Time magazine White House correspondent Mike Allen is a real reporter. I’ve been following his work for a long time, and he’s generally a serious guy who, more often than not, does solid work. Which is exactly why this was so disappointing. Appearing on the January 17 edition of CNN Headline News’ Glenn Beck, Time […]
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: * Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) probably expects to suffer politically a bit for his support of Bush’s policies in Iraq, but probably not this much. A new LA Times poll shows that more […]
Across the country, United States Attorneys are sometimes described as local attorneys general — each U.S. Attorney is the chief federal law enforcement officer within his or her local jurisdiction. There’s a pretty typical pattern for their tenures — a president nominates these federal prosecutors at the beginning of his term, and they serve until […]
Several months ago, John Solomon wrote a series of odd and misleading articles attacking Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), accusing him of ethical lapses. The closer one looked at the criticisms, the weaker the charges looked. Months later, Reid was cleared of any wrongdoing, while Solomon was inexplicably rewarded — in December he took over the […]
I realize that Stephen Colbert’s performance at last year’s White House Correspondents Association dinner was considered “edgy” by the old-school establishment. Colbert appeared in character, and delivered a hilarious monologue, which just so happened to skewer both the president and the reporters who cover him. It was a classic moment, which we weren’t likely to […]
I haven’t seen independent confirmation of this, so consider it an unofficial transcript, but Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was asked yesterday about the constitutional right of habeas corpus during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. If accurate, his reported response was one for the ages. (Note: this transcript has been updated to be more accurate) SPECTER: […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * I can appreciate the fact that the story appeared in the Fashion section, but there continues to be far too much interest among reporters in Nancy Pelosi’s clothing. She’s been Speaker for two weeks; Dennis Hastert was Speaker for seven years. Guess whose fashion choices generated more “news” items? […]
The “100 Hours” agenda is wrapping up today, and as Tom Edsall explained, “Something odd happened on Capitol Hill this week. Something that seemed to start out as a publicity stunt — the House Democratic leadership’s 100-hour agenda — actually turned into a…qualified success.” (Try not to sound too surprised, Tom.) Pelosi & Co. came […]
President Bush, yesterday: “First, I’m pleased that we’re funding cancer research. We’re up about 25 percent or 26 percent since 2001; it’s a commitment that I made when I first came to Washington, it’s a commitment we’re keeping. And the reason why it makes sense to spend taxpayers’ money on cancer research is that we […]
I know the Small Business Administration isn’t exactly the sexiest agency in the government, but this is the quintessential example of how the Bush administration tries, and fails, to operate as a functional branch of government. The federal government’s biggest program to help people rebuild after natural disasters is on the verge of running out […]