Home / thinkprogress.org rss archive / September-28-2007


Ted Stevens’ $84 million ‘ferry to nowhere.’
“Following on the heels of Senator Ted Stevens’ failed ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ project is an $84 million ferry to allow 40 people to save a 2-hour plus drive.” The USA Today writes that Stevens is pushing for a high-speed ferry that will connect Anchorage to Port MacKenzie, following “the same route as one of the [...]

Huckabee rips Bush’s foreign policy approach.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) ripped into the President Bush’s national security record, “delivering a bold and potentially risky speech that could establish the former Arkansas governor as the maverick among top Republican candidates and test his party’s loyalty to President Bush.” Huckabee specifically rejected Bush’s approach to dealing with Iran:“When we first invaded [...]

Right-Wing New York Sun Declares: Attack On Iran Said To Be Imminent
The New York Sun, a reliable neoconservative outlet that has advocated for a Dick Cheney presidential campaign, declares today: “Attack on Iran Said To Be Imminent.” The article’s lead states:In a sign that U.N. Security Council-based diplomacy is losing steam, a number of sources are reporting that a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities may [...]

Udall to introduce ‘Rush’ resolution on Monday.
On Monday, Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO) will introduce a resolution condemning Rush Limbaugh’s comments that troops who support withdrawal from Iraq are “phony soldiers.” In a dear colleague letter, Udall says the resolution will honor “all Americans serving in the Armed Forces” while “condemning” Limbaugh’s “unwarranted attack.”

Giuliani invokes 9/11 to excuse cell phone gaffe.
During a speech to the National Rifle Association last week, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani interrupted his prepared remarks to take an impromptu phone call from his wife, Judith. In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network recently, Giuliani invoked 9/11 to explain and excuse his rude moment during the speech:“And quite honestly, [...]

Joyner calls out missing GOP candidates at debate.
At the beginning of last night’s PBS Republican presidential forum, radio host Tom Joyner introduced the event by poking fun at the four frontrunners who had decided to skip the event, saying “hello to those of you viewing from home.” The audience erupted into cheers at the jab. Watch it: [...]

Do Rush’s Senate Friends Still Think ‘There’s Nothing Inflammatory About Anything’ He Says?
Last week, 72 Senators voted to condemn an ad by MoveOn.org with a resolution repudiating “any effort to attack the honor and integrity” of “all members of the United States Armed Forces.” On the Senate floor and in the press, Sen. John Cornyn, who introduced the bill, was vitriolic in his rhetoric towards the ad, [...]

Couric: ‘Not My Job’ To Critically Report On Iraq, ‘Unless Something Is Really Egregious’
Recently, CBS anchor Katie Couric traveled to the Middle East for a “heavily promoted week in the war zone,” reporting the situation on the ground from Iraq. Her reporting was superficial and uncritical, airing several “puff pieces” mouthing Bush administration talking points.This week, Couric spoke at the National Press Club with host Marvin Kalb to [...]

Senate Democratic Leaders Demands Apology For Limbaughs Outrageous,’ ‘Unconscionable Remarks
ThinkProgress has obtained a letter being circulated on Capitol Hill today by the Senate Democratic Leadership that calls on Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays to repudiate its employee Rush Limbaugh’s “phony troops” remark. Clear Channel is Limbaugh’s parent company, and it owns or operates at least 1,165 radio stations in the United States.The letter, signed [...]

WH distances itself from Rush on phony soldiers remark.
In a press briefing this morning, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino was pressed specifically about Rush Limbaugh’s “phony soldiers” comment. She responded: “It’s not what the President would have used, no.” Watch it:Recall, Bush blasted the MoveOn ad as “disgusting,” and he lamented that more Democrats did not “speak out strongly” against it. TPM [...]

Military Reports It Has Killed A Senior Leader of Al Qaeda In Iraq, But Was He Killed A Year Ago?
The U.S. military announced today that it has killed a “senior leader of al Qaeda in Iraq.” Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson “identified the man as Abu Usama al-Tunisi, a Tunisian described as a close associate and likely successor to Abu Ayyub al-Masri, Al-Qaeda in Iraq’s Egyptian leader.”CNN quickly jumped on the story, reporting that al-Tunisi [...]

Sally Field comments
on being censored during the Emmy awards: “I made the mistake of putting a God in front of the damned,” Field told ABC’s Diane Sawyer. “But basically, I feel if anything on Earth God would damn, it would be war. But I guess for whatever reason, they decided that God and damned together was not [...]

Congress quietly passes billions for Iraq.
Yesterday, the Senate voted 94-1 for “a stop-gap spending bill that gives the Bush White House at least $9 billion in new funding” for the Iraq war. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) was the sole dissenter in the Senate; the House voted 404-14 to approve the measure. Congress also granted the administration “emergency authority to tap [...]

State Dept. IG Retaliates Against Whistblowers, Threatens Their Jobs And Careers
Approximately 10 days ago, House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote to State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard to report allegations from seven IG employees that he “has repeatedly interfered with on-going investigations to protect the State Department and the White House from political embarrassment.”Krongard has thwarted investigations into waste, fraud and abuse in [...]

Webb: I ‘regret’ Limbaugh calling troops ‘phony soldiers.’
On MSNBC’s Countdown last night, host Keith Olbermann asked Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), a military veteran and former Secretary of the Navy, to respond to right wing radio host Rush Limbaugh’s recent comment that troops who support withdrawal from Iraq are “phony soldiers.” “I really regret Mr. Limbaugh saying things like that,” replied Webb. [...]

ThinkFast: September 28, 2007
The decision by the four leading frontrunners for the GOP presidential nomination to skip last night’s debate that focused on issues related to people of color elicited outrage from the rest of the field. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said he was “embarrassed,” and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) said the absence of the leading [...]