The WaPo’s Dan Froomkin stepped back a bit today to consider Bush’s “Bubble Boy” policies in the broader context. What does it say about the president of the United States that he won’t go anywhere near ordinary citizens any more? And that he’ll only speak to captive audiences? […] Why is this happening? Is it […]
National Journal recently asked top Republicans in Washington who their favorite Dem is. Not surprisingly, Joe Lieberman came in first (via The Reaction). As if to underscore why, Lieberman wrote a lengthy Wall Street Journal op-ed today, praising the war effort and characterizing the entire effort as going very well. ABC’s The Note said the […]
I’m not generally in the habit of criticizing groups with which I agree, but Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington made an annoying mistake yesterday and should have known better. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) today filed an Internal Revenue Services (IRS) complaint against Focus on the Family, a conservative, non-profit […]
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: * With Duke Cunningham resigning in disgrace yesterday, there’s a vacant House seat in California’s right-leaning 50th congressional district. The seat was going to be open anyway — Cunningham had already said he […]
I’m no expert in Canadian government, but I live a few hours from the border, watch CBC, and keep an eye on Canadian politics. And yesterday, with the fall of Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, was a blockbuster day. For American political purposes, the events offer a telling comparison. After months of political instability, the […]
Considering the right’s unyielding obsession with the non-existent “war on Christmas,” it’s worth noting that the Christmas season began at the White House yesterday, but Laura Bush wasn’t on-message. “Well, all things bright and beautiful is the theme this year. I think it will be really bright and beautiful with this fabulous tree. But thank […]
Having been born and raised in Miami, I look back at the area with some fascination. That’s rarely a complement. Indeed, long-time readers may recall my theory that all bad things that happen in this country have an almost direct connection to Florida. But in case South Florida wasn’t a scary enough place to live […]
The Wall Street Journal editorial page, among the most conservative pieces of media real estate in the nation, had an interesting editorial on Duke Cunningham’s corruption today. The piece generally says the right things, but there was one sentence that stood out: Mr. Cunningham’s graft doesn’t mean that all Republicans are corrupt, any more than […]
I suspect some Americans who don’t follow the political process closely are under the impression that political corruption in Washington is like an old movie — a shady lobbyist, in the middle of the night, meets a congressman in a clandestine location. Confident no one is looking, the lobbyist hands over a bag money (usually […]
By now, you’ve likely heard about Seymour Hersh’s devastating new piece on the war in the latest issue of the New Yorker. If you haven’t already read it, I strongly recommend it. There’s a lot to chew on here, but perhaps the most disconcerting elements of the article were accounts of the president’s inability to […]