When it comes to the 2008 presidential race, polling is so premature, it’s almost better to ignore it. Indeed, as my friend Anonymous Liberal explained in a great guest post here in November, at this point in the 2004 presidential race, the leading Democratic contenders were Joe Lieberman and Dick Gephardt. As I recall, they […]
Kristol wants dissent-free silence for ‘six to nine months’
The new public relations offensive in support of Bush’s Iraq Escalation 5.0 policy has included a disturbing amount of attacks on dissent. Dick Cheney got the ball rolling last week, telling Fox News that Congress would be “undercutting the troops” if lawmakers criticize Bush’s policy. Tony Snow went even further, suggesting criticism may lend comfort […]
McCain can’t even find the goalposts
I recently suggested that Sen. [tag]John McCain[/tag] (R-Ariz.) is in the process of moving the goalposts when it comes to his favored policy for troop escalation in Iraq. As of today, McCain’s only consistency is his willingness to be inconsistent. Let’s take a look at McCain’s position over the last couple of months. * Three […]
Bill Richardson forms exploratory committee
Because I’ve done individual posts welcoming John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton to the presidential race, I thought it only fair to extend the same treatment to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), who announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee today, with a formal announcement due in March, after the state legislative […]
The origins of Bush’s escalation plan
On January 11, in a speech to U.S. troops at Fort Benning, Bush explained the origins of his escalation plan for Iraq: “The [Iraqi] Prime Minister came and said, look, I understand we’ve got to do something about this violence, and here is what I suggest we do. Our commanders looked at it, helped fine-tune […]
Sunday Discussion Group
The Beast magazine offers a nice, light-hearted cover story in its new issue that’s almost custom-made for a Discussion Group: “The Most 50 Loathsome Americans.” The Beast listed 50; I suggest we narrow things down to our top five. For what it’s worth, here’s who came out on top of the magazine’s list: 5. O.J. […]
‘I don’t think he understands the world’
The Wall Street Journal noted today that, with the State of the Union coming up, the president may try to change the direction of the national conversation a bit. “Iraq can’t be ignored, of course, but Mr. Bush said his piece on that in his recent address to the nation,” the WSJ’s Gerald Seib wrote. […]
A twist on the old pharmacist story
For a while, it seemed as if we’d hear new reports about a pharmacist refusing to fill a prescription on religious grounds every week. It led to a flood of publicity, bills in Congress, and new laws at the state level. This week, there was a similar controversy in Ohio, but this one had a […]
If you disagree, you’re ‘equally suspect’
It’s not my intention to belabor the point, but I have an important follow-up to yesterday’s item on Barack Obama and the Indonesian school he attended as a six year old. To briefly recap, some of the more hysterical elements of the conservative movement would have us believe that Obama has secret “Muslim heritage,” may […]
Michael Brown claims politics drove White House decisions on Katrina
The further we get from the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the more former FEMA director Michael Brown seems willing to share. His latest remarks are of particular interest. Party politics played a role in decisions over whether to take federal control of Louisiana and other areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, former FEMA director Michael Brown said […]