Yesterday’s report in the New York Times about low test scores for students in charter schools generated considerable attention, particularly from Education Secretary (and charter school advocate) Rod Paige. The data that showed poor student performance came from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is widely considered by education professionals to be the “report […]
With just three months before the election, it takes some guts for a lawmaker to publicly admit that his support for Bush’s war in Iraq was wrong. It takes even more courage when we’re talking about a Republican from Nebraska. And yet, there was Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-Neb.) yesterday, admitting that the Iraqi invasion, in […]
MoveOn.org, in response to the SBVfT’s scurrilous ads, launched a new spot of its own this week, noting that Bush pulled strings to get into the National Guard and then never fulfilled his duties. The same ad calls on Bush to denounce the Swiftboat Hacks once and for all. The ad invites a comparison, which […]
Secretary of State Colin Powell, who occasionally sees the need to be “sensitive” to the needs and wishes of the international community, was asked to weigh in on Dick “Go F— Yourself” Cheney’s hypocritical condemnation of John Kerry using of the infamous “s” word. Ever the diplomat, Powell did his best to avoid the substance […]
Some days, I hear the latest Bush attack and feel the temptation to just shake my head in disgust, fight back the nausea, and pretend like I didn’t see that. Yesterday’s salvo on missile defense is just such an attack. In a campaign filled with bewildering nonsense, this one has to be right up near […]
As if there weren’t enough culture-war lawsuits being filed, Jerry Falwell has decided to expand his right-wing college and add a law school. The Rev. Jerry Falwell will open a law school this month in hopes of training a generation of attorneys who will fight for conservative causes. “We want to infiltrate the culture with […]
Seth Stevenson had an item in Slate yesterday about one of everyone’s favorite topics — the presidential election in Florida. It’s a great piece, which I largely agree with, but there was one point in particular that I’d like to share. Four years ago, Nader garnered 97,000 votes in Florida, which represented about 1.6% of […]
Tommy Thompson, Bush’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, sought to deflect criticism of the administration’s stem-cell research policies with an op-ed yesterday in USA Today. Unfortunately, Michael Kinsley had already debunked all of Thompson’s points the day before in the Washington Post. Thompson got the ball rolling by arguing that Bush deserves credit for […]
There are two equal-size parts to political outreach — seeking support and actually getting it. So far, Bush’s gang has done a little work on the first part, but is still failing when it comes to the second. Ryan Lizza had an item in The New Republic yesterday on Bush’s inability to make inroads within […]
Public schools don’t get good news all of the time, so when it happens, it’s cause for celebration. First up, Jeb Bush’s drive to use public funds to pay for private school tuition was dealt a serious set back yesterday when a state appeals court ruled Bush’s voucher scheme is unconstitutional. The 2-1 decision by […]