Seriously.
At a moment of economic stress greater than most living Americans have ever experienced, it is no wonder that every move made by the administration of President Barack Obama to address the multiple simultaneous crises afflicting the economy has been greeted with howls of criticism from the left, right and middle. Now is a fertile [...]
On First Day as Democrat, Specter (Again) Bucks His Party – WaPo (4/29/09)
Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) began his first full day as a Democrat since the early 1960s at a party-switching celebration hosted by President Obama and Vice President Biden. He ended it by casting another vote against Obama, opposing his budget as too authoritarian [...]
During the President’s press conference last night, Michael Scherer of Time asked an excellent question:
During the campaign, you criticized President Bush’s use of the state secrets privilege, but U.S. attorneys have continued to argue the Bush position in three cases in court. How exactly does your view of state secrets differ from President Bush’s? And [...]
My friends and family have been laughing at me for the last week because none of them can picture me at a rodeo. But rodeos are a growing component of my photography business, and so I’ll put on a cowboy hat and dodge turds when I have to. I recently returned from Red [...]
It’s not surprising to look through my feed reader and see that 90% of the politics posts are about Arlen Specter switching parties to avoid an impossible primary. And I don’t begrudge the people their right to talk about it because it’s certainly news. It’s also entertaining to watch Republicans have to defend [...]
Dan Froomkin has a suggestion for the media covering Obama’s Wednesday press conference:
President Obama holds a prime-time press conference tomorrow night to mark his 100th day in office, and if the major news organizations really want to make it interesting, they won’t send their White House corrrespondents.
No, I’m not suggesting a boycott. What I’m proposing [...]
Politico’s Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin wrote on Sunday morning:
The (Republican) party’s top elected leaders in Congress, meanwhile, spooked by being attacked as the “party of no,” were recasting themselves as a constructive, respectful opposition to a popular president.
Really?
I do believe I follow political news pretty closely. I have seen no signs [...]
Barack Obama, in his big science speech yesterday:
A half century ago, this nation made a commitment to lead the world in scientific and technological innovation…. That was the high water mark of America’s investment in research and development. And since then our investments have steadily declined as a share of our national income. As a [...]
That’s Midas, spelled backwards. And Republicans certainly seem to have the exact opposite of the Midas touch. Take pandemic flu, for example.
When House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who has long championed investment in pandemic preparation, included roughly $900 million for that purpose in this year’s emergency stimulus bill, [...]
No comment necessary, I believe; Senator Hatch’s words (from Jay Bybee’s February 5, 2003 confirmation hearing for a federal judgeship) speak for themselves with perfect eloquence:
I don’t know of anybody who has any more qualification or any greater ability in the law than you have and that’s counting some pretty exceptional people.
And guess who’s defending [...]
