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Politics

Dole: Midterms Are Not A Referendum On Bush, Says She Is Trying To ‘Change That Scenario’

By Faiz Shakir on Oct 29, 2006 at 11:01 am

Only 37 percent of Americans approve of the job President Bush is doing. 34 percent approve of his handling of Iraq; 60 percent think we are losing ground there while 61 percent want to set a timetable for our departure.

On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace repeatedly asked Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) whether she was content with having the 2006 midterm elections be viewed as a national referendum on President Bush and his management of Iraq. She dodged the question twice, before finally answering, “What we’re doing is changing that scenario.” Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2006/10/liddy.320.240.flv]

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Culture

All About Gilbert

By Matthew Yglesias on Oct 29, 2006 at 10:59 am

Gilbert Arenas has been getting a lot more press attention recently, but this profile in The Washington Post was the first time I ever really saw the sad, but also touching, story of his relationship with his parents explained.

UPDATE: It has nothing to do with basketball, but I find this sort of thing — “Under the alias Alexandra Delphing, Francis [i.e., Gilbert's mom] has a criminal record in the Miami Police Department database dating from 1989, according to a public information officer at the department” — surprising. You would think that what with all the money we spend on prisons in the United States somebody would try and invest a little time and energy in ascertaining the real names of people who get arrested.

Yglesias

Iraq: Who Rules?

By Matthew Yglesias on Oct 29, 2006 at 10:40 am

The opening stories of today’s violence and conflict in Iraq are, naturally, sad and horrifying, but they’re also sort of old news. A newer development is closer to the end of the article, as you see the Iraqi government increasingly chafing at being treated as subcontractors for an American colonial administration.

At the end of the day, I think this is a major problem for all so-called “plans” for Iraq. At this point, things have simply gone too far for the U.S. government to really impose its will on any of the major Iraqi actors, call them insurgents, militias, the Iraqi government, or whatever else you like.

Politics

Boehner: ‘Rumsfeld Is The Best Thing That’s Happened To The Pentagon In 25 Years’

By Judd Legum on Oct 29, 2006 at 10:03 am

This morning on ABC’s This Week, George Stephanopoulos asked House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) whether he agreed with the growing number of prominent conservatives who think Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should resign.

Boehner said that “Rumsfeld is the best thing that’s happened to the Pentagon in 25 years.” He told Stephanopoulos the buck should stop nowhere. “Let’s not take the problems in Iraq, the tough fight that we’re in there and blame it on anyone.” Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2006/10/boehrum.320.240.flv]

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