I may be the only one bothered by this, but Howard Kurtz raised a troubling incident in his column today in the Washington Post. As Kurtz explained, the Post’s Jonathan Weisman, a business reporter, spoke with a White House economist who was hesitant to speak on the record. To accommodate the economists’ concerns, Weisman sent […]
Which Dick Cheney is right about post-war control in Iraq? You’ve got two to choose from. First there’s 1991 Dick Cheney (via Tapped): “If you’re going to go in and try to topple Saddam Hussein, you have to go to Baghdad. Once you’ve got Baghdad, it’s not clear what you will do with it. It’s […]
Following up on yesterday’s post about the White House lacking consistency in its approach to foreign affairs, an article in today’s Washington Post includes a few graphs highlighting this point on Iraq. The piece notes that the administration has “come full circle” in what it says is the goal in Iraq. First, the White House […]
I’d really recommend James Mann’s article in today’s Washington Post about Bush’s approach to dealing with America’s allies. It highlights a number of interesting points that observers of international affairs consider in evaluating the administration’s trouble with diplomacy, which Mann describes as “a major intellectual failure” of the White House. The crux of the piece […]
In June 1992, Bill Clinton was in the midst of a tough primary for the Democratic nomination for president as he prepared to give an important speech to the NAACP. In the week leading up to the event, a rapper named Sister Souljah made national headlines for saying, “If black people kill black people every […]
In case you missed it, Bob Graham faced his first political challenge of his young life as a presidential candidate this week. I think he passed the test just fine. The filibuster against Miguel Estrada’s nomination the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has been dividing the Senate for a few weeks now. […]
Foreign policy in the 1960s was marked by a doctrine known as the “Domino Theory.” In a nutshell, the idea was that allowing one country to fall to communism, particularly in East Asia, would embolden communists and lead other countries to fall as well. Among others, President Lyndon Johnson embraced this idea and used it […]
For nearly nine months, the White House has had the luxury of ignoring the Israeli/Palestinian crisis. Truth be told, the president has intentionally ignored events that pushed both sides further from peace since the day he took office. But it was nearly nine months ago when Bush announced that he would “support” Palestinian efforts just […]
There’s a real gem of a quote hidden deep in the New York Times’ coverage of the administration’s unsuccessful efforts at the U.N. “There’s a recognition this has not been our finest diplomatic hour,” one senior White House official told the newspaper. You can say that again. These guys are looking more and more like […]
War is coming, push has officially come to shove, and the commentariat is falling into definite categories. It’s fascinating to watch from a distance. As I’ve mentioned before, opponents and supporters of a U.S. invasion of Iraq do not fall along simple, predictable lines. While policy debates in DC usually break down into Dems vs. […]