Bush has always been fond of his “soft bigotry of low expectations” line. He uses it in a variety of contexts, but the point is always the same: America shouldn’t take pride in weak success or barely surpassing failure. It’s insulting, he argues, to expect little and applaud when we get it. I kept thinking […]
If Ralph Nader could, in theory, count on support from anyone in Congress, it should be Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Bernie is an independent because he doesn’t think the Dems are liberal enough. In Vermont, he created a third party called the “Progressives,” which routinely splits the left vote and allows an otherwise liberal state […]
The Wall Street Journal had a really good story today about Bush and trade (reg. required). It all-but accuses the president of (gasp!) shifting his policies to fit with the political winds of the day. In fact, it more-or-less says so in the very first sentence. For a president who boasts that he says what […]
Bush svengali Karl Rove doesn’t make a lot of public speeches, so it was interesting that he delivered his first commencement address of the year at a small school in Lynchburg, Va., called Liberty University. If you’re not familiar with the school, Liberty is the school that Jerry Falwell created and continues to run as […]
I expected Dick Cheney to defend Don Rumsfeld, but his choice of words belies a far more serious problem with this White House. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney moved to support Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld amid a firestorm over Iraqi prison abuses, with a statement that people should “get off his case” and let Rumsfeld […]
You know the drill. It’s Friday, it’s my last post of the week, and I have some state-by-state polling data to share. As is the case with every Poll Day, these results were released within the last seven days. West Virginia (5 electoral votes) Charleston Daily Mail/WSAZ — Bush 47, Kerry 43, Nader 2 Comment: […]
As expected, the White House has embraced a new round of tough-on-Castro policies, just in time to pander to the (suspected) desires of voters in the king of all swing-states: Florida. The Bush administration said yesterday that it would tighten the 40-year-old U.S. financial squeeze on Cuba and work to prevent President Fidel Castro from […]
On Tuesday, I mentioned how much I liked John Kerry’s new bio ads, which are coming to a TV near you. In particular, I noted how well the ads dealt with the issue of Kerry’s background and how Kerry’s wealth drove him to want to give something back to his country. In this week Correspondents’ […]
If you only read one article today, please make is Jacob Weisberg’s Slate piece on Bush’s intelligence (or lack thereof). It’s excellent. As the best-selling compiler of Bushisms, Weisberg apparently gets asked about this subject a lot. After noting that Bush frequently abuses English grammar, creates ridiculous words, and “habitually says the opposite of what […]
Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) is the kind of Dem that Republicans usually don’t mind too much. He’s a tough moderate, a decorated Vietnam veteran, and he represents a district full of working-class Reagan Democrats. Murtha has a very centrist voting record with one constant: he always backs the military. As one of the biggest hawks […]