On the way to the Coretta Scott King funeral in Atlanta yesterday, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan had a quick press briefing aboard Air Force One. A reporter asked about the visit the President and First Lady had with Bill and Hillary Clinton in the morning. McClellan responded: “The President was visiting with President […]
This is probably too-clever-by-half, and I hesitate to put it in print, but there’s one thing that’s been nagging me about the criticism of Jimmy Carter’s remarks at Coretta Scott King’s funeral yesterday: the critics might be better off not being so defensive. There were two specific things Carter said that raised the ire of […]
Dick Cheney was on PBS’s NewsHour last night, responding to Jim Lehrer’s questions on the issues of the day. But Lehrer saved his best question for last. “Finally, Mr. Vice President, some of the things we’ve gone over, some of the things we haven’t. There’s an increasing thing — here, again, among Republicans as well […]
I’ve never fully understood the administration’s response to why their warrantless-search program only monitors calls if one end of the call lies outside the United States. Officials say they’re monitoring terrorists, protecting the country, and ignoring FISA because the threat is so great, and the surveillance is so valuable, that they have no choice but […]
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: * Former Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Bill Scranton (R) ended his gubernatorial campaign yesterday, essentially clearing the field for former football player Lynn Swann. Technically, Swann still faces Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association executive James Panyard […]
Given the current circumstances, this probably isn’t a good time for career weapons experts to get pushed out of the State Department and replaced with Bush’s political appointees. And yet, that’s exactly what’s happening. State Department officials appointed by President Bush have sidelined key career weapons experts and replaced them with less experienced political operatives […]
In many communities nationwide, eminent domain is a very serious controversy. Courts have ruled that private property can be seized for public use, and more recently, in the now-infamous Kelo ruling, private property can be seized for private use. But here’s an interesting twist — how about seizing private property for religious use? A city […]
George Deutsch is a quintessential example of what’s wrong with the Bush administration’s cronyism. Deutsch, who is 24 years old, was an intern with the Bush presidential campaign in 2004. He was quickly promoted to an influential role in NASA’s public affairs office, where he put his campaign skills to good use, badgering the agency’s […]
Before this week’s Judiciary Committee hearing exploring Bush’s warrantless-search program, there were at least seven Senate Republicans who had expressed concerns about the program’s legality. During the hearing, the number seemed to expand to eight, with Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) expressing reservations. Now, a key House Republican is also breaking ranks. A House Republican whose […]
I had hoped that the Obama v McCain dust-up would be a one-day story, but alas, there was some follow-up yesterday. Apparently, the two senators had a brief telephone conversation yesterday, which went far better than the unpleasant written correspondence. “We’re moving on,” McCain said a few hours after speaking to Obama. “We’re still colleagues. […]