Politics

Presidents Without Executive Experience

Jonathan Bourne, my unindicted coconspiritor on the Drudge Retort, answered an interesting question on his blog: Which presidents ran for the job with no prior government experience as an executive? Below is a list of Presidents were never a U.S. Vice President, a major Cabinet Secretary, governor or mayor. John F. Kennedy Dwight Eisenhower (Herbert Hoover prior to becoming President had served as Secretary of Commerce) (William Howard Taft prior to becoming President was Provisional Governor ... (read more)

2008/09/05

Rogers Has Four Alma Maters

Sarah Palin switched colleges six times in six years: the University of Hawaii-Hilo (a few weeks), Hawaii Pacific University (one semester), North Idaho College (two semesters), University of Idaho (two semesters), Matanuska-Susitna College (one semester) and then back to the University of Idaho (three semesters), where she graduated in spring 1987 with a degree in journalism. I thought I was insane for attending four colleges: Stephen F. Austin State University (one semester), Richland Junior ... (read more)

2008/09/05

Deployment Details Put Sarah Palin's Son in Jeopardy

Back in February, the British press ripped Matt Drudge for revealing a secret they'd been keeping: Prince Harry was stationed in Afghanistan, deployed with the British Army in Helmand Province. The secret had gotten out in an obscure Australian magazine and German's Bild newspaper, and Drudge passed the news along to his audience of millions. Brits were so outraged that they mistakenly started sending me a flood of hate mail. Given this, it's worth noting that the British press is now putting ... (read more)

2008/09/04

I'm Starting to Feel Inadequate

I spent some time last night putting the genie back in the bottle, lest more bloggers make the mistake I did and believe in a world in which fathers talk on cell phones from the future and express "private fisherman thoughts" with their young and unnaturally gifted cinematographer daughters. I went around some of the blogs that mentioned the Todd Palin hoax video and indicated that Alaskan politician Andrew Halcro told me that it was "not only fake but insulting." I also entered into the record ... (read more)

2008/09/02

Alleged Palin Family Video Turns Up on YouTube

Sarah Palin's either going to turn out to be the boldest vice presidential choice in American history or the worst. So little is known about the charismatic and unseasoned Alaska governor that the next 70 days will be a massive public version of This is Your Life, much of which will be a total surprise to the McCain campaign. There are numerous media reports that Palin and her family were not comprehensively vetted prior to her selection as running mate. Sam Stein alleges on Huffington Post ... (read more)

2008/09/01

Sarah Palin's Questionable Judgment

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's an up-and-coming Republican leader who could've been an interesting presidential or vice presidential candidate in four or eight years. It is reckless insanity to believe she's ready to step in as commander-in-chief now, particularly to serve a 72-year-old president with health concerns after two bouts with skin cancer and five-and-a-half years' mistreatment as a prisoner of war. Palin, only two years removed from being the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (pop. 6,700), had to ... (read more)

2008/08/30

Media Ignored McCain's Faith Forum Fumble

After watching the presidential forum at Rick Warren's Saddleback church on Saturday, I was amazed at how complimentary the media has been of John McCain's performance. I gave up on his portion of the event after 30 minutes, tired of watching McCain fumble through his stump speech talking points instead of answering the questions. The media was so kind to McCain after the forum that they missed (or ignored) the biggest jaw-dropper of the night -- his answer to the question of which Supreme ... (read more)

2008/08/18

Being in the Minority is No Party

TPM Cafe contributor Bill Bishop answers an interesting question: What happens to political minorities in communities with large political majorities? They shut up. At book club or in church, they cut short any conversation bordering on politics. A woman in Washington State, a Democrat, told me that as her county grew increasingly Republican, she began to feel "like a second-class citizen, not entitled to have opinions." I interviewed Democrats in one Texas Hill Country town (80% Republican) ... (read more)

2008/07/23

Everybody Hates Scott McClellan

Robin D. Laws has a great take on Scott McClellan's tell-all book: Even in the depths of his tenure as Bush press secretary, Scott McClellan always seemed to me like the most likely administration official to write a scathing tell-all. His divided consciousness was always visible as a series of tells that would have led him to the slaughter at any poker table. McClellan's deer-meets-headlights demeanor at tough press conferences signaled a lack of belief in his own statements—a fear that he ... (read more)

2008/06/05

Et Tu, Scott McClellan?

I'm currently reading What Happened, former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's 323-page stab in the back to the Bush administration. The book wasn't supposed to be out until June 1, but the publisher lifted the embargo yesterday and I grabbed a copy at Barnes & Noble. Current and former Bush administration officials are playing dumb on McClellan's motive for writing the book, but he makes it crystal clear in the preface: Valerie Plame leakers in the White House used him to pass along ... (read more)

2008/05/29

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