Alan Simpson was a three-term Republican senator from a reliably “red” state. He’s also an Army vet who voted for “don’t ask, don’t tell.” But as Simpson explained in a powerful op-ed on the policy today, “[M]uch has changed since 1993.” In less than 1,000 words, Simpson makes the case for ending discrimination as effectively […]
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: * According to a new book by Democratic strategist Bob Shrum, John Edwards’ instincts told him to vote against the Iraq war resolution in 2002, but he was “pushed into it by advisers […]
Red State: “There seems to be an awful lot of selective outrage here. I don’t see why this dust up should be all that embarrassing for the White House or Republicans. Furthermore, I don’t see why the White House should be answering any questions about this matter at all, from Congress or from anywhere else. […]
In trying to get a sense of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ job security — he said this morning that his fate is in the president’s hands — I keep watching the GOP. The key Dems have said all the right things, including calling for his resignation, but Democratic pressure alone will probably not be enough […]
In the last post, we looked at some of the big picture news relating to the prosecutor purge, but let’s not neglect some of the specific cases fueling this scandal. Take, for example, what we’ve learned about Carol Lam’s firing in San Diego, which certainly appears to have been connected to her corruption investigation of […]
D. Kyle Sampson, the recently-resigned chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, wrote a memo to his White House cohorts shortly before the prosecutor purge, telling them to “prepare to withstand political upheaval.” At least he got that right. After another day of scrutiny of internal communications, new and juicy tidbits about the purge […]
Today’s edition of quick hits (that do not relate to the purge scandal. For that mini-report, check here). * The president of Air America Radio this morning sent a letter to the chairmen of four state Republican parties, offering to host and broadcast the state parties’ upcoming presidential debates. “Should you accept Air America’s offer, […]
The news items about the prosecutor purge scandal have been flying fast and furious today, so perhaps it’s worthwhile to pause and consider what we’ve learned since the morning. * The New York Times reported that the White House “was deeply involved in the decision late last year to dismiss federal prosecutors, including some who […]
If there’s a way [tag]Alberto Gonzales[/tag] survives this scandal, I don’t see it. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday that “[tag]mistakes were made[/tag]” regarding the firing of eight U.S. attorneys and he accepts responsibility for the ordeal. “My pledge to the American people is to find out what went wrong here,” he said. “As we […]
Time’s Jay Carney has a message for the blogs who’ve been covering the prosecutor purge scandal from the beginning: We were right, he was wrong. Twelve days ago, after David Iglesias went public, I said that if there turned out to be a broad conspiracy behind the firing of the U.S. Attorneys, “I will take […]