Several pundits have declared the point so obvious that it became instant conventional wisdom: Democrats on the Hill want to hold the administration accountable through oversight, but the public doesn’t care. David Broder said there’s no political upside to the prosecutor purge scandal, so Dems should focus attention elsewhere. John Harwood and Brian Williams said […]
Sampson suggests Gonzales lied — a lot
Update: It looks like Senate Republicans have shut down this afternoon’s hearing. More soon. Second Update: The GOP’s complaint has been withdrawn and the hearing is back on. So far, much of Kyle Sampson testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee seems focused on debunking comments from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wrongly […]
The media’s unhealthy obsession with the Clintons’ personal life
About a year ago, the New York Times ran a 2,000-word, front-page article with salacious speculation about Bill and Hillary Clinton’s marriage. Two days later, David Broder devoted a column to the Clintons’ marriage, describing it as “a hot topic.” Since then, the media seems to have let their interest in the Clintons’ relationship die […]
Senate ignores Bush threat, passes war-spending bill
On Tuesday, the Senate rejected a measure that would have removed withdrawal timelines from the spending measure that would fund the war in Iraq. Today, despite the president’s veto threat, the Senate passed the whole package. Senate Democrats ignored a veto threat and pushed through a bill Thursday requiring President Bush to start withdrawing troops […]
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: * The Politico reported today that the Rev. Jesse Jackson will support Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. (The Politico piece appears to be about a month late.) * The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) […]
Dems say McCain considered party switch in 2001
If true, this is a story that John McCain’s GOP critics will use to seriously undermine his presidential campaign. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was close to leaving the Republican Party in 2001, weeks before then-Sen. Jim Jeffords (Vt.) famously announced his decision to become an Independent, according to former Democratic lawmakers who say they were […]
The story behind Bush’s Iraqi bloggers
In a speech to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association yesterday, the president added a new point to his standard remarks about the war in Iraq. Hoping to prove that Iraqis are beginning to see “positive changes,” Bush said, “I want to share with you how two Iraqi bloggers — they have bloggers in Baghdad, just […]
Dirge of the purge — redux
Before things heat up at today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, let’s consider some of the other purge-related revelations from the last half-day. * In the latest document dump (how many are we up to now? four?), there’s a key White House email. Kyle Sampson prepared a letter to Congress in February, telling lawmakers that Karl […]
It depends on what the meaning of ‘political’ is
The prosecutor purge scandal is bound to get considerably more interesting today when Kyle Sampson, up until recently Alberto Gonzales’ chief of staff, gives sworn testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Reporters have already seen his opening statement and have a sense of his intended direction. According to a copy of Mr. Sampson’s prepared testimony […]
Wednesday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits. * I absolutely loved Speaker Pelosi’s response to Bush’s latest threat to veto funding for the war: “On this very important matter, I would extend a hand of friendship to the president, just say to him, ‘Calm down with the threats, there’s a new Congress in town. We respect your […]