American Royalty – Nepotism in Politics and Media
Glenn Greenwald laments the rise of "American royalty." They should convene a panel for the next Meet the Press with Jenna Bush Hager, Luke Russert, Liz Cheney, Megan McCain and Jonah Goldberg, and they should have Chris Wallace moderate it. They can all bash affirmative action and talk about how vitally important it is that the U.S. remain a Great Meritocracy because it's ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 31, 2009 07:33
Leon Panetta as CIA Director
[caption id="attachment_29532" align="alignright" width="190" caption="Leon E. Panetta, the former congressman and White House chief of staff. (Kevin Wolf/Associated Press)"][/caption] When I saw the news yesterday afternoon that Leon Panetta was Barack Obama's pick to head the CIA, I decided to hold off on posting and go play with my baby instead. My initial reaction was much the same as to the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on January 6, 2009 07:38
Obama’s VP: Biden or Bayh?
Barack Obama's vice president may have a last name that starts with "Bye," CNN's Alexander Mooney reports. The two senators widely believed to be at the top of Barack Obama's shortlist for VP have been given prime-time speaking slots at the Democratic convention Wednesday night — the very same night the vice presidential candidate is slated to speak. According to the Democratic ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on August 15, 2008 08:06
Democrats Attacking McCain’s Military Record: Is A Pattern Emerging?
Jim Geraghty is not buying the notion that Wes Clark's attempts to diminish John McCain's military service was done without coordination with the Democratic Powers that Be. After statements by a half-dozen high-profile Democrats and Obama surrogates, you cannot persuade me that there is not a concerted effort on the part of Obama Democrats to criticize McCain on his war record. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 1, 2008 11:21
Randi Rhodes Quits Air America Radio
Randi Rhodes is no longer employed by Air America. The company's official statement Last week Air America suspended Randi Rhodes for abusive, obscene language at a recent public appearance in San Francisco which was sponsored by an Air America affiliate station. Air America Media was informed last night by Ms. Rhodes that she has chosen to terminate her employment with ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on April 10, 2008 12:47
CIA Destroyed Subpoenaed Torture Tapes they Denied Existed While Congress Stood By
The CIA destroyed at least two tapes of its operatives using "severe interrogation techniques" to obtain information from suspected terrorists, Mark Mazetti reports for the NYT. Both the 9/11 Commission and attorneys for Zacarias Moussaoui had specifically requested any such evidence and Agency officials had previously denied, under oath, that any such tapes ever existed. The Central Intelligence Agency in ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 7, 2007 08:30
Movie Smoking Scenes May Get ‘R’ Rating
Lobbying groups and some Members of Congress, notably Sen. Jay Rockefeller, are pushing to force the Motion Picture Association of America to assign an automatic "R" rating to movies depicting characters smoking cigarettes. MPAA president Dan Glickman is resisting but says the ratings board "will now consider smoking as a factor among many other factors, including violence, sexual situations ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 11, 2007 10:29
Justice Department Investigating NSA Leaks
The Justice Department is investigating the leaks to the New York Times over the NSA's secret electronic surveillance program. Justice Department Probing Domestic Spying Leak (AP) The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the leak of classified information about President Bush's secret domestic spying program, Justice officials said Friday. The officials, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 30, 2005 12:47
The Rockefeller Letter on NSA Spying
Josh Marshall has a copy of a July 17, 2003 letter from Senator Jay Rockefeller, ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, to Vice President Dick Cheney raising concerns about the NSA spying program. Most notably, he notes that he is "neither an technician or an attorney." This increases my sense that Kevin Drum is right when he observes, "It seems ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 20, 2005 10:32
Specter and McCain Call for Investigation of NSA Spying
To the surprise of perhaps no one, Senators Arlen Specter and John McCain have jumped on this morning's reports of NSA spying within the United States as another opportunity to grab the limelight. Report of NSA Spying Prompts Call for Probe (AP) Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter put the Bush administration on notice Friday that his panel would hold hearings ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on December 16, 2005 13:21
Reid Invokes Rule 21, Democrats in Revolt
Kevin Drum reports: Huh? Harry Reid has invoked Rule 21 and placed the Senate into closed session to discuss the intelligence that led to war? What's up with that? [...] UPDATE: Bill Schneider on CNN calls it a "full scale revolt" by Democrats. 1517: More from AP: Senate Goes Into Unusual Closed Session On Iraq War (NBC4) Senate Meets in Closed Session to Discuss Intelligence, Libby ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on November 1, 2005 15:14
