Joe Scott 3: The Body Politic

Arnold Kills Funds for Mentally Ill

26 August 2007 |permalink | email article

Gov. Schwarzenegger finally signed a long-overdue California state budget Friday, but not before eliminating a $55-million program for the mentally ill homeless as part of a deal to assuage dissident fellow Republicans who won few concessions, except his promise… read full story

Boots on the Ground: War as They Saw It

24 August 2007 |permalink | email article

Seven soldiers soon heading home from Iraq—an Army specialist and six sergeants—with the 82nd Airborne Division, published an extraordinary and thought-provoking op-edit in The New York Times on August 19.  (It expresses their personal views and should not be… read full story

Bush’s Flawed Vietnam Analogy

23 August 2007 |permalink | email article

George W. Bush was a history major at Yale. But his attempt in a defiant speech yesterday to attack critics of the war and equate the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam as a mistake and compare it with the drumbeat… read full story

Abolish the Electoral College?

22 August 2007 |permalink | email article

It’s a great question to drop into the presidential primary debate season – a quiz to test the commitment of each candidate to the notion of a popular democracy and election reform following the Florida debacle seven years ago.

Carville: Hillary’s New Surrogate

21 August 2007 |permalink | email article

A shadowy Karl Rove dominated Sunday talk show chat. Bush’s “brain” predictably continued his running assault on Hillary Clinton, claiming her negatives are the highest in Gallup Poll history among presidential candidates.

So why is Rove assuming the role… read full story

New ‘Heck of a Job’ Gaffe?

20 August 2007 |permalink | email article

The Utah mine disaster again spotlights President Bush’s flawed judgement in selecting political appointees - screw their qualifications.

This tragedy swallowed six coal miners earlier and then later killed two rescue workers and a federal mine inspector. It… read full story

Obama To Break From Pack

19 August 2007 |permalink | email article

In a dramatic strategic shift aimed at engaging in more direct voter contact, Barack Obama will turn down additional requests to join future debates and forums this fall, his campaign web site announced Saturday.

The announcement, prior to ABC’s… read full story

Brays and Trumpets

18 August 2007 |permalink | email article

“President Bush has left for vacation and his poll numbers are going up. So, basically, people approve of the job he’s doing more than when he’s not doing his job.” – Jay Leno

FBI Director Robert Mueller’s notes “confirm… read full story

Giuliani: Paging Bratton?

17 August 2007 |permalink | email article

Rudy Giuliani, leading in Republican presidential polls, was asked in an interview in this week’s New Yorker whom he might tap for Homeland Security secretary if elected president.

The former New York mayor offered lavish praise for William… read full story

Rove Fuels Clinton-Obama Battle

16 August 2007 |permalink | email article

This week’s big story is less about Karl Rove’s resignation and more about the speed with which he’s trying from outside the White House to demonize Democratic presidential politics.

Rove began by trashing Hillary Clinton in wide-ranging interviews… read full story

Gonzo in Baghdad

15 August 2007 |permalink | email article

Alberto Gonzales, fleeing Washington and bipartisan calls for his resignation, visited Baghdad in recent days. A friend facetiously suggested that the weak attorney general might be pressuring Prime Minister Maliki not to join the rest of Iraq’s Parliament on… read full story

Rove: Machiavelli at Large

14 August 2007 |permalink | email article

The scene on the South Lawn of the White House Monday as President Bush and Karl Rove, his guru and alter ego, embraced following an emotional farewell after his resignation reminded me, in an eerie way, of another farewell… read full story

Iraq Conundrum

13 August 2007 |permalink | email article

Historic misjudgments by President Bush on Iraq, and his determination to remain there for years, only confirm what has become apparent. Even critics of the war, read most Democratic presidential candidates, now grasp it won’t end in 2008.

As… read full story

Romney: A Pyrrhic Victory?

12 August 2007 |permalink | email article

Spending millions, the former Massachusetts governor predictably won the nonbinding Ames, Iowa straw poll, the first big test for Republican presidential hopefuls on Saturday. However, while impressive against light opposition it was short of a landslide.

Since none… read full story

Saturday Notebook

11 August 2007 |permalink | email article

Iowa Straw Poll. C-Span provides live coverage on their Web site and C-Span radio of the Republican circus beginning at 12:30 p.m. EST today. Voting ends at 7 p.m. Eastern with results expected an hour later. 

A-Bomb. The… read full story

How Bush Defines Accountability

10 August 2007 |permalink | email article

A National Public Radio reporter asked President Bush at his news conference on Thursday about his reputation as a big believer in accountability.

On commuting Libby’s sentence: “Lewis Libby was held accountable. He was declared guilty by a… read full story

Barry Bonds and 756

08 August 2007 |permalink | email article

The San Francisco Giants’ slugger has passed Hank Aaron in home runs, probably the most famous single challenge in sports. But baseball fans everywhere, if not in AT&T Park where he broke the record, are unsure about its authenticity… read full story