The UK’s Telegraph has been running an interesting conversation piece lately, ranking the top 100 most influential liberals and conservatives in U.S. politics. Each day, the British paper unveils another grouping of 20 on the left and 20 on the right, in ascending order. Today, for example, we find a grouping on the right that […]
Bush calls out ‘MoveOn.org bloggers and Code Pink protestors’
The incredibly-shrinking president told the Heritage Foundation today about the new target of his ire. “When it comes to funding our troops, some in Washington should spend more time responding to the warnings of terrorists like Osama bin Laden and the requests of our commanders on the ground, and less time responding to the demands […]
NYC to investigate Giuliani, faulty 9/11 radios
A couple of weeks ago, Brave New Films released a devastating six-minute clip about a Rudy Giuliani’s Achilles heel: his decision to ignore (and lie about) concerns over the FDNY’s radio equipment, which ultimately cost so many lives on 9/11. Thanks to the film and 20,000 petition signatures collected in response, the city is going […]
RNC chairman blames debt on 9/11
Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan was on CNN yesterday, explaining how confident he is that the GOP is going to do really well in next year’s election cycle. “I’ve been in 27 states so far, and I’m seeing a great enthusiasm,” Duncan said. “And after last night, my phone rang off the hook today […]
Bush offers unpersuasive defense of Mukasey
With Michael Mukasey’s Attorney General nomination looking increasingly tenuous, the president presented a defense this morning to counter lawmaker’s questions. A growing number of senators still want Mukasey to explain whether he believes waterboarding is torture, but Bush believes he need not provide an answer. Bush said it was unfair to ask Mukasey about interrogation […]
Thursday’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: * As expected, the powerful and politically influential American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) endorsed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign yesterday. “This is no time to take chances. We need someone […]
Public schools and the ‘right of exit’
The Atlantic’s Megan McArdle has published a series of posts about school vouchers lately, and I’ve avoided weighing in because, frankly, I wrote about vouchers almost every day for six years and grew a little tired of it. But Megan’s latest (and apparently, last) item on the subject is worth taking a moment to consider […]
Republican rank-and-file open to third-party bid
We’ve seen a growing body of evidence of late that far-right social conservatives really are prepared to break with the Republican Party if Rudy Giuliani is the GOP’s presidential nominee. An LAT/Bloomberg poll released last week, for example, found that Giuliani is still the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, but “about one-third of GOP voters […]
Jury to right-wing hate church: Pay up
The vile Westboro Baptist Church, made up of right-wing Christian fundamentalists who protest the funerals of U.S. troops killed in Iraq, has been the subject of an ongoing lawsuit. In March 2006, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder was being laid to rest when Fred Phelps and his family showed up with signs that read, […]
Hell, no, they won’t go
After staffing key diplomatic roles for years with inexperienced ideologues, the U.S. embassy in Iraq, and Amb. Ryan Crocker in particular, are desperate to have competent State Department officials in Iraq. Not surprisingly, State employees are, shall we say, reluctant to go. A few days ago, the State Department, left with too few volunteers, announced […]