Author: Elspeth Reeve

Weiner Won't Get Women's Votes but He'll Take Their Money

Associated Press

Anthony Weiner is reportedly holding a fundraiser called "Women for Weiner" next week. And the politicians who really need "Women for…" groups are the ones who have women problems. And Anthony Weiner is one of those guys.

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 7, 2013

Cranks, Haters, Bigots No Longer Welcome in the GOP

Fox News and the Republican Party, while still technically distinct entities, are moving to purge figures who are so controversial they're damaging the conservative brand. Even Dick Morris says he was wrong.

Comments | 3,372 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 6, 2013

The Scope of America's World War Drone

The CIA drone program sure feels like a war, and if you look at the reach of the targeted killing — now that everyone seems to be looking at the reach of the targeted killing — well, it's nearly worldwide. Here's a map to catch you up before Brennan's hearing.

Comments | 3,104 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 6, 2013

Dick Morris Has Fallen on the Sword of Pundit Accountability

Yes, it is possible for a pundit to lose his job for being very, very wrong. Dick Morris, one of the most spectacularly wrong pundits of the 2012 election, has been fired by Fox News.

Comments | 2,586 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 6, 2013

The Anti-Immigration Coalition Is Shrinking

At a hearing on immigration Tuesday, Republican Rep. Robert Goodlatte tried to define a proposal to eventually grant illegal immigrants citizenship as extreme. If that's true, then some of his most conservative fellow Republicans are liberal extremists.

Comments | 517 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 6, 2013

Karl Rove's War with the Tea Party Is On

Karl Rove said on Fox News Tuesday night, "This is not Tea Party versus the establishment... I don’t want a fight." It looks like he's too late.

Comments | 3,449 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 5, 2013

It's Official: Deficit Cuts Hurt an Economy — and Nobody Wants to Touch This

Both Republicans and Democrats cast themselves as deficit cutters during the presidential election, but the new reality from the anual CO report is further evidence that no one in Washington — not Obama or Boehner — will take credit for the sequester anymore.

Comments | 2,242 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 5, 2013

Why Does Marco Rubio Like Tupac So Much?

One of the ways youngish Republicans try to reach out to America's youth is by declaring their love of artists who, while not all that new, do cuss enough to upset the people at The National Review. But in Rubio's case, Tupac fandom is glaringly off-message.

Comments | 3,276 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 5, 2013

Paul Ryan vs. Eric Cantor in the Battle for the Future of the GOP

On the very same day House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is giving a major speech about the GOP's next steps at the American Enterprise Institute, Politico reports that former vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan is considering abandoning a 2016 presidential run in favor of consolidating power in the House in areas where Cantor has been influential.

Comments | 2,759 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 4, 2013

How Far Can Obama Get Without Congress?

On Monday we saw two very different ideas for how President Obama might achieve his second-term policy goals — one in a campaign-style speech on gun control in Minneapolis and another in the recorded gripes of Democrats on Capitol Hill in Politico. Which one has the best chance of working?

Comments | 1,379 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 4, 2013

Rove's 'No More Akins' Group Outrages Conservatives

Karl Rove's American Crossroads has started a new group to make sure the 2014 Senate races produce zero Todd Akins. But it turns out some conservatives like Rove less than Akin.

Comments | 7,185 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 1, 2013

Bay Buchanan Refuses to Be Angry on TV Anymore

The frequently angry pundit says she's quitting the punditry business because "I can't just live my life going on TV and being angry all the time."

Comments | 862 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 1, 2013

17 Percent of Marines Say They'd Quit Over Women in Combat

It's only been eight days since the Pentagon announced it would lift its longtime ban on women in combat, and the objections just keep on coming.

Comments | 2,120 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Feb 1, 2013

If McCain Sinks Hagel, It Will Definitely Be Personal

Chuck Hagel's confirmation hearing to become the next Secretary of Defense did not go well, but if he fails to get the job, it won't be because of some deeply held foreign-policy principle. And the best evidence rests with one man: John McCain.

Comments | 5,390 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 31, 2013

Cops Blame James O'Keefe for Sinking Investigation into His Voter Fraud Sting

There's no publicity in the follow-up. Conservative activist James O'Keefe earned praise for secretly taping Virginia Rep. Jim Moran's son Patrick seemingly giving advice on how to commit voter fraud in October, but three months later law enforcement has closed their investigation because, they say, O'Keefe wouldn't cooperate.

Comments | 9,311 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 31, 2013

The NRA of 2013 Is Trying to Stop the NRA of 1999 from Destroying the Second Amendment

"I am convinced that as these things are discussed, that we're going to come out about where we have come out in the past," NRA president David Keene said Thursday. But the NRA is not where it was in the past, not even the recent past. Specifically, 1999. 

Comments | 2,242 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 31, 2013

The Reason Why McCain Got So Mad at His Ex-Friend Hagel

Sen. John McCain wanted one thing from his aggressive questioning of his former friend Chuck Hagel at his confirmation hearing Thursday: for Hagel to admit that McCain had been right about the Iraq surge. He did not get what he wanted.

Comments | 10,841 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 31, 2013

You May Never Eat Kale Again

Fashion people are getting diarrhea from eating too much kale, the leafy green vegetable that is allegedly trendy because it has lots of vitamins but actually trendy because it allows people to chew things without ingesting many calories.

Comments | 10,173 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 31, 2013

Karl Rove Is Projecting

Karl Rove warns that Democrats not to over-interpret the 2012 election results in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Thursday, arguing that the supposed "permanent Democratic majority" could be gone in an election or two if they overreach. Rove, of all people, should know.

Comments | 1,031 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 30, 2013

Gabby Giffords Did Not Hand-Write Her Speech

The former congresswoman spoke about gun violence before a Senate hearing Wednesday, but Michelle Malkin and Twitchy, her conservative tweet news site, uncovered a scandal: Giffords did not handwrite her speech. That's the handwriting of her therapist.

Comments | 6,776 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 30, 2013

Let's Not Use Real Guns to Fight Imaginary Crimes

Several political people revealed in Wednesday's gun control hearing that they, too, have been the heroes in imaginary crimes.  Fighting hypothetical crimes with guns has an obvious appeal, because when real people use real weapons, they screw up. A lot.

Comments | 1,897 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 30, 2013

How the NRA Uses Women as Human Shields

Gun advocates spent their Wednesday fighting on Capitol Hill for the right of female civilians to carry semi-automatic assault weapons while their compatriots on the right are mourning the decision to allow female soldiers to carry guns on the battlefield.

Comments | 5,518 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 30, 2013

Two Decades of Paranoid Pronouncements by the NRA's Wayne LaPierre

Wayne LaPierre will say some controversial things in his testimony before Congress Wednesday, and while he's said some shocking things since the Newtown massacre sparked a gun control debate, the archives show that LaPierre has actually toned it down in the two decades he's been the face of the National Rifle Association.

Comments | 2,913 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 29, 2013

Obama's Immigration Plan Has One Key Difference From Senate Plan

The president's proposals from a speech on Tuesday afternoon are remarkably similar to those released by a bipartisan group of senators Monday, except that while both call for tougher enforcement of immigration laws, only the Senate version really invokes a keyword you'll be hearing a lot about in the coming weeks.

Comments | 2,797 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 29, 2013

Limbaugh's Still Not Convinced by Rubio's Pitch on Immigration Reform

Sen. Marco Rubio went on Rush Limbaugh's show to sell his proposal for comprehensive immigration reform on Tuesday, a day after the radio host said only he and Fox News stand can stop amnesty now, and while Rubio charmed Limbaugh, the Senator from Florida didn't win a new supporter for his immigration proposal.

Comments | 1,143 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 29, 2013

Marco Rubio's Crusade to Sell Immigration Reform to Conservatives

Rush Limbaugh warned on Monday that "It's up to me and Fox News" to stop the threat of amnesty for illegal immigrants he sees in a new bipartisan immigration reform plan. But it's looking like it's up to Sen. Marco Rubio to sell the plan.

Comments | 1,636 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 28, 2013

Can Rich Women Ever Have Enough?

For much of the past year, the hottest debate in the world of women's stuff has been, Can women have it all?, as memorably answered in the negative by The Atlantic's July cover story last year. More than six months later, The New Republic's Noreen Malone, as part of that mag's relaunch, has suggested that "Beyoncé says yes" they can.

Comments | 1,129 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 28, 2013

The Truth About Little Women Carrying Big Wounded Men in Combat

One of the recurring arguments against women serving in combat appears on its face to be just good common horse sense: women just don't have the upper body strength to carry a heavy male soldier out of combat. The thing is, you don't need much upper body strength to carry a guy out of combat.

Comments | 103,456 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 28, 2013

Obama's Message for 2016 Wannabes (Who Aren't Hillary): Cool It

Hillary Clinton received a ringing endorsement from President Obama out of their joint interview on 60 Minutes Sunday night, but what did Obama get out of it? He got the chance to tell any other Democrats planning a 2016 run to back off.

Comments | 6,687 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 28, 2013

Red Tape Finds Bipartisan Support in Immigration Reform

A bipartisan group of senators is releasing a new immigration plan today, the core selling point of which is a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants that is a maze of apparently punitive bureaucratic red tape.

Comments | 461 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 25, 2013

This Is What Women Pysched to Go into Combat Look Like

The Pentagon has ended its ban on women serving in combat, and while the changes might not take effect for years, some women are already gloating on Facebook about the chance to wear an award that basically says "I was in the sh*t."

Comments | 11,133 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 25, 2013

The GOP's Electoral Vote Scheme Is Offensive and Wrong

Republicans are flirting with changing the basic American principle of "one man, one vote," into something a little more flexible — something like "one man, one to three votes."

Comments | 2,748 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 25, 2013

Sarah Palin Broke Up With Fox News

Given the increasingly public spats between Palin and the network, you have to wonder if Palin's camp is trying to control the post-split spin.

Comments | 6,982 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 25, 2013

Wayne LaPierre Will Testify Before Congress

The National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre will testify before the Senate about gun violence on January 30, and it should be fun to watch, because LaPierre never fails to put on a good show.

Comments | 690 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 25, 2013

Obama's New Chief of Staff Is a Bashful, Shoegazing Nerd

President Obama officially announced his new chief of staff at the White House on Friday while flanked by two adorably self-effacing geeks, both of whom clutched their hands together looking kind of like shy tweens whose crush had finally noticed them.

Comments | 1,379 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 25, 2013

The End of Saxby Chambliss Could Spell the Return of... Herman Cain?

Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss is not running for reelection in 2014, which opens the door for a comeback of perhaps the funnest candidate of all time. Maybe.

Comments | 1,249 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 25, 2013

The GOP's Two (Completely Opposite) Comeback Plans

The Republican Party has two comeback plans after the 2012 election, and they are total opposites: Plan A is to win presidential elections by appealing to broader audience that reflects America's "changing demographics." Plan B is to just change the rules of presidential elections so that rural white voters get a disproportional vote.

Comments | 3,035 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 24, 2013

All These Objections to Women in Combat Are Dumb

Serious people won't pay attention to you if your only objection to women serving in combat if you just say, "No sir, I don't like it!" So people with dated ideas about what women can do are forced to invent objections that look at least superficially rooted in fact, instead of sexism. Closer examination reveals they are dumb.

Comments | 24,140 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 24, 2013

Against Getting Along

One of the common criticisms of President Obama is that he's too aloof and too uninterested in making friends in D.C. to make  to end partisan gridlock in Washington (see Michelle Obama's eye-rolling and John Boehner's speech about Obama trying to "annihilate" the GOP). But the recent deal in the Senate on filibuster reform shows that chumminess isn't working, either.

Comments | 634 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 23, 2013

What's Behind the GOP's Fixation on Benghazi?

As Republicans grilled Hillary Clinton on the Obama administration's response to Benghazi in congressional hearings Wednesday, they repeatedly hit on a talking point that doesn't seem like it'd do them a lot of good: It's been four months.

Comments | 5,863 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 23, 2013

The Ban on Women in Combat Will Officially End

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will reportedly lift the Pentagon's ban on women serving in combat — even though women actually have been serving in war zones for years.

Comments | 4,745 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 23, 2013

The NRA's Ideas Are a Recycling Machine

While bucking one of the administration's few proposals on firearms that Republicans might actually accept, Wayne LaPierre offered no new ideas — indeed, old ideas — during a speech that reveals the backwards thinking behind the gun lobby's future.

Comments | 1,714 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 23, 2013

How the GOP Is Spinning Its Debt-Limit Vote as a Victory

You'd think a small, temporary retreat would make things easier, but in their retreat, Republican leaders have made promises that put them in a more difficult position.

Comments | 1,260 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 21, 2013

How Michelle Obama's Dress Measures Up to All the First Ladies' Gowns

The First Lady wore a bright red gown made of chiffon and velvet and designed by Jason Wu to the inaugural balls Monday. Red, surprisingly, has not been a very popular color among first ladies' inaugural gowns, despite its popularity in campaign signs.

Comments | 34,987 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 21, 2013

Michelle Obama's Dress for the Second Inaugural Ball

The First Lady wore a bright red halter dress designed by Jason Wu to President Obama's second inaugural ball.

Comments | 62,387 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 21, 2013

Obama Already Has Obama Nostalgia

At the end of his second inauguration ceremony, the president turned around in reflection: "I want to look out one more time because I'll never see this again." But Obama has had Obama nostalgia for much of the last year.

Comments | 3,621 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 21, 2013

Obama's Forceful, Progressive Inaugural Speech

Some conservatives had feared for months, even years, that President Obama would wait till after he was reelected to unmask his a true political identity. Well, with his second inaugural address Monday, he finally showed them: Obama is a center leftist.

Comments | 8,260 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 21, 2013

Watch Conservatives Hate-Watching Obama's Second Inauguration

Conservatives are hate-watching Obama's inauguration -- can you blame them? -- and their complaints fit into two major categories.

Comments | 6,423 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 21, 2013

A Photo Album of Inaugurations Past

Sifting through past presidential inauguration photos offers plenty of insight into the character of the guy getting sworn in and what was happening in the country at the time.

Comments | 1,552 Views

By Dashiell Bennett and Elspeth Reeve

Jan 21, 2013

Your Complete Inauguration Day Recap

What an Inauguration Day it was. Countless memes, intimate moments, some fashion, viral videos, a lot of GIFs, and — oh, yeah — maybe some history. Here's your complete recap, with everything you need to know and (mostly) nothing you don't.

Comments | 32,727 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 21, 2013

What to Expect in Obama's Second Inaugural Address

The election was fought over lots of big issues — tax reform, immigration, how to wind down our wars — before the Newtown shooting added gun violence to the list. Here's a preview of what President Obama will say about them at his second inauguration.

Comments | 172 Views

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