A month ago, expecting the president to start making recess appointments the moment the Senate broke for a Thanksgiving break, the Democratic leadership announced it would hold pro-forma sessions for two weeks. Sens. Jim Webb (Va.), Byron Dorgan (N.D.), and Jack Reed (R.I.) would stop by the chamber every couple of days, bang the gavel, […]
Romney’s MLK trump card starts to look shaky
On Meet the Press over the weekend, Tim Russert pressed Mitt Romney on his church’s history of racism. As the host noted, the LDS Church didn’t allow black people to participate fully in church services until 1978. “You were 31 years old, and your church was excluding blacks from full participation,” Russert said. “Didn’t you […]
Reality catches up with Giuliani
Various polling outfits have been asking voters about their 2008 presidential preferences since, believe it or not, 2005. And in every national poll for more than two years, former mayor Rudy Giuliani has led the Republican field, often by quite a bit. It led the political world to give Giuliani an awkward title: frontrunner. It […]
Wednesday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits. * We haven’t had too many signing ceremonies lately, so I suppose today was good news: “President Bush signed into law Wednesday legislation that will bring more fuel-efficient vehicles into auto showrooms and require wider use of ethanol, calling it ‘a major step’ toward energy independence and easing global warming. […]
Why Edwards and Obama have the good sense to avoid Fox News
About two weeks ago, Fox News’ Chris Wallace was incredulous about John Edwards’ and Barack Obama’s decision to steer clear of Fox News. Last week, Wallace was at it again, complaining to viewers that the two Dems just won’t accept his invitations. Today, Brave New Films offers the Republican network a helpful hint as to […]
An effective IED strategy — that the administration opposed
When it comes to U.S. casualties in Iraq, more damage has been done by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) than any other culprit. Thankfully, a more effective strategy in dealing with roadside bombs has saved countless American lives. When Army Capt. Jeremy Gwinn’s company patrolled Baghdad in 2005, the approach toward roadside bombs was simple: avoid […]
Why the right shouldn’t be bragging about the Dems’ legislative setbacks
It’s fair to say, looking back, that 2007 hasn’t turned out quite the way the new Democratic congressional majority had hoped. After an impressive, surprise victory in November 2006, in which Americans delivered both chambers to the Dems, the first year hasn’t produced the legislative victories anyone had hoped for. For most political observers, there’s […]
Congratulations to the record-breaking Senate GOP — Most. Obstructionist. Ever.
For quite a while, many of us have wondered whether Republican officials in Washington have any apparent talents at all. Governing is clearly not their strong suit, but are they completely without skills? Absolutely not. The 49-member Senate Republican minority has done something no Senate minority in American history has ever done: they’ve filibustered more […]
A cute debate exchange does not a ‘defining moment’ make
At last week’s debate for Republican presidential candidates, the moderator asked one of those annoying show-of-hands questions, but nevertheless raised a crucial point: “I’d like to see a show of hands. How many of you believe global climate change is a serious threat caused by human activity?” Fred Thompson said, “I’m not doing hand shows […]
The silly White House push-back against the torture-tape story
Following up on an earlier item, the NYT reports today that multiple White House lawyers, including luminaries such as Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, and Harriet Miers, were well aware of the CIA torture tapes, and were involved in discussion about whether the videos should be destroyed. It didn’t take long for the Bush gang to […]