Today’s edition of quick hits. * The Congressional Black Caucus Institute may be willing to cooperate with Fox News on presidential debates, but the Democratic National Committee isn’t. The DNC announced today that it would officially sanction six debates during the primary process, but will refuse to sanction any event that includes the Republicans’ news […]
What’s a climate-change denier to do?
Like an adult who can’t come to grips with the notion that Santa Claus isn’t real, it must be tough to still deny the existence of global warming. After all, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change just declared with 90 percent certainty that greenhouse gases are largely responsible for heating the planet. The White House […]
‘He’s talking rubbish and he should not get away with it’
CNN’s Michael Ware isn’t the only major network journalist denouncing John McCain’s recent nonsense about allegedly safe areas of Baghdad; CBS News foreign correspondent Allen Pizzey has been nearly as critical. Pizzey, who’s based out of Rome, talked to Brian Montopoli today, who asked whether the senator’s comments bothered journalists in Iraq. Yes. It’s disgraceful […]
The response was underwhelming
In recent years, it’s often been assumed that the president could deliver a war-related speech on a military base and receive an enthusiastic response. It’s practically a foregone conclusion — men and women in uniform are going to give their commander in chief a boisterous response, especially when he’s trying to motivate them with encouraging […]
Let the right-wing Issa smear begin
The right seems to have written some dishonest, hard-hitting talking points on Speaker Pelosi’s trip to Syria, but I’m beginning to think a few members of the team missed the memo. (thanks to L.M. for the heads-up) Commenting on Bush’s criticism, California Republican Darrell Issa said the president had failed to promote the necessary dialogue […]
When bad things happen to bad excuses
About a month ago, former New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and answered questions about the events that led to his unjustified dismissal. As Slate’s Emily Bazelon noted, “Perhaps the most astonishing moment of the hearings was when it came out that the Department of Justice was dumb enough […]
Debating the ‘global war on terror’ — the phrase, not the effort
I continue to be amazed by what congressional Republicans choose to complain about. Democrats and Republicans are at odds on whether to use President Bush’s catchall phrase “global war on terrorism” when talking about the billions of dollars spent each year in Iraq and elsewhere. A new internal memo by a senior Democratic staff member […]
Thursday’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: * Rudy Giuliani acknowledged yesterday that he still believes, as he’s said publicly before, that there should be public funding for some abortions. When asked directly Wednesday if he still agreed with his […]
Open season on Pelosi
The bipartisan congressional delegation House Speaker [tag]Nancy Pelosi[/tag] is leading in the Middle East this week has come under fire for a variety of reasons, all of them misguided. The right (and the White House) said Pelosi shouldn’t visit Syria, but didn’t criticize a Republican delegation that arrived in Syria shortly before the Speaker. The […]
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Hackville)
The prosecutor purge scandal has offered an opportunity of sorts to congressional Republicans. Are they going to be serious lawmakers, concerned about accountability, or are they partisan hacks, unconcerned about the administration’s scandals? Some have been up to the challenge — many GOP lawmakers have called for Alberto Gonzales’ resignation, and during Kyle Sampson’s recent […]