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Tuesday, as their party sold its constituents down the river on the John Ashcroft nomination, Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton publicly recited the Edgar Allen Poe poem “The Raven” to their counterparts from Maryland. The New York senators had lost a bet over the Superbowl — in which the New York Giants […]

After prolonged coyness, George W. Bush has finally announced that he has tapped Richard B. Cheney, former George Bush defense secretary, to be on the Republican ticket. Bush had said he wanted a “forward-looking administration,” but then picked one of Daddy’s dinosaurs. Bush had once promised that his veep choice would be an “electrifying” one […]

Within a day or two, the U.S. Supreme Court may reverse last Friday’s decision by the Florida Supreme Court and thereby effectively end Al Gore’s chances of becoming president in January. It would be deeply hypocritical — and wrong, moreover — were Democrats to question the legitimacy of the Supreme Court’s decision, however objectionable it […]

Yesterday, the Judiciary Committee voted 10 to eight to send John Ashcroft’s nomination for attorney general to the Senate floor. The “aye” votes included every Republican on the committee and Democratic Senator Russell Feingold. Feingold told the committee that he voted for Ashcroft because it is customary to give the president his cabinet. As he […]

Very early morning, November 8, 2000. I’m at home, in bed, my eyes propped open with toothpicks. Last night — as the networks called Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida for Al Gore — I revived the moonwalk in my glee. Now the networks have called the election for George W. Bush, and I’m thinking the moon […]

Perhaps the most surreal part, however, is the band of goats encircling and taunting an anti-abortion protester who has a huge and particularly grisly poster. (The past two days have confirmed that the anti-abortion crowd is dogged, obsessed, and like Visa: Everywhere you want to be.) One of the goats, carrying a sign that says […]

USA Today Virtually every member of the U.S. Senate knows there aren’t nearly enough votes there to convict the president and send him packing. The only real question is whether the Senate, which is likely to open the trial today, censures the president within a couple of weeks or the process drags on for months. […]

“I thought it was a very good speech, Dan … everything about Bush’s reaching out … Let’s hope he succeeds. It will be the best thing for the country.” — Bob Schieffer, CBS, Dec. 13 It’s hard to know which part of the Wednesday night denouement was worse – Al Gore’s feeble concession platitudes, George […]

Democrats have been tripping over each other in the mad dash to distance themselves from former President Clinton and his pardon of Marc Rich. And before one news cycle has passed, they’ve already begun to wail about Hugh Rodham’s influence in two more pardons. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, Representatives Barney Frank and Henry Waxman, […]

The New York Times One party claims that the budget surplus will be small, and that a central goal should be to eliminate the debt. The other says the surplus will be big, and we can do ambitious things with it. You’d be forgiven if you thought that the first party was the Republicans and […]