Intentionally or not, Instapundit’s Glenn Reynolds seems to have written one of those posts that has everyone buzzing. Responding to reports that Iran is providing weapons used to attack Americans in Iraq, Reynolds argued: This has been obvious for a long time anyway, and I don’t understand why the Bush Administration has been so slow […]
Press conference highlights
I’m not sure why I get excited about Bush’s press conferences; it’s not as if I expect informative answers and an insightful perspective on key events. Maybe I watch because I’m confident that the president will invariably get stuck on some important point, intentionally misstate the truth, and/or flub an answer entirely. It’s a bit […]
Ex-cons can get second chance in military
Given the inherent difficulties in military recruiting during an unpopular war, it stands to reason that the Defense Department would want to create more flexible standards. The number of waivers granted to Army recruits with criminal backgrounds has grown about 65 percent in the last three years, increasing to 8,129 in 2006 from 4,918 in […]
The ‘readiness strategy’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her colleagues yesterday that the non-binding resolution being debated on the House floor is the first of several steps. “A vote of disapproval will set the stage for additional Iraq legislation which will be coming to the House floor,” she said. We don’t know, however, exactly what that’s going to […]
Again with the ‘ticking time bomb scenario’
I’m not exactly sure how, but the debate over U.S. torture policy appears to be back on the frontburner. There’s no legislation pending, and there haven’t been any new, high-profile scandals, but maybe all the talk about “24” got people thinking again. For example, Andrew Sullivan noted yesterday that Hugh Hewitt interviewed Col. Stuart Herrington, […]
Wednesday’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: * Shakespeare’s Sister’s Melissa McEwan resigned from John Edwards’ presidential campaign yesterday. “This was a decision I made, with the campaign’s reluctant support, because my remaining the focus of sustained ideological attacks was […]
Pet Peeve Watch: Snow storms don’t disprove global warming
I’ve noticed that a few conservative sites are excited about this Drudge item from last night: House Hearing On ‘Warming Of The Planet’ Canceled After Ice Storm The Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality hearing scheduled for Wednesday, February 14, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2123 Rayburn House Office Building has been postponed due […]
Abusing Lincoln
Frank J. Gaffney Jr., president of the far-right Center for Security Policy and a columnist for the conservative Washington Times, wrote a column this week blasting congressional lawmakers who support a non-binding resolution on Bush’s escalation policy. Gaffney’s piece led with this quote: “Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine […]
Bush finds his inner Clinton — several years too late
The WaPo’s Glenn Kessler and Edward Cody noted today that the administration’s newly-struck deal with North Korea was reached because the president “was willing to give U.S. negotiators new flexibility to reach an agreement.” That’s not a sentence I expected to see anytime soon. Bush isn’t supposed to believe in “flexibility” when it comes to […]
GOP leaders admit they ‘lose’ the Iraq debate if they stick to the issue
The resolution the House is debating this week is surprisingly straightforward; House Dems even managed to keep the whole thing to just 58 words. Point #1 says we support the troops; point #2 says Congress “disapproves” of Bush’s escalation strategy. And yet, listening to this week’s debate, it seems as if most of the Republican […]