Today’s edition of quick hits. * Something to consider before Bush and the GOP declare “mission accomplished” again in Iraq: “Three powerful car bombs exploded one after the other in a southern provincial capital on Wednesday, killing at least 46 and injuring 149, the most devastating attack in the nation since August, police said. The […]
Would the Clinton campaign put drug use on the table?
Yesterday, the Huffington Post’s Tom Edsall reported that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign may be subtly, quietly targeting Barack Obama over his teenaged drug use. Edsall’s article, though, felt a little thin — it said the Clinton campaign had sent out a “cryptic” email alluding to “shortcomings” in “Obama’s past. The message from the campaign headquarters […]
Congress declares Christmas significant — but not unanimously
Following up on an item from yesterday, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), easily among the top five looniest members of the chamber, successfully forced a resolution onto the House floor, putting the House on record stating that Christmas and Christians are important. Last night, as expected, it passed easily. But it was not, surprisingly enough, unanimous, […]
Still exploiting tragedy for political gain
Yesterday, the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins blamed the “secular media” for Matthew Murray’s shooting rampage in Colorado on Sunday, which left five dead, including the gunman. Murray, 24, had been raised in “a deeply religious Christian household,” but apparently overcome by mental illness, he snapped and gunned down innocent people — a tragedy Perkins […]
The right’s deranged support for waterboarding
Over the last couple of months, conservatives’ rhetoric when it comes to torture-by-waterboarding has taken a turn for the worse. Not too long ago, the right argued that waterboarding is a necessary evil — torture is wrong, they’d say, but in extreme, Jack-Bauer-like circumstances, maybe the nation should tolerate waterboarding for the worst of the […]
Don’t know much about foreign policy
Clearly, the big news from Zev Chafets’ NYT piece on Mike Huckabee, to be published on Sunday in the Times’ Magazine, was the former governor’s suggestion that Mormons believe Jesus and the devil are brothers. But that’s not the only noteworthy tidbit in the article. A friend of mine emailed me about this interesting tidbit: […]
Grand Obstructionist Party takes to blocking its own bills
The story is familiar enough to be mind-numbing: Congress takes up an important policy issue; the House passes a popular bill, a majority of the Senate wants to pass the bill but Republicans won’t let the legislation come to the floor. The bill gets pulled, Congress’ approval ratings fall a little further, and everyone wonders […]
Wednesday’s political round-up
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: * After the GOP invested far more time and effort than it wanted to, Republicans won two special election House races yesterday. State Rep. Bob Latta (R) held off a challenge in Ohio’s […]
Huckabee goes nuclear, questions Romney’s religion
It was supposed to be the bridge that no Republican presidential hopeful crossed — attacking Mormon beliefs. Candidates are certainly free to go after one another on their beliefs, record, and agenda, but going after the religious tenets of a rival’s faith tradition is too low a blow, even by the GOP’s standards. And yet, […]
Greenspan passes the buck on mortgage crisis … to the USSR
Much to my dismay, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan remains a respected figure in financial and political circles. Today, the man once labeled the “Maestro,” offers his take on the ongoing mortgage crisis in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. On Aug. 9, 2007, and the days immediately following, financial markets in much […]