Time’s cover story this week is a wildly complimentary piece about Michael Bloomberg and Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom the magazine dubs, “The New Action Heroes.” I actually found the article interesting for what it didn’t say. It’s not just a shameless puff piece (though it’s partly that); the point of Michael Grunwald’s article seems to be […]
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: * Most of Mitt Romney’s GOP rivals have played nice when it comes to making an issue out of his religious faith, but an Iowa staffer for Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) aimed low […]
Way back in March, when the U.S. Attorney purge scandal was front-page news, Kagro X wrote a great piece that touched on a likely trend: a new opportunity for defense attorneys. “Defense attorneys across the country are doubtless exploring the possibility of demanding new trials for their clients,” KX wrote, “and those awaiting trial will […]
John Emerson raised a point I hadn’t given much thought to, but will be of the utmost importance in early 2009. I think that when the “honest conservatives” reject Bush they’re just setting up their assault on the Democratic president they expect to see elected next year. Their way of digging themselves out from under […]
When it comes to credibility on the Abu Ghraib scandal, we can’t do much better than Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, the two-star Army general who led the first investigation into detainee abuse. As for what Taguba found during his investigation, the general believes senior Pentagon officials were, their denials notwithstanding, involved in directing the abusive […]
In his latest Newsweek column, Jonathan Alter suggests Dems are struggling in the political debate over war policy, in part because they’re not nearly as good as Republicans at coming up with bumper-sticker slogans. Iraq is President Bush’s war, but the Democrats are quickly getting tagged with some blame for it. One of the reasons […]
In February, the Washington Post’s Dana Priest and Anne Hull literally stunned the nation with an investigation of the outpatient services at Walter Reed. Americans simply couldn’t believe the treatment veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were receiving. The ensuing scandal led to three major resignations among top Army officials. Today, Priest and […]
Given what we’ve seen and learned over the last several months, one might assume that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would go out of his way to avoid anything that even came close to politicizing U.S. Attorneys’ offices. But Gonzales is apparently incapable of restraint. Knowing that there is literally nothing he could do to get […]
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was interviewed the other day and asked for his opinion about former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who, of course, is a leading Republican presidential candidate. “The real Romney is clearly an extraordinarily ambitious man with no perceivable political principle whatsoever,” Frank said. “He is the most intellectually dishonest human being […]
Just two weeks ago, Condi Rice insisted that the entire Bush administration is absolutely united behind a single policy when it comes to Iran. Never mind all those rumors about Cheney’s team actively circumventing the president’s team in order to instigate a U.S. conflict with Iran, Rice said, everyone is on the same team: “The […]