Following up on an item from yesterday afternoon, the interest in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s description of outgoing Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Peter Pace continues to far exceed its significance. There have been some developments, though, that shed additional light on what was, and wasn’t, said. Greg Sargent obtained a recording of […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Greg Sargent spoke with several bloggers who were on the Harry Reid conference call in which he allegedly called Gen. Peter Pace “incompetent.” None of them recall the senator describing the general that way. * Massachusetts state lawmakers considered a measure today to put a constitutional gay-marriage ban on […]
Given the recent rhetoric in Republican circles about immigration policy, I found this story spectacularly amusing. The California Republican Party has decided no American is qualified to take one of its most crucial positions — state deputy political director — and has hired a Canadian for the job through a coveted H-1B visa, a program […]
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid held a conference call with some liberal bloggers this week (I was not, for the record, on this call) and, according to a Politico report, the senator had some mild-but-unkind words for some high-profile U.S. generals. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Marine Gen. Peter Pace, the outgoing chairman of […]
Back on April 19, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified, under oath, that he had not spoken with “witnesses” in the U.S. Attorney scandal about the events surrounding the purge because it would have been inappropriate. He told the Senate Judiciary Committee, “I haven’t talked to witnesses because of the fact that I haven’t wanted to […]
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, a Bush appointee, was apparently receiving death threats while mulling whether to delay Scooter Libby’s 2 1/2-year sentence pending appeal. I guess he wasn’t intimidated. A federal judge said Thursday he will not delay a 2 1/2-year prison sentence for I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby in the CIA leak case, […]
February: Q: Do you believe it’s a civil war, sir? THE PRESIDENT: I can only tell you what people on the ground, whose judgment — it’s hard for me, living in this beautiful White House, to give you an assessment, firsthand assessment. I haven’t been there; you have, I haven’t. Today: Q: Are there any […]
It’s rarely wise to jump to conclusions, but General Services Administration chief Lurita Alexis Doan certainly appears to have violated the Hatch Act. In fact, that’s what the Office of Special Counsel, headed by a Bush partisan, concluded after a thorough investigation. In January, Karl Rove’s office conducted a highly partisan political presentation for GSA […]
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: * CNN: “Arizona Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign issued a stinging attack on GOP presidential rival Mitt Romney’s stance on abortion Wednesday, claiming a new YouTube video indicates the former Massachusetts governor supported […]
In some ways, it was the scandal that got away. In March, we learned that Bush Justice Department, more specifically the FBI, was engaged in widespread, illegal misuse of “national security letters” (NSLs). Using NSLs, the FBI has the power to obtain secret information about Americans — including phone calls, internet visits, even credit ratings […]