Of all the many entertaining Bushisms, perhaps the quintessential presidential malapropism came in 2000, when George W. Bush explained his philosophy on education with a simple, four-word question: “Is our children learning?” Yesterday, at an event in NYC to discuss advances students have made in the National Assessment of Education Progress, the president answered his […]
Dems balk at torture, with one exception
At last night’s debate, Tim Russert noted that a Meet the Press guest posed this scenario: “We get lucky. We get the number three guy in Al Qaida. We know there’s a big bomb going off in America in three days and we know this guy knows where it is. Don’t we have the right […]
I watch debates — so you don’t have to
The conventional wisdom, which in this case isn’t entirely wrong, tells us that the Democratic candidates not named Hillary Clinton have to start taking some pointed risks in order to shake up the race. That means, among other things, taking Clinton on directly at debates. The approach is not without risk. Dem voters frequently sour […]
Wednesday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits. * MSNBC: “Bomb attacks killed 57 people and wounded more than 120 across Iraq on Wednesday as suspected al-Qaida militants stepped up a campaign of violence coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In a mainly Shiite district of southwest Baghdad, twin car bombs killed 32 people in one […]
Conservatives fall on the fainting couch — again
We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Far-right conservatives appear to have more of the latter than the prior, but they are good at a few things: playing the victim, making emotional appeals, raising money from gullible supporters, and most importantly, manufacturing an outrage. The left, for all of its strengths, is horrible at this. […]
With deadline looming, Craig to push off resignation
The on-again, off-again resignation plans of Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) are now off-again. With just four days until his self-imposed Sept. 30 deadline, the embattled Republican now appears ready to push his departure off beyond this week. Sen. Larry Craig won’t resign from the Senate while awaiting a judge’s ruling on his effort to get […]
House condemns MoveOn’s ‘Betray Us’ ad
More than two weeks after the fact, I would have been more than pleased to ignore any further discussion of MoveOn.org’s “Betray Us” ad in the New York Times, but it appears that House Republicans, fresh off their vote denying healthcare to low-income children, have finally found something they can support. The House on Wednesday […]
Senate passes Kyl-Lieberman measure on Iran
Yesterday, the Senate was poised to vote on a non-binding resolution, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), to get the chamber on record supporting some aggressive language towards Iran. The measure was, as Josh Marshall described it, a building block towards an eventual military confrontation with Tehran, following the same pattern […]
The Spanish Downing Street memo?
In February 2003, the president was insistent that he hoped to find a peaceful solution to his standoff with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, and would work with and through the United Nations to resolve the conflict. At least, that was what he was saying publicly. According to a new report published today by El Pais, Spain’s […]
Giuliani’s ‘weirdness factor’
Several years ago, Rudy Giuliani asked his staff to put together a “vulnerability study,” which would highlight potential weaknesses on the campaign trail. The report identified plenty of flaws, but highlighted Giuliani’s “weirdness factor.” It was an interesting choice of words — Giuliani’s own aides seem to realize that their boss is just odd. This […]