Harry Reid seems to have a penchant for offering Bill Frist really sweet deals that he knows Frist won’t accept. It happened two weeks ago and it happened again yesterday. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Monday offered the Democrats’ support for one of President Bush’s judicial nominees, former Senate lawyer Thomas Griffith, as a […]
The New Yorker has an excellent article this month on Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, which I strongly recommend reading. Feith is, to be sure, a fascinating character. It was Feith, for example, who led the Pentagon’s Orwellian Office of Strategic Influence, which was responsible for planting false stories in the foreign press and running […]
Roll Call reported today that several Senate centrists — from both parties — are near a deal that would end the stalemate over judicial nominees, at least until 2007. A bipartisan coalition of Senators believe it is close to a deal that would avert the looming showdown between Republicans and Democrats over judicial filibusters. The […]
After having worked for years for an organization that covers religion, government, and politics, I thought I’d seen just about every combination of bizarre circumstances. The Rev. Chan Chandler has proved me wrong. Some in Pastor Chan Chandler’s flock wish he had a little less zeal for the GOP. Members of the small East Waynesville […]
Word has clearly gone out to the conservative machine, because this is everywhere. As the Senate returns from a week-long recess, Republicans are reminding everyone that four years ago today, President Bush nominated Priscilla R. Owen and Miguel A. Estrada to federal appellate courts. Neither received a Senate confirmation vote, Republicans note, because of Democratic […]
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: * Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist will announce his campaign for governor in the next couple of days, making him the first Republican to officially do so. Crist will likely face Florida’s Chief […]
For almost five years, Bush aides have been effective and efficient in shielding the president from any and all dissent. The president may be aware of the fact that there are some people who disagree with him, but he doesn’t have to see them and — perish the thought — he certainly doesn’t have to […]
The New York Times’ Anne Kornblut had a provocative piece over the weekend, noting Tom DeLay’s extensive network that has kept him afloat during times of crisis. The descriptions of DeLay’s system of patronage was helpful, but I wonder if Kornblut’s central point is off-base. Politicians are not always the most courageous lot. The first […]
If you missed it, the Washington Post ran an excellent item over the weekend on a religious-right player a lot of Americans have probably never heard of, but who’s influence is definitely on the rise. In his home town of Pearland, Tex., Baptist minister Rick Scarborough was tireless in promoting his conservative Christian way of […]
If you’re going to issue a statement in recognition of a holiday, you probably should know what the holiday is. When it came to Cinco de Mayo and the House Republican Conference, this clearly wasn’t the case. The GOP Conference created a sample press release saying, “Congressman ____________ today marked Cinco de Mayo with the […]