I've got a story in this week's paper looking at how the state Democrats are unrolling a coordinated response to the continuing Republican probe into Eliot Spitzer's Brunogate problems by branding it the new Whitewater. “I think you saw in the 90’s a sort of never-ending investigation of Bill Clinton, and it created Read More
While finance and technology are rapidly reshaping our media, undermining printed words and exalting digital screens, the nation’s major newspapers continue to exercise enormous political influence. Declining fortunes haven’t diminished the impact of their news reports and editorial opinions, which still shape the ideas and themes behind every night’s television coverage. The great power of Read More
Let’s just do it. Let’s get it over with. For better or worse. It can’t be as bad as some suppose. It might turn out to be better than we could imagine. Let’s bow to the inevitable. Let’s make Hillary President. As I write, the votes for the midterm election haven’t been counted, but whatever Read More
Al D'Amato gives a statement to Maggie Haberman at the Post: "I have found Sen. Clinton to be very responsive to the needs of her constituents, whether it is with local governments or individuals. "Her reputation for working on behalf of her constituents, with both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, is well known." So Read More
Bill Weld may not have made much of an impression on Al D’Amato --"he had not even met Mr. Weld until recently," the ex-Senator told the Times -- but the Weld campaign emailed over a pretty convincing set of clips that detail at least two meetings, despite D’Amato’s denials. Weld apparently recalls three Read More
So The Politicker doesn't want to harp too much on undergraduate indiscretions, but it does seem that Jeanine Pirro's new spokeswoman, Andrea Tantaros, turns out to have been in training for the battle against the evil forces of Clinton for quite a while. Tantaros has worked for House leadership and done an upstate congressional Read More
Back when Republicans still behaved like Republicans and conservatives actually believed in conservatism, those worthies aspired to bring us what they considered to be “good government.” Among other things, that meant appointing officials qualified to execute their positions, maintaining fiscal responsibility and insisting on public integrity. The reality frequently failed to fulfill those aspirations, of Read More
As political leaders from both sides of the aisle rushed to applaud the Bush administration's Jan. 11 nomination of attorney Michael Chertoff as the new head of the Department of Homeland Security, one powerful Democrat was missing from the cheering squad: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
While New York's senior Senator, Charles Schumer, took just seven minutes Read MoreAs Drudge and Eve Kessler both quickly noted, Michael Chertoff, the new Homeland Security chief, was a lead investigator in the forgettable Whitewater probe. She was the only Senator to vote against his judgeship in 2001. No comment yet from Mrs. Clinton on the 10:00 a.m. nomination. But Chuck Schumer, showing Read More
As Drudge and Eve Kessler both quickly noted, Michael Chertoff, the new Homeland Security chief, was a lead investigator in the forgettable Whitewater probe. She was the only Senator to vote against his judgeship in 2001. No comment yet from Mrs. Clinton on the 10:00 a.m. nomination. But Chuck Schumer, showing Read More
While the implosion of Enron is almost as murky as the bankrupt company's financing schemes, its self-dealing and scamming have evoked memories of other great business scandals, such as Teapot Dome and the South Sea Bubble. Whether or not those analogies ever prove to be justified, the most compelling political comparison for the moment is Read More
Aside from embarrassing the Justice Department and the F.B.I., the release of Wen Ho Lee marks the conclusion of yet another once-horrifying scandal now relegated to a fat file under the heading of "Oh, Never Mind." There the voluminous clippings about what not long ago was deemed the "worst national security breach since the Rosenberg Read More
Anybody who remains unconvinced at this late date that the Whitewater prosecution is strictly a partisan production need only turn their gaze toward New York, where the final act of this long-running legal farce is about to be staged.
The action will resume when a press release on the stationery of the Office of Independent Counsel Read MoreOne of the city's big men, to use the archaic term of deference once applied to the excruciatingly rich, invited me to lunch the other day. I will not mention the restaurant because they don't need more business. The food was excellent and the ladies-who-lunch could not have looked more attractive, but the conversation was Read More
Despite his undignified tumble down Capitol Hill, we will surely hear from David Bossie again. As the indefatigable activist warned during his farewell tour of the Sunday-morning talk shows, he intends to continue his anti-Clinton crusade "in the private sector." Right now, he's angling for a book deal.
While we anticipate his own version of Read More