Some political observers may have missed it over the weekend, but far-right critics of Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) redeployment plan for troops in Iraq have decided not to attack his approach, but rather, attack his military service. In an eerie replay of the Swiftboat hacks, a conservative “news” site called Cybercast News Service ran an […]
I don’t know if Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was scheduled to hit the prime-time talk shows last night before Al Gore’s speech, but the former Vice President seems to have pushed the administration into a defensive posture with his sweeping condemnation of Bush’s disregard for the rule of law. Gonzales apparently hasn’t thought of any […]
The New York Times seems to have the story of the day on this morning’s front page, reporting that the National Security Agency collected a “flood” of tips after the agency boosted domestic surveillance after 9/11, overwhelming the FBI with leads that amounted to practically nothing. In the anxious months after the Sept. 11 attacks, […]
I can appreciate that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has been under a great deal of pressure the last several months, but by publicly arguing that recent hurricanes are a sign that “God is mad at America” and at African-American communities, I’m afraid Nagin is venturing into Pat Robertson-like territory. Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday […]
I expected today’s speech from Al Gore to be good, but I didn’t appreciate what a sweeping and powerful condemnation it would be of the White House, Congress’ perfidy, and what Gore described as a wholesale rejection of constitutional principles. It was, in a word, devastating. Raw Story has the text of the speech as […]
We don’t yet know exactly how many lawmakers will be caught up in the Abramoff scandal; it could be six, or it could be 60. Surely, all of these transgressions will keep the House Ethics Committee remarkably busy over the next year, right? Wrong. The leaders of Congress’ ethics committees are not committing to any […]
Last week, Bush held a town-hall-like forum in Louisville and received a pretty good question: “As a small business owner, like a lot of people in this room, we look at the dramatic cost increases that have been passed along, and that we all really struggle with how do we provide our employees with health […]
In light of the controversy surrounding the investigation into All Saints Episcopal in Southern California, this should be an interesting matter for the IRS to look into in Ohio. A group of religious leaders has sent a complaint to the Internal Revenue Service requesting an investigation of two large churches in Ohio that they say […]
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: * The president’s approval rating seemed to have finally stabilized just about the 40% threshold, but a new Zogby poll suggests the president’s modest boost in December has faded. Bush’s overall job approval […]
Most daily newspapers have a Sunday edition that includes advertising supplements and a substance-less “news magazine” insert, usually either Parade of USA Weekend. Readers can find short, pithy “articles,” including interviews with celebrities, gossip, maybe a recipe or two, etc. But as my friend Cathy Resmer reported, yesterday’s edition of USA Weekend included one item […]