In the ArenaUncategorized
ABC News is reporting that all regular Army units will be extended for three months, in order to maintain the surge through the end of the year. This confirms my earlier reporting that Petraeus and his team were chafing against the administration-imposed timeline of “progress,” perhaps even pulling troops out, by August. As I’ve written …
In the ArenaUncategorized
This came in the mail from Nathan Britton:
Hey Joe,
While I don’t think that the CBC will be disbanding anytime soon, you should know that you were closer than you knew with your suggestion of a “poor people’s caucus”: earlier this year, members of the CBC, CAPAC and CHC have come together to form the “Out of Poverty Caucus.”
My boss,
…
In the ArenaUncategorized
Here’s Eric’s version of our conversation at the party last night via Atrios.
My version: Yes, we had a argument. “Screaming” though? Seems to me Eric’s voice was raised, as was mine. And backing into a corner? Oh please. My sense was that when I tried to have a discussion with Eric, he refused…I even tried to point out some things we …
Apologies for my absence yesterday, I was up in Boston, pretending I know something about politics. Also there: Mark Halperin, late of the Note, who gave a brown bag talk at Harvard’s Institute of Politics about the “problems” present in modern political journalism, as observed by him and from his talks with actual campaign …
In the ArenaUncategorized
The ability of Muqtada al-Sadr to bring tens of thousands of people into the streets and his apparent control of the Baghdad police force in Shi’ite neighborhoods leads to an obvious question: Is this guy the de facto leader of Arab Iraq (that is, the non-Kurdish region)? And if so, can we live with him?
Muqtada is clearly a demagogue, …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Karen’s right about Gwen Ifill’s piece–and I think I was wrong to let Imus off the hook so easily yesterday. Gwen’s key insight was that the Rutgers basketball players are a bunch of kids who deserved to experience their success unimpeded by snarky locker-room racist “humor.” We’re accustomed to treating athletes on the college level as …
Gwen Ifill nails him in her op-ed in the NYT this morning.
UPDATE: A number of commenters wonder whether Imus actually called Ifill a “cleaning lady” when she was covering the White House for the New York Times. Imus’ own recollection on the Today Show this morning was:
“That happened back during the Reagan Administration.”
First of …
Our friends over at CNN report that AG Gonzales remains in seclusion preparing for his Senate testimony which is more than a week away. :
One of the Justice officials remarked that Gonzales “is getting there” as he continues his preparation for the Senate session. Gonzales has no public appearances scheduled prior to his April 17
…
In the ArenaUncategorized
First, congratulations to Barack Obama for dropping out of the Congressional Black Caucus Institute-Fox News debate. With John Edwards already out, that means this sordid event is over…Back in 2004, I remember raising an eyebrow or two when it was announced that Fox would sponsor a debate in partnership with the CBC, of all groups. …
Just back from Spring Break and catching up with what I missed, including this story in yesterday’s Washington Post recounting how the White House failed to see the warning signs when it nominated Bernard Kerik to be head of Homeland Security. One of the main reasons, it turns out, was that Rudy Giuliani was vouching for him. Will this …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Ana, ask Swampdad to think about the effects of impeachment: If successful, you get President Cheney. If unsuccessful, you get a latter day precedent–any President, and especially the next President, is more likely to be impeached than not. Impeachment was cheapened by Republicans in the last administration; it shouldn’t be cheapened by …
A SwampDad weighs in on Joe’s anything-but-impeachment column:
I really like his article – even tho he says in the blog he is not calling for impeachment. [Then] what the f**k is he calling for?
Love,
Sam
Over to you, Joe.
In the ArenaUncategorized
The Wall Street Journal editorial page, with typical judiciousness, gets the Pelosi trip quite wrong. First, George Logan was not a member of the Congress when he made his “pacifist” trip to France. (He was elected to the Senate three years later, in 1801.) Second, Pelosi did not make the trip to negotiate with Assad, but to talk with …
