At a recent White House press briefing, Scott McClellan told reporters that he was reviewing WH records so he could get a better sense of Jack Abramoff’s dealings with the White House, including number of visits, meetings, pictures, etc. Reporters were naturally curious about the information and McClellan told them, “I’m making sure that I […]
The Jack Abramoff scandal has clearly rattled House Speaker Dennis Hastert, so much so that he’s not making a lot of sense while defending his caucus. QUESTION: Mr. Speaker, if I could ask you a question, the Abramoff scandal is what has forced you into this position. A year ago, the things that you’re proposing […]
It’s bad enough that Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) has helped spearhead the congressional Republicans’ “K Street Project.” But if Santorum thinks he can play dumb about it now, and expects anyone to believe him, he’s in worse shape than his supporters feared. Yesterday, Santorum claimed the K Street Project “has not been about putting pressure […]
Al Gore went on the offensive yesterday; the White House responded today. End of story? Not exactly — Gore issued a statement today, offering some fact-checking to the Bush gang’s response. (via News Unfiltered) “The Administration’s response to my speech illustrates perfectly the need for a special counsel to review the legality of the NSA […]
Responding to the limited media interest in Al Gore’s remarks yesterday, Atrios raised a point yesterday that got me thinking. I’m not going to claim that CNN was obligated to carry a speech by a former vice president currently not directly involved in politics. But I do think responsible news organizations should ask themselves if […]
The vaunted White House political machine had a full day to craft a compelling, persuasive response to Al Gore’s sweeping condemnation of the president’s warrantless-search program (among other things). They had time to work with language, do plenty of research, and come up with the best spin possible. And yet, they’ve got nothing. The White […]
Just two weeks ago, we learned that best-selling compiler and conservative radio talk-show host Bill Bennett was poised to make the transition from Fox News to CNN, despite his recent controversies and his controversial government contracts with the Bush administration. Now, it’s another conservative radio talk-show host headed for CNN. CNN Headline News is continuing […]
The Bush administration has argued for years that it could block an Oregon law permitting physician-assisted suicide. Today, the Supreme Court disagreed. The Supreme Court upheld Oregon’s one-of-a-kind physician-assisted suicide law Tuesday, rejecting a Bush administration attempt to punish doctors who help terminally ill patients die. Justices, on a 6-3 vote, said that a federal […]
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 just a few minutes, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) will formally announce whether he will seek re-election this year or retire from the Senate. Though Lott has been coy for weeks, he […]
It was only a matter of time before Bush’s warrantless-search program faced a serious court challenge. It looks like two court filings will get the ball rolling today. Two leading civil rights groups plan to file lawsuits Tuesday against the Bush administration over its domestic spying program to determine whether the operation was used to […]