Novak is very cantankerous and grumpy today. More so than usual, that is. When President Bush called for a bipartisan "special advisory council" of congressional leaders on the war against terrorism in his State of the Union address, he had in his pocket a rude rejection from Democratic leaders. Thank you very much, said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate … Read More
The Pied Piper Problem
Anonymous Liberal has a coined a great term to describe the great problem facing the Republican Party: For last decade and half, the Republican party has pursued an intentional strategy of insulating its base from reality. The goal has been to create a permanent block of loyal Republican voters who will dutifully internalize whatever the party’s leaders tell them. To … Read More
Kerry Not To Run In ’08
Good news, I’d say. He can’t win (he had his shot), and he would just muddy the already-overopulated waters.
SOTU Roundup
I have little to say on this. I saw a recording of the Bush speech, and heard the Democratic response by Senator Webb (the latter of which impressed me). I’ve also read/heard a number of commentaries on Bush’s speech, and — at least in the blogosphere — they are entirely predictable. Those few still in Bush’s corner thought it was … Read More
Bush State Of The Union
A sneak peek:
Whatever, Dick
"And since I left Halliburton to become George Bush’s vice president, I’ve severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interests. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven’t had now for over three years." – Vice President Dick Cheney, Meet The Press, September 14, 2003 – graph released today by … Read More
Bombshells In The Libby Case
I haven’t followed the case of Scooter Libby (an extension of the whole Valerie Plame leak thing) lately. But I have to heap praise on the folks at FDL, who are liveblogging the trial from the courtroom. If they gave Pulitzers for blogging, these people would be the recipients. Today is opening statements, and the trial, which I dismissed long … Read More
CNN Does What News Organizations Are Supposed To Do
CNN decided to investigate the facts of a story, rather than report rumor as fact. Good for them. While Fox News and The Washington Times peddled the story that Barack Obama went to a “madrassa” when he was six years old, CNN actually went to the madrassa and discovered that it is not some school where they teach students to … Read More
SOTU 2007
I stopped writing about Bush’s low poll numbers a while ago, simply because it became redundent to do so, and it only serves to reinforce what everybody knows: Bush is a gloriously unpopular president. But going into his State Of The Union speech tonight, it is worth noting that he has reached all-time lows — even for him. The new … Read More
Anatomy Of A Smear
The Washington Post has a nice story about the latest Obama smear. It’s about a "story" (that Obama went to a radical Muslim school and is, hence, a radical Muslim) that leapt from spam e-mail to a conservative magazine to the mainstream media — despite having anonymous sources, and devoid of actual fact. The silly season has started.
Even Alanis Morissette Couldn’t Envision This
The President who unilaterally started a war and refuses to end it despite all the death, destruction, and misery caused to U.S. soldiers, their surviving families, not to mention thousands of innocent Iraqi women and children… …has declared this Sunday to be "National Sanctity Of Human Life Day, 2007".
The AG Purge
This is blatently unethical: Last month, Bud Cummins, the U.S. attorney (federal prosecutor) for the Eastern District of Arkansas, received a call on his cellphone while hiking in the woods with his son. He was informed that he had just been replaced by J. Timothy Griffin, a Republican political operative who has spent the last few years working as an … Read More
Bush Busted In HUGE Lie About Cancer Research Funding
President Bush, yesterday: “First, I’m pleased that we’re funding cancer research. We’re up about 25 percent or 26 percent since 2001; it’s a commitment that I made when I first came to Washington, it’s a commitment we’re keeping. And the reason why it makes sense to spend taxpayers’ money on cancer research is that we can make some good progress, … Read More
The Obama Smear Campaign In Its Early Stages
Here’s my attempt at an answer: Look, with all that is going on in the world, and with the importance of the next President affecting your finances and (in many ways) your life, if a candidate’s smoking habits (or lack thereof) operate as a relevant factor for you, then you should simply be denied your right to vote. Plain and … Read More
Bush: The Unpopular Ex-President, Too
Not only is Bush’s current approval rating lagging in the sub-40’s — the worst treand of any President in modern times — but he’s not very popular as a soon-to-be ex-President. The Bush Presidential Library [insert "My Pet Goat" joke here], like all presidential libraries, is intended to serve as a respository of all the great things and writing of … Read More