Uncategorized
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George Allen’s race problem is more than personal
Media Matters reports that MSNBC “Hardball” host Chris Matthews downplayed Senator George Allen’s public and private displays of the Confederate flag on Wednesday, comparing them to a Democrat wearing a Che Guevara or Karl Marx shirt during their youth. But as the New Republic pointed out, “Allen has either displayed the flag–on himself, his car,
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John McCain’s solution to the crisis in Iraq
The John McCain press infatuation has got to stop. Check out this “straight talk,” which was reported breathlessly by the New York Observer: For all the national attention surrounding John McCain’s two highly anticipated, protest-ridden commencement speeches in New York last week, the Senator actually saved some of his best material for the crowd that
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Defense leaks about Duke lacrosse evidence
Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong turned over a mountain of evidence to the accused lacrosse players’ defense team, and they promptly began leaking it to the media. Here’s a roundup of the major claims that are being circulated, which should be interpreted cautiously given their source: (1) The accuser allegedly claimed the other dancer witnessed
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The bogus GOP “gas calculator”
Yesterday, RNC chairman Ken Mehlman sent an email to supporters (PDF) with the subject line “The Democrat Plan: $3.98 Gas, $955 More Per Year at the Pump.” The email refers repeatedly to what “Democrats offer,” “the Democrat’s (sic) energy proposals,” “how much more Democrats want you to pay at the pump,” “how much more Democrats
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All the President’s Spin for $5
A friend reports that All the President’s Spin was recently the “deal of the day” at the Barnes & Noble sales annex. They’re selling it as a bargain book for $5 new, which is a good deal for a copy from a major seller (Amazon is currently selling the book for $10.78 new, and the
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Bush aide dissembles, smears war critics
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, White House aide Peter Wehner attacks a series of “antiwar myths” about the war in Iraq, many of which are straw men that he pummels ritualistically. For instance, in a supposed refutation of the claim that the Bush administration promoted false intelligence about Iraq, he writes: [N]o serious person
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White House twists Medicare RX numbers
Robert Pear’s dissection of the Bush administration’s abuse of statistics about the Medicare prescription drug bill takes me back to the old days: In trying to shape public perceptions, the Bush administration has manipulated enrollment figures. On April 20, the administration issued a news release saying, “30 Million Medicare Beneficiaries Now Receiving Prescription Drug Coverage.”
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Democratic politics is all about Hillary
The big Al Gore profile in New York magazine, which touts him as a 2008 candidate, features this blind quote which perfectly summarizes the state of play in the party right now: [T]he Gore boomlet is also being driven by another force: the creeping sense of foreboding about the prospect of Hillary Clinton’s march to
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The Leopold/Truthout fiasco
I’m back from vacation and surprised anyone believed the alleged scoop about Karl Rove’s indictment, which was posted on the left-wing website Truthout.org by disgraced journalist Jason Leopold. Predictably, it’s been retracted, though Truthout’s “partial apology” is a mishmash of cant: On Saturday afternoon, May 13, 2006, TruthOut ran a story titled, “Karl Rove Indicted
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Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth
Franklin Foer, the editor of The New Republic, was genuinely moved by Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth: I hope this doesn’t sound too Arianna-like. But last night, I went to a screening of the Al Gore movie. And I found myself walking out in a strange mood. I had just seen a movie featuring