Terence Samuel

So after five and a half of the most politically contentious, socially divisive, utterly confounding years we have lived through as a country since the Civil War, something has finally offended George Bush enough for him to issue a veto. And what does he choose for this defining moment of his presidency? Opposition to federal […]

This is clearly a honey-hued season for Democrats. Despite recent improvements in President Bush’s approval numbers, much of the recent polling shows Democrats with huge advantages going into the fall campaign. And the confidence is showing: Recently Senate Democratic operatives sent out a compilation of polls showing their candidates leading in all of the contested […]

There are two sides to every story: Bill Jefferson is right about that, which does not mean that he should stick around to constantly remind us that that there are two sides to every story. We know that, and we know that when the story gets to be as tentacled and hydra-headed as this one […]

In light of the continuing GOP meltdown, Democrats all over are being forced to confront “The Big Question” about their chances of winning in November. The question that must keep rolling over in their heads and which remains largely unasked, or asked only in jest, is: “How are we going to mess this up?” For […]

Patrick Kennedy is in rehab, Porter Goss is in retirement and President Bush continues to be in deep doo-doo with the American people over everything from the price of regular unleaded to the costs of the Iraq War. All of which made last week’s sentencing of Zacarias Moussaoui a relatively small story by comparison. And […]

With $4-a-gallon Republican gas on the horizon, the GOP is running a little scared, and already it’s funny to watch: When Republican senators start talking about biofuel from switch grass and soy, it’s time to start asking about the drink minimum. And when the President goes all the way to California to talk about immigration […]

“White House political mastermind Karl Rove surrendered a key policy role Wednesday and press secretary Scott McClellan resigned in an escalation of a Bush administration shake-up driven by Republican anxieties.” — The Associated Press OK, someone remind me: What policy role, exactly, is Rove relinquishing in the Big White House Shake-up? Where will his contributions […]

Bob Dole could not have been the first one to ponder the question, but he was on to something when he asked of his fellow Americans: “Where’s the outrage?” Back then, during the 1996 presidential campaign, the country was at peace, the economy was roaring along, President Clinton was talking about building a bridge to […]

Democrats finally have something they’ve wanted for a long time — a House of Representatives not controlled by Tom DeLay. After the lawsuits, the ethics charges and the criminal indictments that seem to trail off into the distance, “The Hammer” has had to say “uncle.” But now, the Democrats must deal with the tyranny of […]

There were a couple of head-shaking moments this week that forced me to acknowledge the obvious: As bad as things are, they can, and likely will, get worse. The only real connection between these two media events was how much we already knew about what was supposed to be “the news,” and the completely unappetizing […]