With his autobiography hitting bookstores this week, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been in this news quite a bit lately, and most of the emphasis has been on two central points: Thomas is still bitter about Anita Hill’s (almost certainly accurate) accusations, and he’s still bitter that so many people believed her. There are […]
Obama to urge elimination of nuclear weapons
Kevin Drum recently suggested Barack Obama is doing far too little to go beyond conventional policy prescriptions: “His big foreign policy speech was fine, but cautious and mainstream. His big healthcare speech was fine, but cautious and mainstream. And now his big tax speech is….just cautious and mainstream. I really want to hear something big […]
Bush and ‘Hollywood values’
As regular readers know, it’s really not my style to defend the president, especially when it comes to his unique rhetorical style, but once in a while, the criticism gets a little silly. This isn’t helpful at all — if Bush criticism is off-base, it makes it easier for the right to dismiss all disparagements, […]
GOP’s Graham gives Iraq a hollow threat
For reasons that I’ve never entirely understood, the media establishment decided a few years ago that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is a “serious” lawmaker whose opinions on Iraq necessarily have merit. It’s not clear why — Graham has been wrong about Iraq policy every step of the way for five years. A few weeks ago, […]
Americans to Washington: Reject Bush agenda
At this point, it’s tempting to disregard national political polls about the policy agenda in DC. All of the recent data is exactly the same — Bush is unpopular, the war is unpopular, and the public backs Dems over the GOP — so there’s no real point in getting worked up about this week’s numbers […]
Monday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Less than a week after Rush Limbaugh attacked U.S. troops who disagree with him on the war in Iraq, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) introduced a House resolution to commend the right-wing blowhard for “supporting” the troops. Do you ever get the feeling House Republicans just aren’t very bright? * […]
Fred Thompson clueless again, this time on Iraqi WMD
Actor/lobbyist/politician Fred Thompson has been away from politics for a few years, so it probably didn’t surprise too many that he came across as confused and uninformed shortly after he kicked off his odd presidential campaign. He was a little rusty, and needed some time to clear the cobwebs, read some white papers, and listen […]
Blackwater, State Department covered up incidents in Iraq
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing tomorrow on Blackwater’s activities in Iraq, and by all indications, lawmakers will have plenty to talk about. Guards working in Iraq for Blackwater USA have shot innocent Iraqi civilians and have sought to cover up the incidents, sometimes with the help of the […]
Harry Reid slams Limbaugh as ‘unpatriotic’
Following up on last week’s reporting, Rush Limbaugh’s decision to blast troops who disagree with him about Iraq as “phony soldiers” continues to reverberate. At last count, two major Republican presidential candidates (McCain and Romney) have criticized the far-right blowhard for his remarks; Rep. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) was scheduled to introduce a House resolution condemning […]
Church-state separation has a good day at the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court announced this morning that it will not hear a case about religious organizations paying for workers’ birth-control health insurance benefits. That’s a very positive development. The case, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany v. Dinallo, is the result of a New York law that requires social service agencies, including religious groups, […]