At a press conference last month, the president said Congress has one, and only one, role to play in shaping war policy: handing over big bags of money, with no questions asked and no strings attached. “Let me make sure you understand what I’m saying,” Bush said. “Congress has all the right in the world […]
Craig’s counter: It’s the media’s fault
When a high-profile Republican runs into serious trouble, as Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) clearly has, he or she inevitably turns to a few reliable rejoinders that are supposed to help make things better. The first is “9/11 changed everything.” That probably won’t work in this case. The second is “Tempest in a teapot.” When an […]
Tuesday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Roll Call reported this afternoon that Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) regrets his guilty plea, and may yet have an opportunity to reverse his decision: “Under Minnesota law, the Senator could file a motion requesting the withdrawal of the guilty plea. According to University of Minnesota Law School professor Steve […]
Craig roles the dice
He got caught, pled guilty, and saw his career start to slip away, but this afternoon, Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) decided to roll the dice and deny everything. Under fire from leaders of his own party, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig on Tuesday said the only thing he had done wrong was to plead guilty after […]
Bush warns of Iranian ‘nuclear holocaust’
In 2002 and 2003, in making the case for a war with Iraq, the president and his team would frequently tell Americans that we couldn’t wait for actual proof to justify an invasion, because the “smoking gun could be a mushroom cloud.” In 2007, in describing a possible confrontation with Iran, Bush has decided to […]
Gannon/Guckert tries to make a comeback
Remember Jeff Gannon (James Guckert), the alleged gay prostitute who inexplicably was invited to the White House 200 times? Who got a daily press pass using a pseudonym? Sure you do — he’s the one who would ask ridiculously-slanted, groan-inducing softball questions for the White House, and would then publish “news” items that lifted Republican […]
True grit?
Jamie Kirchick published an email this morning he received from an “internationally-renowned journalist” whose parents endured World War II, and who suspects we — Americans, the British — aren’t tough enough now. After detailing the incredible challenges faced by her family in 1940, even after a German bomb destroyed their home, Kirchick’s emailer explained that […]
How the RNC chooses to raise money
When it comes to fundraising pitches, the rhetoric is supposed to be accurate but exaggerated. Reasoned, sensible requests tend not to raise money; donors have to be shocked into reaching for their checkbook. The Republican National Committee tends to take this idea to the extreme with pretty loathsome fundraising appeals. Indeed, the RNC has developed […]
Petraeus ‘softened’ the NIE?
Last week, a declassified National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq said there has been “measurable but uneven improvements in Iraq’s security situation,” in the midst of what was otherwise a gloomy and depressing report. Indeed, the NIE added that, despite some security improvements, severe violence in Iraq was likely to continue over the next six to […]
Was it really ‘reckless and repulsive’?
As political theater goes, the Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) story is hard to resist. A conservative Republican senator, who touts “family values” and champions anti-gay legislation, is caught (literally) with his pants down. It’s a scandal with sex, lies, and police reports. There’s an angle for hypocrisy, and another for the intersection of the Republican […]