Elections Blog

In an article that talks about Nancy Pelosi’s efforts to move the congressional Democrats towards the center (and an article that spends almost an entire page talking about committee chairs without mentioning the Hastings-Harman dustup), we find the following buried nugget:
House Democratic leaders have extracted a promise from the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary [...]

[Read more →]

Has Tony Blair gone wobbly in calling for dialogue with Syria and Iran (in a prelude to what is widely expected to be a similar call in the Iraq Study Group report)?  It’s not as bad as you think…and it’s worse than you think.
The overall approach is entirely sensible.  Said Blair:
“It is a perfectly straightforward [...]

[Read more →]

Writing in the Christian Science Monitor:

With their votes, the American people asked for change. They cast their ballots in favor of a New Direction.
They called for greater integrity in Washington, and Democrats pledge to make this the most honest, ethical, and open Congress in history.
The American people called for greater civility in how Congress conducts [...]

[Read more →]

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is in Washington this week and sat down for a Q&A with Newsweek.  Interesting exchange on Iran:
How do you see the threat posed by Iran?
President Ahmadinejad is a man who is ready to commit crimes against humanity, and he has to be stopped. My position is clear. If there can [...]

[Read more →]

The answer: very little.
More than any congressional elections in history, last week’s turned on a single burning national issue. Control of Congress has changed because of deep discontent about Iraq. But Congress can, realistically, have little control over what we make of the mess we have made.
Democrats could have demanded the departure of Donald Rumsfeld, [...]

[Read more →]

I think it was…if Bush had pressured Rumsfeld to resign prior to the midterms, by a couple of weeks, at least, it would have given the Republicans a good talking point to take into the midters, one that showed a belated willingness to listen to critics and make a change.  Another who thinks the timing [...]

[Read more →]

And that’s no surprise at all.  You don’t have to go very deep into this Gail Collins special to realize just how morally bankrupt the once-proud Grey Lady has become:
The Democrats will not be able to savor their victory for long. Americans are waiting to hear if they have any good ideas for how to [...]

[Read more →]

…marred only by the appearance of MoDo (transcript here).  Said MoDo:

MR. RUSSERT: Maureen Dowd, here’s the cover of Newsweek magazine. “Father Knows Best.” With Bush 41, Bush 43, and it’s subtitled “With Congress Lost, Iraq in Chaos, Bush Calls In His Dad’s Team. Can James, James Baker and Company Save the Son’s Presidency?” Very similar [...]

[Read more →]

UPDATE 11:59 a.m.: I usually put my updates at the bottom of posts, but this is a big one. Events have overtaken the content of what follows, as Donald Rumsfeld has resigned. I don’t know the details yet, but it’s a welcome move, and my only regret is that he didn’t do it before the [...]

[Read more →]

Could I resist blogging about a Christopher Hitchens piece in the Wall Street Journal focusing on John Kerry’s latest humiliation? No, I most certainly could not:
Regrettable though it might be for the United States military to become an untouchable “third rail” in American politics, there can be little sympathy for someone who keeps on brushing [...]

[Read more →]

He’s not through mouthing off yet:
Iraq’s prime minister said on Thursday he could get violence under control in six months, half the time U.S. generals say they need, provided Washington gave him more weaponry and more say over his own forces.
In sharp criticism of the handling of Iraq’s security by the United States, Nuri [...]

[Read more →]

So reports the New York Times, in an authoritative tone that seems to indicate the story is tight:
The Bush administration is drafting a timetable for the Iraqi government to address sectarian divisions and assume a larger role in securing the country, senior American officials said.
Details of the blueprint, which is to be presented to Prime [...]

[Read more →]

With the elections little more than two weeks away, I still don’t see enough of a coordinated effort by the Republicans to use perhaps their best remaining argument to stay in power.  I’m talking about the Bush tax cuts.  Here’s George Will:
…[S]ince the Bush tax cuts went into effect in 2003, the economy’s growth rate [...]

[Read more →]

It is with a heavy heart and a tightening of the chest that I note that today’s scheduled UN vote on North Korean sanction is in danger of being torpedoed by Russia and China:
Despite winning key concessions, Russia and China raised new objections that could delay a vote Saturday on a U.N. Security Council resolution [...]

[Read more →]

Here’s a question for anyone who cares to answer it, though of course we would welcome some insight from those of the ‘progressive’ slant: regardless of the merits of the individual arguments, how does the continued willingingness of prominent Congressional Republicans to buck Bush on such items as terror detainees and immigration fit in with [...]

[Read more →]

How long will the myth that George W. Bush tied Saddam Hussein to 9/11 continue to circulate? He never once said it - in fact, he has always been careful to disavow it - and last night was no exception. Yet left-wing outlets such as The Guardian continue to push the lie:
The president conceded [...]

[Read more →]

The President spoke tonight; if you missed it, you can read the transcript here…
Pajamas has a solid roundup, as does Wizbang…
AJ is none too thrilled with the suggestion of Chris Matthews for Ground Zero…
The Ragin’ RINOs have a 9/11-themed carnival this week, so please check it out…
And (quite appropriately) I just receive a copy of [...]

[Read more →]

…comes from (gasp!) firedoglake, where Christy Hardin Smith asks, Does ABC/Disney Movie Include Bush Allowing Osama Bin Laden To Escape From Tora Bora? If it did, that would be damned incredible, since the movie is called ‘The Path To 9/11′ and ends the very morning of the attacks.
Enough with the outrage from the left, already.  Simply [...]

[Read more →]

The answer, of course, is anyone that would buy her book.  Radar Online, which seems to be succeeding to the same extent as the print edition is failing, reports:
The right-wingers who think nothing but the worst of Cindy Sheehan probably won’t change their minds after reading Peace Mom. In the book, which hits bookstores September [...]

[Read more →]

Frazier Moore raves:
“The Path to 9/11″ will break your heart. It will leave you unnerved, even more than before. And angrier than ever. A five-hour miniseries that dramatizes a decade’s worth of events leading up to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, this film is plenty gripping. It doesn’t forgo artistry for polemics.
Even so, it [...]

[Read more →]