The Texas Blue: News
McCain's Message
Fri, 04/11/2008 - 10:33am
Coordination in 3, 2, 1... I'm not entirely sure how this is going to work, especially considering the divide in the party between the NeoCons and Pragmatists.
Breaking Hearts and Records
Fri, 04/11/2008 - 9:45am
President Bush's latest approval rating: 28 percent.
News Roundup, 4/11/08: Planes, Powell, and Party Politics
Fri, 04/11/2008 - 8:38am
Planes kept having problems, the GOP's interior war was illustrated in detail, and Colin Powell came out against Bush's tendency to punt on decisions concerning Iraq in these last late days of his administration.
Powell Advocates for Drawdown
Thu, 04/10/2008 - 3:58pm
We haven't heard much from former Secretary of State Colin Powell for years, but he's come out with something very interesting today. Powell says that no matter who the next president is, they will have no choice but to reduce troop levels in Iraq. That's about as tidy as it ever gets, and the reasoning is tidy as well. Says Powell:
Whichever one of them becomes president on Jan. 1, 2009, they will face a military force that cannot continue to sustain 140,000 people deployed in Iraq and the 20 (thousand) odd or 25,000 people we have deployed in Afghanistan and our other deployments.
The New Crop Of Choice
Thu, 04/10/2008 - 1:42pm
The markets work in mysterious ways, my friends. Con Coughlin reports at The Daily Telegraph's blog Three-Line Whip that in one part of Afghanistan's Helmand Province, crop substitution is succeeding for the time being. It's not due to a NATO crop substitution program to coerce farmers to grow another crop besides poppies.
Lone Star Project's Letter to Brimer
Thu, 04/10/2008 - 11:30am
The full letter (with citations) that the Lone Star Project sent to Senator Kim Brimer concerning the 'rent to own' scandal is now available in PDF. You can also see a workup of the whole affair at LSP's site.
At War With The NeoCons
Thu, 04/10/2008 - 11:00am
We're familiar with the NeoCons and their approach to foreign policy already, but the 'pragmatists?' I'm not sure which is of greater interest: that the NeoCons are trying to lay claim to McCain's candidacy, or that their ideological opponents within the Republican Party have demarcated themselves as a codified group. It isn't quite the Jets and the Sharks, but it is indicative of what's going on in the GOP.
American Airlines Has Problems
Thu, 04/10/2008 - 10:25am
Canceling 900 flights to meet mandatory inspection requirements is not ideal, but in most cases it would seem like the giant aviation business equivalent of filing your taxes. You have to do it, but once you take care of it, you're done.
News Roundup, 4/10/2008: Get The World Some Benadryl, Stat
Thu, 04/10/2008 - 8:59am
It has been said that when the United States economy sneezes, the world catches a cold. Now might be a good time to start passing out the tissues.
On The Record: Tammie Hartgroves
Wed, 04/09/2008 - 2:28pm
For this episode of On The Record, we speak with Tammie Hartgroves, delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, president of the Central Texas Democratic Women and precinct chair for precinct 63 in McLennan County.