Guest Post by Ed Stephan. Nearly all news media now tend to “tabloidize” events — not just pointing with alarm to unusual events, but also seeing everything only from the point of view of how events affect an individual. A story about unemployment may begin with “Mary looks fretfully at what may be her last […]
Yesterday I noted that top-level Republicans had created the K Street Project, which is an ongoing effort to seize control of Washington’s lobbying apparatus through intimidation, hardball political tactics, and even private threats. Today we see that K Street itself, despite being dominated by GOP staffers, is starting to resent their puppet masters. An alleged […]
The LA Times’ Janet Hook recently reported that Bush run for a second term on a specific policy agenda. Many of the assets Bush brings to his second term distinguish him from other two-term presidents. Unlike President Reagan’s broad-brush “Morning in America” campaign for reelection in 1984, for example, Bush ran in 2004 on a […]
I think it’s fair to say most reasonable people stopped taking the Christian Coalition seriously quite a while ago, but the group’s latest press release is too unbelievable not to share. Roberta Combs, President of the Christian Coalition of America said, “The discrimination by left-wing Democrats of highly qualified conservative women to the United States […]
Everyone no doubt heard about May’s employment numbers, which were the worst in nearly two years. It’s worth noting the president’s reaction the day after the figures were released, in his weekly radio address. “America’s economy is on the right track. Over the past two years, we’ve added more than 3.5 million new jobs.” Some […]
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: * Over six months after the election, a state judge has rejected a challenge to Gov. Christine Gregoire’s (D) victory in Washington’s gubernatorial race. The judge agreed that nearly 1,700 illegal votes had […]
It’s been bubbling just beneath the surface for a while now, but the scandal surrounding a lucrative Boeing contact continues to get more interesting. In fact, questions about the White House’s role in the controversy have never been sufficiently explored. First, a quick recap for those who haven’t heard about this. A year ago this […]
Bush addressed the Organization of American States yesterday and suggested, indeed he predicted, that Fidel Castro’s regime will eventually fall and democracy would come to Cuba. “In the new Americas of the 21st century, democracy is now the rule, rather than the exception. Think of the dramatic changes we have seen in our lifetime. In […]
It’s a tough call, but for my money, the most offensive of the charges swirling around House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is his efforts on behalf of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). In the late 1990s, DeLay visited Saipan, the main island of the CNMI, on Jack Abramoff’s dime. Though it was […]
Congress may not want to see medical marijuana on its legislative agenda this year, but it looks like it might end up there anyway. There are currently 11 states that permit medical use of marijuana under controlled and highly-regulated conditions. The Supreme Court’s ruling yesterday did not strike down those laws, but did conclude that […]