The New York Daily News’ Thomas DeFrank, who does terrific work covering the White House, made a provocative point a couple of days ago, after the relative collapse of the Dubai Ports World deal, that seems to have become part of the conventional wisdom. Not since Watergate, when GOP congressional leaders told Richard Nixon they […]
Up until fairly recently, Claude Allen was not just a key Bush staffer, he was the top White House adviser on domestic policy. On everything from immigration to education to stem-cell research to the faith-based initiative, Allen was the president’s right-hand man. He was even the point man on the White House’s Katrina task force. […]
I’ve done a few posts on conservative Republican activists’ efforts to block a vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV), but there’s just something about their crusade that never ceases to amaze me. Andrew Sullivan noted Michael Specter’s new article that explains why the right is willing — indeed, is anxious — to stand in the way […]
Guest Post by Morbo Recently someone sent me one of those ubiquitous e-mail messages parroting right-wing claptrap that morons think reflect “common sense” and straight talk. This one was more offensive than usual. It began: North Dakota News: This text is from a county emergency manager out in the western part of North Dakota state […]
Guest Post by Morbo I don’t know much about Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the prime minister of Spain, but he must be doing something right because a Catholic bishop is very angry at him. “If Zapatero wants to become Caligula, it’s up to him,” Bishop Antonio Algora told reporters last month. The bishop is ticked […]
Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) is running a fairly competitive Senate campaign in Tennessee, though recent polls show him trailing a bit against the three Republicans running for the state’s open seat (Bill Frist is retiring). Ford, however, clearly has made the Republicans a little nervous. Ford hit the airwaves recently, for example, incorporating the controversy […]
The Abramoff scandal has already taken its toll on Bush’s Department of the Interior, but the controversy may have claimed its most notable political victim today. Interior Secretary Gale Norton resigned Friday after five years in President Bush’s Cabinet and at a time when her agency is part of a lobbying scandal over Indian gaming […]
It was less than a year ago when Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman starting getting serious about political outreach to the African-American community. One problem, however, is that Mehlman characterized the Republicans’ race problems as a thing of the past — and they clearly remain a part of the GOP’s present. Consider, for example, […]
The FDA’s handling of the emergency contraceptive known as “Plan B” has been one of the more ridiculous examples of the Bush administration caving to the demands of the far right — and not being able to explain why with a straight face. Here’s the context. Nearly two years ago, an FDA advisory panel voted […]
A few quick housekeeping notes: * In addition to my work here and at the Daou Report, I’ve also begun contributing to The American Prospect’s Midterm Madness blog, which is focused exclusively on the 2006 election cycle. * Based on the suggestions of several readers, we (and by “we,” I mean “Mrs. Carpetbagger”) added several […]