“This is a logical place for people to invest homeland dollars,” said James Dyer, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist who is Read More
Here's another House race that has turned out to be sneaky-competitive: Republican Rep. Peter King versus Nassau legislator Dave Mejias. They're debating tonight on Long Island and Mejias's campaign is planning to post a video of the debate on their website tomorrow (barring any tech issues). King and Mejias already debated this Read More
When the President gave his little immigration speech, he wanted his listeners to be clear on one point: Americans speak English, and if you don’t speak English, you aren’t an American. “I believe that illegal immigrants who have roots in our country and want to stay should … learn English,” he said and then, in Read More
Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest
The decision by the Bush administration’s Department of Homeland Security to slash New York City’s anti-terror funding by 40 percent is mind-boggling. How anyone committed to protecting the country could think this was a good idea is beyond belief. Just five years ago, this city suffered the worst terrorist attack in Read More
A delicious tension animates the best passages of Terrorist, a tug of war between the severe faith of a devout Muslim teenager, who sees everything in black-and-white dichotomies (straight/crooked, clean/unclean, faithful/infidel), and the lush, various, subtly shaded prose of John Updike, who can’t resist a gorgeous sentence. The greedy eye of the novelist grabs at Read More
Today's "Cities at Risk" conference, organized by Milano, The New School for Management and Urban Policy, could not have been planned more appropriately. Yesterday, President Bush named R. David Paulison to replace former FEMA director Michael Brown. Held in the Tishman Auditorium, Mr. Brown joined James Lee Witt, (FEMA Director under President Clinton), Bob Read More
Whenever The Politicker notes all the security-related pork Hillary is bringing home to low-risk Upstate communities, the Senator's defenders argue that the allocations in question are set by federal agencies, not legislative whims, and that all she's doing is announcing them. Anyway, in her latest announcement of $1.8 million in federal grants -- $82,162 Read More
The Observer has, at the greatest length here, followed Hillary's fight to steer resources from the Department of Homeland Security to rural fire departments and other agencies across New York State, which use them for things like buying pickup trucks and "hardening" the arena that is home to minor-league hockey's Albany River Rats. Read More
We weren't sure whether Hillary had abandoned her quest to turn the Department of Homeland Security into an arm of the Hubbardsville Fire Department. Well, she's still going strong. In a letter to congressional leaders she sent out today, she cited 9/11 in her fight to preserve the Homeland Security program that issues grants Read More
In December, we reported on how local politicians spend half their time denouncing the Bush Administration for sending Homeland Security grants to Wyoming, and the other half fighting for equally ridiculous grants for Upstate New York. The money winds up getting spent on things like anti-drug programs and pickup trucks for cash-strapped rural communites Read More
In December, we reported on how local politicians spend half their time denouncing the Bush Administration for sending Homeland Security grants to Wyoming, and the other half fighting for equally ridiculous grants for Upstate New York. The money winds up getting spent on things like anti-drug programs and pickup trucks for cash-strapped rural communites Read More
Two years ago this week, our country suffered a momentous disaster that ought to have prompted a sharp change in the Bush administration's foreign and domestic security policies.
On that awful day-after standing outside my home and watching the World Trade Center fall-I hoped that George W. Bush would reconsider his rejection of America's multilateral Read MoreAfter: How America Confronted the September 12 Era, by Steven Brill. Simon & Schuster, 723 pages, $29.95.
"You lawyers are my angels," proclaims one of the key figures midway through Steven Brill's After: How America Confronted the September 12 Era . Sal Iacono, the man who makes the statement, is thanking his pro bono attorney for Read More
