President Obama is about to badly alienate antiwar Democrats by sending more troops to Afghanistan. So who will lead the charge on their behalf against the new policy? David Obey seems to want the job. The Wisconsin congressman, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee and opposes the troop increase, put forth legislation last week that proposes to finance the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan...
The quote in the headline above's from former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge. He notes , regarding the Obama administration's decision to hold civil trials for 9/11 terrorists, " If we discover later that it's really just a facade to delve into a fishing expedition, I would find that just unacceptable, outrageous and a further distortion of the system. ... "If it's subterfuge for the fishing...
Timothy McNulty | October 12, 2009 GOP gubernatorial hopeful Jim Gerlach has long argued that his primary opponent, state AG Tom Corbett, should resign from his office while campaigning. So when Jim Roddey said something similar to the Post-Gazette in regards to a possible House run by US Atty Mary Beth Buchanan, Gerlach pointed that out -- much to Roddey's chagrin. (It probably didn't help that Roddey...
Former Governor Tom Ridge endorsed Republican Tom Corbett’s campaign for governor. Read more at PoliticsPA.com . Retired US Congressman John Peterson has endorsed Jim Gerlach for governor. Peterson says Gerlach "shares our rural values" and has experience in creating jobs and capping state spending. Read more at Gerlach's Web site . The Democratic side is more crowded and includes state...
Calling him "the most qualified candidate,'' former Gov. Tom Ridge has endorsed Attorney General Tom Corbett in his race for the GOP nomination for governor. The news, which comes on the eve of a Republican State Committee meeting, is not totally surprising as Mr. Ridge, the former Homeland Security secretary, thought well enough of Mr. Corbett to appoint him attorney general after the resignation...
Tom Ridge makes a number of extraordinary statements here, but I want to highlight one: [The Patriot Act] tore down the wall, the legal barrier, between law enforcement and intelligence. You couldn’t talk to each other. Patriot Act destroyed the wall. Very important. [Threatening to prosecute CIA interrogators now] is almost like putting up a psychological barrier… What makes this statement...
SUZANNE MALVEAUX: An explosive allegation from a former top official in the Bush administration, Tom Ridge. The first secretary of homeland security writes in his new book that he was pressured to raise the terror alert level just before the 2004 presidential election. Tom Ridge is joining us here live here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Good to have you here. TOM RIDGE, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY CHIEF: Very...
Prelude On Tuesday, Tom Ridge appeared on Rachel Maddow's show, and Maddow tried in vein to recruit Ridge for the position of Republican voice of reason on foreign affairs. The problem was that, at bottom, Ridge is a conservative. He's got better manners than Dick Cheney (as do pit bulls), but at bottom the belief structure is remarkably similar. He dutifully stands by the lies used to get us to invade...
Some folks might have qualms or questions about our having a Republican on FDL for a book salon. Not me. It's high time we started talking to one another about the issues, rather than talking past each other in a political frenzy. Especially regarding issues which in years past were supposedly held above the political fray: national security, intelligence matters, and the rule of law.
The Sunday show race is getting so tight that CBS' Bob Schieffer reached out to Elmo for some help. "Could you come and be my co-anchor? I think it would be great for the ratings." "Only if Mr. Bob comes to Sesame Street too." Obviously, it was a deal. Schieffer joked that it seemed to work for legendary CBS newsman Walter Cronkite , who co-anchored the morning news with Charlemagne...
In recent days, former Homeland Security Adviser Tom Ridge has been backing away from claims he made in his memoir that Bush administration officials may have been pushing to raise the security alert level for political reasons. Ridge has been on an apology tour this week, insisting that he never meant to insinuate any bad [...]
What a weasel : In The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege, Ridge wrote that although Rumsfeld and Ashcroft wanted to raise the alert level, "There was absolutely no support for that position within our department. None. I wondered, 'Is this about security or politics?'" As we reported yesterday, Ridge is now scrambling to recast that statement. On Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show last night,...
Joining us now is former Pennsylvania governor, former homeland security secretary, a Vietnam veteran awarded the Bronze Star for valor as an infantry staff sergeant, Mr. Tom Ridge, who‘s also the author of "The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege and How We Can Be Safe Again." Mr. Secretary, thanks for coming in. Congratulations on the book. RIDGE: Well, Rachel, thank you very much...
" A U.S. ethanol industry group is pushing lawmakers to craft legislation requiring gasoline filling stations to inform customers what country their fuel came from . " Bob Herbert discusses the case of a man who is Innocent but Dead : " Cameron Todd Willingham, who refused to accept a guilty plea that would have spared his life, and who insisted until his last painful breath that he...
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