The Carpetbagger Report

Of all the presidential candidates, Mitt Romney should be the very last one to publicly endorse discrimination on the basis of religion. He’s a member of a religious minority, he’s been the target of discrimination, and he’s spent the better part of 2007 imploring Americans to judge public officials on their ideas and character. To […]

Today’s edition of quick hits. * The bear market continues to rear its ugly head: “Wall Street sold off sharply Monday as concerns about a weakening credit market wiped out investors’ enthusiasm about strong retails sales over the holiday weekend. The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 240 points. Investors were unnerved by another series […]

In light of Congress’ low approval ratings, some have suggested that the wave that washed Republicans out of the congressional majority 12 months ago has already subsided, and both chambers will once again be up for grabs 12 months from now. CQ’s Bob Benenson and Jonathan Allen took a very thorough look at the landscape […]

This may come as a surprise to … absolutely no one, but what Rudy Giuliani says and what he does are frequently at odds with one another. In the latest example, Candidate Giuliani hates earmarks, but Businessman Giuliani loves ’em. On the campaign trail, Rudy Giuliani rails against congressional spending set aside for lawmakers’ pet […]

Among the many dejecting developments in Iraq in recent years are the millions of Iraqis who were forced to flee their homes and their country. As part of the broader effort to bolster the performance of the Maliki government, officials are touting impressive numbers allegedly showing these Iraqis finally coming home. On Nov. 7, Brig. […]

Having just returned from a Thanksgiving trip to Iraq with John McCain and Joe Lieberman, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) appeared on Fox News yesterday to — you guessed it — hail Bush’s Iraq policy with unrestrained hyperbole. “[The existing policy is] working amazingly well, beyond my expectations. I think history will judge the surge as […]

Following up on this morning’s item, there are a variety of official and unofficial reasons for Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), just one year after asking voters in Mississippi to give him another six-year term, giving up his seat before the end of the calendar year. Some are more plausible than others. * Explanation #1: “Spend […]

Way back in February 2006, Tom Engelhardt noted that the “debate” over permanent U.S. bases in Iraq was practically non-existent. After a search of the LexisNexis database, he explained, “American reporters adhere to a simple rule: The words ‘permanent,’ ‘bases,’ and ‘Iraq’ should never be placed in the same sentence, not even in the same […]

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: * Slowly but surely, Rudy Giuliani’s scandalous personal life is becoming more of a campaign issue: “‘It just drives me nuts, I have to be honest with you, when politicians get up and […]

One of the more embarrassing setbacks for the Bush administration’s policy in the Middle East came after the Palestinian elections nearly two years ago. The White House was convinced, naively, that in all circumstances, democracy equals peace. If given a choice, no group of people would intentionally choose to support terrorists in a free election. […]