The Krile Files

And, will that person be held responsible? A. We’ll probably never know who’s in charge and B. nothing will happen.

Whistleblower: ‘Gross Mismanagement’ Delayed Nonlethal Dazzlers

It’s not just bomb-resistant vehicles that were delayed getting to Iraq, according to a Marine Corps whistleblower; the military also let bureaucracy get in the way of deploying nonlethal dazzling lasers. That’s the conclusion according to a case study [...]

Tags: Illegal Immigrants, Iraq, Military

It’s time the politicians started to listen to the voters. Really listen. And act.

Poll: Majority Of Americans Support Mandates Requiring The Purchase Of Health Coverage

When Medicare was being created in 1964, Ronald Reagan said, “I think we are against forcing all citizens, regardless of need, into a compulsory government program.” To this day, conservatives continue to resist universal programs. In his 2008 State of the Union address, President Bush once again mentioned private health savings accounts, despite the fact [...]

Tags: Health Care

I’m guessing he’s not going to be a liaison much longer.

White House Official Caught in Plagiarism Scandal

A White House official who serves as President Bush’s liaison to the religious community has been caught plagiarizing a column that he writes for an Indiana newspaper. Tim Goeglein, deputy director of the White House Office of Public Liaison, admitted that portions of a column he wrote today for the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel were copied from [...]

UPDATE: He’s out!

UPDATED: Scandal Involving White House Plagiarist Spreads — Then He Quits

Tags: Plagarism

But the testimony is important. Some might say “vital”.

Vets Break Silence on War Crimes

U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are planning to descend on Washington from Mar. 13-16 to testify about war crimes they committed or personally witnessed in those countries [...]

Tags: Illegal Immigrants, Iraq, War Crimes

It’s something the Bush Administration has promoted almost since Day One. The voters still aren’t cozying up to it.

School vouchers fail yet another test

School vouchers haven’t had any luck at all lately. Voters in Utah, expected to be rather conservative, overwhelmingly rejected a statewide ballot referendum on vouchers in November. A report by the Government Accountability Office showed DC’s voucher system, mandated by Bush and congressional Republicans, coming up short. The president touted a voucher plan in his [...]

Tags: Bush Administration, School Vouchers

But, it’s fair to say Hillary’s latest TV spot isn’t getting rave reviews from either side of the aisle.

Is This Really All They Have

Clinton’s new ad is a joke: Shouldn’t someone have told her that the “ominous serious voice” is more convincing if you don’t hire [...]

And, of course, this:

Obama On HRC Ad: Scare Tactics Won’t Work

Responding to Hillary Clinton’s new TX TV ad, Barack Obama today claimed that by initially opposing the war, he demonstrated a judgment that would enable him to not only answer phone — but make the right decisions about the nation’s security. “I stood up and [...]

Tags: 2008 Election, Hillary Clinton, TV Ads

The Clinton Camp certainly wouldn’t do this BEFORE the election, would they? That would be shooting themselves in the collective political foot.

Hillary campaign threatening imminent lawsuit over Texas primary/caucus

Democratic enthusiasm in Texas is unparalleled this year. But, the Clinton campaign may be ready to quash it with a lawsuit questioning the entire primary/caucus process in Texas (which was agreed to by everyone long ago). The Clintons and their advisers are under the misconception that [...]

Tags: 2008 Election, Hillary Clinton, Texas Lawsuit

There’s probably nothing technically (read: legally) wrong with this tactic, but it sure doesn’t present a good picture of a candidate.

McCain’s tax breaks for donating to his kids’ elite schools.

Ken Silverstein of Harper’s takes a look at Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) charitable contributions, noting that the senator is essentially the sole donor to the John and Cindy McCain Foundation, and his wife is its chairman and president”: Between 2001 and 2006, McCain contributed roughly $950,000 to the foundation. That accounted for all of its [...]

Tags: 2008 Election, John McCain

The spin rooms are working overtime!

“Oh, the Expectations They’ll Set”

Clinton campaign memo highlights Obama’s winning-streak momentum, ad outspending in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island, says if he can’t win all four, then the message that Democrats are “having second thoughts” is clear….Plus: Campaign manager David Plouffe says on media call that by their count Obama is up by [...]

Tags: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton

Or, maybe not so much. Politics is such fun…

McCain’s New Iraq Spin

It seems like every day there’s a new one, doesn’t it? Of Mr. Obama’s criticism that America should never have gone to war against Iraq, Mr. McCain said: “That’s history, that’s the past.” “What we should be talking about is what we’re going to be doing now,” he told 600 workers gathered in a large manufacturing hall festooned with flags and orange Texas Instruments banners. Erm, in politics, “the past” is what we [...]

Tags: 2008 Election, Iraq, John McCain

That’s right. Let’s go all negative on the media, shall we?

Warning… The Press Will Torment Obama, Too

“The press will torment Obama, too.” Anyone who thinks this won’t happen to either Obama or Clinton, who ever the nominee is, is dreaming. The Republican Noise Machine will kick in… Eric Boehlert noted on Media Matters today: With Sen. Barack Obama now emerging as the Democratic front-runner, clear signs suggest that his press treatment [...]

Speaking of the media, here’s one organization that’s standing by its story:

CTV Reconfirms Obama NAFTA Story [UPDATED]

UPDATE: From CTV News, “[T]he Obama camp did not respond to repeated questions from CTV on reports that a conversation on this matter was held between Obama’s senior economic adviser — Austan Goolsbee — and the Canadian Consulate General in Chicago.” Earlier Thursday, the Obama campaign insisted that no conversations have taken place with any [...]

Tags: 2008 Election, Media Coverage

Oh, we just have to say “kudos” to Countdown for last night’s dissection of President Bush’s news conference. Via Crooks and Liars, video you can view or save for posterity. His reaction to the question about $4.00 gas is absolutely priceless!

Countdown: The World According to W

Welcome to BushWorld, an Orwellian nightmare of epic proportions. As has been so astutely pointed out, facts have a liberal bias, so the press conference that Bush held yesterday was completely devoid of any liberal bias. As Keith Olbermann says: 1984 had new-speak. We have Bush-speak. Rhetoric designed [...]

Tags: Bush Administration, George W. Bush, Keith Olbermann

We’re seeing some personality problems inside the Hillary Clinton campaign. We noted yesterday that Chief Strategist Mark Penn seems to be a problem. At least from where we stand, on the outside, looking in. Now, it appears, insiders are seeing the same..

Behind the scenes, the long knives come out

Just a few days before voters head to the polls in Ohio and Texas, two contests Hillary Clinton has to win big, it’s surprisingly unhelpful to see top Clinton aides start to point fingers at one another. Harold Ickes definitely doesn’t buy the argument that Mark Penn isn’t responsible for everything that has happened to the [...]

Tags: 2008 Election, Hillary Clinton, Mark Penn, Harold Ickes

Yes, indeed. The post-presidency plan is coming together quite well.

Bush’s Censored Library May Have Secret Foreign Donors

Southern Methodist University in Dallas announced last week that the university will be home to President Bush’s $200 million presidential library. Bush’s library, however, will be shrouded in secrecy. An executive order Bush signed in 2001 “gives presidents and their families more control over presidential papers” and “could result in material being censored” from the [...]

Tags: George W. Bush

Hope yours is going smoothly. It’s tough to find much “good” to point out tonight. The stock market tanked. Again. Gas is costing more and the trend will likely continue. That means food and other necessities will go up, too. If I sound pessimistic, so be it. I’m looking hard for something to raise my spirits. Feel free to contribute. The comments are open!

Oil crosses $103 courtesy of Bernanke comments

The weak dollar policy is just crushing consumers and careless comments by Bernanke just don’t help. In all likelihood they probably thought they could control the dollar and keep it in a range to help promote exports. It’s a misguided policy but certainly one that many subscribe to in politics. Unfortunately for everyone else, [...]

Consumer Sentiment Drops to 16-Year Low in February

U.S. consumer sentiment dropped to a 16-year low in February, hitting levels that usually sound the alarm bells of recession, on worries about declining incomes and rising unemployment, a survey showed Friday. Adding to the grim view, [...]

Tags: Economy, Gas Prices, Grocery Prices

Our president speaks.

Bush thinks spied-on Americans should ’suck it up’?

A reporter at this morning’s White House press conference asked the president an interesting question I haven’t heard Bush respond to before: “You can get the Congress to protect telecom companies from lawsuits, but then there’s no recourse for Americans who feel that they’ve been caught up in this. I know it’s not intended to [...]

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.

Untouchable Symptoms: 1 In 99 Adults In Jail

Back on Christmas, Matt wrote an article called Five Untouchable Symptoms detailing five major problems facing the country that even leading Democrats rarely, if ever, address. Four of those five problems actually revolved around only two issues: America’s extraordinarily high levels military spending and incarceration rates. Just how bad is the incarceration rate in America? According to a new study from Pew, [...]

Tags: Crime

What’s that? Retirement? It’s a great Cafferty Question from Thursday. The comments make for some great (if depressing) reading and the statistics Jack presents are ghastly.

$$$ worries for retirement?

FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty: What’s happening to the American dream? Among other things, a lot of Americans are worried they won’t have enough money for their retirement years. A new Gallup poll shows 47% of those surveyed are concerned about outliving their money after they retire. That number jumps [...]

Tags: Economy, Jack Cafferty, Retirement

Clinton-style. A good month. No, make that a GREAT month. Will it help her turn the tide? Probably not, if Obama does raise more $$$$.

Clinton raises $35 million in 1 month

Rebounding from weak fundraising in January, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to raise $35 million in February, a figure rival Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign said it would surpass, a campaign [...]

UPDATE: Clinton camp says there were a lot of $100 donations, signalling that she wasn’t just calling on big-money support.

Tags: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton

We’re either not being given the big picture, or the government is digging into something it should stay away from. Any guesses?

The odd details of the IRS’s latest church investigation

Federal tax law, as it relates to tax-exempt religious ministries, is pretty clear — houses of worship may not legally intervene in political campaigns, either in support of or opposition to a candidate or a party. Those who violate the law run the risk of losing their tax-exempt status. What’s less clear is why the IRS [...]

Tags: IRS