About seven months before the invasion of Iraq began, Slate’s William Saletan raised an interesting point about Tom DeLay’s arguments in favor of a war with Iraq: they apply equally well to Syria. From state sponsorship of terrorism, to probable possession of weapons of mass destruction, to threatening Israel, Saletan noted that for every reason […]
The Washington Post’s media critic, Howard Kurtz, had a couple of links to some great articles about Fox News Channel and its war coverage, giving me an excuse to rant once again about the most contemptible attempts at journalism in the history of broadcast television. First up is Dan Kennedy with the Boston Phoenix who […]
There’s an assumption that permeates American politics about partisanship and the military. Republicans, the idea goes, are allies of the military; the Democrats are foes. Republicans want to increase military spending; Democrats seek to decrease funding. George W. Bush, while campaigning for the presidency, took advantage of this conventional wisdom in many public appearances, frequently […]
Among the many arguments used by skeptics of the war in Iraq in the months leading up to the invasion was the idea that Bush’s “preemption doctrine” would set a dangerous world precedent. As the argument goes, civilized countries don’t go around launching unprovoked attacks against other nations. If war is reserved for retaliatory strikes […]
The flap over Roderick Paige’s apparent intolerance for religious diversity in public schools just refuses to go away. Friday, 12 members of Congress wrote a joint letter to the suddenly controversial Secretary of Education, saying they found it “profoundly troubling” that Paige would suggest that the nation’s public schools “offer an inferior education to those […]
Doesn’t the site look better? Carpetbagger’s amazing wife, let’s call her Evening, spent a couple of hours this afternoon giving the site a needed facelift. As you’ve probably noticed by now if you’ve visited the site before, there’s now a way to email me through the site, plus links to many of my favorite news […]
Finally, a chance to write about two of my favorite topics at the same time: politics and The Simpsons. The BBC is reporting that British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a long-time fan of the show, recorded three lines of dialog this week for an upcoming episode. Apparently, he will be appearing on the show as […]
In the 1980s, Henry Cisneros was a rising star in American politics. He was a popular, successful mayor of San Antonio, and was recognized by many party leaders as a young, handsome, energetic politician who may one day be perfect for national office. (Personal note to Maverick: remember when we met Cisneros at the White […]
John Kerry generated a whole lot of criticism for suggesting we needed “regime change” here in the U.S. But Wednesday, as the now famous Hussein statue was being torn from its foundation, Howard Dean made a comment that seems at least as bad as Kerry’s. Speaking at a forum hosted by the Children’s Defense Fund, […]
I guess today is “Updating Other Stories Day” here at The Carpetbagger Report. On Monday, I expressed outrage about the story of a Southern Baptist military chaplain, the Rev. Josh Llano, who was forcing troops in Iraq to get baptized if they wanted access to his pool of clean, cool water. ”It’s simple,” Llano explained. […]