Bill Bennett’s expense a few months ago when news broke that he had a moderate gambling problem that caused him to lose, according to some reports, as much as $8 million. Within days of the story breaking in the news, Bennett quickly doused the public relations fire by announcing […]
Consider this: a guy has repeatedly filed tax returns with improper deductions for entertainment, gifts, and meals. For three years, he’s had to file amended returns to reflect his mistaken deductions, plus owe penalties and interest to the IRS. What’s the right job for this gentleman? According to President Bush, it’s a coveted spot on […]
Sure enough, the Senate Republicans brought Bill Pryor’s judicial nomination to the Senate floor today, and sure enough, Dems blocked a vote with a filibuster. The GOP needed 60 votes to break the filibuster and approve Pryor’s nomination to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. They came up seven short. Alas, this does not mean […]
Last weekend, when the centrist Democratic Leadership Council was holding its annual meeting in Philadelphia, most of the media focus on the event dealt with the growing divisions between the moderate and liberal factions of the Democratic Party. Most of the articles I saw in the nation’s largest dailies ran long stories about whether moderates […]
Way back in January, there was a political writer/researcher, let’s call him Carpetbagger, who desperately wanted the Dean for America campaign to focus its attention on the African American community. (Did the campaign care about Carpetbagger’s advice? No. Does Carpetbagger feel a little bitter about it? Maybe.) Dean’s full name is Howard Brush Dean III. […]
In a story that belongs in the “too scary to think about” category, Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly mentioned on the air yesterday that he’d consider being a political candidate someday in the future. Appearing on his own network’s morning program called “Fox and Friends,” O’Reilly said that “maybe someday down the road” he’ll run […]