When it comes to U.S. losses in Iraq, obviously the top concern is the tragic rate of fatalities and casualties. Nothing else comes close. But if we’re going to consider the latter half of the “blood and treasure” equation, Noah Shachtman reminds us today that the financial cost of the war is soaring. It’s not […]
Lieberman lobbies for confrontation with Iran
Earlier this week, Joe Lieberman said, “Although no one desires a conflict with Iran, the fact is that the Iranian government by its actions has declared war on us.” Today, he elaborated on this idea in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. As Lieberman describes it, Iran is not only evil, it’s busy. “Iran’s actions in […]
In defense of ‘political disharmony’
It looks like the column of the day actually ran yesterday, with David Ignatius’ piece in the WaPo about the state of America’s readiness for another possible terrorist attack. Ignatius’ column believes we should all be more united. Behind who or what? Well, that’s the tricky part. Ignatius describes what he believes would happen in […]
For a fringe idea…
Independent national pollsters rarely ever ask Americans for their opinions about impeachment. In fact, when Washington Post polling director Richard Morin started receiving questions about it from readers, he got a little snippy about it, and refused to take the questions seriously. It’s hardly a mystery — the notion of impeaching Bush and/or Cheney is […]
Appeals court rejects warrantless-search case
Almost a year ago, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the president’s warrantless-domestic search program. “In this case, the President has acted, undisputedly, as FISA forbids. FISA is the expressed statutory policy of our Congress,” Taylor wrote. “The presidential power, therefore, was exercised at its lowest […]
Giuliani without a net
Salon’s Tim Grieve attended a Rudy Giuliani campaign event in Maryland yesterday and heard the candidate’s basic stump speech. Giuliani, apparently, was supposed to deliver a specific address, but he managed to accidentally show up without a copy of the remarks. He told the crowd that he’d have to “do it from the top of […]
Friday’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: * Citizens for Community Values, an anti-pornography group in Ohio, is blasting Mitt Romney because he didn’t stop Marriott Hotels from offering adult movies to guests while he served on the company’s board […]
Mean ol’ Dems keep asking Bush questions
Boo hoo. The poor White House was able to go six years without any administration oversight or accountability at all, voters got tired of it, elected a Democratic Congress, and all of a sudden, some checks and balances have returned to Washington. The Bush gang has decided to whine about it. The White House Thursday […]
Odom on ‘supporting the troops’
William Odom, a retired Army lieutenant general who was head of Army intelligence, Reagan’s director of the National Security Agency, and a professor at Yale, has taken a leading role in criticizing the president’s Iraq war policy. A few months ago, he wrote a devastating op-ed for the WaPo, debunking several pernicious myths bolstering war […]
Domenici’s change of heart
Time will tell if Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) will have the courage to actually vote for a change in Iraq war policy. He offered some mildly encouraging comments yesterday, but we don’t yet know whether the senator, who is up for re-election next year, will put his vote where his rhetoric is. In announcing his […]