Uncategorized
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“We’ll take the 40s”
In the Fred Barnes op-ed I mentioned last week, a Bush aide makes a striking statement defending the President’s terrible poll numbers: [T]he simple fact of governing in Washington is that popularity is not a measure of power. In the late ’90s, President Clinton’s approval rating stayed well above 60%, even after he was impeached.
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Watch Chris Mooney on the Daily Show tonight!
I forgot to note that my friend Chris Mooney will be discussing his excellent new book The Republican War on Science on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” tonight. Make sure to tune in, and check back tomorrow morning for the post-mortem and my (belated) review of the book.
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When Alterman attacks
On Saturday morning, Eric Alterman sent me this charming email in reference to my post about him: You are making a jerk of yourself which is why I am doing you the favor of ignoring these baseless accusations on the blog. You have now twice accused me of imputing intentions to the administration on the
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John Kerry was right
Last Wednesday, I flagged this passage from a John Kerry email to supporters: How long will it be before [Republicans] start telling us that tax cuts for the wealthy can provide just the stimulus we need to get the Gulf Coast economy moving again? My response: “I’d say a week, maybe less.” That turned out
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Adding insult to injury: Showing “The Man” at the Astrodome
Having seen the preview for “The Man” at least seven times, I have to say that the news that it is going to be shown to Katrina refugees at the Astrodome hurts me inside. Dateline Hollywood, which Ben Fritz of Spinsanity fame co-edits, gets it right in a very funny satire: ASTRODOME REFUGEES ENDURE SCREENING
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Bush #6 all-time?
Someone has lost their mind — according to a survey conducted by James Lindgren of Northwestern University, “GOP-leaning scholars rated Mr. Bush the 6th-best president of all time, while Democratic ones rated him No. 35, or 6th-worst. Even Bill Clinton–13th among Democrats, 34th among Republicans–isn’t as controversial.” Sixth best of all time? Let me note
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Up is down alert: Dick Cheney
Andrew Sullivan makes a great catch: THE TWO CHENEYS: Even in a disaster, he spins: In his first tour of the damage, Cheney offered an upbeat assessment of what he called the “very impressive” current response efforts. “I think the progress we’re making is significant,” he said. Meanwhile, back on planet earth: A Republican with
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Katrina fallout for Bush
Via Josh Marshall, the latest Newsweek poll is devastating to President Bush: In Katrina’s wake, the president’s popularity and job-approval ratings have dropped across the board. Only 38 percent of Americans approve of the way Bush is doing his job overall, a record-low for this president in the NEWSWEEK poll. (Fifty-five percent of Americans disapprove
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Are cronyism and PR the future?
In the aftermath of Katrina, it’s clear that the Bush administration has modernized the wrong part of government. We’re getting 21st century PR combined with 19th century patronage — an ugly combination that represents a double step backward for the country. For instance, it turns out that Michael Brown isn’t the only unqualified political hack
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Media fact-checking during Katrina
I want to note the (brief) surge in factual scrutiny of administration claims in the press during Katrina. In particular, CNN did some excellent work on TV and on their website. See this story and this one for classic examples of vigorous media fact-checking of exactly the sort we asked for in All the President’s