In reading the text of Bush’s speech yesterday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ national convention, the specificity didn’t exactly stand out as noteworthy, but apparently it was supposed to be a big deal. “We have lost 1,864 members of our Armed Forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and 223 in Operation Enduring Freedom. Each of […]
It’s par for the course, but White House spin-doctor extraordinaire Trent Duffy ran yesterday’s press gaggle aboard Air Force One and made one of those comments that offers insight into the Bush worldview. Q: Is the White House concerned about the protests that are planned in Salt Lake City today? Duffy: The President addressed that […]
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: * Sen. Linc Chafee (R-R.I.) is a top Dem target for 2006, but before former Rhode Island Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse (D) gets his shot, Chafee appears poised for a primary fight. As […]
Reports that researchers have developed a technique to turn ordinary skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells were front-age news yesterday, and with good cause. It’s a tremendous scientific achievement that holds great promise. But in terms of the ongoing debate over federal stem-cell policy, it doesn’t mean a thing. The political […]
Of all the federally-funded abstinence programs, “Silver Ring Thing” has always been among the most problematic. This is an evangelical Christian program that’s received more than $1.2 million in federal and state subsidies, despite offering wildly irresponsible lessons about contraceptives to young adults — including the notion that a sexually-active teenager is better off avoiding […]
Over the weekend, Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) looked pretty ridiculous comparing violent militias in Iraq to the various state and federal agencies in American law enforcement. Of course, in Republican circles, embarrassing appearances on national television only increases one’s stature in advance of a presidential campaign. Conservative Republicans are becoming increasingly convinced that Virginia Sen. […]
By now, nearly everyone has probably heard that TV preacher Pat Robertson has put aside his Christian sensibilities and called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. As Pat explained on his 700 Club program yesterday: “You know, I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we’re trying to assassinate […]
The United Nations clearly is not making strides in resolving the crisis in Darfur, but there is an institution capable of intervention: NATO. As my friend Eugene Oregon noted, Wesley Clark was on NPR yesterday discussing his proposal for NATO involvement in the region. Even if the African Union can overcome the political obstacles to […]
Newsweek’s Howard Fineman brought up a point on The Today Show this morning that I hadn’t thought about before: if Iraq becomes a country governed by Islamic laws, Bush’s base (i.e., politically-conservative Christians in “red” states), which has tacitly offered support for the war all along, will be thoroughly displeased. “[Enshrining Islam into the Iraqi […]
Patrick Fitzgerald’s role as the special prosecutor in the Plame scandal has been considered from a variety of angles, but Toronto’s Globe and Mail had a good piece over the weekend noting a certain pattern to Fitzgerald’s work — he almost always goes after the guy at the top, and more often than not, he […]