In the legal realm, neo-conservatives talk a good game about the Founding Fathers and how we should be true to their original intent. That grounding falls apart when it comes to the subject of presidential powers. There is simply no way that Bush’s "President-as-King (during wartime)" arguments can be reconciled with the writings of the Founding Fathers, a point brought … Read More
NH Phone-Jamming Scandal: What’s It About?
On the surface, the NH 2002 election phone-jamming scandal (background here) is, as emptywheel suggests, nothing more than a "third-rate crank phone call". So why is the GOP spending so much money trying to defend what should be viewed as the acts of a few GOP rogues? Is it because it wasn’t the act of a few rogues, and the … Read More
Run, Obama, Run
WaPo suggests Obama might throw his cap into the ring. Yes!
Bush Apologizes For Mocking A Legally Blind Man
Once again, Bush opened his big mouth without knowing the facts. Only this time, he actually apologized: The exchange occurred at a news conference in the Rose Garden. Bush called on Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Wallsten and asked if he was going to ask his question with his "shades" on. "For the viewers, there’s no sun," Bush said to … Read More
Bush Discovers Congress
New York Times: For the first time in his presidency, Mr. Bush is also inviting lawmakers to the White House in small groups not to discuss specific issues, but simply to ask what is on their minds. These informal brainstorming sessions occur not in the Oval Office, but over iced tea and lemonade in the cozy Yellow Oval room of … Read More
Election 2004 Fraud – RFK Jr’s Article
RFK Jr’s Rolling Stone article is out now — all about the shenanigans of the Presidential Elections in 2004 in the State of Ohio. It’s a lengthy and heavily sourced article, and one that — hopefully — will get some notice outside the blogosphere. Want an idea of the kinds of things that went on? Here’s some frightening excerpts (sources … Read More
What’s Right With Kansas
The red evolution-hating state is witnessing a major defection: The former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party jumped ship in a big way Tuesday, switching his affiliation to Democrat amid speculation that he would become Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ running mate.
RFK Jr: “Election 2004 Was Stolen”
In other times, this allegation would be a MAJOR story, especially since it comes from Bobby Kennedy, Jr. But with daily scandals piling up on each other, and scandal fatigue setting in with the general public (myself included), this story will probably just waft around for a few days and disappear. Too bad. Actually, it’s not a story yet. But … Read More
Props To Kevin Drum
David Broder: In its September 2004 issue, Washington Monthly magazine invited 16 smart political observers — a mix of Republicans, Democrats and independents — to write short essays predicting what would happen if George Bush won a second term. The answers, understandably enough, were all over the lot. *** The one commentator who got it exactly right was Kevin Drum, … Read More
Worst. President. Ever.
According to this Quinnipiac University poll, Bush is the worst President in the last 61 years: Strong Democratic sentiment pushes President George W. Bush to the top of the list when American voters pick the worst U.S. President in the last 61 years. Bush is named by 34 percent of voters, followed by Richard Nixon at 17 percent and Bill … Read More
Conservative Songs, Part II
The same idiot who came up with the list of the 50 best conservative songs . . . has come up with 50 more best conservative songs. This list is even stupider than the first. It contains (a) songs that nobody heard of; (b) songs that clearly have no political content in it whatsover (e.g., "Yackety Yak"), and (c) songs … Read More
Corrupt Democrats
Ever since the Abramoff scandal rained crap on many GOPers, the Republican establishment and their colleagues in the press have been looking for the equivalent level of corruption in Democrats. They think they’ve found it. The headline reads "Reid Accepted Free Boxing Tickets While a Related Bill Was Pending": Senate Democratic Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) accepted free ringside tickets … Read More
Bush Admits Mistake And STILL Gets It Wrong
In the week leading up to Memorial Day, the president acknowledged that some of his childish taunts hadn’t been in America’s best interests. … (S)aying "bring it on," kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner — you know, "wanted dead … Read More
Plamegate In The News In A Big Way
Murray Waas, who has an excellent track record for these things, reports that Novak’s source regarding Valerie Plame was Karl Rove. Moreover, he reports that three days after the announcement of a federal investigation into the leak, Rove and Novak spoke by phone and — some investigators believe — concocted a cover story. (What this means in legal terms? The … Read More
Though They May Have Won All The Battles, We Had All The Good Songs….
Speaking of political songs (as I did last night), the conservative National Review has posted what it touts as the "top 50 conservative rock songs". I’ve put the whole list, along with National Review’s reasoning, below the fold. What’s clear is that in order to compile this list, the editors of NR often had to ignore the politics of the … Read More