When it comes to combating global terrorism, going after al Qaeda with as much aggression and tenacity as possible is an obvious no-brainer. The terrorist network was directly responsible for the attacks of 9/11, among others, and has reportedly been a top administration target for the last five years. Except, like the rest of the […]
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: * Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), whose 2008 support would be a coup for any GOP contender, seems to favor Mitt Romney and has been steering some of his closest advisers to […]
The circumstances are tougher than they may appear
Matt Stoller caused a bit of a stir over the weekend with a provocative post about Senate Dems and opposition to the war in Iraq. After the latest GOP obstructionism blocked consideration of an anti-escalation resolution on Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid allowed the chamber to go into recess, which it had been scheduled […]
‘We need to have a person of faith lead the country’
The incident started off in one, fairly benign, direction. Former Massachusetts Gov. and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney (R) was campaigning at the Lake Miona Regional Recreation Center in The Villages, Florida, generally considered a GOP stronghold. An anti-Mormon loud mouth blasted Romney for his faith. “You, sir, are a pretender,” the guy said. “You don’t […]
‘If Iraq don’t kill you, Walter Reed will’
Following up on the last post, the WaPo’s Anne Hull and Dana Priest added the second of their two-part series today on the outrageous way in which wounded veterans are treated as outpatients at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Alas, the second was as disheartening as the first. Dell McLeod’s injury was utterly banal. […]
What supporting the troops looks like in Bush’s America
I remember, several years ago, seeing “Born on the Fourth of July,” and watching Tom Cruise’s character, who had been seriously wounded in Vietnam, come back to the U.S., only to get stuck and mistreated in a rat-infested veterans hospital. Cruise was disgusted. “This place is a fu**in’ slum!” he’d say. The movie was fiction, […]
Sunday Discussion Group
One of the pressing questions in the 2004 Democratic primaries was how best to deal with the 2002 votes of Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards on the Iraq war resolution. Would they acknowledge that the votes were a mistake? Would they apologize? Was this a litmus-test issue for voters? Should it be? When it […]
GOP obstructionism continues, filibuster blocks Senate vote on resolution
On Feb. 5, when the Senate was poised to consider a resolution opposed to the president’s escalation strategy, a Republican filibuster blocked the debate before the debate. Dems stuck together, and two Republicans (Sens. Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Susan Collins of Maine) joined the majority against the filibuster. It was well short of the […]
‘What if the doomsayers are wrong?’
For four years, supporters of the war have been dependent on a series of assumptions, all of which have been wrong. They assumed Saddam Hussein had WMD. They assumed the war would be quick and cheap. They assumed we’d be greeted as liberators. They assumed there would be no insurgency. And now these same supporters […]
At least he didn’t specify which M&Ms were to be removed from his dressing room
About a year ago, we learned that Dick Cheney, whenever he travels, makes a series of specific demands for hotels where he’ll stay, including having all hotel-room TVs tuned to Fox News. But if you thought the VP was being a bit of a diva, wait until you see what Rudy Giuliani demands. In addition […]