Month: November 2005
-
The WSJ’s comforting fable
In an editorial today denouncing calls for withdrawal from Iraq, the Wall Street Journal passes along a comforting tale for war supporters: We are told that among the papers discovered along with Saddam two years ago was one saying that the Baathists-turned-terrorists will know they are winning when a candidate for President of the United
-
Attacking dissent at every step since 9/11
Yesterday, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), a decorated war veteran and leading Democratic figure on military affairs, called for an immediate pullout from Iraq. In response, as TNR’s Michael Crowley pointed out, two House Republicans engaged in vicious, anti-democratic attacks on Murtha. Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) said “many on the Democratic side have revealed their exit
-
Richard Cohen disturbs me
Via Wonkette, this line from Richard Cohen’s latest column is really unnecessary: It would be nice, fitting and pretty close to sexually exciting if Bush somehow acknowledged his mistakes and said he had learned from them. And who cares if he admits he admits some mistakes and claims to have learned from them? Talk is
-
Dick Cheney: Staggering hypocrisy
As Josh Marshall noted last night, this excerpt from Vice President Dick Cheney’s speech last night is staggering: I know what it’s like to operate in a highly charged political environment, in which the players on all sides of an issue feel passionately and speak forcefully. In such an environment people sometimes lose their cool,
-
Chuck Hagel is a patriot
Today I stand in praise Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, a man of deep integrity who is willing to buck his party for the greater good of American democracy. In 2002, Republicans engaged in demagogic attacks on Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle for daring to question the conduct of the war on terrorism. As I wrote
-
Kenneth Tomlinson: A 21st century political hack
To paraphrase Andy Warhol: In the future, everyone can be a political hack for fifteen months. According to a report from Kenneth A. Konz, the inspector general of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, former CPB chairman Kenneth Tomlinson repeatedly broke federal law during his tenure: According to the report, Tomlinson consulted with Bush administration officials
-
Bush distorts Democratic quotations about Iraq
In the latest phase of his offensive against critics of the war in Iraq, President Bush quoted a series of Democrats about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein during a speech today: Let me give you some quotes from three senior Democrat leaders: First, and I quote, “There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is
-
Blogometer interview
The Hotline has published an interview with me in its Blogometer section. Here’s an excerpt: How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years? The old media will learn that blogging well is a lot harder than it looks. And the new media will
-
What is Media Matters talking about?
Yesterday, the liberal watchdog Media Matters published an article calling on the public to protest the Los Angeles Times’ decision to fire left-liberal columnist Robert Scheer, writing, “Given both the history of conservative attacks on Scheer, and the Los Angeles Times’ failure to explain his firing, it seems plausible that the Times bowed to right-wing
-
More Washington Times “journalism”
On yesterday’s Meet the Press, Tim Russert asked Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean about attacks on Michael Steele: RUSSERT: Picking up on what Ken Mehlman said about Michael Steele, the African-American Republican candidate in Maryland, being called an Uncle Tom, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee seeking his credit report. Should you not… DEAN: I