I don't have much time to blog today, so I think I'm going to just do a collection of short links to posts I've come... [More]
April 1, 2007
More on the Gitmo "Confession"
Two days back, I noted the odd choice made by the government to go easy on David Hicks, the Australian citizen who recently pled guilty... [More]
Presidential Spring Training?
What with the rest of the progressive blogosphere constantly beating up on him, I usually stay away from commenting on David Broder. But today's column... [More]
April 2, 2007
What John McCain Really Thinks
There are really only two choices: Either he is an idiot, or he thinks we are. One of the other. There are no other options.... [More]
April 4, 2007
At Least $25 Million
Obama brings in a total for the quarter that is just a hair short of Clinton's numbers. But that's not even the half of it.... [More]
The Dirty Hippies Were Right. Again.
Andrew Sullivan reminds me today that I forgot to link yesterday to this post from John Cole. Given that the story ran in the Metro... [More]
Subservient In Syria? Erm.... No.
Sometimes it really seems as if right wing bloggers haven't noticed the existence of Google. After Drudge posted a photo of Speaker Pelosi wearing a... [More]
Hiding In The Bushes?
What's up with this?... [More]
Compare and Contrast (Update)
Sen. McCain isn't the only Republican making a fool out of himself over his recent visit to Iraq. Rep. Mike Pence was on the trip... [More]
Redesigns
First, WashingtonPost.com launched a redesign of their site, one apparently aimed at increasing the amount of white space by decreasing the amount of news displayed... [More]
April 5, 2007
Forget Giuliani
In case you missed today's news.... Rudy Giuliani still supports public funding for abortions. He's running for the Republican nomination, but he supports providing federal... [More]
Mis-Underestimating the Meaning of "Recess Appointment"
Let's be clear about this: from a constitutional standpoint, the purpose of recess appointments was to allow the president to keep federal offices filled during... [More]
Take Two: Obama Beats Hillary In Q1
ABCNews: ABC News has learned that the $23.5 million Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., raised for his presidential campaign for use in the primaries is more... [More]
About That Trip To Syria
As I'm sure you're all aware, over the past few days right wing blogs, the mainstream media, Republican politicians, and even the Bush administration itself... [More]
Has Romney Ever Heard of The Google?
It really does seem to be a trend. High profile politicians and media figures seem to be completely unaware of the power of Google. As... [More]
Fukuyama: Europe Is The Model
Francis Fukuyama is considered to be on of the driving intellectual forces behind the modern neo-conservative movement. Over the past few years he has gradually... [More]
Again With The Google
I've obviously found today's theme. From the LAT: WASHINGTON — In a direct challenge to Congress and the way it does business, the White House... [More]
6 DNC Debates
One per month, beginning in July 2007. Let the games begin. UPDATE: And FoxNews won't be asked to even one of them. Well done, Dr.... [More]
Cramming Never Works
I guess Alberto Gonzales never learned that lesson in college. WaPo: Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales has retreated from public view this week in an... [More]
April 6, 2007
How Supply-Side Economics Trickled Down
Bruce Bartlett, one of the Republicans behind the supply-side revolution in the early 1980's, has an interesting piece in today's NYT. Short version? However useful... [More]
April 7, 2007
409 Days
That's the number of days President Bush has spent on vacation over the past six years. By contrast, if you are one of those average... [More]
April 8, 2007
Sunday News Roundup
Some news stories in today's papers that will be worth your time and attention: + John McCain's strategy for relaunching his campaign appears to be... [More]
April 9, 2007
Cramming Still Doesn't Work
I told you before, Alberto, cramming never works: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has virtually wiped his public schedule clean to bone up for his long-awaited... [More]
April 10, 2007
Quick Studies In Hypocrisy
Great summary this morning from Kevin Drum: ABC News has reported that the United States is funneling money to Jundullah, a Sunni terrorist group based... [More]
More Patriot Act Easter Eggs
Josh Marshall has found yet another little noticed provision slipped into the USA Patriot Act back in 2005, and once again it looks like it... [More]
"An Invitation To Agree With Bush"
We are governed by a child: WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday invited Democrats to discuss their standoff over a war-spending bill, but he made... [More]
Modern Media Madness
In a post imagining what the media response would have looked like had those captured sailors been US Navy personnel, Greg Djerejian puts together one... [More]
I Don't Care About Don Imus
There. I said it. If, however, you are one of those people who does care, you might want to read the transcript before offering up... [More]
President Duck?
OVer the weekend, the White House hosted its annual Easter Egg Roll for the kiddies. During the festivities, the First Lady took a moment to... [More]
MoveOn.Org Town Hall Meeting: Iraq
I'm listening to today's Town Hall Meeting that MoveOn is holding to discuss Iraq so that you don't have to. Sort of.... Edwards: Came out... [More]
The Cost of Bread In Alabama?
Look... if we're going to have a system of elections that requires rich people to raise millions of dollars from other rich people, can we... [More]
April 11, 2007
Manufacturing Debate (Updated)
Can't get scientists to agree to disagree? Even when they've been purposely chosen to represent multiple political points of view? No worries. So long as... [More]
Lee Iacocca Has Had Enough
Wow. What a catch by Carpetbagger. Lee Iacocca has a new book coming out, and despite the fact that he is a lifelong Republican and... [More]
Symbolism Over Substance
ThinkProgress has an interesting report about a battle down in Florida over the legacy of Jeb Bush's education policies. The University of Florida was considering... [More]
Don't We Already Have a Commander In Chief?
Call me crazy, but don't we already have a "war czar"? And isn't he called the Commander in Chief? The White House wants to appoint... [More]
A Debate Changer On Stem Cells?
Big news today on the stem cell front: Diabetics using stem-cell therapy have been able to stop taking insulin injections for the first time, after... [More]
Anyone Want To Guess The Names?
You've really got to be kidding me. Really. The White House said Wednesday it had mishandled Republican Party-sponsored e-mail accounts used by nearly two dozen... [More]
April 12, 2007
Manufactuing Debate, Take Two
It looks like the NYT is going to follow this lead to the end. Yesterday they gave us a story about how Republican political operatives... [More]
"Near Dictatorial Power"
Quite an admission from The Weekly Standard's Michael Goldfarb today: Pam Hess, the UPI reporter who gave us this extremely moving and persuasive glimpse of... [More]
More On the Missing Emails
Late last night we got word that the White House was claiming that many of the emails sent by White House staffers on non whitehouse.gov... [More]
Flying the Flag
Via Ezra Klein, Jamie Kirchick delivers what me be the single best explanation I've ever seen on the problem with the Confederate flag: Rudy Giuliani,... [More]
Today's News From Iraq
If you're following the news from Iraq today of bombings within the Green Zone (and who isn't?), be sure to check out Spencer Ackerman's take... [More]
Dems To Work To Overturn Ban on Online Gambling
Should be interesting to see how Red State America reacts to this news.... [More]
FitzMas: The Day That Keeps On Giving, and Giving, and Giving...
This RNC email story seems to be rapidly picking up speed. TPMMuckraker has a big one just in. Back in 2004, thanks to Patrick Fitzgerald's... [More]
More on the Emails: A Few Questions For The Internet About Blackberrys
A series of questions for the Internet..... Hey Internet: Remind me about the Blackberry. Isn't it true that everything sent on a Blackberry goes through... [More]
Presidential Records Act Clarified
Tim Grieve answers a question that I was just about to ask: what does the PRA say about White House emails say about political and... [More]
Progress, Progress... Progress?
Administration officials and their supporters love to use the "our enemies are listening" argument to criticize the debate over and coverage of the war. Cheney,... [More]
April 13, 2007
Maybe We Do Need A "War Czar"
Kevin Drum has an interesting timeline from this week on the issue of extending the deployments of our soldiers in Iraq. On Monday, the president... [More]
NPR Advances the US Attorneys Story
Normally I use blogs to track breaking news, and for the US Attorney story the TPM Empire has been invaluable. Without Josh Marshall's work, this... [More]
The Smoking Gun - Gonzales Is History
8 little words are apparently all it will take: This is the chart that the AG requested. Gonzales lied. Under oath. No wonder he's been... [More]
April 14, 2007
Tidal Waves
Via Andrew Sullivan, more evidence of the coming anti-Republican realignment: Forty-five percent (45%) of American voters say they would currently vote for the Democrat in... [More]
April 15, 2007
Albuquerque Journal: Bush Ordered Firing of At Least One of the USA-8
Getting closer... The Albuquerque Journal has the story. Here's the key section: In the spring of 2006, Domenici told Gonzales he wanted Iglesias out. Gonzales... [More]
Real Improvements Don't Look Like This
Let me guess... McCain, Bush and Cheney think this is some sort of sign of progress: BAGHDAD -- Six bombs exploded in predominantly Shiite sections... [More]
Gwen Ifill Throws Down
Wow. She let both David Brooks and Tim Russert have it on live TV. Crooks and Liars has both the transcript and the video: You... [More]
Torture, Secrecy and the Bush Administration
After Harpers.org launched their wretched redesign, I had sworn off linking to their site. Then Andrew Sullivan linked to this blog post from Scott Horton's... [More]
April 16, 2007
Gen. Sheehan: "Why I Declined To Serve"
As I mentioned last week, our Commander in Chief has decided that he needs a "war czar" to help rescue him from the disaster he... [More]
"President Bush has the right to remove from an audience people who disagree with him."
So says the Bush Administration. Remind me again what country I live in?... [More]
Gonzales Hearings Tomorrow
Josh Marshall keeps asking the right questions: Let's take a look at one of the key lines of questioning that Alberto Gonzales is sure to... [More]
Giuliani Thinks Realignment?
I don't think this will work for him, but you have to give him credit for trying: Giuliani made his sharpest case for moving beyond... [More]
20,000 Turn Out for Obama in Atlanta
Forget the national polls. Obama is building a grassroots movement. At what may have been his largest campaign event this year, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama... [More]
Another New Poll, Another New Low
Via Atrios, a new poll from the LATimes. Forget all the specifics. Here's the one data point aht matters most: "Do you think things in... [More]
"The Moral Equivalent of calling our ancestors ‘nappy-headed hos"
Wow. Just wow. I'll say it again: The confederate flag is a symbol of treason and human bondage, nothing more.... [More]
Abramoff Rolls On Rove?
Interesting report from CREW: Lawyers involved in the case said that beginning more than a year ago, federal prosecutors and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents... [More]
Gonzales Hearings Postponed Until Thursday
WaPo summarizes the problems for Gonzales: ...his prepared remarks conflict with some details already released by the Justice Department and former aides. They include: _Gonzales'... [More]
Reporting On "what the government does, not just what it says."
In a post about today's Pulitzer Prize announcements, Glenn Greenwald highlights a great quote from Boston Globe Editor Martin Baron on the work of the... [More]
Understanding + Perspective (Updated)
Larry Johnson offers both. If you really want to know what it would be like to live in a world where this sort of event... [More]
April 17, 2007
Backlash? (Updated)
The more Bush speaks, the less support his positions receive. Check out some of the topline results - courtesy of Carpetbagger - from the latest... [More]
Immunity for Goodling
Today's news is likely to make Gonzales very nervous. Tomorrow morning, the House Judiciary Committee is going to vote on whether or not to grant... [More]
Fiscal Conservatism
Once again, it looks like Democrats are better than Republicans at managing money. Shocking, I suppose, if you haven't been paying attention the past 25... [More]
Cheney's Caller ID
This is pathetic. At the end of a long post about Gonzales' upcoming testimony, Salon's Joan Walsh draws an interesting parallel between Gonzale and Scooter... [More]
Decisions Without Knowledge
Eugene Robinson catches and critiques a bit of Gonzales recent op-ed that I sadly missed: Gonzales had an op-ed Sunday in The Post that included... [More]
Just Imagine...
Salon's Blog Report is doing a good job capturing the pro-gun response from members of the right to yesterday's incident at VA Tech. Here's one... [More]
SecDef Gates: Debate in Congress, Talk of Timetables Helps Us In Iraq
I cannot wait to see how the White House responds to this: AMMAN, Jordan, April 17 -- The decision by anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr... [More]
April 18, 2007
More On Perspective and Understanding (Updated)
Following up on my previous VT-related post.... Megan, a guest blogger over at Andrwe Sullivan's place, brings up another point that has been on my... [More]
White House To RNC: Don't Turn Over Those Emails
There is a very, very simple solution to this. Congress should issue subpoenas, and they should do so immediately. The use of outside email system... [More]
"No Freer People Than The People We Have In Montata"
Following up on yesterday's post about Montana's refusal to go along with the creation of a national ID card, here's how local Montana media are... [More]
Meanwhile In Iraq....
BAGHDAD, April 18 -- A string of bombings killed at least 127 people across Baghdad Wednesday, police said, as bloodshed spiked two months into a... [More]
More From Iraq...
Uh oh. CNN: Iraq orders arrest of top Army officer after deadly attacks BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered the... [More]
Life In Iraq Through The Eyes Of A Child
It's called My life among the bombs, and its one of the most amazing photo essays I've yet seen out of Iraq. Oh... and did... [More]
What Joan Said
More like this, please. On a day when people of conscience and common sense are asking what makes a miserable young man turn to guns... [More]
"Not Anything Related to the Congressman"
What a great line. The office of the wife of Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA), one of the congressmen most central to the Abramoff investigation,... [More]
Democrats Need Not Apply
The rule of law is supposed to be nonpartisan. No, scratch that. The rule of law by definition must be nonpartisan. And yet... this.... [More]
April 19, 2007
Gonzales Testifys Before Senate Judiciary Committee
I'll be watching and listening to the hearings all day, but I won't be live blogging them. Firedoglake already has that covered, and you can... [More]
McClatchy Takes On Vote Fraud
There's a reason I start my day reading the stories out of McClatchy's Washington bureau. Today's story: For six years, the Bush administration, aided by... [More]
A Fly On The White House Wall
Yesterday afternoon, Democratic leaders from both the Senate and the House met with the president to discuss resolving their dispute over funding for the Iraq... [More]
Senate Hearings: Midday Update
Quick takeaways: + Sen. Arlen Specter, the key Republican on the committee, appears to be running out of patience with Gonzales. At this point, I... [More]
Rove Claims War In Iraq Was Bin Laden's Idea, Wishes It Never Existed
Remember when everyone thought this man was some sort of genius? Rove now claims that the war in Iraq wasn't the idea of anyone in... [More]
Sen. Coburn (R-OK) Calls For Gonzales Resignation
Gonzales nevertheless asked for a chance to make good for his mistakes. Coburn refused. Will anyone follow Coburn's lead? Video here.... [More]
Senate Hearings: The Second Session
Some highlights from session two: + During Sen. Grassley's questioning, Gonzales admitted that he made false statements during his initial press conference because at the... [More]
Meanwhile, Over at The Corner (Multiple Updates)
So far today, only one of the bloggers over at NRO's Corner have decided to weigh in on Gonzales' testimony. To his credit, Byron York... [More]
Father Knows Best?
In case you don't already know, Dahlia Lithwick is an absolute must read on all things SCOTUS. Even with that said, yesterday's piece on the... [More]
Stand By Your Man
We inhabit alternate universes, apparently: President Bush was pleased with the Attorney General’s testimony today. After hours of testimony in which he answered all of... [More]
"I Take Responsibility"
By the way, could somebody please do me a favor and explain precisely what the statement "I take responsibility" now means? I've always assumed that... [More]
Didn't I Just Get Finished Saying....
...that you should read Dahlia Lithwick? Here's yet another example of why. In two sentences, she captures and translates an entire day of testimony: To... [More]
April 21, 2007
If They Never 'Stand Up', Does That Mean We'll Never 'Stand Down'?
Two extremely depressing but largely overlooked stories from Iraq over the last 48 hours. First, this story from McClatchy about the training of Iraqi forces:... [More]
Building the Baghdad Wall
Once upon a time it was the USSR that used secret prisons. Now it is us. Once upon a time it was the USSR that... [More]
After the Veto: A Strategy Memo
Want to know what the upcoming, post-veto debate is going to look like? The Center for American Progress lays it out here: Four Fundamentals in... [More]
Wolfowitz and the World Bank: It's Much Worse Than You Thought
I'm with Josh on this: the story is so convoluted and so corrupt, its hard to keep track of all of the issues and people... [More]
Hillary: Bill Would Be My "Ambassador to the World"
AP / HuffPo: Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday that if she is elected president, she would make her husband a roaming ambassador to the world,... [More]
April 24, 2007
al-Maliki: Tear Down This Wall?
Conflicting stories about that great wall of Baghdad that we're building to divide the Sunnis from the Shiites. LA Times reports: U.S. and Iraqi military... [More]
Excerpts from Obama's Foreign Policy Address
It looks like Obama has entered the phase of his presidential campaign dedicated to staking out concrete policy positions. Late last week he announced one... [More]
Quick Links
Time for blogging has been limited the past few days. Here are a few posts from other sites that you shouldn't miss: + Karl Rove... [More]
A Name Calling Match
Via Tim Grieve, here's Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's response to today's attacks from the VP: "I'm not going to get into a name-calling match... [More]
April 25, 2007
"The Keys to the Kingdom"
The House Judiciary Committee has voted 32-6 to subpoena Monica Goodling, the former White House liaison at the Dept. of Justice. The vote includes an... [More]
Bush: When Americans Judge Success or Failure in the War on Terror By the Number of Terrorist Incidents Around the World, the Terrorists Win
Even for Bush, this latest statement shows an astonishing level of incoherence. An excerpt from last night's interview on PBS, courtesy of ThinkProgress: BUSH: Even... [More]
Not Many Scandals, But One
Rahm Emanuel delivered one hell of a speech before the Brookings Institution this morning. Greg Sragent has the full text over at TPM's Election Central.... [More]
Speaking of Scandals...
CarpetBagger has a great rundown on the various Republican scandals that have emerged over the past month. Of the seven, I have to agree, the... [More]
Giuliani: A House United Cannot Stand (Multiple Updates)
Late last night, I cam across this story from The Politico about some comments made by Rudy Giuliani at a campaign stop in New Hampshire.... [More]
Motivation
TPM Muckraker is reporting that the Abramoff investigation is ramping up, with a possible indictment of Tom DeLay's former chief of staff in the works.... [More]
Car Bombs Not Included In Violence Statistics
Suddenly Bush's comments about car bombs make much more sense. U.S. officials who say there has been a dramatic drop in sectarian violence in Iraq... [More]
Can't Defend A Defenseless War? Blame the Iraqis! And Call Them Names!
Media Matters: On the April 23 broadcast of his Fox News Radio show, John Gibson argued that the Iraqi people -- whom he described as... [More]
A Good Question
If we're going to fly the flag at half-staff for those killed in the VT tragedy, why aren't we doing the same for the service... [More]
April 26, 2007
Gen. Petraeus On The War (Updated)
Tim Grieve reports: Gen. David Petraeus on the outlook for Iraq: "The situation in Iraq is, in sum, exceedingly complex and very tough. Success will... [More]
Romney: Catching Osama Not Worth the Money
Eric Kleefeld has a great catch: "It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person." — Mitt... [More]
April 27, 2007
3 Big Stories Tonight From McClatchy
If you're a news junkie and you haven't yet made McClatchy's Washington Bureau part of your daily fix, you really need to do something about... [More]
The Decisions of Commanders in Iraq
As you consider the administration's claims that Democrats are "attempting to micromanage our commanders in Iraq", remember this: At two very key moments, President Bush... [More]
Brutally Honest Self-Reflection
In case you haven't already seen it, this article by US Army Lt. Col. Paul Yingling from the Armed Forces Journal has been all over... [More]
USAID Administrator and Director of Foreign Assistance Resigns (Updated Twice)
That list kept by that DC madam? It just took down a Bush political appointee. They are all - and I really do mean all... [More]
Clinton Did It!
I'm beginning to feel like a broken record on this, but here goes anyway... When your entire campaign to win the presidency was based on... [More]
April 28, 2007
White House Gives Up On Surge
That's not precisely how the NYT chose to spin it - their headline was The White House Scales Back Talk of Iraq Progress - but... [More]
Today in Iraq
Two horribly depressing stories from today's NYT: Rebuilt Iraq Projects Found Crumbling In a troubling sign for the American-financed rebuilding program in Iraq, inspectors for... [More]
High Broderism
The progressive blogosphere has long had it out for David Broder, the man insiders consider the "dean" of the Washington press corps. Unless you've been... [More]
Gen Odom: Bush Has Gone AWOL
Gen. Odom, the Director of the National Security Agency under President Ronald Reagan, delivered the weekly Democratic Radio Address today. Take a look: "Good morning,... [More]
April 29, 2007
Gingrich on Climate Change
I just got thru watching the new Frontline special on the politics of climate change - Hot Politics - and although its not necessarily one... [More]
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