That New Yorker story on the implosion of the GOP is the gift that keeps on giving. President Bush has presided over a Republican Party in “collapse,” and Karl Rove’s strategy in the 2004 presidential election was “maniacally dumb” for focusing so heavily on the conservative base. The words, perhaps, of Howard Dean, the Democratic […]
‘If somebody can tell me what he did on 9/11 that was so good, I’d love to hear it’
These paragraphs, from an article in The Politico yesterday, are so common they barely register anymore. Giuliani has tried to appeal to social conservatives, embracing their agenda by pledging to appoint “strict constructionists” to the Supreme Court, using Justices John G. Roberts Jr. and Samuel A. Alito Jr. as examples. Conservatives expect “strict constructionists” to […]
Tuesday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits. * A variety of news reports indicated that Robert Zoellick has been tapped to replace Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank. (More on Zoellick’s background) * Over the weekend, White House Political Director Sara Taylor announced her departure, citing a desire to work in the private sector. Taylor was one […]
‘The Italian Letter’
Jonathan Schwarz was nice enough to email me about this over the weekend, but I wanted to hold onto it until today so it wouldn’t get lost in the holiday shuffle. Here’s the deal, Peter Eiser’s and Knut Royce’s new book, The Italian Letter, includes some discussion on Alan Foley, the head of the CIA’s […]
Kucinich accepts Fox News invite, blasts Dems’ top-tier candidates
The NYT reported over the weekend that the Congressional Black Caucus Institute’s scheduled presidential debate for Democratic candidates is moving forward, despite being co-sponsored by the Republicans’ Fox News Channel. When the Dems’ top three candidates — Clinton, Edwards, and Obama — announced that they would not participate, citing the network’s partisanship, it looked as […]
Rove advisor falsely smears ‘Sheehan-Reid-Obama-Clinton cult’
National Review’s Michael Ledeen, who is also an AEI scholar and advisor to Karl Rove, became completely detached from reality today, blasting the “Sheehan-Reid-Obama-Clinton cult,” which Ledeen accused of trying to “disrupt military funerals” across the country. (via ThinkProgress) Even by the National Review’s standards, this is utterly ridiculous. The only coordinated effort to “disrupt […]
Bush lashes out at critics of immigration bill
A week ago, I had an item suggesting the president doesn’t really care about the immigration deal he struck with congressional leaders. If he did care, he’d do what he did when touting his war policy and his plan to privatize Social Security: give enthusiastic speeches, use his Bully Pulpit, lash out at critics, etc. […]
Cohen’s ‘Neoliberal’ Bush
Richard Cohen’s latest WaPo column has received ample derision today, but I’d like to pile on anyway. The piece is just that annoying. Cohen spends the first two-thirds of his column explaining the ways in which the president has shown liberal tendencies. He expanded Medicare (a liberal idea), passed a national education reform measure (another […]
Maybe he just needs some time to get to know us better
About a year ago, the AP’s Jennifer Loven wrote a terrific item about the president relying on non-existent straw men to get through most policy arguments. As Loven explained in March 2006, when the president “starts a sentence with ‘some say’ or offers up what ‘some in Washington’ believe, as he is doing more often […]
Tuesday’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: * Barack Obama will unveil his healthcare plan in a speech in Iowa City today, proposing a system that would provide universal coverage by 2012, paid for by employers and the expiration of […]