In politics, it’s inevitable that public figures will have supporters and detractors. It’s just the nature of political interaction — people will react to high-profile figures in different ways. Elizabeth Edwards doesn’t fit into this mold at all. Everyone — literally, everyone — who knows her, speaks with her, or has any kind of interaction […]
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: * John and Elizabeth Edwards are expected to make an important announcement about the former senator’s presidential campaign in just a couple of minutes. I don’t want to engage in baseless speculation, but […]
I realize this isn’t at all new information, and I suspect this new report will get lost in the shuffle because it reinforces already-known facts, but Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Stuart Bowen’s perspective shouldn’t be overlooked. The U.S. government was unprepared for the extensive nation-building required after it invaded Iraq, and at each […]
The Washington Post’s editorial board argues today that the White House and congressional Dems have “drawn deep lines in the sand” over how to proceed with the purge scandal investigation. The WaPo graciously acknowledges that lawmakers have legitimate questions — “[G]iven the administration’s incorrect and inadequate answers to the Senate thus far, Congress is right […]
If you haven’t already seen it, this clip from last night’s Hardball was awfully amusing. Confronted with a quote from his own book, Tom DeLay denies the plain text. Shown the book itself, DeLay says he doesn’t have his glasses. If I didn’t know better, I’d say DeLay didn’t actually write the book. Given that […]
The [tag]Bush administration[/tag]’s deal with the [tag]tobacco industry[/tag] in 2005 has always been curious. As you may recall, the government, for reasons that no one could explain, asked the industry to pay $10 billion, instead of the $130 billion previously recommended by a government expert witness, at the conclusion of a massive racketeering trial. Today, […]
Just yesterday, I noted that not all of the purged prosecutors were equal. The administration may have had legitimate grounds for dismissal for a couple of the purged prosecutors, a fact that only helps highlight the weak reasoning for the others. The LA Times, for example, reported that in San Francisco, where Kevin Ryan was […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Al Gore did a terrific job testifying on climate change this morning before the House Energy Committee. Gore had a particularly lively exchange with right-wing Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), who rejects the science on global warming. Gore told him, “The planet has a fever. If your baby has a […]
Kevin Drum summarized the White House’s principal political problem with the purge scandal extremely well today. They’ve now had nearly two months to come up with a simple, clear, understandable explanation for why they chose those eight to fire but not the others. So what is it? And why has it taken such an interminable […]
Following up on an earlier item, TPM and The Politico reported on an intriguing [tag]18-day[/tag] [tag]gap[/tag] in the latest [tag]purge[/tag]-related [tag]document dump[/tag]. According to the available materials, the Justice Department originally planned to start the [tag]U.S. Attorney[/tag] firings in mid-November, but ended up making the calls on December 7. In between, when one assumes there’d […]