National Republicans

How much trouble does President Bush think he is in over Iraq? A lot. Witness three news items: Bush’s photo op in California eating with GIs and their families. A clear response to the generals’ criticism of Rumsfeld. James Baker heading up a high-level group of review Iraq policy. Which Condi Rice reportedly resisted. I…

President Bush’s poll numbers are tanking because he forgot how he got to the White House. The background is summed up well in an excellent piece in Time magazine this week by Joe Klein. Klein is one of the best political reporters going. Klein’s article – in which he says consultants have ruined politics –…

I’m enjoying watching Republicans put President Bush on the hot seat for letting a Middle Eastern company run American ports. And I have a sneaking suspicion that beneath all this hoorah – as one of the commenters on our blog suggested – there might be nothing wrong with the arrangement. But you can’t blame me…

I believe The News & Observer was dead wrong Thursday morning about Senator Elizabeth Dole, her husband Bob Dole and the Dubai ports fiasco. The N&O, like other news outlets, reported that Bob Dole “has been hired by Dubai Ports World to help shepherd the company through a $6.8 billion deal to control terminals at…

President Bush has not vetoed a single bill in five years in office. But, yesterday, it seemed at last he had found an issue so important it merited his first veto. What? The President wanted the United Arab Emirates (or, to be technically correct, a company owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates)…

It is one thing for President Bush to claim the executive power to spy on Americans without a court order or Congressional approval. It is another thing for him to claim that the American people – and their elected representatives – shouldn’t debate the issue. But that is what I understand him to say. According…

I’m sorry, but I just can’t let go of the Cheney shooting accident. And here’s why. When a person acts like they’re hiding something, they’re usually hiding something. And I think Cheney is hiding something: drinking. In his Fox interview Wednesday, “Shooter” (as opposed to his old aide Scooter) was asked if anybody in his…

How easy is it to make fun of Dick Cheney shooting a fellow hunter? Here are just a few of the jokes and one-liners I’ve heard since his hunting mishap: • The White House says it wants to make up with Hillary Clinton. So they’re inviting her on a hunting trip with the Vice President.…

Big-time political bloggers refer to the State of the Union speech as SOTU. I call Tuesday night’s performance SSOTU: Sorry State of the Union. Not just President Bush, but also the Democrats in Washington. I’ve got three words for Bush’s performance: boring and small-bore. It’s striking to see how far the once-“bold” Bush has fallen…