U.S.
Arlen Specter Compares Eric Holder to Alberto Gonzales
Republicans have made it clear that Attorney General-designate Eric Holder is the most problematic of President-elect Barack Obama cabinet nominees. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, gave a scathing floor statement on Holder Tuesday, laying out many of the GOP’s lines of attack: the 1996 “campaign finance violations” of [...]
Report: Obama to Tap CNN Doc Gupta for Surgeon General
President-elect Barack Obama has offered the post of surgeon general to neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta, who is better known for his work as a CNN correspondent, The Washington Post reports.
Restoration Denied!
According to the speaker of Florida’s state House, Jeb Bush is passing on a 2010 Senate run.
“He said it just wasn’t the right timing,” [Marco] Rubio said, recounting a phone call he received this afternoon from the former Florida governor and presidential brother.
Bush, who left office in 2007, cited his desire to explore other professional [...]
The Paradox of Thrift
Has the economy scared you into cutting back on your spending, paying down your credit cards, getting your budget in order? Good for you, but bad for the country’s financial health, the Wall Street Journal points out today. Big-spending Americans have dramatically changed their habits, and economists expect the savings rate, which has dipped below [...]
New Adventures in Bad Faith
The crocodile tears flow so fast and furious from this Pat Buchanan column that your computer screen might get moist. Fair warning.
On [Harry Reid's] blacklist [of unacceptable choices for Barack Obama's Senate seat] were, according to the source, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Rep. Danny Davis and State Senate President Emil Jones.
What do the three have [...]
Stop, Thief!
Wow, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial on the Minnesota recount was the screed heard ’round the world. Here’s Bill O’Reilly, the Sinestro to Al Franken’s Hal Jordan, citing the WSJ to argue that Franken “cheated” to win the recount. Here’s Joe Scarborough doing the same (and you really have to read Mika Brezezinski’s sassy onomotopiea [...]
Obama’s pick for OLC: ‘Just Say No’ To The President
Most of the discussion of President-elect Barack Obama’s appointments announced Monday focused on whether Leon Panetta does or doesn’t have the experience to run the CIA. However, it’s worth noting that Dawn Johnsen, Obama’s pick for the once-obscure post of head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice – made famous [...]
Civil Libertarians Pretty Pleased With Dawn Johnsen at OLC
As Daphne blogged earlier today, Dawn Johnsen of Indiana University Law School is going to helm the Justice Dept.’s Office of Legal Counsel, a crucial position for the balance between civil liberties and national security. (Under the Bush administration, it became the go-to office for rubber-stamping the legality of torture, indefinite detention and warrantless surveillance.) [...]
The Most Corrupt Presidency Ever!
It’s still just the embryonic Barack Obama administration, of course, but the light-speed downfall of Bill Richardson, Obama’s nominee for Commerce Dept. secretary, has brought back a conservative meme that had faded after Obama escaped blame in Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s scandals.
I should be clear: This is a conservative movement meme, not something the Republican [...]
Another Day, Another Democratic Governor’s Pay-to-Play Scandal
Anyone who thinks that the only thing better than one Democratic governor embroiled in a pay-to-play scandal is two Democratic governors embroiled in pay-to-play scandals received a big treat Sunday when another federal investigation that had been flying under the national radar suddenly came to light.
The twist? This scandal involves New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, [...]
