June 1, 2007
The Republican National Committee no longer has operators standing by to take your call -- reportedly because you haven't been calling. Their staff of call-center employees got pink slips yesterday, and while the RNC denies it, the fired employees say...
Many people believe that the two major political parties offer so little difference as to be virtually identical. Certainly some of the politicians of either Democratic or Republican stripe focus more on power than policy, and in that sense and...
Senator Jon Kyl has acknowledged placing a hold on a bill that would strengthen the Freedom of Information Act, which open-government reformers see as key to exposing government processes to sunlight and criticism. Kyl insists that the Department of Justice...
My interview with John McCain earlier this week has been transcribed and is now posted at Heading Right. The Senator and I discussed the controversial comprehensive immigration-reform proposal, but also talked about Iraq and the upcoming Iowa caucuses. McCain acknowledged...
The Iranians extended their response to American diplomatic overtures by arresting another American in Iran. Ali Shakeri, who ironically works as a peace activist in Irvine, California, now faces charges of espionage and potentially the death penalty: The United States...
Peggy Noonan, one of my favorite columnists and always a great read, today turns her substantial rhetorical guns on what she sees as the biggest threat to the Republican Party -- George Bush. Accusing him of following his father in...
Fred Thompson continues his virtual campaign today by asking an important question about our efforts to spread democracy and liberty. Why have we neglected the most powerful weapon in our arsenal -- the truth? Thompson argues that our Radio Free...
Today on CQ Radio (2 pm CT), I'll talk with the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza, who writes prolifically for their political blog, The Fix. We'll talk about the impact of the immigration bill on the McCain campaign, and the...
How bad has life in Gaza become? Palestinians have begun to recognize that they cannot govern themselves -- and that life under Israeli authority was preferable. Not only are they saying this out loud, but as MEMRI reports, they're writing...
Yesterday, I wrote about the Dutch television show that was to air today, where a dying woman would select the person who would receive her kidney for a transplant. The show created a firestorm of controversy, as people around the...
June 2, 2007
A small group of Islamists suddenly appeared in a remote Somali village, attempting to set up a new base of operations. Local authorities assume they escaped from the trap at Ras Kamboni, bringing guns and small boats, and almost immediately...
The move by Hugo Chavez to shutter a television broadcaster that has criticized him and his dictatorial rule over Venezuela has apparently alerted more than just the Venezuelans to his megalomania. Nations that didn't get the clues from his bizarre...
Do you like your irony so thick that it drips? The Guardian has a nice, juicy slice of it for you today. The main organization used by Europe to trade carbon credits has mismanaged the process so badly that they...
According to Congressional Quarterly's Jeff Stein, the Department of Defense under Donald Rumsfeld may have aggravated China's paranoia over Taiwan by deliberately undermining the long-standing US policy on relations between the two. Colin Powell's chief of staff, Lawrence Wilkerson, claims...
The FBI has three people in custody in the fourth domestic terror conspiracy stopped in less than a year, and are seeking a fourth suspect. The quartet planned to use a jet-fuel line to attack John F Kennedy Airport in...
The Northern Alliance Radio Network will be on the air today, with our six-hour-long broadcast schedule starting at 11 am CT. The first two hours features Power Line's John Hinderaker and Chad and Brian from Fraters Libertas. Mitch and I...
June 3, 2007
John Shadegg, one of Arizona's conservative Congressmen, writes about his opposition to the proposed comprehensive immigration bill in today's Arizona Republic. As he outlines the reasons for his unhappiness with the bill, he warns Republicans on all sides to tone...
A new ABC/Washington Post poll shows Rudy Giuliani maintaining a strong lead over most of the Republican challengers for the presidential nomination. However, the underlying internals of the poll show that his popularity has softened, which leaves room for Rudy's...
June 4, 2007
Iraqis who have worked with the US to help bring peace and stability to their country now want some guarantees about their future if the troops start withdrawing in the face of terrorists. They want assurances that they will not...
Federal prosecutors have named the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as an unindicted co-conspirator in support of the terrorist group Hamas. CAIR joins Islamic Society of North America and The North American Islamic Trust as accused terror-supporting organizations in the...
Newt Gingrich hinted in even stronger terms this weekend that he will run for President. He plans to spend the summer lecturing, and after a workshop series in late September will make his decision, he told Fox News: Former House...
One of my favorite bloggers needs your assistance. Rick Moran, of Right Wing Nut House, will hold his third annual fundraiser, as he tries to keep his time free for free-lance writing: This is the third June in a row...
The transcript from my one-on-one interview with Mitt Romney is now available at Heading Right, and I think that CQ readers and CQ Radio listeners will find it very revealing. As I noted when I first broadcast the interview, I...
Mike Allen at The Politico reviews the use of the word "amnesty", as the Washington Post's Shankar Vedantam explains why we offer them so often. Both reasons come from a lack of definition in the law and an inability to...
The strategy for Fred Thompson's presidential run has begun to coalesce, reports the Wall Street Journal, and to no one's great shock, it relies heavily on the Internet. However, the WSJ points out an opening that hasn't seen much reporting...
Joe Scarborough offers his keen insight and classy analysis into today's political scene in an interview this morning with Congressional Quarterly's Craig Crawford. During the Morning Joe program on MS-NBC, Scarborough suggested that Fred Thompson's wife is a whore (via...
I've started to read The Reagan Diaries, edited and collected by Douglas Brinkley, which cover his entire presidency. It's quite remarkable, and even more useful as a reference guide thanks to the helpful index in the back of the book....
Federal authorities will indict Rep. William Jefferson on several counts of corruption today, CBS News reports. The move comes long after a series of raids triggered a Constitutional showdown between Congress and the Department of Justice: Sources tell CBS News...
Today on CQ Radio (2 pm CT), I'll talk with Rick Moran of Right Wing Nut House. We're going to talk about Rick's BlogTalkRadio show, his current fundraiser on the Nuthouse, and the developments on immigration and maybe even...
In the debate over health care, many people support the idea of a government-run, single-payor system that will supposedly guarantee equitable distribution of treatment. However, in granting government the authority to ration all medical care, we grant them the power...
CQ readers know that The Sopranos has been one of my must-see television series, perhaps one of the best episodic television series in history. The series is known for its violent and strong sexual connotations, but it handles these themes...
Continue reading "The Sopranos Heads To Its Conclusion" »
As CQ readers know, I have advised keeping an open mind and a close eye on the details. The immigration bill could have some benefit, if properly amended and loopholes closed. However, now the Washington Times has a report from...
June 5, 2007
Craig Thomas, Wyoming's quiet Senator, lost his battle with cancer yesterday at age 74. Re-elected in a rare bright spot for Republicans in last year's midterm meltdown, Thomas had hoped to recover for his full term, but his leukemia turned...
Now that the other shoe has finally dropped on Rep. William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson, the next question is what the Democrats intend to do about him. Under indictment on sixteen counts of corruption, Jefferson represents just about everything against which...
The Bush administration has rightly scotched the idea of a revival for a particularly inane Jimmy Carter policy -- the Olympic boycott. Both the White House and the USOC have immediately rejected a suggestion by Governor Bill Richardson that the...
Boston's WBZ-TV reports on an unusual disturbance on a Northwest flight from Minneapolis to Boston's Logan Airport. Police detained two men after they exhibited bizarre behavior -- and two other passengers took action to subdue them: Before the flight even...
Bruce Kesler does yeoman work today at the Democracy Project, looking through the CBO report on the immigration compromise legislation to understand its conclusions. He concludes that the CBO, which actually seems rather sanguine on the cost-benefit ratio of the...
It's amazing how far a non-candidate can go in a race. Fred hasn't begun to run for the Republican presidential nomination, and Rasmussen shows him almost within the margin of error for the lead: With former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson...
With NBC broadcasting the Today show live from Havana this week, we can expect to see plenty of media hyperbole on the Cuban health-care system and general ignorance of all the circumstances surrounding the relationship between Cuba and the US....
Two major prosecutions for abuse of power make the news today. First, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby will go to prison for perjury and obstruction of justice: Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was sentenced to 2 1/2 years...
Today on CQ Radio (2 pm CT), I'll talk with Fausta and Val, about NBC's decision to air Today from Cuba. They've both been following the story closely. We'll talk about what that means for the Cuban people and...
Tonight, the crew at Heading Right will live-blog the Republican presidential debate ob CNN. Afterwards, we'll conduct a roundtable with Rick Moran, Frank P, Macranger, and Jim Lynch at Debate Central, starting at 9 pm ET. Be sure to...
The third GOP debate is over, although there may be some who haven't realized it yet. What it lacked in firepower, it more than made up in pointlessness. And while CNN may not have been anywhere near as bad as...
June 6, 2007
The immigration compromise appears headed for the rocks, as Republicans threatened a filibuster yesterday after Democrats attempted to block them from offering amendments. Neither side has compromised as yet on a list of amendments, and Harry Reid has warned that...
Fred Thompson took another small step towards his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination yesterday. He launched his new web site, I'm With Fred, the first overt act he's made since dropping big hints in March. Right now, the site...
Last night, I complained about the repetitive nature of the questioning at the debates. For the third straight debate, Rudy Giuliani had to state his position on abortion, and Mitt Romney had to answer for his change of position over...
Federal agents conducted a series of raids across California to shut down a private army that intended to conduct a coup d'etat against the Communist government of Laos. General Vang Pao, a former CIA client in Laos, wanted to purchase...
Megan Stack writes a fascinating account of her experiences as a woman in Saudi Arabia, stationed there for the last four years by the Los Angeles Times. If anyone wonders what being a woman in Saudi Arabia means, Stack gives...
To read Ruth Marcus this morning, one would believe that the Democrats had begun a revival tour rather than a presidential primary. She describes the latest talk from the campaign trail as a conversion movement that will roll holy rollers...
Today's Wall Street Journal reveals more about the offensive against the US in the war on terror -- on the judicial front. Last week, the Islamic Society of Boston withdrew its lawsuit against critics of a land deal, but not...
Turkey sent thousands of troops into northern Iraq, chasing Kurdish insurgents after an apparent attack on a Turkish base. The move threatens to destabilize the area most successfully adjusted to the new status of Iraq and bring the US and...
Today on CQ Radio (2 pm CT), I'll talk with Patrick Hynes, both of Ankle Biting Pundits and of the John McCain campaign, about last night's debate. We'll talk about who won and who lost, and we'll also talk...
ABC News reports that NATO officials have proof that the Iranian government supplies the Taliban in their war against Afghanistan. The materiel includes C-4, heavy arms, and roadside bombs not unlike those deployed against the US in Iraq: NATO officials...
June 7, 2007
When I live-blogged the progress of the First Mate's kidney transplant, we had a strange and interesting coincidence. One of the friends supporting the donor's family turned out to be the mother of a graduate student at Stony Brook University...
All this week, Republicans have tried to find a "killer amendment" that would fracture the coalition supporting the comprehensive immigration reform bill in the Senate. Ironically, it may have come from a Democrat, as the Senate surprisingly approved Byron Dorgan's...
The reports that al-Qaeda in Iraq had been attacked by another terrorist group, Islamic Army of Iraq, turns out to be true -- and unfortunately short-lived. Instead of the prospect of two insurgent groups decimating each other, they have announced...
Robert Novak reports that John Edwards has problems within the Democratic Party, even though his candidacy seems to have gained some momentum in Iowa. He has disenchanted the power brokers with his move towards class warfare, and the revelations of...
I've been following the coverage of the immigration bill by Michelle Malkin, who really redefines the term "tireless". No one else could stay awake through hours of Senate coverage a day and make it seem exciting in the recaps, and...
Daniel Henninger takes his fellow conservatives to task for their emotional opposition to the comprehensive immigration reform bill currently under debate in the Senate. At Heading Right, I answer his question -- and remind him that conservatives support solutions that...
The sentencing of Scooter Libby has created a firestorm of protest in the blogosphere, and even in the Republican presidential primary contest. Most of the candidates said they would consider a pardon, if elected and if George Bush has not...
The Senate's immigration-reform coalition took a big hit a few moments ago. The upper chamber refused cloture on the comprehensive reform bill, meaning that unlimited debate will continue for the foreseeable future. The motion asked to limit the debate to...
Today on CQ Radio (2 pm CT), I'll talk with Dr. Kevin Fleming about single-payor health care. Dr. Fleming wrote an interesting study on this topic for the Heritage Foundation, and we'll ask him about current political postures on...
Continue reading "CQ Radio: Dr. Kevin Fleming & Health Care" »