Sam Rosenfeld

IFILL ON IMUS. Highly worth a read : I was covering the White House for this newspaper in 1993, when Mr. Imus�s producer began calling to invite me on his radio program. I didn�t return his calls. I had my hands plenty full covering Bill Clinton. Soon enough, the phone calls stopped. Then quizzical colleagues […]

FOUR YEARS AFTER THE FALL. It’s the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, and thousands of Iraqis protested today, demanding that the U.S. leave the country. “Demonstrators ripped apart American flags and tromped across a Stars and Stripes rug flung on the road between the two holy cities for the huge march,” the Post […]

SYRIA-NAH. Just to pile on for a moment on Syria-gate, regarding not the visit itself but the “communique” Nancy Pelosi passed on from Israel, Josh Marshall reminds us that the Israeli press actually covered the exchange as it happened, in such a way that raises some questions about the subsequent statements from Israeli PM Olmert‘s […]

A BIT PEEVISH. Matt has an update on the latest churlish, outraged right-wing reactions to the happily non-disastrous resolution of the British hostage situation in Iran. Charles Krauthammer‘s contribution is particularly good, using the crisis as a stick to beat the E.U. and “the new multilateralism.” On his other site, Rob merrily lays waste to […]

SPIDER HOLE OF DENIAL. Republicans’ sweaty desperation for an acceptable presidential nominee continues, and thus Fred Thompson Fever builds and builds and bulds. Mike Allen reports that Thompson “has moved beyond pondering a bid for the White House and begun assembling the nucleus of a campaign should he decide to run.” As one advisor puts […]

THE ANTI-REGULATOR. As J. mentioned, the president named Susan Dudley to the post of regulatory czar (technically, OIRA administrator) in a recess appointment. Be sure to read Genevieve Smith‘s 2006 TAP Online article on Dudley for some background. As Smith put it, Susan Dudley has spent the last eight years as director of regulatory policy […]

AND IT KEEPS ON COMING. From my handy daily Family Research Council email alert, Tony Perkins weighs in on Scarfgate: She Can’t Be Syria-ous Splashed across this morning’s newspapers are photos of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sporting a headscarf as she visited Syria, which included a stop at a mosque. While it is troubling […]

HERE COMES TANCREDO. He’s officially in the race. Along the lines of what I said yesterday about the lack of any real intra-GOP brawling so far … what does Tancredo think of Rudy Giuliani? –Sam Rosenfeld

PLAYING CHICKEN? Says Barack Obama: A supplemental bill without withdrawal language will pass after the president vetoes the current one, because “I think that nobody wants to play chicken with our troops on the ground.” Matt Stoller and Chris Bowers make most of the relevant criticisms (particularly Obama’s recourse to meta observation). As a showdown […]

GOOD ONE! Matt suggests reading to the end of this Jonathan Weissman piece about the dangers of congressional Democratic overreach on security issues “so you see how lame some of the GOP talking points are.” This one, from Representative Jack Kingston of Georgia, is certainly something: “The Democrats’ honeymoon is fixing to end. It’s going […]