Year: 2006

IT’S LIKE A WHOLE OTHER COUNTRY….The writing was on the wall. Two weeks ago, Texas Comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn dropped hints that she’d consider leaving a GOP primary against incumbent Gov. Rick Perry (R) and commissioned a poll asking Texans about a scenario in which Strayhorn ran as an independent. Today, she… Read more »

Dudes. Quit Bogarting….For a person WHO NEVER SHUTS UP, being asked to guest blog anywhere is a little like asking Anna Nicole Smith if she’d like to ‘entertain’ the newly reincarnated but still insane Howard Hughes. Duh, yes!!! Then, the time comes, guest blog time. You have two political science degrees….a law degree…….libel insurance….a huge… Read more »

10 WORDS….I’m glad to see the fine folks at National Journal’s Hotline are back after a holiday break with a pretty good round-up of political/campaign news from the last two weeks. But like Ezra, I thought one of the items stood out. Best Good Question To Which I Don’t Yet Have An Answer: IA Gov…. Read more »

CHURCH-STATE SHOWDOWN IN INDIANA….It’s not unusual for state legislatures, like the U.S. Congress, to start the day with an official non-denominational prayer. On the Hill, the House and Senate have chaplains to cover this, while many states invite local religious leaders to handle the invocation. Yes, this is all legal — the Supreme Court cleared… Read more »

GOP DIVISION OVER NSA SEARCHES….Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) is hardly among the chamber’s more liberal Republicans, but he’s certainly been willing to break with the administration more and more lately. In just the last month, Lugar has criticized the Bush administration’s practice of paying Iraqi news outlets to publish American propaganda, and has told Newsweek… Read more »

Enough Christmas a’ready. Bring on the disfunction….I don’t know about y’all, but I am Christmas’d out. I spent most of the last two weeks squinting at directions written in Elvin runes and talking with nice ladies in India (aka the Toys R Us help desk. My fave was the one who suggested I “ask a… Read more »

TAKING ‘STOCK’….In February 2004, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao was on CNN defending the Bush administration’s economic policies. When Judy Woodruff noted the president’s poor record on job creation, Chao suggested there’s only one number that matters. Woodruff: I want to cite the one economic analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston. He said, these are his… Read more »

COME FOR THE SUNSHINE; STAY FOR THE INSANITY…. Having been born and raised in Miami, I look back at Florida with some fascination. In fact, I’ve long harbored a silly notion that all bad things that happen in this country have an almost direct connection to the Sunshine State. After the Elian Gonzalez controversy, the… Read more »