I am so spectacularly tired of debunking the right’s absurd attacks on Speaker Pelosi’s Syria trip that I promised not to do anymore posts on the subject. But Joe Lieberman’s nonsense yesterday requires just one more visit to the subject. [Yesterday] on CNN, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said he “strongly disagrees” with Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s […]
Unpacking the Bush gang’s alternate communications system
The LA Times’ Tom Hamburger takes a closer look at what I think is still one of the under-reported angles to the prosecutor purge scandal — the alternate communications system the White House set up for staffers. When Karl Rove and his top deputies arrived at the White House in 2001, the Republican National Committee […]
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: * John Edwards announced late on Friday that he will boycott the debate co-hosted by Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus, scheduled for Sept. 23, though he will participate in the CBC’s […]
There’s something rotten in Wisconsin
For a couple of months, the prosecutor purge scandal has produced a series of disconcerting questions, but the one simmering just below the surface has been about the U.S. Attorneys who weren’t fired. If eight were fired for failing to politicize their offices, what did the other 85 do to keep their jobs? There are […]
‘Have you been in any peace marches? We ban a lot of people from flying because of that’
If you take a look at Walter F. Murphy’s Wikipedia page, he sounds like an accomplished and impressive scholar. “He won a Distinguished Service Cross for his service as a Marine in Korea,” the page says. “He held the chair of McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton. In addition to non-fiction works on political science, […]
Giuliani has no idea what he’s talking about
If [tag]Rudy Giuliani[/tag] really wants to convince voters that he’s an expert on foreign policy, I’d like to offer the former NYC mayor a helpful tip: pick up a newspaper once in a while. Giuliani recently told a supportive audience, “It’s something that I think I know, I think I know as well as anybody […]
Is Pat Robertson’s law school changing America?
One of the problems with public perceptions about crazed TV preacher Pat Robertson is that most perceive him as just a crazed TV preacher. He’ll go on his crazed daily television show (The 700 Club), offer crazed commentary just about everything, and then make crazed rationalizations for his lunacy. The media marvels at his madness, […]
Sunday Discussion Group
The debate of how to fund the war in Iraq, at this point, seems to be a fight over swaying public opinion. I’m not sure who’s winning. Over the last couple of weeks, the White House has been pushing the Bush line about as hard as it knows how. Dana Perino said this week that […]
They’re not going to follow us home
One of the more inane talking points embraced by supporters of the war is the notion that withdrawal from Iraq is inherently dangerous, because “the enemy will follow us home.” The president and his allies tend to repeat this, mantra like, without ever pausing to wonder if it makes sense. It’s always been a dubious […]
Giuliani explains why he’s against universal health care
One of the more encouraging political developments of the last few years is the acceptance of universal health care, at least in principle. Americans want to see the system changed, and they want universality to be integral to any reform measures. Politically, this is no longer just a Democratic belief — Republican governors (most notably […]