NBC Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski reported yesterday on the president’s escalation plan for Iraq (aka, the “McCain doctrine”), which Bush has reportedly “all but decided” to pursue. The interesting part, as ThinkProgress noted, is the motivation driving the administration’s decision making. From last night’s broadcast: “Administration officials told us today that President Bush has now […]
One last post about Rep.-elect [tag]Keith Ellison[/tag] (D-Minn.) and his use of a Koran during his ceremonial swearing-in photo-op. If you’re just joining us, right-wing talk-show host and writer Dennis Prager got the ball rolling about a month ago, arguing that Ellison, Congress’ first Muslim, will literally “undermine American civilization” and “embolden Islamic extremists” if […]
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: * A very disconcerting report by Voter Action, VotersUnite.Org and VoteTrustUSA highlights how “electronic voting machines meant to streamline the Election Day process have resulted in late poll openings, data-retrieval errors and widespread […]
Barack Obama’s “shady” real estate deal turned out to be a pretty weak controversy. The intern story was even duller. The poor conservative attacks dogs are desperate enough to try and bring Obama down by talking about his ears, his middle name, and his father’s Muslim beliefs. Not surprisingly, all of these fascinating topics seemed […]
TV preacher Pat Robertson doesn’t just sit around doing 2,000-pound leg presses all day, sometimes he appears on his television program to share messages he receives from God with the rest of us. He’s generous that way. In his latest instance of sharing wisdom from above, Robertson wants us all to know that we’ll have […]
I neglected to mention this yesterday, but it’s still worth noting that [tag]John Edwards[/tag] has crafted exactly the right frame of the president’s escalation plan for Iraq. It’s time to start calling it the “McCain doctrine.” Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, targeting a potential Republican rival in 2008, dubbed plans for a short-term U.S. troop […]
I think most Americans appreciate the notion of “[tag]sacrifice[/tag].” Particularly after 9/11, the nation expected to give up on some luxuries in exchange for a national commitment. People appreciate hard work, altruism, and putting others’ needs above their own — the cornerstones of “sacrifice” — such as with parents who sacrifice for their kids. I […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * The AP, noting that previous wars have claimed far more lives, asks why U.S. casualties in Iraq are so upsetting to the nation. It’s a provocative point, but I think Will Bunch is quite right: “When the war is a mistake from Day One, then one U.S. military death […]
The New York Times’ front-page 3,000-word account of the Bush administration’s unraveling policy in Iraq is easily today’s must-read, for more reasons than one. The article, on its face, is fairly devastating. At every key moment in the conflict, the Bush gang has been a couple of steps behind where they should have been. It […]
Somebody’s getting fired. It’s clearly laid out in 140 pages of printed text, handwriting and spreadsheets: The top-secret plan for Rudy Giuliani’s bid for the White House. The remarkably detailed dossier sets out the budgets, schedules and fund-raising plans that will underpin the former New York mayor’s presidential campaign – as well as his aides’ […]