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Dan got smeared NY Daily News — Permalink The ordeal of Dan Rather goes far beyond the man himself. It speaks to the presumption of guilt that now rules the day in America. Because of a ruthless and callow media, no citizen, much less one who achieves fame, is given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to allegations or personal attacks. | |
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Jeff Jarvis: Odd bedfellows : Still catching up on weekend reading, I find the darnedest defense of Dan Rather from Bill O'Reilly. Captain Ed: O'Reilly Spins For Rather — Bill O'Reilly issues a scathing editorial on all those who dared to criticize Dan Rather... Charles Johnson: O'Reilly: Rather was "Slimed" — Bill O'Reilly sticks up for Dan Rather, and says he was smeared. |
Avedon Carol: Media notes — Dan got smeared: As a CBS News correspondent in the early '80s, I worked with Rather and have known him for more than 20 years. Jan Haugland: O'Really defends Rather — Bill O'Really, of all people, is coming to the defence of Dan Rather. Nick Gillespie: From the NY Daily News' version of the No-Spinmeister's syndicated col: [snipped quote] Whole thing here. Dan Rather was slimed? |
| Also: Vox Day, David Cohen, KJL | |
Court Allows Universities to Bar Military Recruiters By / NYT — Permalink Universities may bar military recruiters from their campuses without risking the loss of federal money, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia ruled today. | |
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The Big Trunk: The New York Times reports on the decision in "Court allows universities to bar military recruiters." Jeralyn Merritt: 3rd Circuit Rules Universities Can Ban Military Recruiters — The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that... |
James Joyner: Court Allows Universities to Bar Military Recruiters — Court Allows Universities to Bar Military Recruiters [RSS] (NYT)... Robert Prather: They can say whatever they want, just not on the federal nickel. [snipped quote] James has more. |
Bush to Change Economic Team By / WaPo — Permalink President Bush plans to overhaul his economic team for the second time in two years and wants to tap some prominent replacements from outside the administration to help sell rewrites of Social Security and the tax laws to Congress and the country, White House aides and advisers said over the weekend. | |
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Tom Maguire: New Forecast - Snow Gone By Spring — Bush will be changing his economic team, and, according to one Administration... Steve Soto: Cuban American Kellogg CEO Tapped To Be Commerce Secretary — After announcing just yesterday that he wanted to bring... Taegan Goddard: Bush to Shake Up Economic Team — President Bush "plans to overhaul his economic team for the second time in two years... |
Kevin Drum: CHANGING THE GUARD....President Bush is apparently planning to make some wholesale changes to his economic team: [snipped quote] Don't let the door hit you on the way out, John! Pejman Yousefzadeh: CHANGING THE LINEUP — I'm glad to see that the Bush Administration appears to be preparing to change the economic team. Lambert @Corrente: After the pillaging, come the rapes — A little over the top, maybe. But what other way is there to read this? [snipped quote] Eew! |
| Also: James Joyner, Kash, Jesse Taylor, Jonathan H. Adler, Betsy Newmark, Scott Wickstein | |
High Court Appears Hesitant to Endorse Medical Marijuana AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court appeared hesitant Monday to endorse medical marijuana for patients who have a doctor's recommendation. Justices are considering whether sick people in 11 states with medical marijuana laws can get around a federal ban on pot. | |
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Julian Sanchez: The Dope Docket — On the basis of early reporting from this morning's oral arguments in Raich v. Ashcroft, it sounds as though the justices are fairly skeptical. James Joyner: Indeed, this is the classic case of politics creating strange bedfellows: [snipped quote] We shall see. Will Baude: More on Raich — The AP and Bloomberg have initial reports on Raich v. Ashcroft. |
David Allan Pell: Don't Bogart That Morality — The Supreme Court's latest look at the use of medical marijuana is positioned as a battle between state's right and the federal ban on pot. Chris Nolan: As a rule, it's silly to anticipate what the court will do based on the justices' questions or comments. Steve Dillard: "High Court Appears Hesitant to Endorse Medical Marijuana": The AP has this report of today's oral argument in Raich. |
How Kerry whistleblower suffered for truth By / Chicago Sun Times — Permalink His name is Steve Gardner. He's also known as "The 10th Brother," as in Band of Brothers. He's one of two members of Sen. John Kerry's 12 Vietnam swift boat crew members who refused to stand with Kerry at the Democratic Convention. The other man remained silent. | |
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Captain Ed: The Man O'Reilly Should Be Honoring — Today's Chicago Sun-Times chronicles the aftermath of the election for the most... Oliver Willis: Swift Boat Liar Gardner Back In The News — Election | Republican Noise Machine | Republicans He's crying because his... PoliPundit: Gardner — Steve Gardner, the only man on Kerry's Swift boat to come out against Kerry, has paid a heavy price for... |
Deacon: Unfortunately, as the Chicago Sun-Times reports, Gardner seems to have paid a heavy price for contradicting the official line on Kerry's Vietnam service. Orrin Judd: SPEECH ISN'T FREE: How Kerry whistleblower suffered for truth (MARY LANEY, November 29, 2004, Chicago Sun-Times) |
Medical Marijuana Draws Skepticism at U.S. Top Court (Update1) Bloomberg — Permalink Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) — Several U.S. Supreme Court justices expressed doubts that states can let seriously ill patients ease their symptoms by using marijuana, a drug the federal government has designated as illegal. | |
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Clayton Cramer: Still, to consistently apply this standard would destroy an awful lot of liberalism's twentieth century legacy: [snipped quote] Scalia's right. Jim Lindgren: An account of the argument in Raich. — Here is an early account of the oral argument in Raich. It sounds tough. |
Dan Alban: Ashcroft v. Raich oral argument update — The initial news is not very positive for Raich supporters: Medical Marijuana... |
Supreme Court Appears Hesitant to Allow 11 States With Medical Marijuana Laws to Evade Federal Ban ABCNEWS — Permalink Angel McClary Raich, left, and her husband attorney Rob Raich listen during a news conference in Oakland, Calif. in this June 28, 2004 file photo. Raich, the mother of two, tried dozens of prescriptions, trying to ease the pain of her brain tumor and other illnesses before she tried marijuana. | |
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Ann Althouse: UPDATE: Justice Breyer also seemed unreceptive to the plaintiffs' argument: "Justice Stephen Breyer said supporters of... Jim Lindgren: UPDATE: Althouse links to an ABC account: "The Supreme Court appeared hesitant Monday to endorse medical marijuana for patients who have a doctor's recommendation. |
Dan Alban: Wary Court Considers Medical Marijuana (ABCNew.com) [...] Justice Stephen Breyer said supporters of marijuana for the... |
Iran's Conservatives Consolidate Power By / WaPo — Permalink TEHRAN — After eight years of a bold but bungled experiment with reform, Iran's government is in the throes of a takeover by conservatives determined to restore the revolution's Islamic purity, according to Iranian politicians and analysts. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: WORSE IN IRAN: Anyone who thinks the Tehran regime can be appeased or reformed by external or internal pressure should read this helpful reality check in the Washington Post today. Laura Rozen: Matt Yglesias has reviewed Ken Pollack's Persian Puzzle here and debates Christian Lowe's contention in the Weekly... |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: Whether or not Johnson was being sincere (a point on which many differ), it is safe to say that he would have gotten... Ogged @Unfogged: Fun While It Lasted — A short, informative article from the Post about the state of play in Iranian politics. |
Bush Picks Kellogg CEO for Commerce Post By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday chose Carlos Gutierrez, a native of Cuba who rose from truck driver to chief executive officer of Kellogg Co., to be secretary of Commerce. | |
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Baldilocks: President Bush has picked Kellogg CEO Carlos Gutierrez as John Evans' replacement for Secretary of commerce. James Joyner: Quite the pay cut. Interesting biography as well. |
Jayson @PoliPundit: The Great Divider Strikes Again — President re-elect George W. Bush chose Carlos Gutierrez, CEO of Kellogg's, to... |
The Costs of Staying the Course By / WaPo — Permalink More than 1,200 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq so far. In the face of rising casualties, polls taken throughout the election season revealed the public's discomfort with our progress in Iraq but gave little indication of weakening support for the mission. | |
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Donald Sensing: The myth of counting casualties — Berkeley researcher can't do math and his piece doesn't add up anyway Brian Gifford... Kieran Healy: Attrition in Iraq — Brian Gifford of Pub Sociology has an Op-Ed piece in todays Washington Post arguing that the... |
Matthew Yglesias: Staying the course — Via Kieran Healy, Brian Gifford argues that the burden of the war in Iraq is much higher than the death rate seems to imply. Charles Johnson: Media Math: Success = Quagmire — At the Washington Post, Brian Gifford from UC Berkeley uses "media math" to explain... |
Blunkett: ID cards about removing fear Guardian — Permalink David Blunkett, the home secretary, today denied he was shifting Britain towards an "authoritarian state" as he unveiled plans for identity cards and a national identity database. | |
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Natasha @PacificViews: UK Guardian: The debate on introducing national ID cards for UK citizens rages on. Some perspectives on the interaction between the state and the family. |
Steve Gilliard: National ID card Blunkett: ID cards about removing fear Simon Jeffery, Mark Oliver and agencies [snipped quote] You want something to worry about, this is it. |
A Nuclear Iran By / Weekly Standard — Permalink THE KIND OF DIPLOMACY spearheaded by Germany, France, and Britain is unlikely to lead to a successful dismantling of Iran's nuclear weapons programs, Russell contends. Sanctions would hurt the Iranian people more than the Islamic regime and could undermine U.S. efforts for regime change. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: After a sensible first page, the second part of Lowe's article starts laying the groundwork. |
Jayson @PoliPundit: The Ticking Time Bomb — Christian Lowe, of the Weekly Standard, addresses the issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions. |
Stand by Ukraine's Struggle By / LAT — Permalink Democracy is not born overnight. But democracy captures our collective imagination in snapshots: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the lone student standing down Chinese tanks in Tiananmen Square, Nelson Mandela's inauguration as president of South Africa. | |
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Armed Liberal: Democracy and Sitzfleisch — Rachel Belton of the Truman Project (which I blogged approvingly about) emailed me this... Phillip Carter: Standing by Ukraine — Matt Spence, a director of the Truman Project, an organization established to develop national... |
Patrick Belton: TRUMAN DEMOCRATS ON DEMOCRACY IN THE UKRAINE: Our friend, and sometime classmate, Matt Spence has an op-ed piece in the... Glenn Reynolds: THOUGHTS ON DEMOCRACY IN THE UKRAINE, from Matt Spence. |
Who Is Being 'Unserious' on the Terror War? By / TCS — Permalink What's disappointing about Ryan Sager's "Rethinking Libertarian Minimalism" column isn't that he expresses his disagreement with libertarians who opposed the war with Iraq. Debate is healthy — particularly on such an important issue. | |
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Pete Guither: By the way (and off topic) if you haven't done so yet, please read Radley's outstanding fisking of Sager. Great stuff! Radley Balko: Fisking Sager — Over at Tech Central I have a very long and very thorough fisking-response to Ryan Sager's accusations that Cato is "unserious" about the war on terrorism. |
Julian Sanchez: Radley Balko has written a lengthy and effective response. |
Coffey: Medical marijuana case tests Congress' power CNN — Permalink (CNN) — The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday on whether a federal ban on marijuana can be enforced in states that have legalized its use as a medical treatment with a doctor's permission. CNN legal analyst Kendall Coffey discussed the case Monday with CNN's Rick Sanchez. | |
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Pete Guither: One of my favorites: Kendall Coffee at CNN: "However, Rick, let's look at the practical side. |
Ellen Dana Nagler: SCOTUS is hearing a medical marijuana case, and the outcome is "unpredictable." These days that passes for good news. |
In Leak Case, Reporters Lack Shield For Sources By / WaPo — Permalink When unnamed Bush administration officials gave the name of CIA official Valerie Plame to syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak 16 months ago, many in the news media decried what they saw as the possibly illegal "outing" of a secret operative in reprisal for criticism of the administration by her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. | |
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Avedon Carol: What makes this particular article interesting is that it is written by Bill O'Reilly, who still can't admit that it... James Joyner: Reporters Face Jail if They Don't Reveal Sources — In Leak Case, Reporters Lack Shield For Sources (WaPo)... |
DemFromCT: The WaPo has a round-up today of where we are with Plame and co., concentrating on our friend Judith Miller and Matt Cooper of Time. Laura Rozen: The WaPo's Charles Lane on the Valerie Plame leak case — did Novak take the fifth? : [snipped quote] [Via Romenesko]. |
AP Poll: Majority of Americans Want Supreme Court Nominee Who Would Uphold Roe V. Wade ABCNEWS — Permalink People line up outside the U.S Supreme Court to listen to arguments in this Oct. 13, 2004, in Washington. Six in 10 Americans say there should be a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices, according to an Associated Press poll taken Nov. | |
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Steve M.: AP/ABC News Impressive — though it's not really surprising. KJL: ROE — Americans don't want it overturned? |
Eugene Oregon: But here comes one that is sure to leave Republicans, riding high on the wisdom of all those supposed "values" voters... |
Evangelicals to Bush: Payback Time ABCNEWS — Permalink Nov. 28, 2004 — Among some conservative Christians, there is a belief that President Bush received a "moral mandate" to win the recent presidential election — and they are calling on him to act on their agenda now. Another was asked if she believed that God intervened in the election. | |
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Atrios: Or something. I'm really not sure. Cass wants a U.S. Supreme Court that will outlaw abortion and gay marriage. |
Eugene Oregon: Gary Cass loves the GOP "Cass wants a U.S. Supreme Court that will outlaw abortion and gay marriage. |
Norway's Heroin Lows By / LAT — Permalink OSLO — She said she only smoked heroin, but there were needle bruises on her neck. She said she loved her boyfriend, but she stood on a corner and offered herself to others. She said she was a girl, but then remembered she had become a woman. | |
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Jan Haugland: Drugs in Norway — Jeffrey Fleishman writes a devastating article about Norway's heroin problem in LA Times, showing the... Orrin Judd: LEGALIZED MURDER: Norway's Heroin Lows: The model welfare state is a prime market for the rising Afghan opium trade. |
Steve Antler: European anecdotal evidence suggests decriminalization enlarges this problem in grotesque fashion. Jonah Goldberg: But this LA Times story strikes me as worth reading. Here's the opener: "OSLO — She said she only smoked heroin, but there were needle bruises on her neck. |
Iraq log: 29 November 2004 BBC — Permalink What is life like for ordinary Iraqis and others caught up in events? We are publishing a range of accounts here from people inside Iraq about how they, their families and friends live day to day and what the bigger events in the headlines mean to them. | |
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Natasha @PacificViews: Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has her house arrest extended. An ongoing log of daily life in Iraq. |
KJL: LUCKILY THIS HAPPENS A LOT." An American soldier blogging for (GASP!) BBC. |
For Democrats in red states, 2006 daunting By / Washington Times — Permalink Democratic senators in the states that President Bush won will face a tough road to re-election in 2006, Republicans say, with their sights set most eagerly on two Democrats named Nelson — Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Bill Nelson of Florida. | |
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Garance Franke-Ruta: This pessimistic take is augmented by the fact that the GOP already looks to have the upper hand heading into the 2006... Taegan Goddard: The Washington Times notes Republican will target Democratic senators from red states in 2006. |
Captain Ed: Democrats Vulnerable In 2006: Washington Times — Amy Fagan analyzes the Democrats' election chances in the 2006 Senate... Orrin Judd: NOT THAT THE BLUE SENATORS WILL HAVE A MUCH EASIER TIME: For Democrats in red states, 2006 daunting (Amy Fagan, November... |
Terror suspects' torture claims have Mass. link By / Boston Globe — Permalink DEDHAM — Most here know Hill & Plakias as a family law firm that handles real estate and civil squabbles for the residents of this Boston suburb. But the inconspicuous office above a Sovereign Bank, across from the red, white, and blue flags of a used... | |
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Steve Clemons: Read this piece from the Boston Globe today. Shawn @LiquidList: I'm referring to Massachusetts-based Premier Executive Transport's two jets, outed today by the Boston Globe as apparent CIA torture transport planes. |
Steve M.: Today's Boston Globe reports on Premier Executive Transport Services, that is the owner of record for a plane known to... |
Bush Nominates Chief of Kellogg as Commerce Secretary AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Monday chose Carlos Gutierrez, a native of Cuba and now the chief executive officer of Kellogg Co., to be secretary of Commerce, administration officials said. | |
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Noam Scheiber: Really, the appointment of Carlos Gutierrez as Commerce Secretary makes a ton of sense. Taegan Goddard: Bush Picks Commerce Secretary — President Bush chose Carlos Gutierrez, chief executive officer of the Kellogg Co., to be secretary of Commerce, the AP reports. |
James Joyner: Kellogg CEO Carlos Gutierrez New Commerce Secretary — Bush to Announce Pick for Commerce Dept. |
Over the top By / Townhall.com — Permalink It's time for the 2004 awards for over-the-top rhetoric. Cameron Diaz said that if you think rape should be legal, you should not vote on November 2. Alan Keyes, Republican Senate candidate in Illinois, said Catholics who voted for his opponent, Barack Obama, would be committing a mortal sin. | |
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Ed Driscoll: Over The Top — John Leo has a look at the reasoned, sublimely nuanced use of language by celebrities and the media in this ever-so-calm election year. |
Betsy Newmark: John Leo has a great collection of disturbing over the top statements made in the past year by those nice open-minded... |
Shadow of Vietnam Falls Over Iraq River Raids By / NYT — Permalink CHARD DUWAISH, Iraq, Nov. 28 - As marines aboard fast patrol boats roared up the Euphrates on a dawn raid on Sunday, images pressed in of another American war where troops moved up wide rivers on camouflaged boats, with machine-gunners nervously scanning riverbanks for the hidden enemy. | |
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Cori Dauber: But the piece he's got in this morning's paper uses this, and the fallacy that the purely visual referent can be used to... Steve Soto: Similarities Between Vietnam And Iraq Abound As US Uses Swift Boats Once Again — Bush and his sycophants decry any... Rich Lowry: ENCOURAGING...bit about Iraqi troops: "After failures earlier this year, when many Iraqi units deserted or refused... |
Steve Gilliard: Shadow of Vietnam Falls Over Iraq River Raids By JOHN F. BURNS Published: November 29, 2004 [snipped quote] Actually,... Roger L. Simon: This morning they are sporting an orange "Apocalypse Now"-style photo of what could be the Mekong River (wink, wink - we... Tbogg: John O'Neill says you're all a bunch of pussies... Hope none of these guys ever run for President: As marines aboard... |
| Also: DemFromCT | |
Back to the Baroque By / Weekly Standard — Permalink OVER THE PAST YEAR OR SO, Neal Stephenson has produced a minor miracle: not one, but three bestselling nine-hundred-page novels, all focused on obscure topics of cryptography, monetary theory, and philosophy. | |
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Ed Cone: Glenn Reynolds reviews Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle for The Weekly Standard. [snipped quote] I did fall hard for Cryptonomicon. |
Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: Hey, it's on the Web now. |
A Steamroller That May Lose Its Steam By / NYT — Permalink FOR some Democrats this year, the prospect of President Bush's re-election with larger Republican majorities in both houses of Congress seemed to presage not just continued one-party dominance of Washington but a new and threatening one-party dominion over the life of the nation itself. | |
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Garance Franke-Ruta: The New York Times' Todd S. Purdum took the long view and concluded that maintaining single-party rule is a pretty tough... Taegan Goddard: The New York Times warns that from "the rapacious capitalism of the Gilded Age to the cronyism of Teapot Dome, from the... |
Chris Nolan: The split within the party isn't expected to be limited to this session of Congress or to the Supreme Court. |
Woman faces execution, but not without a fight By / AP — Permalink Frances Newton, convicted of killing her husband and two young children in April 1987, has maintained her innocence. It was Frances Newton who first called 911 to report that her husband and two children had been killed, summoning sheriff's investigators to a bloody crime scene at her north Harris County apartment. | |
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Norbizness: Well, fancy that. Another female death row prisoner scheduled for execution that our Republican governors can mock. |
Jeralyn Merritt: Texas Woman Fights Execution Set for Wednesday — Frances Newton is not going to the texecution chamber Wednesday without a fight. |
Report: PA orders end to incitement Jerusalem Post — Permalink The Palestinian Authority leadership has ordered PA-controlled media to stop all incitement against Israel and Jews, the London-based Arabic daily A-Shark Al-Awsat reported Monday. The order also pertains to video clips, songs and music videos which call for the continuation of the armed intifada, the paper reported. | |
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Gene @HarrysPlace: So if this report is true, it's a very important development: The Palestinian Authority leadership has ordered... |
Stephen Pollard: Dream on — I will believe this when I see it: "The Palestinian Authority leadership has ordered PA-controlled media to... |
Florida Northwest Opinion Journal — Permalink The country dodged a repeat of the 2000 Florida election debacle this year because George W. Bush's margin in the decisive state of Ohio was 136,000 votes. But the one out of 50 Americans who live in Washington state are living through a Florida-style... | |
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Steve Bainbridge: "(Source: Opinion Journal)" Nothing that's come out of Ohio remotely resembles what's going on in Washington state and, especially, King County. PoliPundit: WA John Fund sums up the state of the governor's race from hell in WA. You can follow the recount festivities at Sound Politics. |
The Big Trunk: Hanging chads, meet empty ovals — John Fund takes a look at the Washington state governor's race and reasonably... |
Preserving the Power of Congress NYT — Permalink The Supreme Court is hearing arguments today in a case involving two important, but very different, legal issues: medical marijuana and federalism. Two California women have sued the federal government to stop it from prosecuting them for using marijuana for medical purposes, which they are permitted to do under California law. | |
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Chris Lawrence: Raich pessimism — Will Baude notes a lot of pessimism around the court-watching sphere regarding Ashcroft v... Dan Alban: The New York Times weighs in: Although the California women should win, it is important that they win on narrow, fact-specific grounds. Edward _: , Diane Monson: "In 2002, federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration showed up at the home of Diane Monson,... |
James Joyner: Medical Marijuana and Federalism — Editorial: Preserving the Power of Congress [RSS] (NYT) [snipped quote] The limits of... Sam Rosenfeld: Frankly, the paper's editorial today attempting to advocate for federalism on the liberal-friendly matter of marijuana... Orin Kerr: Federalism For Liberals: Weighing in on today's oral argument in Raich v. Ashcroft, the editorial page of The New York... |
Israel shocked by image of soldiers forcing violinist to play at roadblock Guardian — Permalink Of all the revelations that have rocked the Israeli army over the past week, perhaps none disturbed the public so much as the video footage of soldiers forcing a Palestinian man to play his violin. | |
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Ogged @Unfogged: What Have You Done to Me? Humanity flickers. Juan Cole: For a troubling discussion of the kind of self-examination being forced on Israelis by Sharon's tactics, see The Guardian on Monday. Avedon Carol: Playing for time: Israel shocked by image of soldiers forcing violinist to play at roadblock. |
McQ: Dehumanizing the Enemy — Some disturbing reports out of Israel. Tbogg: That which we hate, we become — I'm having a harder and harder time feeling any sympathy for Israel with crap like this... Steve Gilliard: The corruption of power humiliating jews Israel shocked by image of soldiers forcing violinist to play at roadblock... |
Kuchma in favor of new elections in Ukraine AFP — Permalink KIEV (AFP) - Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma said he was in favor of staging new elections in Ukraine to resolve a bitter dispute over a November 21 presidential vote won by his pro-Moscow prime minister. | |
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Daniel Drezner: AFP reports that President Kuchma has come out in favor of new elections in the disputed regions (Donetsk and Luhansk):... |
Captain Ed: Kuchma Wants Elections — The French news agency AFP reports that outgoing Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has... |
'My Son, My Son' By / NYT — Permalink Washington — Thanks to Claudia Rosett, an enterprising reporter writing in The New York Sun, the world now knows that some information put out by Secretary General Kofi Annan about his son's involvement with a Swiss inspection company at the heart of the U.N. oil-for-food scandal is untrue. | |
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Cori Dauber: UN UNRAVELLING CONTINUES — William Safire reports today: The story put out by the U.N. Secretariat at the time was that... Tom Maguire: UNSCAM Update - Safire Wants Kofi To Go — William Safire puts one foot on the "Kofi Out, Havel In" bandwagon in another follow-the-money column. The Big Trunk: Oil-for-Kojo, part 2 — William Safire picks up on Claudia Rosett's New York Sun column exposing Kojo's extended... |
Roger L. Simon: Meanwhile, the NYT's own hometown news, the UN Oil-for-Food Scandal, is dealt with only by William Safire, the opinion writer on the edge of retirement. Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: William Safire has more on Kofi's troubles: "This marks the end of the beginning of the scandal. Lorie Byrd: She reports in her latest article that Kofi Annan's son, Kojo, was [snipped quote] William Safire adds to the story with his account of a personal conversation with Kofi Annan. |
| Also: Betsy Newmark | |
The Last Mile By / NYT — Permalink Here's this week's news quiz. It's just one question, but it's a big one: Who's in charge of U.S. policy in Iraq? No, seriously, give yourself a simple test. Just look in a mirror and mouth these words: "Overall coordinator and strategist of U.S. policy in Iraq today," and tell me whose picture comes into your head. | |
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David Allan Pell: Break from Reality — In his latest column, the once very enthusiastic about Iraq Tom Friedman laments the lack of... |
Matthew Yglesias: I hate my family. Thomas Freidman. Maybe the people who've messed everything up so far will suddenly turn out to be brilliant. |
He's got it taped By / Guardian — Permalink Born: New York City, May 16, 1912. Educated: McKinley High School, Chicago; University of Chicago. Married: 1939, Ida Goldberg (died 1999). | |
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Kevin Hayden: ' He'll always be The New Deal and The Real Deal to me, and I recommend the books and audio recordings of Studs Terkel to everyone. |
Avedon Carol: Two from the Guardian — He's got it taped - Martin Kettle profiles American legend Studs Terkel: I think the old labels don't work now. |
Diversity Stymied WaPo — Permalink ONLY LAST YEAR the University of Michigan won a landmark battle in the Supreme Court establishing the legitimacy of carefully designed affirmative action programs to ensure diversity in higher education. This year, fresh off that victory, the university experienced a sudden drop in African American enrollment. | |
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John Rosenberg: "Only last year," says their editorial today, "the University of Michigan won a landmark battle in the Supreme Court... |
Captain Ed: College Diversity Programs Target The Symptom, Not The Disease — Today's Washington Post editorial decries the sudden... |
Notes Spotted by Soldier Lead G.I.'s to Rebel Cache By / NYT — Permalink MOSUL, Iraq, Nov. 28 - At first the suspect was merely one of 115 Iraqis whom American troops corralled for questioning on Saturday night in a particularly nasty part of Mosul. But his belligerence stood out. And then he made his move. | |
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Rich Lowry: From the NY Times this morning: "Sitting where the troops had ordered him to sit - in front of an open-air cigarette... |
Betsy Newmark: The New York Times has a good look at what our guys are facing in Mosul. |
Pollsters Debate Hispanics' Presidential Voting By / WaPo — Permalink In the days before the presidential election, some opinion surveys said Democrats would get as much as 65 percent of the Hispanic vote. But on the morning after the voting, some exit polls held that Democratic nominee John F. Kerry had received about 56 percent of Hispanics' votes and that President Bush had gotten 44 percent. | |
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Mark Krikorian: A quote in the Washington Post distilled for me the origins of the president's views on immigration: "The relationship... |
Michelle Malkin: Ruy Teixera agrees with Sailer. So does Zogby. |
Alexander the (not so) Great fails to conquer America's homophobes By / Independent — Permalink It has been ridiculed by critics and shunned by cinema-goers but the latest film from the controversial director Oliver Stone has still managed to raise hackles across the US. | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: Gay bashing at the box office — Britain's trendy left comments on the fate of Hollywood's latest "sword and sandals"... Jonah Goldberg: HIGH-LARIOUS — The British Indepdent offers this headline about the Alexander the Great bomb (nod to Peter Schramm at... KJL: THE INDEPENDENT ought to be on the Oliver Stone payroll. |
Roger L. Simon: A Lousy Movie Is a Lousy Movie — The tedious reactionaries at The Independent have seized upon the catastrophic failure... JD @SouthernAppeal: And we're so homophobic that Oliver Stone's Alexander is tanking at the box office. |
Peter Unwin: Putin should keep his nose out of Ukraine. So should we Independent — Permalink Imagine an election in Mexico that produces a president favourable to the United States, as elections there have done for 70 years now. But this time international observers, God forbid, detect electoral abuse. Vladimir Putin demands a recount, a rerun. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: Here's one former British diplomat in the Independent, replaying the old debate about the Soviet Union, now tinged with... |
Daniel Drezner: Beyond the Guardian, Peter Unwin writes in the Independent that Europe is needlessly riling the Russian Bear over... |
Bush's Social Security Plan Is Said to Require Vast Borrowing By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 - The White House and Republicans in Congress are all but certain to embrace large-scale government borrowing to help finance President Bush's plan to create personal investment accounts in Social Security, according to administration officials, members of Congress and independent analysts. | |
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Tom Maguire: He has an ambitious and complicated Social Security reform on his agenda, coupled with a complicated quest for tax simplification, or reduction, or something. Jack Balkin: Fools Rush In Where Foreign Banks Fear To Tread JB From the New York Times yesterday: [snipped quote] And from the New York Times today: [snipped quote] Sure, that'll work. |
Scott Rosenberg: This piece in yesterday's New York Times, headlined "Bush's Social Security Plan Is Said to Require Vast Borrowing." |
The Great Indecency Hoax By / NYT — Permalink OH, the poor, suffering little children. If we are to believe the outcry of the past two weeks, America's youth have been defiled en masse - again. This time the dirty deed was done by the actress Nicollette Sheridan, who dropped her towel in the cheesy... | |
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James Joyner: Meanwhile, NYT's Frank Rich [RSS] decries "The Great Indecency Hoax." "Oh, the poor, suffering little children. Cori Dauber: Only I don't quite do it the way the lady in that commercial does. I do it to see what Frank Rich is up to. James Martin Capozzola: "The Great Indecency Hoax," by Frank Rich, the New York Times, November 28. |
Hecate: Radical Clerics — Frank Rich has some interesting things to say about censorship. ***** It's beginning to look a lot like "Groundhog Day." Jesse Taylor: The New Danger — This Frank Rich column brings to mind a new viewing habit of mine. |
Iran group signs up suicide volunteers By / AP — Permalink TEHRAN, Iran — The 300 men filling out forms in the offices of an Iranian aid group were offered three choices: Train for suicide attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq, for suicide attacks against Israelis or to assassinate British author Salman Rushdie. | |
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Bird Dog: From Associated Press: [snipped quote] And here I was thinking that, after all these years, Rushdie was off the table. KJL: IRAN RECRUITS suicide bombers. |
Chad Evans: Iran Funding Suicide Bombers in Iraq - AP [snipped quote] I wish I could say this shocks me, but it doesn't. |
Paralyzed woman walks again after stem cell therapy AFP — Permalink SEOUL (AFP) - A South Korean woman paralyzed for 20 years is walking again after scientists say they repaired her damaged spine using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. Hwang Mi-Soon, 37, had been bedridden since damaging her back in an accident two decades ago. | |
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Norbizness: Because some people strongly believe that the earth cannot be this old, the material should be approached with an open... Kevin Raybould: Stem Cell Success — This is potentially wonderful news: [snipped quote] It has to be verified, and its long term... Joe Gandelman: If this kind of result can be duplicated in other cases, it could be a watershed for stem cell research: [snipped quote] Remember, of course, that this is in the very early stages. |
Tom Maguire: Paralyzed Woman Walks (We Want To Believe) This is only one success story, although further trials are expected soon,... Orrin Judd: SKEPTICISM IS WARRANTED, BUT...: Paralyzed woman walks again after stem cell therapy (AFP, 11/27/04) "A South Korean... Susan Madrak: After three weeks of treatment, this woman did: "SEOUL (AFP) - A South Korean woman paralyzed for 20 years is walking... |
| Also: KJL, Glenn Reynolds | |
Mr. Smith Goes Under the Gavel NYT — Permalink Republicans control the White House, both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court. But the greater their power, the more they have focused on one of its few limits: the Senate filibuster. | |
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Roger Kimball: Consider Mr. Smith Goes Under the Gavel, the editorial that appeared on Judicial filibusters that appeared in yesterday's paper. TChris: Apart from being a hypocrite, he's wrong. "The Republicans see the filibuster as an annoying obstacle. Steve Bainbridge: MSM Caught with Pants Down — Patterico catches the NYT parroting a Democrat party talking point memo in an editorial today. |
Sam Rosenfeld: The New York Times offered a strikingly unconvincing editorial in defense of the filibuster yesterday. Patterico: The proof appears in this morning's editorial on judicial filibusters, titled Mr. Smith Goes Under the Gavel: "Judicial nominees have never been immune from filibusters. |
Shock and Awe In the Senate By / Newsweek — Permalink Dec. 6 issue - Republican senators, justifiably indignant about Democrats' filibustering to block confirmation votes for judicial nominees, are contemplating a parliamentary version of shock and awe. | |
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Joe Gandelman: George Will: Don't Mess With The Fillbuster — Political storm clouds are gathering over a move by some in Congress to... Robert Prather: Filibustering judicial nominees — George Will has yet another column, this one in Newsweek, on the merits of the... Orin Kerr: George Will on Filibusters: From his Newsweek column, brought to my attention via Howard: "The filibuster is an... |
James Joyner: Defending the Filibuster — George Will defends the institution of the filibuster and believes a move by the Senate to... Betsy Newmark: George Will calls on the Republican majority to force the Democrats to stage a real Strom Thurmond-type filibuster if they don't like Bush's judicial nominees. |
Rove Unleashed By / Newsweek — Permalink Dec. 6 issue - It was the day before Thanksgiving, November 1973. Things were quiet enough at the Republican National Committee for the chairman to spend a few minutes on parental logistics. His eldest son was taking the train down from Harvard Business School and would need the family car for the weekend. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: MORE ON THE EMERGING REPUBLICAN MAJORITY — This profile of Karl Rove is interesting enough as personal profiles go, but... Taegan Goddard: Rove's Plan — While most of the White House staff departed for vacations last week, Newsweek notes Karl Rove "was still... Orrin Judd: REALIGNING WITH ROVE: Rove Unleashed: For the past 30 years he's focused like a laser on George W. Bush. |
Barbara O'Brien: Howard Fineman has an article on Karl Rove in Newsweek that is worth a read, although it only scratches the surface, and, well, it's Fineman. Betsy Newmark: Newsweek looks at Karl Rove. I don't think Rove will go away as the image of a Svengali behind the President for the media. Joe Gandelman: Uncle Karl's Big Adventure — Attention Democrats: You better get your act together because Newsweek's Howard Fineman... |
High Court Cases Show 2 Sides of Conservatism By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court can ignore the usual liberal-versus-conservative divide in the next two weeks when it takes up California-centric cases on medical marijuana and the direct shipping of wine to consumers. | |
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Chris Nolan: Who's going to call the shots? Social conservatives who want the state to impose restrictions on personal behavior? Ken Masugi: Clash of Conservatisms at the Supreme Court — LAT: Social conservatives battle free-market conservatives (or... |
Jacob Sullum: The Los Angeles Times ran a story yesterday that noted the conflicts among conservatives highlighted by Raich and by the... Ann Althouse: Tomorrow the Supreme Court hears oral argument in Raich v. Ashcroft, the medical marijuana case, which sets the federal... |
Report: FBI Finds Link Between 9/11, Madrid Bombs Reuters — Permalink MADRID (Reuters) - The FBI has established the clearest link yet between the March 11 Madrid train bombings and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, a Spanish newspaper reported Sunday. | |
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Ace: 3-11, 9-11 Linked: FBI — In case any Spaniards weren't sure, yes, we are all Americans now: [snipped quote] There's an old joke about two hunters being chased by a bear. Captain Ed: FBI: Madrid, 9/11 Attacks Linked — The FBI has informed Spain that they have established direct links between the... Joe Gandelman: Reuters reports: "The FBI has told Spanish investigators that one of three men believed to have planned the Sept. 11... |
Charles Johnson: 9/11 Linked to Madrid Bombings — Report: FBI Finds Link Between 9/11, Madrid Bombs. FrancoAlemán: FBI FINDS LINK between 9/11 and the Madrid bombs: [snipped quote] UPDATE. |
Ukrainian region seeks autonomy BBC — Permalink Supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in eastern Ukraine have announced they will hold a vote next Sunday for a semi-independent area. The move by the Donetsk region council came as opposition supporters kept up the pressure to overturn the result of the disputed presidential poll. | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: BBC has a good orange/blue map of which regions of the country went for which candidate. Jan Haugland: Eastern regions who support the current administration threatens to go for autonomy if Yushchenko is elected president. |
Chris Bowers: Vote Fraud and Calls for Secession — In Ukraine, the blogspace of the America left is reality for the entire country: ... |
To Hell With Values By / LAT — Permalink It's been less than a month since the gods decreed that, due to the election results, American political life henceforth must be all about something called "values." And I gave it my best. Honest. But I'm sick of talking about values, sick of pretending I have them or care more about them than I really do. | |
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James Joyner: To Hell With Values — Michael Kinsley says "To Hell With Values" in his latest LAT column. Orrin Judd: Michael Kinsley, likewise an advocate of murder for his own purposes, expresses himself with unusual clarity today, To... |
James Martin Capozzola: "To Hell With Values," by Michael Kinsley, the Los Angeles Times, November 28. "The Great Indecency Hoax," by Frank Rich, the New York Times, November 28. |
Governing Against Type By / NYT — Permalink With the prudent Colin Powell to be replaced by Condoleezza Rice at the State Department, and with the more warlike Donald Rumsfeld remaining as secretary of defense, many feel that President Bush is set to follow an even more forceful foreign policy in his second term. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: Writing in yesterday's New York Times, Edward Luttwak, something of a neoconservative godfather back in the day but now... Laura Rozen: Via Atrios, Edward Luttwak argues in the NY Times today that, based on recent US history, and contrary to many... |
Upyernoz: I don't get it — I don't understand why people expect Bush in his second term to "revert to the moderate mainstream." |
Was Nov. 2 Realignment -- Or a Tilt? By / WaPo — Permalink By any measure, President Bush and his fellow Republicans had a good night on Nov. 2. The question now is whether the election results set the GOP up for a good decade — or more. | |
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Garance Franke-Ruta: Meanwhile, John Harris talked to the academic community and various Republican operatives for The Washington Post in an... Richard Reeb: Today's WaPo raises the question again, dutifully reporting the diverse opinions on the subject. Ace: The R-Word: Realignment — You know the Washington Post didn't want to write this article, but they did |
Jonah Goldberg: REALIGNING PORTENTS — Yesterday's Washington Post featured an interesting — though not exactly spell-binding —... Orrin Judd: TR WAS, THANKFULLY, UNIQUE: '04 Voting: Realignment — Or a Tilt? EDM Staff: Ruy Teixeira and Ken Mehlman Offer Opposing Views in Washington Post Analysis — A Sunday Washington Post article titled... |
| Also: DemFromCT, Betsy Newmark, Taegan Goddard, Steve Bainbridge, PoliPundit | |
Alabama Vote Opens Old Racial Wounds By / WaPo — Permalink TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — On that long-ago day of Alabama's great shame, Gov. George C. Wallace (D) stood in a schoolhouse door and declared that his state's constitution forbade black students to enroll at the University of Alabama. He was correct. | |
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Frederick Maryland: The Washington Post explains: "There are competing theories about the defeat of Amendment 2, the measure that would... Susan Madrak: OLD TIMES THERE ARE NOT FORGOTTEN — Alabama voters have chosen to keep school segregation in their state constitution: [snipped quote] I thought Alabama was a Godly state. |
Trapper John: But a more visceral "what the bleeding hell is the matter with Alabama?!?" was the cry of many a Kossack when we learned... |
Troops Hunting Al Qaeda Members Withdrawn WaPo — Permalink PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov. 27 — The Pakistani army announced Saturday that it would withdraw hundreds of troops from a tense tribal region near Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden and his top deputy were believed to be hiding. | |
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Tarek @LiquidList: Politics: Dead or Until I'm Re-Elected — If you want to believe that the Bush Administration didn't put Pakistan up to... |
Captain Ed: Pakistan Withdraws From Wana — Pakistan has decided it has done all it can with troops in the South Waziristan area of... |
Colombian Tells of Marxist Plot Against Bush By / NYT — Permalink BOGOTÁ, Colombia, Nov. 27 - Marxist rebels had planned to assassinate President Bush last Monday during his four-hour stopover in Colombia to meet President Álvaro Uribe, Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe said Saturday, without offering details or proof. | |
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Randy Paul: Meanwhile, I remain skeptical about this report that the FARC planned an assassinate attempt against President Bush... |
Jeremy Brown: Bush's South America Security Detail — There is a report today that would seem to vindicate the unapologetic emphasis... |
Revealed: the full story of the Ukrainian election fraud By / Telegraph — Permalink It was 5.30pm on election day in Ukraine when the thugs in masks arrived armed with rubber truncheons. Vitaly Kizima, an election monitor at Zhovtneve in Ukraine's Sumy region, watched in horror as 30 men in tracksuits stormed into the village polling station. | |
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Harry @HarrysPlace: The Sunday Telegraph, in contrast, has an account of the abuses that took place during the election which Laughing Boy thinks are a western 'fantasy'. Jan Haugland: The Telegraph outlines the solid evidence for widespread, systematic voter fraud by the government. Hindrocket: Voter Fraud In Ukraine, and Here — The Telegraph has anecdotal evidence of election fraud in Ukraine: [snipped quote] Actually, that works here in Minnesota, too. |
Captain Ed: Memo To Hysterical American Leftists: This Is What Vote Fraud Looks Like — The London Telegraph reports today on the... Damian Penny: The new Iron Curtain — Today's Sunday Telegraph has a good background article on the fraudulent Ukranian election. Avedon Carol: Pretend support for democracy, pretend belief in free speech, pretend Christianity, we've seen it all before. |
| Also: Pejman Yousefzadeh, Glenn Reynolds, Greg Ransom | |
CAMPUS CONFORMISTS New York Post — Permalink OH, well, if studies say so. The great secret is out: liberals dominate campuses. Coming soon: "Moon Implicated in Tides, Studies Find." One study of 1,000 professors finds that Democrats outnumber Republicans at least seven to one in the humanities and social sciences. | |
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Glenn Reynolds: HERE'S MORE ON THE LACK OF DIVERSITY IN AMERICAN ACADEMIA, and its consequences: [snipped quote] Indeed. |
Jayson @PoliPundit: In the Mind's Eye of the Partisan Left, "Diversity" Cannot Include Diversity of Thought — When George F. Will takes on... |
Courts first to go in right-wing revolution By / Palm Beach Post — Permalink Every time the so-called Christian Right has tried to turn this country into a theocracy, those pesky federal courts have stymied things. So now — according to the liberal Americans United for Separation of Church and State — the right-wingers have come up with a new scheme. | |
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Jack K.: The subject was apparently discussed at length at a special legislative briefing for the Christian Coalition in D.C. last month. |
Skippy: letters...we get letters... the ol' skippy mailbag has a couple of missives from the daily cookie and night light... |