Andrew Sullivan noted today, “If it weren’t for the Republican debate, the death of Christianist Falwell, and the continuing U.S. Attorneys scandal, the Comey testimony would, I think, have been a huge story.” I assume Andrew means it would have been treated as a huge story — on the merits, Comey’s testimony is a jaw-dropper, […]
Gingrich’s ironic assessment of ’08
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, as usual, is disgusted. This time, he’s blasting the field of 2008 presidential candidates who, Gingrich believes, are “demeaning the presidency” by jumping through pointless hoops. “We have shrunk our political process to this pathetic dance in which people spend an entire year raising money in order to offer non-answers, […]
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: * There are 10 sitting members of Congress running for president right now, but only John McCain believes he doesn’t have to show up for work anymore: “Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is the […]
Kmiec takes a swing and a miss
For all the excitement surrounding James Comey’s testimony this week, there’s been one missing element: a counter-argument. A couple of days ago, Tony Snow said, “Jim Comey gave his side of what transpired that day.” And what’s the other side? No one knows; the Bush White House and its allies have been surprisingly quiet. Finally, […]
Dick ‘Untouchable’ Cheney
Sure, we’ve known for quite some time that the Bush White House takes an expansive view of executive branch power. But as a defense against the Plame civil suit, Cheney’s legal team has managed to push the envelope to surprising degree. (And given these guys’ track record, that’s saying something.) Attorneys for Vice President Cheney […]
Dobson scratches another Republican off his list
In January, Focus on the Family’s James Dobson ruled out Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as a Republican presidential candidate he’d even consider. “Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances.” Yesterday, Dobson added another name to the list: the other leading GOP candidate. A prominent Christian leader said […]
Gonzales’ days as AG are numbered
It’s kind of amusing to think that literally just a week ago, it seemed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was, facts be damned, going to keep his job. He believed he had “weathered the storm.” He was caught in the midst of a massive scandal he still can’t explain, his Justice Department is divided and dysfunctional, […]
Thursday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Congressional and White House negotiators agreed this afternoon on the provisions of a new immigration reform measure. The AP reports, “Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, his party’s lead negotiator on the deal, hailed it as ‘the best possible chance we will have in years to secure our borders […]
‘Torture Betrays Us’
Just two days after several Republican presidential hopefuls seemed almost desperate to brag about their appreciation for torture — as Slate’s John Dickerson put it, “Some candidates appeared ready to do the torturing themselves” — an important WaPo op-ed tries to set the record straight. Charles C. Krulak, commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995 […]
Petraeus starts lowering expectations for September
A few weeks ago, Gen David Petraeus told reporters about an important upcoming milestone in the administration’s war policy. “During Secretary Gates’ recent visit to Iraq,” Petraeus said, “we agreed that in early September, Ambassador Ryan Crocker and I would provide an assessment of the situation in Iraq with respect to our mission and offer […]