To borrow an idea from National Journal and the title from one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons, I have a few awards to deliver as we close out another fun-filled year. Speech of the Year Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention was one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard and […]
Ron Suskind raised a point the other day in a New York Times op-ed that I wanted to follow up on. The president chose Bernard Kerik to lead the Department of Homeland Security because he was “a good man,” an intangible, gut-check standard that the president also applies to judicial nominees and world leaders. I […]
In a much-discussed op-ed in yesterday’s Washington Post, the Industrial Areas Foundation’s Michael Gecan argued that the Dems’ “celebrity worship” hints at the party’s inability to connect with regular Americans. Thirty-two years ago, in the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in downtown Chicago, I believe I witnessed the destruction — actually, the self-destruction — of […]
This stopped being funny quite a while ago. In the nine weeks since the election, House Republicans have changed their own rules about having a leader serve while under indictment, suggested that the Ethics Committee chairman (a Republican) has to replaced because he’s acted in too neutral a fashion, and now are preparing to make […]
The Club for Growth recently said it hopes to spend $15 million on a media campaign backing Bush’s plan to privitize Social Security. Wall Street investment firms are gearing up for an expensive lobbying campaign of their own. Presumably, proponents of Bush’s approach will be hitting the public with a sales pitch just as soon […]
He clearly touched a nerve. When the United Nations’ emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, called the overall aid efforts by rich Western nations “stingy” in response to the devastation of the tsunamis in Asia, Bush administration officials got very defensive. Colin Powell hit the morning shows to emphasize that our $35 million aid package is […]
I’ve hesitated in weighing in on the messy gubernatorial race in Washington state, but, fortunately, it appears to be near a welcome conclusion. Just as soon as the Republican candidate can compose himself. This, as you’ve probably heard, is one of the closest gubernatorial races in American history. The count on Election Day showed real […]
For anyone interested, I’ll be doing a syndicated radio show this afternoon, talking about some current political stories, plus a look ahead at 2005. The show is “Culture Shocks,” hosted by the always-great Barry Lynn. I’ll be on from 5 to 6 Eastern. (Regular readers may notice that this will be my second appearance on […]
I was working on a year-in-review project and stumbled upon a quote I had forgotten about it. While far too many people said too many stupid things this year, I believe this quote, which the president offered in January, may be the most breathtaking thing anyone said in 2004. “No President has ever done more […]
In case you missed it, the LA Times had a helpful article over the weekend about the, shall we say, “flaws” in the missile defense program Bush is so fond of. As the Times explained, to destroy a missile in the boost-phase of the existing system requires an unprecedented coordination of space-based sensors, signal-analysis computers, […]