Editors’ Blog - 2008
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
02.14.08 | 9:15 am
Not Over Yet

There was a poll a couple weeks ago showing that Texas was only a ten point race. But in two of Hillary Clinton other firewall states — Ohio and Pennsylvania — she’s sitting on big double digit leads, according to the latest Quinnipiac poll.

02.14.08 | 9:55 am
Full Circle

Fmr. Sen. Linc Chafee to endorse Obama.

02.14.08 | 9:57 am
Like Kryptonite

Penn’s ridiculousness stymies TPM Reader RM

“Worse still, Mr. Penn sees the “impressionable elites” growing in number …”

I’ve spent some serious time over the past 24 hours trying to come up with some snarky, clever comment to illustrate the intellectual depravity of the concept of “impressionable elites growing in number.” And I just can’t do it.

I honestly am undecided in the Dem primary race, and I’d be happy to vote for either candidate in the general, but that is straight-up Republicanism. Elitists everywhere! They’re all elitists! The millions of people voting for Obama? Millions of elitists!

It’s reminiscent of the Onion snark headline “75% of Americans now anti-American.”

As I pointed out to RM we may soon reach a point where the entire population or even a decisive majority of the population is made up of the impressionable elites.

02.14.08 | 11:08 am
Hmmm, Should Have Thought About That Question in Advance

Here’s ’92 Clinton campaign manager (and superdelegate) David Wilhelm talking about his endorsement of Barack Obama on CNN this morning. But he gets tripped up on the logic of his argument a little bit. Like what happens if Hillary Clinton ends up with more pledged delegates? Will he switch to supporting her?

02.14.08 | 12:31 pm
Breaking Mitt to endorse

Breaking: Mitt to endorse John McCain

02.14.08 | 12:49 pm
Disorder in the House

Lots of uproar today in the House.

Basically, Republicans are pissed about the contempt resolutions filed by the Democratic majority. So they have been disrupting House proceedings, including the memorial service for the late Rep. Tom Lantos.

But just now, the GOP walked out of the House and is congregating on the Capital steps in protest.

Late Update: The walkout appears to be in protest over yesterday’s House vote not to extend the Protect America Act, but we’re still attempting to nail that down. It would be an odd protest, since, as we reported yesterday, the right wingers in the House joined with liberal Dems to defeat the extension.

Later Update: OK, it appears that the GOP walkout was not over the extension vote yesterday, which really would have been odd. Rather, this appears to have been done in conjunction with the President’s demand this morning that the House pass the Senate surveillance bill before tomorrow’s expiration of the Protect America Act. The contempt resolutions against White House aides, current and former, are part of the mix, because the House is spending time on that rather, GOPers say, than on the surveillance bill.

We’ll keep you posted.

Final Update
: The contempt resolutions passed.

02.14.08 | 1:48 pm
House Holds Bolten and Miers In Contempt

It is another major step in the ongoing saga of the U.S. Attorney purge scandal, which started more than a year ago.

This afternoon, the House of Representatives voted to hold White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House Counsel (and one-time Supreme Court nominee) Harriet Miers in contempt of Congress for their refusal to testify about the White House role in the purge.

With House Republicans congregating on the steps of the Capitol in protest, Democrats passed the resolutions 223-32.

A legal battle over executive privilege looms, one unlikely to be resolved before President Bush leaves office.

02.14.08 | 2:24 pm
Hardball

It’s not just about David Shuster.

Hillary’s top advisers have repeatedly complained to MSNBC about Chris Matthews.

02.14.08 | 2:30 pm
Same As It Ever Was

With torture debates and the raucous presidential primaries, folks don’t think much anymore about the US Attorney scandal and the Bush administration political purge of the DOJ that led eventual to multiple resignations and the fall and disgrace of Alberto Gonzales, President Bush’s Attorney and long-time legal confidant. But that’s what these contempt citations are about. They’re aimed at finally pushing through the stonewalling that the White House has now used for more than a year to keep the truth of what happened from becoming known. So why was David Iglesias fired? What about Carol Lam? Was her probe brushing up too close against powerful figures at the Pentagon, CIA and on Capitol Hill? What about the White House’s effort to goad US Attorneys around the country to push bogus vote fraud cases to help more Republicans get elected? We still don’t know the answers to those key questions. And that’s mainly because the White House has been stonewalling ever since. That’s what these contempt citations were and are about. And there the House Republicans are carrying the President’s and Alberto Gonzales’ water. I’m shocked.