Today’s edition of quick hits. * Violence in Afghanistan continues to worsen: “A car bomb ripped through the front wall of the Indian Embassy in central Kabul on Monday, killing 40 people in the deadliest attack in Afghanistan’s capital since the fall of the Taliban, officials said.” * And in Pakistan: “A suicide bomber marked […]
For some of us, keeping an eye on Fox News’ partisan and unprofessional antics is a habit of morbid curiosity. For the great folks at Media Matters, monitoring Fox News is part of an ambitious drive to bring some accountability to modern journalism. But imagine being a media reporter for a legitimate news outlet, and […]
During his first presidential campaign, George W. Bush was pressed on whether he ever had to prepare a budget as the governor of Texas. Bush, pointing to the state’s finances, said, “It’s clearly a budget; it’s got a lot of numbers in it.” Eight years later, we have Bush’s would-be Republican successor, John McCain, unveiling […]
Following up on an item from Friday, former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), arguably the last proud, unrepentant racist on the national political scene, died at age 86, prompting an outpouring of support from his conservative allies. The National Review published its editorial on Helms’ death today, labeling him “a true American patriot,” and questioning why […]
Last month, when economists, en masse, concluded that John McCain’s idea for a “gas-tax holiday” didn’t make a lick of sense, McCain told a group of voters that economists aren’t to be trusted. This morning, McCain decided that he actually loves economists. U.S. Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign today released a statement signed by over […]
E. J. Dionne Jr. had a column in September 2004 that’s always stuck with me. He noted, in the midst of the presidential campaign, that Republicans are not above lying, but Dems seem to be squeamish about it. “A very intelligent political reporter I know said the other night that Republicans simply run better campaigns […]
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: * As had been rumored, the DNC announced this morning that Barack Obama will accept the party’s presidential nomination at Denver’s Invesco Field at Mile High. The stadium, home to the Denver Broncos, […]
The NYT noted today, “Not since at least 1980, when the United States was reeling from the oil shocks, inflation and slow growth of the previous decade, has the economy been in worse shape heading into the heart of a presidential campaign. The crush of bad economic news — six consecutive months of job losses, […]
On Friday, to help honor Independence Day, the president appeared in Charlottesville, Virginia, and hosted a naturalization ceremony at Monticello. Bush had quite a bit to say about the president who called Monticello home. “The principles that Thomas Jefferson enshrined in the Declaration became the guiding principles of the new nation. And at every generation, […]
The official national Republican platform is 100 pages long, and 91 of those pages reference George W. Bush. Not only will the party want to downplay the unpopular president’s role in shaping the party’s agenda for the future, but it will obviously be necessary to start promoting John McCain as the party’s leader. But the […]