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December 5, 2007 08:04 PM EST Vice President Cheney warned in an interview Wednesday that a premature withdrawal from Iraq would invite “further attacks” against the United States and said he has been surprised by the weakness of the Democratic Congress. Most striking were his virtually taunting remarks of two men he described as friends from his own days in the House: Democratic Reps. John Dingell (Mich.) and John P. Murtha (Pa.). In a 40-minute interview with Politico, he scoffed at the idea of two men who spent years accruing power showing so much deference to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi...

As we've discussed before, everything that happens, anywhere in the world is now being described a "a defeat for George Bush." Two such "defeats for George Bush" came to light this past week - and I'm not even counting West Virginia's loss to Pittsburgh which helped vault LSU and Ohio State into the BCS title game in January. First came the news that John Murtha (D-Pa) who has been mentor to, and ally of, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) had changed his mind on Iraq. For years Murtha has been among the most outspoken critics of the war in Iraq. According...

President Bush said Congress must act quickly to approve a bill to fund troops in combat before members break for the holidays. “Congress’ first priority should be to provide the funds and flexibility to keep our troops safe and help them protect our nation,” Bush said during his weekly radio address yesterday. The president said he has submitted detailed requests to fund operations in the war on terror beginning in February, and he noted that troops have been waiting on the needed funds for months. “The funds include money to carry out combat operations against the enemy in Afghanistan and...

Bow, NH—No longer satisfied with having an upbeat tone, John Edwards is ready to draw blood on the campaign trail, flogging any opponent that gets in his way. During his campaign, he plans to punch harder, especially when addressing Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, talk show radio host Rush Limbaugh, and big oil. "Hillary continues to defend a system that does not work, that is broken, that is rigged, and is corrupt," Edwards said. “And if you think I’m going to let an emasculating woman become President of the United States, then you’re out of your mind." Critics say that he...

Democrats in Washington just can't seem to help it. Even when great opportunities arise that would allow them to look like patriots, they sponsor yet another bill to cut off funds for our troops in Iraq. Last week, Democrats in the House of Representatives voted yet again to fix a firm deadline to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. It was their 40th such vote. Luckily, their motion died in the Senate, where the Party of Surrender failed to muster enough votes to survive a presidential veto. Also last week, House Democrats passed a measure, inappropriately titled the RESTORE Act...

This past summer during one of the last episodes of HBO's mega-hit "The Sopranos," A.J., the whiny suicidal son of the show's mafia boss anti-hero, was heard to worry about what he saw as the certain bombing of Iran by President Bush. "You don't know that," his mafia princess sister responded. Though this stray snippet, which was widely noted in reviews of the show, did not offer any clues as to the fate of the fictional leaders of the North Jersey mafia, it may have heralded the beginning of a new twist on what it means to be "anti-war" in...

The Democratic presidential candidates had the perfect opportunity this week to demonstrate sincerity in their "we really do support the troops, we just want them to Columnlose" positioning. It would of course be more appropriate to say you support the troops and therefore want them to achieve success in their missions, but these are Democrats we're talking about – and remember they weren't too supportive of victory for the U.S. military during the Cold War or Vietnam War, either. In Cambridge, Mass., city officials banned the Boy Scouts from conducting a troop care package drive – they went so far...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Friday blocked a Republican proposal to pay $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without strings attached. The 53-45 vote was 15 votes short of the 60 needed to advance. The measure was aimed at countering Democratic legislation that also would bankroll the operations, but would additionally require that troops start coming home in 30 days. The Democratic bill, passed by the House on Wednesday, set a goal of ending combat by December 2008. "We need to get the funds to the troops and we need to do it now," said Senate...

As part of her job at an influential national security think tank, Julianne Smith brings politicians and senior policy-makers from all over Europe to Washington for candid closed-door meetings with the policy advisers to the candidates vying to replace President George W. Bush. The Europeans usually arrive eager to discuss the coming era that some are dubbing "AB" — "After Bush." That is the highly anticipated period beginning on Jan. 20, 2009, in which a newly sworn-in American president, chastened by the troubles in Iraq and by the scorn of allies who say the Bush White House flouted international law,...

ANALYSIS: Protesters took to the streets in past conflicts; today their presence may be strongest online. In May, saddened that she had failed to stop the war in Iraq that took her son's life and made her the face of opposition, Cindy Sheehan tearfully quit the anti-war movement. She had concluded that her son Casey, a 24-year-old Army specialist killed in an April 2004 battle in Baghdad, had "died for nothing." "Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next 'American Idol' than how many people will be killed in the next few months," Sheehan...

Senate Democrats might force Republicans to wage a filibuster if the GOP wants to block the latest Iraq withdrawal bill, aides and senators said Tuesday. That could set the stage for a dramatic end-of-the-year partisan showdown, which Democrats hope will help them turn voter frustration with Congress and the stalemate over Iraq into anger with the Republican Party. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), the number two Democrat in the chamber, said a forced filibuster is “possible” and would “generate attention.” “We want to go to the bill, and [Republicans] have to decide initially whether they want us to go...

As the congressional session lurches toward a close, Democrats are confronting some demoralizing arithmetic on Iraq. The numbers tell a story of political and substantive paralysis more starkly than most members are willing to acknowledge publicly, or perhaps even to themselves. Since taking the majority, they have forced 40 votes on bills limiting President Bush’s war policy. Only one of those has passed both chambers, even though both are run by Democrats. That one was vetoed by Bush.

On June 1, The New York Times published a front-page article titled, ONE PLACE WHERE OBAMA GOES ELBOW TO ELBOW. The feature detailed Barack Obama's love for pickup basketball, his jersey-tugging style, even the time he hit a long game-winning shot after getting fouled. The Obama camp clearly welcomed the humanizing glimpse at Obama's life; his rivals, probably not so much. In an ordinary campaign, that might have been it. But this is no ordinary campaign--not when Hillary Clinton is a candidate. And so, the Clinton team let Times reporter Patrick Healy, who covers the Hillary beat, know about their...

To believe that this corruption will simply evaporate when the Bush presidency is done is to underestimate the permanent erosion inflicted over the past six years. What was once shocking and unacceptable in America has now been internalized as the new normal. This is most apparent in the Republican presidential race, where most of the candidates seem to be running for dictator and make no apologies for it. They’re falling over each other to expand Gitmo, see who can promise the most torture and abridge the largest number of constitutional rights.

DES MOINES.....a Grinnell College student, Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff, said a Clinton aide told her to ask Hillary a scripted question about global warming at a bio-diesel plant event.... "They were canned," according to The Scarlet & Black student newspaper. Before the event, Clinton's staff member got Gallo-Chasanoff to ask the after Clinton's speech. "One of the senior staffers told me what [to ask]," she said. When Gallo-Chasanoff asked about global-warming, Clinton replied that young people often ask her that question.

The United States is committed to the security of Israel and the safety of the Israeli people. The historical, familial and cultural ties of our peoples are the basis of this commitment. It is strengthened by the shared values and shared interests of our nations. Our mutual goal is an economically and militarily strong Israel at peace with its neighbors. We must exercise our traditional leadership role in the region and continue our longstanding support to Israel to achieve this vision. Key Issues Security Cooperation. Security assistance to Israel is a key pillar of U.S. foreign policy and provides a...

Associated Press Rank-and-file Democrats expressed dismay on Friday over their party's latest anti-war strategy, with some members reluctant to vote to bring troops home around Veterans Day. The House was on track to consider legislation next week that would give President Bush $50 billion for operations Iraq and Afghanistan but insist that he begin withdrawing troops. The measure identifies a goal of ending combat by December 2008, leaving only enough soldiers and Marines behind to fight terrorists, train Iraqi security forces and protect U.S. assets. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed off plans for a Friday vote after caucus members told...

Thursday, November 08, 2007 Voting, or the prospect of voting, clarifies things. The questions aren't so theoretical. The stakes are higher. We see where politicos really stand on the day's issues. Take the upcoming Senate vote on Michael Mukasey's nomination as attorney general, or the not unrelated, upcoming vote to pick the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee. We've learned a lot, it seems, about where Democrats and Republicans stand on what's clearly not an academic or theoretical issue in the middle of a war on Islamic terrorism. "I think there are probably very few people in this room or in America...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will vote as early as Friday on legislation that would pay $50 billion for the war in Iraq but require that President Bush start bringing troops home.

House Republicans, changing course midway through a vote, tried to force Democrats into a debate on a resolution to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney on the grounds he purposely led the country into war against Iraq. The GOP tactics reversed what had been expected to an overwhelming vote to table, or kill, the resolution by longshot Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich. Midway through the vote, with instructions from the GOP leadership, Republicans one by one changed their votes from yes — to kill the resolution — to no, trying to force the chamber into a debate and an up-or-down vote...