As a presidential candidate, George Bush promised over and over again that he would be guided by “sound science.” But almost from the outset, his Administration has come under repeated accusations that it has distorted or quashed science in favor of political or ideological considerations. Now comes this testimony from the man who served as [...]

Before today’s staff massacre, a frequent complaint one heard from the McCain campaign in recent months was that the national press had turned against them, that the coverage of their guy had become hostile, unfair and unbalanced. Putting aside the irony of that charge (in 2000 McCain and his aides used to say, only half [...]

Our colleague Adam Zagorin has new details on the scandal, including an interview with the alleged “DC Madam,” Deborah Jeane Palfrey: “Why am I the only person being prosecuted?” she told TIME over the phone. “Sen. Vitter should be prosecuted [if he broke the law]”

CNN–update: AP– is reporting that Baghdad’s Green Zone was hit by as many as 35 rockets this evening–3 dead, 18 wounded. And while the Green Zone is mortared most nights, this seems an escalation by insurgents who, in this case, are NOT Al Qaeda, but most likely members of Muqtada Sadr’s Jaish al-Mahdi (JAM) or, [...]

As pointed out in comments, Sen. David Vitter — DC Madam client — was a Giuliani supporter, doing outreach to the evangelical community. (Hindsight hilarity alert!) He has, of course, apologized for his “serious sin.” (Frivolous sin, in the Vitter doctrine, is apparently a-okay.) As if you couldn’t already tell, Vitter is something of a [...]

The McCain campaign is attempting to walk back a very mangy cat: Mark Salter is not leaving, they say. He went to pro-bono status at the end of Q2 as part of the campaign’s general cost-cutting, and will remain there. He’ll continue to write speeches and be a senior adviser to the senator. The campaign’s [...]

It seems Giuliani has added Norman Podhoretz, bull-neocon–and I use “bull” advisedly–to his foreign policy staff. NPod wants, among other things, to bomb Iran. Now. Can Doug Feith, Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld be far behind?

Marc Ambinder is reporting that McCain has also lost Mark Salter. The departure of Salter and Weaver marks the end of one of the most charismatic and legendary political braintrusts this town has seen — especially considering that they never actually won the presidency. Journalists regarded Salter as McCain’s alter-ego and he was the source [...]

Which just issued this statement, even as John McCain speaks from Senate floor about Iraq: ARLINGTON, VA – Terry Nelson, Campaign Manager and John Weaver, Chief Strategist for John McCain 2008 issued the following statements: “This morning I informed Senator McCain that I would be resigning from his presidential campaign, effective immediately. It has been [...]