Today’s edition of quick hits. * Horrific scene in Nebraska: “A gunman killed eight people and wounded five others Wednesday at the popular Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, before apparently turning the gun on himself, police said. ‘We do not believe that we have any other shooter,’ said Sgt. Teresa Negron. The shooting took place […]
In an apparent attempt at cuteness, the NYT’s Thomas Friedman wrote a column today written as if it were an “Iranian National Intelligence Estimate of America” to Ahmadinejad from the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence It included this bizarre assertion: True, thanks to Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. Congress decided to increase the miles per gallon required […]
We’ve come to expect right-wing activists to push offensive, bogus smears about Barack Obama being a secret Muslim (he’s not), having attended a Muslim madrassa (he didn’t), and being some kind of Islamic Manchurian candidate (please). But no one expects Democratic Party activists supporting rival campaigns to stoop this low. Regrettably, that’s exactly what’s happened […]
Perhaps the most memorable moment of last week’s CNN/YouTube debate for Republican presidential candidates can midway through the event, when Brig. Gen. Keith Kerr quizzed the GOP field on whether they would allow Americans who happen to be gay to serve in the U.S. military, as he did. Kerr can back up the question with […]
It’s not just that the president’s account on when he learned about the contents of the NIE on Iran don’t add up, it’s that his version of events is laughably ridiculous. It’s no wonder the White House doesn’t want to talk about it. To briefly recap, on Monday, the Bush administration released the conclusions of […]
At yesterday’s White House press conference, a reporter asked the president for his thoughts in response to Americans’ concerns about the state of the economy. “Your administration is considering a plan to help people out with their mortgage payments,” the reporter said, “but I wonder if there’s anything else beyond that that you’ve got in […]
Last night, Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee conceded he hadn’t heard a word about the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, and the conclusions that Iran’s nuclear-weapons program was shut down more than four years ago. There are a variety of theories as to how a leading presidential candidate could be this uninformed, but I’ve got […]
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: * Mitt Romney may have slipped into second in Iowa, but he’s still running strong in New Hampshire. A new WaPo/ABC poll in the Granite State shows the former Massachusetts governor leading the […]
Way back in January, Mike Huckabee appeared on Meet the Press and was asked about Wayne Dumond. In 1996, Dumond, a convicted rapist who attacked a 17-year-old girl, was up for parole, but the Arkansas parole board was poised to deny his request. Huckabee intervened and announced he would commute Dumond’s sentence, causing the parole […]
Obviously, anyone watching events in Iraq has to be pleased with the military progress. In recent months, there’s been a decline in the number of fatalities, casualties, and bombings, all of which have offered a glimmer of hope after nearly five years of failure, incompetence, and disaster. But the talk in most conservative circles that […]