Time magazine’s Joe Klein devotes his column this week to delivering what he calls “Teddy” Awards — inspired by a Theodore Roosevelt quote about those who “strive valiantly,” at the risk of failing “while daring greatly” — for political courage. To be sure, this can be one of those hard-to-define qualities. JFK wrote a whole […]
Back to the future with the Clintons
To this day, when Bill Clinton makes appearances on behalf of his wife’s presidential campaign, he’ll frequently take the stage to the sound of his signature song from the 1992 campaign: “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.” Increasingly, there’s ample evidence that the song’s chorus is actually the opposite of the message the Clinton campaign is […]
Giuliani pressed, dissembles on faulty 9/11 radios
In October, Brave New Films released a devastating six-minute clip about one of Rudy Giuliani’s most serious 9/11 failures: his decision to ignore (and lie about) concerns over the FDNY’s radio equipment, which ultimately cost so many lives on 9/11. (The issue is now under investigation by city officials.) The video explains that Giuliani was […]
Yet another GOP candidate rejects modern biology
Way back in May, in one of the more memorable debate moments of the year, John McCain was asked a straightforward question: “Do you believe in evolution?” It’s the 21st century and McCain is an educated man, so it should have been an easy one, but he’s a Republican, and he needs to appeal to […]
Mitt Romney, Martin Luther King, and the final word
At this point, far too much ink — digital and analog — has been spilled covering Mitt Romney’s bizarre exaggeration about his father marching with Martin Luther King, but let’s just add one closing note. To briefly recap, Romney, hoping to defend his civil rights and record and his church’s racist past, has repeatedly claimed […]
Republicans’ none-of-the-above problem
One of the striking things about the large field of Republican presidential candidates is just how diverse it is. No, not in the traditional sense of diversity — they’re all wealthy, middle-aged, Christian white guys — but in the sense there’s a candidate for the various factions of the party. Some have decades of experience […]
Rove’s book gets marked down — before it’s written
A few weeks ago, word surfaced that Karl Rove was shopping for a book publisher, and was poised to make a cool $3 million. He is, after all, Karl Rove. He’s The Architect. As the greatest political mind of the decade, his book is bound to be awesome. Or so the theory went. In reality, […]
When the CIA plays hide and seek
As soon as we learned about the CIA hiding and destroying its torture tapes, the list of people who’d been misled about the videos’ existence was surprising long, and included a federal court, members of Congress, and the 9/11 Commission, which has been tasked with expansive investigate authority, including subpoena power. Almost immediately, it was […]
Romney takes aim at McCain’s weakness
For the better part of the year, John McCain’s campaign was in free-fall, so much so that the rest of the Republican field felt entirely comfortable ignoring him altogether. His money was gone, his staff had quit, and his poll numbers had sunk to near second-tier status. There just wasn’t much point in challenging a […]
Huckabee Panic continues — Limbaugh announces opposition
Conservative opposition to Mike Huckabee’s campaign has been solidifying in recent weeks, to the point of near movement-wide panic. He’s come under fire from leading conservative magazines (National Review, Weekly Standard), leading conservative pundits (Noonan, Krauthammer, Lowry), and leading conservative bloggers (Reynolds, Malkin, et al). But in nearly all of those instances, Huckabee supporters could […]