California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Meet the Press appearance yesterday wasn’t terribly newsworthy, but there was one exchange that stood out, though not in a good way. Tim Russert asked Schwarzenegger for his take on the controversy surrounding the Dubai Ports World contract. Schwarzenegger, after expressing relief that the deal does not include any California ports, […]
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: * In Colorado’s gubernatorial race, Dems continue to search for an alternative to former Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter (D), but in the meantime, Ritter continues to win over voters. The latest Rasmussen […]
Texans for Public Justice is a respected non-profit organization in Austin that focuses on exposing political corruption and corporate abuses in Texas. The group has been around for nearly a decade, during which time it’s taken on some of the state’s most notorious political figures, including a guy named Tom DeLay. (Information from the group […]
DC’s MCI Center will host some of this year’s Sweet 16 NCAA men’s basketball tournament in a few weeks, and tickets have already sold out. One lawmaker is fortunate enough to have acquired a few tickets, however, and he’s willing to sell them — at the right price. [Rep. Thomas Reynolds of New York, a […]
This video was making the rounds a bit late last week, but if you haven’t seen Sen. Rick Santorum’s (R-Pa.) thoughts on birth control, you may want to take a look. On Thursday, Santorum did an interview with a regional cable-news program in which he talked about his concers about “freedom without responsibility,” as described […]
Over the weekend, it appears several parties in the Dubai Ports World controversy — Republican lawmakers, Republican White House, and the company itself — reached a cease-fire of sorts. The 45-day investigation the Bush administration decided not to do the first time around will happen after all. The “breakthrough,” if we want to call it […]
Someone reminded me over the weekend that late last week was, surprisingly enough, the third anniversary of the start of The Carpetbagger Report. With this in mind, I thought it might be a good time to take a moment to reflect on the site, how it’s doing, and where it’s going. (I usually don’t like, […]
By any reasonable standard, 2005 was not only an embarrassingly bad year for President Bush, it was also one of the worst years any president has had since Nixon was forced from office in 1974. In just one year, the war in Iraq grew significantly more costly in both blood and treasure; the response to […]
Earlier this month, the New York Daily News reported an interesting tidbit about Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation into the Plame leak. The paper noted that Fitzgerald “said in a letter to Libby’s lawyers that many e-mails from Cheney’s office at the time of the Plame leak in 2003 have been deleted contrary to White House policy.” […]
The key to withdrawing American troops from Iraq is the training and preparation of Iraqi battalions who can protect the country, and battle insurgents, without U.S. support. Donald Rumsfeld said this week that the effort is “progressing” nicely. Is that true? It depends on how one defines “progress.” The only Iraqi battalion capable of fighting […]