Blog
Jun 21, 2004
Quality
Wa Po: Thomas B. Griffith, President Bush’s nominee for the federal appeals court in Washington, has been practicing law in Utah without a state law license for the past four years, according to Utah state officials. Unfortunately, our country suffers from such a dearth of legal talent that we can’t find any nominees that have actually practiced legally, or that haven’t gone out of their way to defend a cross burner, or that haven’t called Roe v Wade “the …
Read More »Jun 21, 2004
Disco Stu
Rothenberg that is. From Roll Call, “In Just a Week, Stu Finds Five Candidates He Actually Likes”: It’s just another week in the life of a handicapper. I interviewed five candidates, and my reactions may surprise some. Candidate No. 1 is Jim Sullivan, a Democrat running for Congress against Rep. Rob Simmons (R) in Connecticut’s 2nd district. Sullivan, a 37-year-old financial adviser whose head of gray hair makes him look older, served two terms on the Norwich City Council. …
Read More »Jun 21, 2004
Politicization? Nah…
Frank Luntz lays out a new contract on America: With voter anxieties about Iraq shadowing this year’s campaign, pollster Frank Luntz has some advice for fellow Republicans: Mind your language. Luntz, according to a strategy paper that fell into the hands of Democrats, says minor changes in language used by politicians can lead to major differences in voter perceptions—turning a potential liability into an asset. Among his suggested talking points, in the nine-page section on Iraq and terrorism: • …
Read More »Jun 20, 2004
You Have No Government
Only the Bush Campaign. Why should we even continue to teach our children science if this is what happens?
Read More »Jun 20, 2004
The Roots of Incompetence
The Washington Post puts out the first of a three article-series on the post war occupation, and it isn’t pretty. The government under GOP control has not failed in policy, it has not even attempted it. Politics only. The article concludes with this: The other major conflict within the occupation bureaucracy has set the legions of young staff members chosen for their loyalty to the Bush administration against older, more liberal diplomats from the State Department and the British …
Read More »Jun 19, 2004
Molly Ivins on “Clean Elections”
No sooner do we win a long struggle to clean up politics and restore democracy in this country than we find the whole thing under attack, and we have to go out and re-fight the same battle all over again. Good thing we’re not easily discouraged. This is what’s happening in Arizona, where the successful Clean Elections Act is now under attack by the big special interests and national conservatives with ties that run from Tom DeLay (surprise!) to …
Read More »Jun 18, 2004
I Love It
Richard Morrison, the man who will take down Tom DeLay (you heard it here first) meets with the Texas bloggers. I love those folks.
Read More »Jun 18, 2004
Jonas Morris on the Squeeze
This is Jonas’ second installment on the economic landscape. Jonas has more than thirty years as a reporter, analyst and writer, and has worked in many Democratic campaigns, including the presidential campaign of Lyndon Johnson. The Economic Numbers May Appear Strong, But Many Folks Are Hurting Kerry and Bush each present their view of the state of the economy: Bush that the economy is robust and getting better; Kerry that the perception of a robust economy is seriously misleading …
Read More »Jun 18, 2004
Guest Post: Recardo Gibson
Meet Recardo Gibson, a new member of the DCCC online team who will be guest posting from time to time. Don’t Believe the Hype The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie expects to see an increase in African American voters casting their ballots for Republicans from 9% to 35%. In an interview, Gillespie said black voters had the same concerns as any group of voters: jobs, the economy, health care and education. Bush’s record on creating …
Read More »Jun 18, 2004
Pelosi on Paul Johnson
“The brutal and senseless murder of Paul M. Johnson, Jr. by his captors in Saudi Arabia is a cruel reminder that terrorists operate outside the bounds of accepted human behavior. The entire world should strongly condemn this horrific act. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Johnson’s family at this very sad time.”
Read More »Jun 18, 2004
How to Find the Plame Culprit
John Dean relays an idea from his late friend, Sam Dash (not a fan of John Ashcroft): To make his point, while waiting for his book to come off the presses, Sam wrote in a Newsday article, “If, as now seems likely, top White House aides leaked the identity of an American undercover agent, they may have committed an act of domestic terrorism as defined by the dragnet language of the Patriot Act their boss wanted so much to …
Read More »Jun 18, 2004
Catching up on Halliburton
Two new entries, neither related to Iraq, both while Cheney was still CEO. Halliburton fires two for bribes in Nigeria: Halliburton Co. has fired two consultants - one of whom was also the retired chairman - of a subsidiary under investigation for alleged involvement in paying $180 million in bribes to get a natural gas project contract in Nigeria. [...] The alleged bribes were made to Nigerian officials from 1995 - three years before Halliburton acquired Dresser - through …
Read More »Jun 18, 2004
Hitchens, Inhofe, DeLay
Now I wouldn’t trust Hitchens with my lunch money, but a quote of his is worth throwing up to make a point: In a recent public debate, so I was told, an American officer referred to the Abu Ghraib scandal as a “moral Chernobyl.” You might think that this was overstating matters, even if in one important sense—because Chernobyl was morally an accident, albeit in some ways a “systemic” one—it is actually understating them. But get ready. It is …
Read More »Jun 18, 2004
E.J.
E.J. Dionne writes on Herseth and Chandler: ...It cannot yet be said that as Kentucky and South Dakota go, so goes the nation. But when hugging President Bush closely no longer guarantees victory for Republicans, and when even GOP loyalists start worrying about partisan overreach, a new mood is stirring. Even in the red states, it’s not 2002 anymore. Go read, is good…
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