At a brief White House event this morning, a reporter asked the president, “The Attorney General is still getting a lot of criticism over the U.S. attorneys situation. Was his explanation sufficient, or is there more he needs to do to try to turn things around?” This is the entirety of Bush’s response. “The Attorney […]
Broder lashes out at Reid
The Washington Post’s David Broder, generally considered the “dean” of the DC political establishment, has been off his game lately. It’s hard to say for sure what exactly got Broder off track, but it seemed to start shortly after the start of the 110th Congress, just a week or so after Nancy Pelosi took the […]
He must have meant other ‘politicians’
Bush, today: “I believe strongly that politicians in Washington shouldn’t be telling generals how to do their job…. And therefore I will strongly reject an artificial timetable withdrawal and/or Washington politicians trying to tell those who wear the uniform how to do their job.” Washington Post, in January: When President Bush goes before the American […]
AFA identifies the real culprit at Virginia Tech
A friend alerted me to a great list a blogger put together of the various culprits who deserve blame for the Virginia Tech massacre. At last count, the site had 56 different offenders, including most of the predictable far-right bugaboos. The American Family Association, a major religious right group, has produced a video that identifies […]
There was ‘almost a patriotism police’
I’ve heard quite a bit of buzz about Bill Moyers’ new PBS special, “Buying the War,” which will highlight the journalistic malpractice at the nation’s major news outlets leading up to the war in Iraq. But given the subject matter, is there really new information? Isn’t this well-trodden ground? I stand corrected. E&P’s Greg Mitchell […]
Monday’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: * Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.) died yesterday of cancer at age 68. The congresswoman, recently re-elected to her seventh term, had asked for a four- to six-week leave of absence from the House […]
The FEMA-ization of the FDA
Under normal circumstances, food safety regulations aren’t exactly a sexy issue, or for that matter, political. Americans take it for granted that food products on grocery store shelves are safe — if they weren’t, the FDA would intervene to protect the public. Confidence in this system was recently shaken by discoveries of toxic pet food […]
‘This is about Bush saying, ‘Screw you”
Over the weekend, Republican insiders — from the Hill and the White House — were dishing to anyone who would listen about the need to replace Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General. As usual, The Decider is reluctant to acknowledge reality. “Everybody at the White House … all think he needs to go, but the president […]
Krugman describes a ‘hostage situation’
The NYT’s Paul Krugman got shrill today and nailed a must-read column. The subject: the fight over how to fund the war in Iraq. The conclusion: this isn’t a debate, it’s a hostage situation. There are two ways to describe the confrontation between Congress and the Bush administration over funding for the Iraq surge. You […]
How wrong is Kristol? Let us count the ways
Weekly Standard editor William Kristol took his usual seat on Fox News Sunday yesterday, sharing rather predictable commentary on current events. But there was an exchange on the program that was particularly noteworthy. Kristol was responding to the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s comments last week that the war in Iraq is “lost.” Here was […]