Dems ask Bush for a ‘sign’ on signing statements

As you probably heard, the Boston Globe ran a deeply disturbing item a few days ago, which highlighted the fact that the [tag]president[/tag] has “claimed the authority to [tag]disobey[/tag] more than 750 [tag]laws[/tag] enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to [tag]set aside[/tag] any statute passed by [tag]Congress[/tag] when it conflicts […]

Pelosi asks for investigation into alleged prostitution

Leading the way on the list of “things that will never happen,” Nancy [tag]Pelosi[/tag] suggested yesterday that House Speaker Dennis [tag]Hastert[/tag] help launch an ethics committee [tag]investigation[/tag] into whether two defense contractors supplied Duke Cunningham and other lawmakers with [tag]prostitutes[/tag]. Citing media reports, Pelosi wrote to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) to urge the House’s top […]

Republicans’ losses are Dems’ gains — redux

Last week I promised not to report on [tag]Bush[/tag] polls unless they showed him reaching new lows. As it turns out, there are two new national [tag]poll[/tag]s that do just that. First up is USA Today/[tag]Gallup[/tag]. Six months before [tag]Republicans[/tag] try to hold on to control of [tag]Congress[/tag] in the fall elections, a new poll […]

The Plame scandal takes a turn — towards Iran

Nearly three months ago, Raw Story reported that Valerie [tag]Plame[/tag], before being outed by the [tag]Bush[/tag] White House, was “part of an operation tracking distribution and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction technology to and from [tag]Iran[/tag],” while working on the clandestine side of the [tag]CIA[/tag] in the Directorate of Operations as a non-official cover […]

White House logs on Abramoff to go public

Way back on Jan. 4, Scott McClellan promised reporters a “thorough report” on Jack [tag]Abramoff[/tag]’s [tag]White House[/tag] contacts “very soon.” Shortly thereafter, [tag]McClellan[/tag] decided he didn’t want to talk about the issue anymore. At this point, the White House must be working quite diligently on McClellan’s “thorough report,” because no one’s heard a peep on […]

What I learned on my weekend adventure

I’m finally back at my desk, about 40 hours later than I was supposed to be. I can say with considerable confidence, however, that I’ve learned several important things. First, Michael J.W. Stickings from The Reaction came through for me in a huge way. I’m not surprised his guest posts were terrific, because I’ve long […]

Colbert knocks ’em dead

(airport wi-fi blogging is cool) I overheard a couple of people talking at the airport about how Stephen [tag]Colbert[/tag] killed at the White House Correspondents’ Association [tag]Dinner[/tag] over the weekend. I caught a snippet here and there, and thought it was a fairly typical roast-like stand-up routine. But after seeing the whole thing, and then […]

Zarqawi in the crosshairs

Guest Post by Michael J.W. Stickings Kevin Drum has posted on the NBC story about the Pentagon’s plans, just months after 9/11, “to hit the camp of Abu Musab Zarqawi” in northern Iraq. According to the story, Bush “refused to authorize a military strike”. The story, from star correspondent Jim Miklaszewski, “was based on anonymous […]

Mission… not accomplished

Guest Post by Michael J.W. Stickings A new CNN poll reveals that “Americans have strong doubts that the United States will fulfill the promise of President Bush’s ‘Mission Accomplished’ backdrop”: The CNN poll, conducted April 21-23 by Opinion Research Corporation, found that only 9 percent thought the U.S. mission in Iraq had been accomplished, while […]

What do the Bush White House and Austin Powers have in common?

Guest Post by Michael J.W. Stickings They both lost their mojo. But let’s be more precise: Austin Powers (in The Spy Who Shagged Me) had his mojo stolen by his archnemesis Dr. Evil. Powers returns to 1969, and he and partner Felicity Shagwell recover it. And all is well, Fat Bastard and Mini-Me notwithstanding, until […]