Month: March 2007
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More attacks on dissent from media, GOP
A quick roundup of the latest attacks on dissent from the political world. 1. Media Matters reports that CNN’s Michael Ware said a timeline “is only aiding the enemies” of America: [A]nyone setting timeframes like that without real preconditions, anyone trying to put artificial deadlines upon this conflict is only aiding the enemies, so-called, of
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When mixed metaphors attack: Tony Snow edition
In a Washington Times story about how bad the last week was for President Bush, White House spokesman Tony Snow had some trouble coming up with the appropriate metaphor for the situation: Mr. Snow criticized what he called “throwing unrelated stories in the same pot.” “I think there has been an attempt to try to
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The dreaded Swiss army
Who needs night vision goggles and smart bombs? The Swiss used carrier pigeons and bikes (!) until very recently: Switzerland has been neutral for 500 years, and these days it’s hard to imagine who might attack us or what enemy the army should prepare to fight. Thus over the course of the past several decades
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Post busts Bush on Latin American aid
Via Bob Somerby, the Washington Post has a nice takedown of President Bush’s claims to have doubled economic aid to Latin America (which are similar to his bogus claims about cutting the deficit in half): As President Bush arrived in Brazil on Thursday, he brought with him a message that he believes has been lost
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The PBS-ization of political campaigns
PBS was apparently ahead of its time. Following up its offer of the official McCain fleece with a $200 donation, the McCain campaign is now pushing (PDF) the official McCain 2008 hat for a $100 donation: How long until they offer a tote bag?
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More on the bogus Obama stock story
Today’s newspapers seem to be relatively quiet on the bogus Obama stock story, but it’s worth noting a Chicago Tribune article that supports the explanation that Obama’s broker bought the same stocks for both clients: The arrangement with his UBS broker began not long after Obama signed a $1.9 million three-book deal in December 2004.
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The multicultural appeal of Barack Obama
Only in America?
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The bogus Obama stock story
Via Eric Alterman, Todd Gitlin had the same reaction as me (and Alterman) to the front page New York Times story on Barack Obama yesterday: The story? Well, here’s the lede: Less than two months after ascending to the United States Senate, Barack Obama bought more than $50,000 worth of stock in two speculative companies
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Libby pardon debate begins
With the conviction of Scooter Libby on four counts yesterday, the media focus on the trial is quickly shifting to a partisan debate over the merits of a pardon. Democrats are already calling on President Bush to promise not to pardon Libby, as in this statement from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: Senator Harry Reid
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Andrew Sullivan on Ann Coulter
Andrew Sullivan has written an elegant response to Ann Coulter’s description of John Edwards as a “faggot” during her speech at CPAC: Coulter’s defense of the slur is that it was directed at an obviously straight man and so could not be a real slur. The premise of this argument is that the word faggot