The Carpetbagger Report

Today is kind of an unusual day at Carpetbagger HQ, so I thought I’d give readers a heads-up. Saturday-contributor Morbo will be stopping by shortly with some words of wisdom. From there, I’ll have some posts, all of which will be posted by timer. (I mention this because, if a major news story breaks today, […]

Today’s edition of quick hits. * There’s no such thing as the Petraeus report, but there is a new White House report: “The White House told Congress Friday that Iraqi leaders gained little new ground on key military and political goals, a discouraging assessment a day after President Bush announced that progress justifies keeping a […]

I’d be remiss if I neglected to mention that Alberto Gonzales, arguably the worst Attorney General in U.S. history, is signing off today after a scandal-plagued three years. As it turns out, we’re ready to see him go, and Gonzales is ready to walk away. After nine months of noisy controversy over his troubled tenure, […]

One of the more disconcerting facets to the debate over Iraq policy is the subtle realization that the White House doesn’t seem to understand what’s going in Iraq. Take this exchange on CNN this morning between John Roberts and outgoing press secretary Tony Snow. (TP has video) ROBERTS: How long are we going to be […]

I haven’t followed football in years, but apparently there was quite a scandal over the weekend when the New England Patriots were caught using sideline video to steal signals during a game against the New York Jets. It didn’t affect the outcome — the spying was discovered early on, and the Patriots won by a […]

I watched the president’s White House address on Iraq online, in part so I wouldn’t have to endure the talking heads’ analysis, but apparently, as soon as the speech ended, CNN’s Larry King got reactions from Barack Obama, Rudy Giuliani, John Edwards, and John McCain. I noticed today that Kevin Drum and James Fallows didn’t […]

I can never tell what’s going to cause a media feeding frenzy. Sometimes a politician will make a dumb joke and the media will pounce. Othertimes, a pol will say something completely outrageous, which generates a collective yawn. House Minority Leader John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) comments on CNN the other day seemed like the kind of […]

Last week, Fred Thompson looked pretty foolish when he argued that Social Security reform is one of the top issues on his policy agenda, but then said he couldn’t remember what Bush’s position was on Social Security two years ago. In July, he looked nearly as bad when he said he couldn’t remember lobbying for […]

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: * Increasing the Democrats’ chances of picking up another Senate seat in 2008, former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D) is poised to announce that she will take on incumbent Sen. John Sununu […]

The president’s address last night on conditions in Iraq was filled with errors of fact and judgment, but perhaps the strangest misstatement dealt with arithmetic. “To the international community: The success of a free Iraq matters to every civilized nation. We thank the 36 nations who have troops on the ground in Iraq and the […]