A 9/11 poll was released late last week that caused quite a stir over the weekend. I have a hunch the agitation is misplaced. Nearly two-thirds of Americans think it is possible that some federal officials had specific warnings of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, but chose to ignore […]
U.S. policy in Afghanistan failing, too
In Iraq, the Bush administration has had so little success meeting its own benchmarks, officials have quietly thrown out its list of goals and redefined “success” by moving the goalposts closer. In Afghanistan, regrettably, it’s more of the same. A White House assessment of the war in Afghanistan has concluded that wide-ranging strategic goals that […]
Fred Thompson laments Fox News’ bias
Under normal circumstances, the public officials most likely to decry Fox News’ irresponsible brand of journalism are Dems who can’t help but notice that the partisan network is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Republican Party. Yesterday, however, the network was accused of bias by a Republican. Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) suggested on Sunday that […]
Trent Lott to resign from Senate
There have been rumors about Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott’s (R-Miss.) future plans, but this news will almost certainly catch the political world off-guard. NBC News has learned that Trent Lott’s in the midst of informing close allies that he plans to resign his senate seat before the end of the year. It’s possible a […]
McCain in self-congratulatory mode
On ABC’s “This Week,” John McCain was in self-congratulatory mode. It was actually kind of embarrassing. STEPHANOPOULOS: Yet one of them, Governor Richardson — he’s coming up next — says there’s no way, no way the government is finally going to get its act together and make these compromises unless we tell them we’re going […]
Halperin’s mea culpa?
When it comes to the elite political media, Mark Halperin’s the kind of guy who gets invited to all the cool kids’ parties. ABC News’ “The Note” was his creation; he’s a regular on all the talking heads’ shows, and earlier this year, Halperin became the editor at large and senior political analyst for Time […]
A shift in ‘tone’?
Quick quiz — when was this Hillary Clinton quote about Iraq first uttered: “The fundamental point here is that the purpose of the surge was to create space for political reconciliation and that has not happened, and there is no indication that it is going to happen, or that the Iraqis will meet the political […]
Goalpost on the move in Iraq: ‘Reconciliation’ is out; ‘accommodation’ is in
For all its dissembling, the White House has actually been fairly clear about the purpose of Bush’s “surge” policy — more U.S. troops would offer Iraqi political leaders some “breathing room” to achieve reconciliation. From there, sectarian conflicts would ease, and some semblance of stability would emerge. It all sounds very nice, except the policy […]
Howard, Bush ally, trounced in Australia
During a September visit to Australia, President Bush did his level best to rally support for Prime Minister John Howard, a conservative ideological ally. Conceding that the Australian electorate seems anxious to change directions, Bush added, “I wouldn’t count the man out. As I recall, he’s kind of like me. We both have run from […]
The Broder-Bot 9000
It was only a matter of time. After decades at the Washington Post, David Broder has apparently succeeded in using 21st-century technology to create the Broder-Bot 9000. It’s quite a handy gizmo — the Broder-Bot 9000 seems to have enabled the WaPo columnist to publish pieces without writing them. He simply feeds the Broder-Bot 9000 […]