The House of Representatives began its debate on Iraq today. And almost on cue, House Republican leader John Boehner offered up the "embolden the enemy" talking point, still #1 on the list of Top 10 GOP Sound Bites. As the AP reported, Boehner put on an Oscar-worthy performance: "We will embolden terrorists in every corner […]

Just two days after I wrote about Mitt Romney's cynical decision to announce his GOP presidential bid in Michigan, the former Massachusetts Governor finds himself at the center of yet another interest group storm. This time, it's the National Jewish Democratic Council, which lambasted Romney for selecting the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn as the […]

On Tuesday, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will formally enter the race for the 2008 Republican nomination for President. But by announcing his run for the White House in Michigan, Romney is trying to run away - far, far away - from his own moderate reign in liberal Massachusetts. Romney, of course, is nominally from Michigan, […]

The controversy over the ill-conceived and arguably homophobic Snickers Super Bowl ad continues to simmer for its parent company Masterfoods. AmericaBlog reports that Masterfoods is in "full crisis mode" over the spot and that "heads will roll" to ensure that Snickers marketing never again insults large swaths of the American public. But sadly, Snickers is […]

Some breaking stories are destined to become instant battlegrounds in the Culture War. Even as you learn of the events, you can immediately envision the "values" vultures of Fox News on the right or the minions of multiculturalism on the left mobilizing to denounce the latest outrage. To be sure, this week has produced a […]

Monday's New York Times offers an analysis of the latest front in the partisan class war, the battle to collect unpaid taxes. The plot of this morality tale is predictable. On one side, Democrats seek to capture up to $100 billion in tax fraud to help fund their "paygo" budget plans. On the other, the […]

From the Giuliani camp comes word that the former New York mayor is moving one step closer to tossing his hat in the presidential ring. With the 2008 White House race already in overdrive, Rudy announced today that he was filing a "statement of candidacy" with the FEC. Polls suggest that the putative hero of […]

A chastened President Bush ventured into enemy territory on Saturday to address the annual gathering of House Democrats. Obliterated in the November elections and facing both abysmal poll numbers and open rebellion over Iraq within his own party, the formerly fierce Bush with tail between his legs feigned a spirit of bipartisan cooperation: "I welcome […]

After months and months of delays, the long-awaited National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq was delivered to Congress today. It is altogether fitting that the NIE crawled out from Langley on Groundhog Day. After all, like Bill Murray in the film Groundhog Day we've experienced this unsettling process of murky reports from the intelligence community before. […]

The building bipartisan opposition to the President's proposed troop surge in Iraq and the crickets-chirping reception to Bush's abysmal State of the Union address have led to another dramatic shake-up in the list of Top 10 GOP Sound Bites. The President's hard-charging counterattack has moved two right-wing talking points up the charts. The new #1 […]