For the better part of August, as Cindy Sheehan’s protest has generated attention for her cause and heartburn for the White House, the Bush message machine has tried to marginalize her, suggesting she represents a small, dovish minority. It just isn’t true. Slightly more than half of the country says President Bush should meet with […]
Following up on last week’s item about the awkward relationship between ABC/Disney and TV preacher Pat Robertson, ABC Family has gone to greater lengths to distance itself from the crazed televangelist. The network has made it clear that it’s less-than-thrilled about being contractually obligated to keep this clown on the air. After the recent “assassination” […]
In 2003, Ernie Fletcher became the first Republican to win the Kentucky governorship since 1967. At this rate, he might be the last one for a while. Earlier this year, documents, including notes and emails, came to light that showed Fletcher’s hiring decisions were based almost exclusively on partisanship and not individual qualifications — you […]
David Stoeffler took over as editor of the Arizona Daily Star a couple of months ago, and to his credit, one of his first major decisions was to throw out the trash. [W]e’ve decided that syndicated columnist Ann Coulter has worn out her welcome. Many readers find her shrill, bombastic and mean-spirited. And those are […]
Last week, I had entirely too much fun with the story about TV preacher Pat Robertson calling for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s assassination. Robertson sort of apologized last Wednesday, which in turn satiated the American media outlets that were enjoying the story about as much as I was. But Chavez, hoping to push the story […]
Retirement seems to be one of those events in life that causes observers to forget — or at a minimum, excuse — every awful thing a person did professionally. In that respect, retirement is similar to death. But of all the people to be rehabilitated, Jesse Helms has to be the least deserving. And yet, […]
Even for Fox News, there are times when the network’s exploits stop being funny and start being scary. In what Fox News officials concede was a mistake, John Loftus, a former U.S. prosecutor, gave out the address Aug. 7, saying it was the home of a Middle Eastern man, Iyad K. Hilal, who was the […]
In July, 27 House Democrats unveiled a congressional resolution called H.Res.375 in response to revelations about the now-infamous Downing Street Memos. The DSMs, as they’re usually called, provide an overview of a 2002 meeting between U.S. and British intelligence officials and quote the head of British foreign intelligence as saying “the intelligence and facts were […]
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: * Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld (R) may already be hitting the campaign trail in his quest to be New York’s governor, but a new Rasmussen poll shows him starting at a huge […]
Over the last four years, Bunnatine Greenhouse has been pretty much the only career administration official willing to take a stand against dubious (and lucrative) contracts for Halliburton. She won’t be raising any more fuss on the issue — she’s been demoted. Greenhouse, who has served as the top civilian contracting official for the Army […]