[tag]Carl Bernstein[/tag], who has a little experience with White House scandals, has written a hard-hitting piece for Vanity Fair calling for bipartisan hearings investigating the [tag]Bush[/tag] presidency. Which controversy does Bernstein believe requires a congressional investigation? Well, he appears to prefer casting a relatively wide net. (thank to reader M.M. for the tip) [I]t is […]
Last month, [tag]Donald Rumsfeld[/tag] criticized much the national discussion about deteriorating conditions in Iraq, concluding in a WaPo op-ed, “Fortunately, history is not made up of daily headlines, blogs on Web sites or the latest sensational attack.” It wasn’t a new tack for the Defense Secretary, who seems to relish his role as “media critic.” […]
The far-right [tag]Washington Times[/tag] had an otherwise skip-able article today about the White House staff, but there was one key gem in the piece that warrants attention. Mr. Bolten joined Mr. Bush and other administration officials, including Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, yesterday at a business round table in Sterling. Mr. Bush used the occasion […]
On his first day on the job, Josh Bolten, the new White House chief of staff, signaled that fairly significant staff changes are on the way. Today, we saw the president introduce the latest not-so-fresh face. President Bush today selected U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman to be the new director of the Office of Management […]
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: * A new Siena College poll in New York shows state Attorney General [tag]Eliot Spitzer[/tag] crushing his Dem primary opponent, [tag]Tom Suozzi[/tag], 72% to 11% among likely Democratic voters. That is very much […]
As far as I can tell, there are reasonable arguments against the REAL ID Act stemming from likely invasions of privacy. But some small-government activists, anxious to defeat the legislation, have found that they can broaden their coalition by reaching out to religious groups with, well, unusual concerns about the bill. Critics of federal legislation […]
This is only tangentially a political story, but it’s probably the most bizarre report on the [tag]immigration[/tag] debate I’ve seen. Recently, [tag]students[/tag] from several schools in southern [tag]California[/tag] staged a [tag]walk-out[/tag] as part demonstrations against congressional efforts to curb illegal [tag]immigration[/tag]. One elementary school was so worried about the kids joining the protest, it took […]
Right on schedule. In the third week in February, speculation about Al [tag]Gore[/tag]’s future picked up considerably with high-profile columns from Roger J. Stone Jr. and Dick Morris. In the third week in March, a cover story for The American Prospect renewed talk about another [tag]presidential[/tag] [tag]campaign[/tag] for Gore, which prompted the former VP to […]
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out[tag] Robert Dreyfuss[/tag]’ stunning American Prospect story on Dick [tag]Cheney[/tag]’s hyper-secretive, strikingly powerful White House operation. Speculation about how Cheney controls an insular group of ideologues is, if anything, understating the case. (via Kevin Drum) Notoriously opaque, the Office of the [tag]Vice President[/tag] ([tag]OVP[/tag]) is very difficult […]
You’ve got to be kidding me. At the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, children from the stricken Gulf Coast region serenaded First Lady Laura [tag]Bush[/tag] with a [tag]song[/tag] praising the beleaguered Federal Emergency Management Agency. To the tune of “Hey Look Me Over,” about 100 young children from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama sang: “Our […]