On the Hugh Hewitt program Wednesday, I heard Tony Snow stand up for the importance of looking the facts squarely in the face, ignoring ideological and preconceptions, and following them where they lead, most especially on the subject of the Iraq war. He also commended the New York Times and the L.A. Times as good sources […]

The Mitt Romney for prez campaign released a new ad running in Iowa that seeks to build on his win in the Saturday straw poll. You can watch it here (note that on this link, the 30-second spot is followed by several minutes of other footage of Romney in Iowa). The script is brief, with Romney […]

Marc Ash of the lefty aggregator site Truthout hurls himself against the one thing almost everyone thinks they know about Karl Rove, that he was a political genius. His philippic is one-sided, heartfelt and admirably brief. Why can’t I write short like that? Okay, I just did.

Karl Rove’s job is to win political campaigns and he has been very good at it.
He took an intellectually lazy Texas governor with boyish charm and helped make him president in 2000. He beat the historical odds, and helped the party of the incumbent president pick up seats in the 2002 midterms. He then took the same […]

I’ve been asked to appear on the Dan Barreiro program, that’s KFAN AM 1130, after the 6 p.m. newsbreak this evening.
Barreiro’s sidekick, Joe Anderson aka Mr. Phunn, is filling in tonight. He wants to talk about the Rove departure, among other things, and I’m working on a post about it. My entry question is this: Does […]

“The internet news audience – roughly a quarter of all Americans – tends to be younger and better educated than the public as a whole. People who rely on the internet as their main news source express relatively unfavorable opinions of mainstream news sources and are among the most critical of press performance. As many […]

Okay, Pres. Bush and U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar didn’t directly address these comments to one another, but they might as well have, and although Bush’s complaints about Congressional pork projects may have been a mere excuse to oppose domestic spending, Oberstar is one of the kings of the House where earmarks for roads and bridges […]

In the last two televised debates – one by the Repub. presidential field on Sunday morning and one by the Dems. on Tuesday evening – Sen. Barack Obama has been accused of cluelessness and recklessness for saying that he would try to capture or kill Osama bin Laden if he knew where the Al Qaida leader was hiding in […]

It’s never been an ambition of mine to master the ways and means of transportation finance. And I certainly have not. But at the moment, if the collapse of the 35W bridge is to be the takeoff point for a fresh look at taxing and spending issues, it may be necessary to master a few basics, so that we […]

The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., plans to stage protests at funerals of victims of the 35W bridge collapse to state that God made the bridge fall because he hates America, and especially Minnesota, because of its tolerance of homosexuality.
The church and its pastor, Rev. Fred Phelps have become notorious over recent years for […]

Nick Coleman’s second column on the topic was correct. The bridge collapse will be politicized. Democrats will (already have) cite it as evidence of what happens when your answer to every question is “no new taxes,” and that will certainly be a political assertion.
As my esteemed former colleague put it:
“If you think everyone should play nice […]

The new Bush Administration initiative to sell advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia and seven other Arab states is being portrayed as an effort to strengthen the military capabilities of countries that share Washington’s interest in containing the growing regional influence of Iran.
I leave it to others more steeped in strategic thinking, like William Arkin who writes […]