Here’s some solace for Rocky Mountain Republicans suffering the post-election glooms: It could have been worse. You could be New England Republicans, the few, the forlorn, the forgotten, in a six-state region with more than 14 million people, soon to have exactly one Republican member of the House of Representatives. Or you could be in […]
Jon Margolis
Posted inWotr
Character in politicians is vastly overrated
It seems that a Colorado candidate for Congress, Angie Paccione, really filed for personal bankruptcy in 2001,as, according to the administrative office of the U.S. Courts, did 1,452,029 other people. Why should anyone care? Because Marilyn Musgrave, the two-term Republican incumbent Paccione is running against, has informed the world about the bankruptcy in a radio […]
Posted inOctober 16, 2006: A River Once More
In politics, it’s not about who you want to drink a beer with
So Angie Paccione filed for personal bankruptcy in 2001. According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, so did another 1,452,029 people. Why should anyone care? Because Marilyn Musgrave, the two-term Republican incumbent Paccione is running against to represent northeastern Colorado in Congress, has informed the world about the bankruptcy via a radio ad. […]
Posted inSeptember 4, 2006: Blast from the Past
The green Republican: back from the dead?
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It looks as though the Endangered Species Act is not going to be eviscerated this year. Neither will the National Environmental Policy Act. On second thought, the government will not sell off millions of acres of the public domain for as little as a thousand dollars an acre. For the nonce, at […]
Posted inWotr
Just why did Gale Norton leave the interior department?
It seemed so sudden, the way Interior Secretary Gale Norton resigned back in early March. It wasn’t like the other resignations from President George Bush’s cabinet. Everyone in town knew that then-Secretary of State Colin Powell was an odd-man-out before Powell announced he would leave at the end of the first term. As to former […]
Posted inAugust 7, 2006: Is It or Isn't It (Just Another Mouse)?
Why did Norton really leave Interior?
It seemed so swift and sudden, the way Interior Secretary Gale Norton resigned back in early March. It wasn’t like the other resignations from President George Bush’s Cabinet. Everyone in town knew that then-Secretary of State Colin Powell was the administration’s foreign policy odd-man-out before Powell announced he would leave at the end of the […]
Posted inJuly 24, 2006: Taking Liberties
Dems contract case of self-delusion — or not
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The D Triple C is not targeting Wyoming, but the netroots are agog over Gary Trauner. What’s that? You need a translation? OK, for those not fluent in politicalese, here goes: The D Triple C, or DCCC, is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, an official arm of the Democratic Party whose raison […]
Posted inMay 1, 2006: Magic Valley Uprising
In Washington, a broad-based effort aims to kick the oil habit
At a Georgetown theatre one December evening, a special, invitation-only screening of a new movie took place. Unlike most such events, though, the intent was neither to promote the movie nor to raise money, but to make a point. The movie was Syriana, the fast-paced if somewhat hard-to-follow George Clooney-Matt Damon flick about skullduggery from […]
Posted inWotr
What’s behind all these natural disasters
That was some mudslide that hit Leyte Island in the Philippines last month, when something like several tons of sludge and rock a mile wide slid down a mountain onto the village of Guinsahugan, killing children in their schoolrooms and villagers in their stores and homes. No wonder. In just two weeks before the Feb. […]
Posted inWotr
The many problems of Richard Pombo
This must be the winter of Richard Pombo’s discontent, or it would be if they had winter in California. It isn’t just that his plan to privatize 15 national parks and other public lands went kerblooey, or that he found it prudent to give away embarrassing campaign contributions. It isn’t just that three Democrats are […]
Posted inFebruary 20, 2006: High Noon for Habitat
The many problems of Richard Pombo
This must be the winter of Richard Pombo’s discontent, or it would be if they had winter in California. It isn’t just that his plan to privatize 15 national parks and other public lands went kerblooey, or that he found it prudent to give away several thousand dollars of embarrassing campaign contributions. It isn’t just […]
Posted inNovember 28, 2005: Gold from the Gas Fields
In Washington, the most outrageous sins are legal
On the grand stage of political tragicomedy, the spotlight rarely shines on the Council for Republican Environmental Advocacy, prestigious though its origins may be. The nonprofit CREA was founded by Gale Norton, now secretary of the Interior, shortly after she lost the 1996 Republican U.S. Senate primary in Colorado. Helping finance it was Grover Norquist, […]
Posted inOctober 31, 2005: The Public Lands' Big Cash Crop
In Bush’s Supreme Court, who’s on first?
He may or may not be the next Bill Klem, but at least John Roberts is no Janice Rogers Brown. OK, these names are not household words, save perhaps in selected households of the political left, the political right, and the baseball-obsessed. So let’s explain. William J. Klem was the first of the great umpires, […]
Posted inSeptember 5, 2005: Rangeland Revival
The return of the hodgepodge
That wasn’t just a transportation bill that President Bush signed earlier this month in Illinois. No, the measure — which will spend $286.45 billion in six years on highways, rail and bus service, and bike and hiking trails — has a far more elaborate name. It’s the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act — […]
Posted inWotr
The West shared in a meal of highway pork
That wasn’t just a transportation bill that President Bush signed in early July in Illinois. No, the measure — which will spend $286.45 billion in six years on highways, rail and bus service, and biking and hiking trails — has a far more elaborate name. It’s the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act — […]
Posted inWotr
The race for president is already on
Washington, D.C. — It’s not too early to start thinking about the 2008 presidential elections. It’s too late. At least as far as the Democratic nomination goes. At least according to the Democratic insiders here in that fabled land known as Inside-the-Beltway. “It’s going to be Hillary-Bayh, Hillary-Warner, maybe even Hillary-Obama,” said one of them, […]
Posted inWotr
Energy Bill rewards the fattest cats
As you may have noticed, gasoline costs more than of yore. Some basic economics: Gasoline is a manufactured good. Its price depends in part on the price of its basic commodity, in this case crude oil. It costs more than of yore, as does natural gas. More basic economics: The price of crude oil and […]
Posted inWotr
A sleeping green giant may yet awake
Consider the matter of Row v. Wade, and no, that’s not a misspelling. We’re talking fishing here, and the never-ending debate over whether the best way to catch fish is from a boat or while walking through the water. What does this have to do with the re-election of President George W. Bush? As any […]
Posted inDecember 6, 2004: Where Do We Go From Here?
Brace yourselves for the counterrevolution
Consider the matter of Row v. Wade. No, that’s not a misspelling. We’re talking fishing here, and the never-ending debate, raged with greatest fervor along rivers in the Rocky Mountain West, over whether the best way to catch fish is from a boat or while walking through the water. And just what does this have […]
Posted inWotr
So much for sticking to the center
Return with us now to those thrilling days of not quite four years ago, when George W. Bush was taking office and almost every veteran political observer — even including your humble agent here — predicted that his presidency would not stray too far from the ideological center. We were, as fools so often are, […]