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Mar. 25th, 2004
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from The New Republic (via CBSNews)
Mar. 25th, 2004 10:54 pmRewriting History
Previous critics of the Bush administration have proved to be easy targets for the White House. The Bushies effortlessly dismissed Paul O'Neill with a wave of the hand. "We're not in the business of doing book reviews. I don't get in the business of selling or promoting or critiquing books," White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters upon publication of Ron Suskind's account of O'Neill's tenure as Treasury Secretary.
[...] Former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke is proving to be a tougher opponent. He's served presidents from both parties. He says he won't work in a Kerry administration. His foreign policy views in the 1980s and 1990s placed him in the camp of Republican hardliners. He writes warmly of his relationship with Richard Perle. And most of his attacks on Bush are from the right, not the left. He is undoubtedly the toughest critic whose credibility the White House has ever had to undermine; he represents a potent cocktail of nonpartisanship, expertise, and withering criticism aimed at Bush's greatest electoral strength. For the last 48 hours, administration officials have done their best to chip away at Clarke and his case against the president. They've adopted several different tacks -- none of which is particularly honest, and many of which are mutually contradictory.
( Read more... )
Previous critics of the Bush administration have proved to be easy targets for the White House. The Bushies effortlessly dismissed Paul O'Neill with a wave of the hand. "We're not in the business of doing book reviews. I don't get in the business of selling or promoting or critiquing books," White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters upon publication of Ron Suskind's account of O'Neill's tenure as Treasury Secretary.
[...] Former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke is proving to be a tougher opponent. He's served presidents from both parties. He says he won't work in a Kerry administration. His foreign policy views in the 1980s and 1990s placed him in the camp of Republican hardliners. He writes warmly of his relationship with Richard Perle. And most of his attacks on Bush are from the right, not the left. He is undoubtedly the toughest critic whose credibility the White House has ever had to undermine; he represents a potent cocktail of nonpartisanship, expertise, and withering criticism aimed at Bush's greatest electoral strength. For the last 48 hours, administration officials have done their best to chip away at Clarke and his case against the president. They've adopted several different tacks -- none of which is particularly honest, and many of which are mutually contradictory.
( Read more... )
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hozed
Mar. 25th, 2004 11:13 pmOne Nation, Under Hallmark, Indivisible--Is the God of the Pledge of Allegiance a Deity Or a Greeting Card?
The chief justice then reads from the pledge, insisting "it doesn't sound anything like a prayer." And O'Connor—as she so often does—voices the underlying pragmatic concern: "There are so many references to God in the daily lives of this country." She mentions the invocation before court opens each day, and the words "In God We Trust" on currency. Newdow says that no one coerces his daughter to say those things. Kennedy and O'Connor remind him once again that his daughter is not required to say the pledge, and that the pledge is not a prayer. Newdow again tells them that a 6- or 7-year-old child is different than an adult, and that the Establishment Clause isn't violated only by prayer. It can be violated with postings of the Ten Commandments.
Justice Stephen Breyer argues that neutral words like "Supreme Being" or "God" attempt to reach out and include believers in everything, and that, "maybe it even includes you." Newdow says he can't see how "under God" could mean "no God," and that the "government needs to stay out of this business altogether." Several times today Newdow seems poised to call an argument or question "stupid." You can almost feel him biting his tongue, then substituting "questionable."
( Read more... )
The chief justice then reads from the pledge, insisting "it doesn't sound anything like a prayer." And O'Connor—as she so often does—voices the underlying pragmatic concern: "There are so many references to God in the daily lives of this country." She mentions the invocation before court opens each day, and the words "In God We Trust" on currency. Newdow says that no one coerces his daughter to say those things. Kennedy and O'Connor remind him once again that his daughter is not required to say the pledge, and that the pledge is not a prayer. Newdow again tells them that a 6- or 7-year-old child is different than an adult, and that the Establishment Clause isn't violated only by prayer. It can be violated with postings of the Ten Commandments.
Justice Stephen Breyer argues that neutral words like "Supreme Being" or "God" attempt to reach out and include believers in everything, and that, "maybe it even includes you." Newdow says he can't see how "under God" could mean "no God," and that the "government needs to stay out of this business altogether." Several times today Newdow seems poised to call an argument or question "stupid." You can almost feel him biting his tongue, then substituting "questionable."
( Read more... )