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You Can Blog, but You Can't Hide By / NYT — Permalink Say that an I.R.S. agent leaks a politician's income tax return to a newspaper reporter, an act that is a federal felony. The newspaper may have a First Amendment right to publish the information, especially since it bears on a matter of public interest. | |
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Jan Haugland: Eugene Volokh, "blogfather" of the excellent group blog The Volokh Conspiracy, has an interesting op-ed about the... Phillip Carter: Eugene Volokh, under whom I studied First Amendment law at UCLA, offers another piece of the puzzle in a New York Times op-ed this morning (albeit on a different subject). Pejman Yousefzadeh: THE JOURNALIST'S/BLOGGER'S PRIVILEGE — Eugene Volokh has an informative editorial on the journalist's privilege and how... |
Tom Maguire: You Can Leak, And You Should Hide — The always interesting Eugene Volokh has a guest editorial in today's NY Times. Cori Dauber: Today he has a provocative piece on the Times' oped page discussing the challenge posed by the question of legal privelages for journalists by blogging. Ogged @Unfogged: No Names Please — Eugene Volokh, writing in the New York Times, considers the reasonable limits of journalist/source privacy protection. |
| Also: Todd Pearson, Jeff Jarvis, Matt Welch, Steve Bainbridge, Ed Cone, Glenn Reynolds, Bill Hobbs, Eugene Volokh | |
Nearly Half of Britons Unaware of Auschwitz -Poll By / Reuters — Permalink LONDON (Reuters) - Nearly half of Britons in a poll said they had never heard of Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp in southern Poland that became a symbol of the Holocaust and the attempted genocide of the Jews. | |
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Jonah Goldberg: AND THEY CALL AMERICANS IGNORANT — Half of Britons have never heard of Auschwitz. This is depressing for all of the obvious reasons. Ed Driscoll: Poll Claims Nearly Half of Britons Unaware of Auschwitz — Reuters reports: [snipped quote] That's staggering—but not all that surprising, to be honest. Roger L. Simon: Never Again? According to a new survey conducted by the BBC, nearly half of Britains have never heard of Auschwitz. |
Charles Johnson: Nearly Half of Britons Unaware of Auschwitz — This may be one reason why the "Bush=Hitler" inanities fall so easily... Pejman Yousefzadeh: IF IGNORANCE IS BLISS, THEN THIS BRAND OF IGNORANCE MUST BE PARADISE ITSELF — I'm gobsmacked: [snipped quote] Hmmm ... |
Kerik tops list to be Homeland chief By / Newsday — Permalink WASHINGTON — Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik is the likely choice to head the federal Homeland Security Department during President George W. Bush's second term, according to sources close to Homeland Security officials. | |
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James Joyner: Newsday.com: Kerik tops list to be Homeland chief (Newsday) [snipped quote] Kerik isn't a household name but would actually be a stellar choice. Taegan Goddard: Kerik Likely Successor to Ridge — Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik [snipped quote] Newsday reports. Glenn Reynolds: KERIK LIKELY TO REPLACE TOM RIDGE: If it happens, The Anchoress will claiming vindication. |
Orrin Judd: NOT STUNNING: Kerik tops list to be Homeland chief: Sources say New York City's former police commissioner who also... Steve M.: COMMAND OF THE FACTS — Q: Who said this? [snipped quote] A: Bernard Kerik, the next Secretary of Homeland Security. |
Robertson: Gays and lesbians are "self-absorbed hedonists ... that want to impose their particular sexuality on the rest of America" Media Matters for America — Permalink On November 30, Reverend Pat Robertson described gays and lesbians as "self-absorbed hedonists ... that want to impose their particular sexuality on the rest of America." | |
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Steve M.: You may seen the Atrios link to the Media Matters story about Pat Robertson quoting chapter 19 of the Book of Matthew to prove that Christ rejects homosexuality. Atrios: Values — Pat Robertson says that gays and lesbians are "self-absorbed hedonists" for wanting to get married. |
Eugene Oregon: TPLGOP — Pat Robertson loves the GOP - and hates gays "That's what marriage is about and it is about nothing else. |
What We Won in Fallouja By / LAT — Permalink The news media are taking Wellington's dictum to heart. They seem positively despondent over the battle of Fallouja. It is right and proper to mourn the death of 71 Americans and the wounding of hundreds more. As Wellington realized, martial glory rings hollow when weighed against the cost in blood. | |
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Andrew D: Why Fallujah Matters — I saw this article by Max Boot from the LA Times and I'd reccomend it to everyone- supporters of... Betsy Newmark: Max Boot has a great look at what the battle of Fallujah accomplished. "The best news of recent days is the growing competence of Iraqi security forces. |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: MAX BOOT ON FALLUJAH — Very perceptive and insightful. An excerpt: "Coalition troops killed 1,200 to 1,600 guerrillas and captured more than 1,000. Glenn Reynolds: MAX BOOT: "What we won in Fallouja." Not the ability to agree on a spelling, apparently, but otherwise he thinks things went rather well. |
U.N. Ambassador Danforth Resigns Fox News — Permalink WASHINGTON — U.N. Ambassador John Danforth (search) has handed in his resignation. Danforth, a former Missouri Republican senator, was confirmed to the post by the Senate at the end of June. | |
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Steve Soto: Now that Condi Rice has gotten that job, Danforth resigns today. Laura Rozen: John Danforth has already resigned, I'm hearing on NPR?? He'd only been at the UN since July. |
Orrin Judd: SEND IN THE WOLF: U.N. Ambassador Danforth Resigns (Fox News, December 02, 2004) "U.N. Ambassador John Danforth has handed in his resignation. |
Some Abstinence Programs Mislead Teens, Report Says By / WaPo — Permalink Many American youngsters participating in federally funded abstinence-only programs have been taught over the past three years that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teenagers in the United States have tested positive for the... | |
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Nick Confessore: According to the Washington Post, the abstinence education programs promoted by conservatives have a high likelihood of... Oliver Willis: Some Abstinence Programs Mislead Teens, Report Says "In providing nearly $170 million next year to fund groups that... Sam Rosenfeld: Read Ceci Connoly's article summarizing the new report from Henry Waxman's office on federally funded abstinence-only... |
David Allan Pell: Abstaining from Reality — As if it's not bad enough that we're replacing comprehensive sex and safe-sex education with... Avedon Carol: It turns out that the content of the abstinence-only sex miseducation your tax dollars are paying for is so utterly mendacious that even Ceci Connolly noticed it. Clayton Cramer: Waxman's Claims About Abstinence Education — This report sounds quite worrisome at first: "Many American youngsters... |
| Also: Kevin Raybould, Norbizness, Radley Balko, Steve M., Fred Clark, Julia @AmStreet, Atrios, Jesse Taylor, Ampersand @Amptoons, Magpie @PacificViews, Michelle Malkin, Orrin Judd, KJL, Zoe Kentucky | |
Frist Political Fund Can't Cover Bank Loan WaPo — Permalink A campaign fund controlled by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has lost almost $460,000 in stock market investments since 2000 and now does not have enough to cover a sizable bank loan, according to federal election records and the manager of the Frist account. | |
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James Joyner: Bill Frist Political Fund Can't Cover Bank Loan — Frist Political Fund Can't Cover Bank Loan (WaPo, A02) "A campaign... Josh Marshall: Coming soon: Sen. Bill Frist test-drives Social Security privatization with his own campaign warchest and comes up half a million short. Taegan Goddard: Frist Fund Can't Cover Bank Loan — "A campaign fund controlled by" Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) "has lost... |
Steve Soto: Thursday Morning Short Hits — Exactly how well can Bill Frist make a case for himself as a good steward of the public's... Chris Bowers: Frist Campaign Loses Big In Stock Market — There might be a lesson here for Social Security, although I can't possibly imagine what it would be. |
Two networks bar church ad welcoming gays By / Boston Globe — Permalink Two broadcast networks are refusing to air an ad from the United Church of Christ because the spot, intended to make the point that the Protestant denomination is welcoming, briefly shows two men who are holding hands being turned away from an unnamed church. | |
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Sam Rosenfeld: The Boston Globe's piece on the controversy had one interesting nugget: apparently, ABC and NBC had notified the Church about their opposition to the ad last spring. Josh Marshall: CBS's and NBC's rejection of the UCC's church inclusion ad got big billing in the Boston Globe and the Chicago Tribune. |
Jude Nagurney Camwell: We are stunned." [quote from Boston Globe story by Michael Paulson]. |
The Education of Dan Rather By / Opinion Journal — Permalink Life is complicated, people are complicated, and most of us are a jumble of virtues, flaws and contradictions. I like to try to understand the past, try to put it together in a way that makes sense to me. This can involve judging not only your own actions and decisions but those of others, which can be hard. | |
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Ed Driscoll: Meanwhile, Peggy Noonan, who once wrote copy for Rather, has a remarkably sympathetic take about her former employer:... Susanna Cornett: But Peggy Noonan has it right: [snipped quote] Those comments are separated by the majority of an excellent column about Dan Rather and his career. SLZoll: In response to overwhelming demand, in this week's column Peggy tells us what she thinks of Dan Rather — and it turns... |
William J. Dyer: From 1981-1984, Ms. Noonan worked for Dan Rather, whom she describes in an op-ed column in today's Wall Street Journal as "a great boss." Cori Dauber: This morning she writes about Dan Rather, and the various influences on his generation of reporters. Jesse Taylor: The sensible ones realize it's a huge stain on his image (although it tends to overshadow the horrific parts of his Vietnam policy), and then...there are the not-so-sensible ones. |
| Also: John Cole, Ramesh Ponnuru | |
We Want O'Reilly Back! NRO — Permalink Missing the old maverick. What is it about the Internet that drives Bill O'Reilly nuts? Last year he was ranting that "the reason these net people get away with all kinds of stuff is that they work for no one," in the same aggrieved tone first heard from liberal media folk when they began complaining about Matt Drudge. | |
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Jim Treacher: So Cathy Seipp's latest column is all about why Bill O'Reilly is a tear-stained wussy. She doesn't put it in quite those terms, but that's the gist of it. Ed Driscoll: Cathy Seipp is O'Reilled-up and wants to know what happened to the old O'Reilly. |
Roger L. Simon: Why would he get more viewers than Brit Hume? [You really want to know?-ed. No, I prefer to be willfully ignorant. Glenn Reynolds: CATHY SEIPP WRITES on Bill O'Reilly's odd defense of Dan Rather. |
Anti-spam plan overwhelms sites BBC — Permalink A plan to bump up the bandwidth bills of spammers seems to be getting out of control. Earlier this week Lycos Europe released a screensaver that bombards spam websites with data to try to increase the cost of running such sites. | |
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Brian Micklethwait: Spammers spammed (but too successfully) I am confused (as Americans often say when they are about to be nasty in a very... |
Rodney Dill: Anti-spam plan overwhelms sites (BBC NEWS) [snipped quote] BWA HA HA HA! - Vigilantism or not, this is just too funny Via Slashdot |
Microsoft sees blogs for the masses By / Seattle Post-Intelligencer — Permalink The company that helped push word-processing and graphical computing into the mainstream wants to do the same thing with weblogs. Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Internet division last night introduced a preliminary version of MSN Spaces, a new service that includes a tool for publishing weblogs, online journals commonly known as blogs. | |
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The Elder: Meanwhile there may be some good news for Hugh on the blogging horizon: Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Internet division last... Joe Gandelman: KSBW TV reports: [snipped quote] Microsoft blogging? So does this mean that now blogs will crash? |
James Joyner: MSN Spaces: Microsoft Blogs for the Masses — Microsoft sees blogs for the masses (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) "The... Glenn Reynolds: MICROSOFT ENTERS THE BLOG MARKET with MSN Spaces. |
Methodist Jury Convicts Lesbian Minister By / AP — Permalink PUGHTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A jury made up of United Methodist Church clergy convicted a lesbian minister Thursday of violating church law by openly living with her partner in a committed relationship. The Rev. | |
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John Cole: Update *** This dovetails nicely with the above story: [snipped quote] Like The UCC commercial said- everyone is welcome. |
Donald Sensing: Irene Elizabeth Stroud, who is a self-avowed, practicing lesbian resulted in her conviction. |
It's Still a Man's World on the Idiot Box By / NYT — Permalink It's the End of an Era. A momentous change. Tonight on NBC, one tall and handsome white male anchor with bespoke clothes will replace another tall and handsome white male anchor with bespoke clothes. | |
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Ann Althouse: Women as news anchors. Maureen Dowd comments on the lack of female news anchors. Brent Andrewsen: Maureen Dowd laments the domination of white men in news anchor spots in this NY Times piece. |
Joe Gandelman: UPDATE: In her latest column, Dowd states what's not political correctness but a fact: when it comes to anchor openings... Bill @INDCJournal: Apples and Trees — Maureen Dowd gives us a glimpse of her upbringing: "As my mom said, discussing her belief that... |
Spitzer to seek wider arena By / USA Today — Permalink NEW YORK — He's faced down Wall Street investment banks, exposed late-trading at mutual funds and discovered bid-rigging among some of the nation's biggest insurance companies. N.Y. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is expected to announce his candidacy for governor. | |
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Matt Stoller: Rising Stars — Here's a very good article on Eliot Spitzer, soon to be governor of New York (the election is in 06). |
Jayson @PoliPundit: Spitzer Gears Up for 2006 — As mentioned in the following love letter, er, I mean news account, in USA Today, New Yawk... |
The End of the Left's History NRO — Permalink The world has moved on. The hysterical reaction of the Western Left to the reelection of President George W. Bush is not just a primal scream from politicians and intellectuals deprived of political power. | |
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Avedon Carol: For example, professional fruit-bat Michael Ledeen, a man who appears to think that Bill Clinton is a worshipper of... Greg Ransom: THE SUCCESS OF AMERICA MEANS THE DEATH OF THE LEFT: "The success of America was .. a devastating blow to the Left. |
Jesse Taylor: The "Left" is dead, according to Michael Ledeen. And it's got to be true, because he keeps using Marx and Hegel. |
What Makes People Happy? TV, Study Says By / NYT — Permalink A team of psychologists and economists is reporting today what many Americans know but don't always admit, especially to social scientists: that watching TV is a very enjoyable way to pass the time, and that taking care of children - bless their young hearts - is often about as much fun as housework. | |
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Orrin Judd: WHICH IS WHY MAN REQUIRED THE MANDATUM NOVUM: What Makes People Happy? |
Kevin Drum: The subjects were 909 Texas women, and they were pretty clear about what made them grumpy: [snipped quote] Hmmm. |
Persian Dilemmas By / Slate — Permalink Last month, the foreign ministers of France, Great Britain, and Germany triumphantly announced a new accord with Iran. Formally, the agreement obligates Iran to suspend temporarily all enrichment of uranium in return for some as-yet-unspecified economic benefits, including a steady supply of enriched uranium to fuel Iran's light water nuclear reactor. | |
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Taegan Goddard: The Persian Puzzle — Slate notes that "as the debate on Iran now heats up, Kenneth Pollack is at the ready with a new... |
Laura Rozen: The Hoover Institute's Michael McFaul reviews Ken Pollack's Persian Puzzle at Slate: "Amazingly, given Iran's strategic... |
Dutch ponder 'mercy killing' rules CNN — Permalink (CNN) — Dutch health officials are considering guidelines doctors could follow for euthanizing terminally ill people "with no free will," including children, the severely mentally retarded and patients in irreversible comas. | |
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Vanderleun: "— CNN.com - Dutch ponder 'mercy killing' rules - Dec 1, 2004" Look hard at that last phrase, "life ending without request." |
Glenn Reynolds: And here's more on the Dutch policy. ANOTHER UPDATE: Peter Singer takes another view, reportedly. So long as they're not animals! |
Death by Committee By / Weekly Standard — Permalink WHEN NEWS of the Groningen Protocol surfaced in October, it was reported in the Grand Forks Herald,though I didn't read of it, nor apparently did many others. The Groningen Protocol could have been the stuff of a fine presidential debate question, or a series... | |
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Steve Bainbridge: Scary Stuff — Hugh Hewitt raises a vital issue: [snipped quote] At Auschwitz, detraining Jews were examined by a pair of... Vanderleun: === HT: The Diplomad UPDATE: Hugh Hewitt goes deeper into the grisley meanings of this story inDeath by Committee: This is either a low point, or a point of no return. The Big Trunk: Hugh Hewitt wonders why this development seems to be lacking in interest to news media outside of Grand Forks, North Dakota: "Death by committee." |
Captain Ed: The Protocols Of The Soulless Of Groningen — Hugh Hewitt addresses the Groningen Protocol debate in his latest Weekly Standard on-line column, "Death By Committee". Glenn Reynolds: Hugh Hewitt writes on infant euthanasia in the Netherlands, or what some people are calling "post-birth abortion." Hugh Hewitt: Posted at 12:30 AM, EST with updates. "Death by Committee" is here. |
| Also: Ed Driscoll | |
Bush to Nominate Johanns for Agriculture Secretary By / WaPo — Permalink President Bush today chose Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns (R) as his nominee to be Agriculture Secretary, according to Republican sources. An announcement was scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Johanns, 54, is serving in his second term as governor. | |
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James Joyner: Mike Johanns New Agriculture Secretary — Bush Nominates Johanns for Agriculture Secretary (WaPo) [snipped quote] If I've ever heard of Johanns, I can't recall. Glenn Reynolds: Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns will be Secretary of Agriculture. |
John J. Miller: AG SEC — Nominating Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns for agriculture secretary strikes me as not the best idea from a GOP party-building standpoint. |
Galloway to contest east London seat Guardian — Permalink Fresh from his libel victory over the Daily Telegraph, George Galloway this evening announced his intention to challenge the Labour MP Oona King at the general election. | |
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Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: Actually, it's not so clear that the charges were proved false; the question seems to have been whether the... |
Harry @HarrysPlace: And I want you to know we are with you until victory, until Bethnal Green and Bow. Come on, isn't it time we put our time and effort where our mouths are? |
U.S. Says Terrorism Net Must Be Wide AP — Permalink WASHINGTON — Under detailed questioning by a federal judge, government lawyers asserted Wednesday that the U.S. military could hold foreigners indefinitely as enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, even if they aided terrorists unintentionally and never fought the United States. | |
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Ogged @Unfogged: Fair enough, but I'm still unsettled by the folks in this administration (and maybe every administration, given the... |
Kevin Drum: The subject in federal court yesterday was the government's ability to detain any foreigner they wanted for any reason... |
Bush: U.N. must come clean on Iraq oil scandal AP — Permalink UNITED NATIONS - President Bush Thursday called for a "full and open" accounting of the U.N. oil-for-food program but would not say whether he thought U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan should resign. | |
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Jack K.: Coleman yesterday called for the resignation of UN General Secretary Kofi Annan because of his lack of leadership during... |
David Allan Pell: The UNtruth — Does anyone else find it a bit ironic that we went to a optional war in Iraq over WMDs that turned out not to exist and now it's the U.N. that is being investigated? |
Diplomats: U.N. Lacks Right to Inspect Sites in Iran By / Reuters — Permalink VIENNA (Reuters) - Inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog would like to visit a secret military site in Iran that an exile group said was a nuclear weapons site, but they lack the legal authority to go there, U.N. diplomats told Reuters. | |
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Charles Johnson: A Blind, Toothless Watchdog — Here's a reassuring little tidbit of information; United Nations nuclear inspectors are... Bird Dog: From Reuters: [snipped quote] This agreement is a sham, not worth the paper it's printed on. No wonder the Iranians were so jubilant afterward. |
Captain Ed: UN Lacks Authority For Comprehensive Iran Inspections Regime — In a blow to the entire concept of inspections regimes,... |
Some people are 'immune' to exercise New Scientist — Permalink Public-health campaigns regularly plug exercise as a sure-fire way to avoid an early grave. But that message may be too simplistic. For an unhappy few, even quite strenuous exercise may have no effect on their fitness or their risk of developing diseases like diabetes. | |
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Marcus @HarrysPlace: The New Scientist reports that for some people - no matter how much they do it - exercising doesn't make any difference... |
Tom Smith: Not only can some people eat like starved pigs and gain no weight, others, it now turns out, can exercise religiously and get out of it no benefit at all. |
Bitter lemons By / Guardian — Permalink Why are so many west Europeans being such lemons about Ukraine's orange revolution? Every day brings a new example of some feeble, back-handed or downright hostile reaction. Yesterday, it was Simon Jenkins in the Times describing the crowds in Kiev as a "mob". | |
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Damian Penny: I certainly don't believe, as President Bush sometimes simplistically says, that everyone who disagrees with American policies in Iraq or elsewhere "hates freedom." Bird Dog: Dissident writer for the Guardian, Timothy Garton Ash, wonders why there are so many bitter lemons about the orange... Orrin Judd: Bitter lemons: Six questions to the critics of Ukraine's orange revolution (Timothy Garton Ash, December 2, 2004, The... |
Harry @HarrysPlace: Response to the lemon suckers — In the Guardian Timothy Garton Ash provides a splendid response to those in western... Stephen Pollard: Having nominated Tim Garton-Ash for my wrong-headedness award, I'm going to flag up a superb piece of his in the... |
Talking Our Way to Peace NYT — Permalink Two developments - the re-election of President Bush and the emergence of a new Palestinian leadership in the wake of Yasir Arafat's death - have created a unique opportunity for negotiating peace between Arabs and Israelis. | |
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The Big Trunk: It certainly feels that way to me: "Talking our way to peace." Whatever James Baker wants — I'll give it to him if he'll only shut up. |
Tom Maguire: James Baker On The Palestinian Peace Process — James Baker writes in today's NY Times on the Palestinan peace process, and manages to be absolutely news-free. |
Good Night, Tom By / WaPo — Permalink It's not every night you can sit at home and watch Peter Jennings on ABC as he watches Tom Brokaw on NBC. But this was not a night like all nights. "Well, the time is here," Brokaw said ominously last night as he began the farewell remarks that ended his nearly 23-year reign as anchor of "NBC Nightly News." | |
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Phillip Carter: Tom Shales writes about it for the Washington Post, saying this may be a pivotal development in the evolution of the... |
Cori Dauber: Here's the Washington Post's TV critic writing about Tom Brokaw's final broadcast last night, and you just can't make... |
REPUBLICANS HAVE DEMS OVER A 'BARREL' By / New York Post — Permalink THE United Nations looms as a new hot political issue, thanks to the exploding revelations of corruption of its oil-for-food program — and that spells more trouble for a Democratic Party still reeling from its Nov. 2 election losses. Why? | |
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Betsy Newmark: Deborah Orin theorizes that the UN corruption scandals will also hurt the Democrats who have been pushing for more deference being given to the UN. Orrin Judd: DOING: REPUBLICANS HAVE DEMS OVER A 'BARREL' (DEBORAH ORIN, December 2, 2004, NY Post) [snipped quote] In Kofi They Trust... |
Ace: The NY Post's most excellent Deborah Orin hasn't forgotten: "If Dems don't watch it, they'll all land with Kerry on the... |
The 9/11 Bubble By / NYT — Permalink The Washington Post had a story on Monday that contained possibly the greatest hint to a sitting cabinet secretary to start looking for another job that has ever been printed. The article reported, "One senior administration official said Treasury Secretary John W. Snow can stay as long as he wants, provided it is not very long." | |
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Tom Maguire: Tom Friedman Plays Economist — Tom Friedman frets about the dollar, and about the absence of leadership at Treasury. Greg Ransom: TOM FRIEDMAN — DOUBLE BUBBLE TROUBLE. Tom Tomorrow: The boy's a little slow, but he catches on eventually — Friedman, in the Times today: [snipped quote] Funny. |
Steve Soto: Tom Friedman slams the Bush Administration for creating a "9/11 Bubble" of fiscal mismanagement. Orrin Judd: CHUMP CHANGE: The 9/11 Bubble (THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, 12/02/04, NY Times) [snipped quote] Here's a test: take a piece of... |
Americans' Role Eyed in U.N. Oil Scandal ABCNEWS — Permalink Dec. 1, 2004 — Former American fugitive Marc Rich was a middleman for several of Iraq's suspect oil deals in February 2001, just one month after his pardon from President Clinton, according to oil industry shipping records obtained by ABC News. | |
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Avedon Carol: Yesterday's hot topics — Don't you love it? ABC headline: Americans' Role Eyed in U.N. Oil Scandal. Captain Ed: Let's Hear The Clintons Explain This — ABC News reports tonight that oil shipping records show that the fugitive... Roger L. Simon: There's more to Marc Rich than just Oil-for-Food — Yesterday's report on ABC News Report that former American fugitive... |
Charles Johnson: Marc Rich: Middleman for Saddam's Oil Deals — A familiar name turns up in connection to the Oil-for-Food scandal: Americans' Role Eyed in U.N. Oil Scandal. McQ: Sigh — In case you missed this: [snipped quote] I wish I could say this comes as a huge surprise. But I can't. Wretchard: The Baby Blue Flag — Glenn Reynolds links to an ABC story describing some of the Americans involved in the Oil-for-Food programme. |
| Also: Jayson @PoliPundit, Pejman Yousefzadeh, KJL, Ace, Glenn Reynolds, The Big Trunk | |
Civil War Enthusiasts By / TCS — Permalink The writer Matthew Yglesias makes a bold assertion in The American Prospect magazine: "For months now, skeptics of George W. Bush's Iraq policy have been warning that the present path could lead to bloody civil war. | |
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Gregory Djerejian: More: Don't miss James Joyner and Total Information Awareness on this too. |
James Joyner: TCS: Civil War Enthusiasts — My latest TCS column, "Civil War Enthusiasts," is up. |
Dayton's requests to go to Iraq are denied Minneapolis Star Tribune — Permalink Sen. Mark Dayton wants to make a return trip to Iraq, but his request has been denied, the Minnesota Democrat said Wednesday. Dayton speculated that his request was denied by the Senate Armed Services Committee because he has criticized President Bush's handling of the war and because he's up for reelection in 2006. | |
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Captain Ed: Brave Sir Robin Wonders At Snub — The Star Tribune reports that Senator Mark Dayton alleges that Republicans denied him... Orrin Judd: Dayton's requests to go to Iraq are denied (Paul Sand, December 2, 2004, Mineaplois Star Tribune) [snipped quote] The... |
The Big Trunk: Now the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Senate Armed Services Committee has denied Senator Dayton's request to... |
The Nascar Nightly News: Anchorman Get Your Gun By / NYT — Permalink IF Democrats want to run around like fools trying to persuade voters in red America that they are kissing cousins to Billy Graham, Minnie Pearl and Li'l Abner, that's their problem. Pandering, after all, is what politicians do, especially politicians as desperate as the Democrats. | |
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David Allan Pell: In fact, they've shown an increased willingness to jump on-board the bus towards what they hope will be higher ratings. Orrin Judd: The Nascar Nightly News: Anchorman Get Your Gun (FRANK RICH, 12/05/04, NY Times) [snipped quote] It's obvious from his... |
Kevin Raybould: Oh, That Liberal Media — Frank Rich has some intersting facts about the what passes for news today |
2 Networks Are Accused of Rejecting Ad on Religious Bias NYT — Permalink The United Church of Christ, one of the nation's most liberal Christian denominations, accused CBS and NBC yesterday of rejecting a commercial it had produced about religious tolerance, which included an implication that other denominations did not welcome gays, because the networks feared hostile reactions from conservative political and religious groups. | |
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Jeff Jarvis: The tyranny of the fear of the few: They're bleeping Jesus II : This is what we have come to: Saying that Jesus welcomes all people is too "controversial" for network TV. |
Jude Nagurney Camwell: According to the UCC website, [snipped quote] According to the NY Times, the commercial offers the message, "Jesus didn't turn away people and neither do we." |
KOJO CASHED IN ON DADDY, NOTES REVEAL New York Post — Permalink WASHINGTON — The son of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan used his father's worldwide connections to wheel and deal with heads of state — at U.N. gatherings — on behalf of a controversial Swiss company that won a lucrative oil-for-food program contract, The Post has learned. | |
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Ace: At any rate: "The son of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan used his father's worldwide connections to wheel and deal... |
Wretchard: Update on Kojo: "This is the first we are hearing it" The New York Post has details of Kojo Annan's business style in... |
Hurdle Faced by Southwest Airlines Shows Drawbacks of Protectionist Legislation By / NYT — Permalink WHEN I asked my editor whether I could be reimbursed for my travel to the American Economic Association meetings this year in Philadelphia, he agreed, with a caveat. "Please try to get the cheapest air fare you can," he wrote in an e-mail message. | |
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Matt Welch: Virginia Postrel has a New York Times column on some pointless old piece of restrictionist legislation that hobbles Southwest Airlines in its own home port. |
Virginia Postrel: Repeal the Wright Amendment NOW My latest NYT column was inspired by personal events (recounted in the lead) but turned... |
Oliver Stone's 'Alexander' is behind the times By / Townhall.com — Permalink Oliver Stone had a really rotten week. His huge-budget epic drama "Alexander," starring Colin Farrell, Angeline Jolie, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Hopkins, premiered to critical raspberries and popular apathy. | |
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SLZoll: Ben Shapiro Ben claims that the reason that Oliver Stone's Alexander the Great didn't do as well at the box office last... |
Roger Ailes: Ben On Film — Since his move to Massachusetts, the Virgin Ben has developed a new passion: gay cinema. |
President Outlines Foreign Policy By / WaPo — Permalink HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Dec. 1 — President Bush on Wednesday outlined a second-term foreign policy that would make international cooperation his administration's top priority but put responsibility for Middle East peace efforts on the Palestinians, a tough stance at odds with some U.S. allies. | |
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James Joyner: President Bush Outlines Second Term Foreign Policy — President Outlines Foreign Policy (Dana Milbank, WaPo, A32)... Laura Rozen: Bush's remarks on his second term foreign policy, from today in Canada. |
Orrin Judd: PUTTING THE UNI IN MULTILATERAL: President Outlines Foreign Policy: Cooperation to Be Top Priority; Bush Puts Onus of... |
Pentagon boosts forces in Iraq to highest level MSNBC — Permalink WASHINGTON - The United States is expanding its military force in Iraq to 150,000, the highest level of the war, to bolster security in advance of national elections in January, officials said Wednesday. | |
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Oliver Willis: Lies My Leaders Tell Me — March 3, 2003: [snipped quote] TODAY: Pentagon boosts forces in Iraq to highest level |
Mathew Gross: Iraq — November is the bloodiest month. Troop levels are being increased to their highest levels ever. A catastrophic success, indeed. |
Changing Senate Looks Better to Abortion Foes By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 - Abortion opponents have long considered the Senate to be a daunting roadblock for new abortion restrictions and conservative judicial nominees, halting many of the initiatives of a sympathetic House and a president committed to "a culture of life." | |
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Shawn @LiquidList: Politics: Congress, Where Everyone Is An M.D. When I halfheartedly clicked on the New York Times article entitled... |
Orrin Judd: WE SHALL OVERCOME: Changing Senate Looks Better to Abortion Foes (ROBIN TONER, 12/02/04, NY Times) [snipped quote] You... |
Imprisoned Palestinian Enters Presidential Race By / NYT — Permalink JERUSALEM, Dec. 1 - Marwan Barghouti, the fiery Palestinian leader imprisoned in Israel, reversed an earlier decision and entered the race for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority tonight. | |
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James Joyner: Imprisoned Terrorist Marwan Barghouti Enters Palestinian Presidential Race — Imprisoned Palestinian Enters Presidential... David Gerstman: Barghouti to Challenge Abbas; Sharon too late to Challenge Jennings — The New York Times is reporting that "Imprisoned... |
Matthew Yglesias: Here's some analysis from Jonathan Edelstein. Meanwhile, Palestinian politics are heating up as well. |
Medical Pot-heads By / Townhall.com — Permalink Will medical marijuana become a reality throughout the nation? Will those who push the use of marijuana for medical reasons prevail over the federal government in those states where the laws have been relaxed? There is a good chance the medical pot-heads will eventually win this cultural battle. | |
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SLZoll: Gary Aldrich Medical Marijuana initiatives are part of that hand basket, in that their supporters are just dope-using,... |
Pete Guither: It's Gary Aldrich's column at TownHall: Medical Pot-heads. |
Ukraine Negotiators Settle on Some Form of New Election By / LAT — Permalink KIEV, Ukraine — Government and opposition leaders on Wednesday agreed to work for a rerun of a presidential election, moving closer toward ending a political crisis that for 10 days has brought this nation to a virtual standstill. | |
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Orrin Judd: THIS IS THE WAY HISTORY ENDS... <a... |
Mark Kleiman: Are the good guys going to win in the Ukraine? Sure looks that way, doesn't it? A new vote means a win for Yuschenko. |
Recount fails to turn up more votes for Heflin By / Houston Chronicle — Permalink Democrat Hubert Vo gained one vote in his narrow victory over state Rep. Talmadge Heflin, R-Houston, after a recount was completed today, but the Heflin campaign vowed to continue its challenge of the result in the state House. | |
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Charles Kuffner: Landslide Hubert extends his lead — From 32 votes to 33. [snipped quote] Greg is right - the only strategy left to Team... |
Byron L: Let the election-stealing begin! The Houston Chronicle has the story as well. Kuff has some more on the race. |
Gay book ban goal of state lawmaker By / al.com — Permalink MONTGOMERY - An Alabama lawmaker who sought to ban gay marriages now wants to ban novels with gay characters from public libraries, including university libraries. | |
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Captain Ed: Giving Conservatives A Bad Name — An Alabama lawmaker apparently wants to confirm every stereotype available of... Steve M.: Birmingham News, 12/1/04 According to 58 new textbooks and two teachers' guides for grades 1, 2, 6, 7 and 11 published... James Joyner: Alabama Lawmaker Wants to Ban Gay Books — Gay book ban goal of state lawmaker (Birmingham News) [snipped quote] "The George Wallace of homosexuality." |
Norbizness: (2) Allen said that if his bill passes, novels with gay protagonists and college textbooks that suggest homosexuality is... Damian Penny: How to improve Alabama's public image — Every once in a while, you read a story which makes you think the DU crowd have... Ed Cone: (Birmingham News, via Oliver Willis) |
| Also: Steve Gilliard, Jesse Walker, Oliver Willis, Joanne Jacobs, Eugene Oregon | |
Note to Religion Editors: Public Doubts Darwin, Evolution, Poll Finds Editor and Publisher — Permalink NEW YORK As the press considers increasing its "faith-based" reporting, one thing journalists should keep in mind is that, contrary to most assumptions, large numbers of American remain wary of evolution and continue to see God's hand fully directing the origin of the species. | |
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Sam Rosenfeld: We're far from that place, 50 years on. Fafnir: What with Congress cuttin the National Science Foundation budget an nobody believin in evolution anymore an the... Matthew Yglesias: Via Julie Saltman, I see that Editor and Publisher made the same point yesterday. |
Norbizness: (3) Almost half of Americans (45%) believe that human beings "were created by God essentially as they are today (that... David Allan Pell: Here are the real numbers: - Only 35% of Americans think that evolution is well-supported by evidence. Joe Gandelman: So once again the conventional wisdom has been proven wrong — and as we move into the 21st Century most Americans doubt evolution, and believe God created all of us. |
| Also: Orrin Judd | |
A New Index for Social Security By / NYT — Permalink In all the confusion surrounding the current Social Security debate, there is one inescapable truth: Social Security is broken, and it's headed for disaster unless serious changes are made now. | |
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Noam Scheiber: JOHN KASICH'S SOCIAL SECURITY SHELL GAME: So I pretty much follow John Kasich's New York Times op-ed today—at least right up until the second-to-last paragraph. Avedon Carol: I was going to rant at length about John Kasich's demented article about Social Security, but I watched Beautiful Dreamer: Brian Wilson's Smile instead. Sam Rosenfeld: But of course the editors at the Times could never bring themselves to let that piece stand on its own without a... |
Ramesh Ponnuru: NO SHELL GAME — Noam Scheiber is bashing John Kasich's New York Times op-ed (registration required) on Social Security. Stephen Green: First up, John Kasich: "How do we get out of this mess? To preserve the system for the long term, we must change the way first-time benefits are calculated. C. D. Harris: The push for Social Security reform in the next Congress has begun in earnest - and is showing up in the most unlikely places: [snipped quote] In a word: Indeed. |
High Court High Anxiety NRO — Permalink The Supreme Court's medical-marijuana case could send federalism up in smoke. Angel McClary Raich is seriously ill. Diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and several complicating conditions, Raich found traditional medical treatments to be of little use. | |
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Pete Guither: Before I explain the tease of this headline, there have been a couple of very good columns on the Raich v. Ashcroft... Pejman Yousefzadeh: STILL MORE ON RAICH — Jonathan Adler hits the nail on the head in his analysis of the issue at stake: [snipped quote] And rightly so. Mike Rappaport: More on Ashcroft v. Raich — Jonathan Adler has a good piece on the case in NRO. |
Randy Barnett: Professor Jonathan Adler has a nice explanation of the serious constitutional issues at stake in a column today on... TChris: It remains to be seen whether the Supreme Court will agree (TalkLeft's coverage of the issue, argued in Ashcroft v... Glenn Reynolds: As Jonathan Adler explains, it's really a test of whether the Supreme Court takes the constitution seriously. |
Retiring in Chile NYT — Permalink Santiago, Chile — During his visit here last month, President Bush pointed out that the Chilean pension model was a "great example" for Social Security reform in the United States. For 24 years, I have championed the Chilean retirement system, which is based on ownership, choice and personal responsibility. | |
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Avedon Carol: They run an op-ed by a CATO-affiliated ex-Chilean official touting his country's privatized pension system as a model for Social Security privatization efforts here in the States. Stephen Green: Next up, Chile's José Piñera explains his country's successful changeover to an investment program Orrin Judd: PINOCHET RETURNS THE FAVOR: Retiring in Chile: The Chilean pension model is an excellent example of how the United States could reform its Social Security system. |
Susan Madrak: In fact, there's a nice little puff piece on the op-ed page of the New York Times this morning. I thought I'd, you know, add a little balance. Pejman Yousefzadeh: RETIREMENT REFORM—THE CHILEAN MODEL — This article may help point the way for entitlement reform here in the United... |
Dems plan to redirect DNC away from presidential race By / The Hill — Permalink Congressional leaders and state party officials are insisting that the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) radically redirect the committee's resources toward congressional races and other local contests and away from the presidential enchilada. | |
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Joe Gandelman: Wanted From The New Democratic Chairman: Self Preservation 101 — There are clear signs that bigwig Democrats throughout... Yuval Rubinstein: A Change Is (Possibly) Gonna Come at the DNC — Via Political Wire, today's article in the The Hill suggests that the DC... Taegan Goddard: Democrats Want DNC to Focus on Local Races — Congressional leaders and state party officials "are insisting that the... |
Avedon Carol: [quote]Things to read Yuval Rubinstein at The Left Coaster says that an article in The Hill "suggests that the DC Democrats...[end quote] Kos: New factions in DNC fight — This is starting to get really interesting. Orrin Judd: LIKE ZELL SAID: Dems plan to redirect DNC away from presidential race (Hans Nichols, 12/01/04, The Hill) |
W's 2nd term agenda: Set Jeb up NY Daily News — Permalink There's this theory going around that President Bush will govern in his second term as a lame duck, with nothing more to gain or lose politically. But that isn't how Bush is thinking about it. He has Jeb to consider. On Oct. 17, he declared on ABC, "I'm not going to run in 2008. | |
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James Joyner: Zev Chafets argues in his New York Daily News column that Jeb Bush is the obvious Republican nominee in 2008, despite the conventional wisdom and his adamance about not running. Orrin Judd: BUSH V. CLINTON REDUX: W's 2nd term agenda: Set Jeb up (Zev Chafets, 12/02/04, NY Daily News) [snipped quote] It's his if he wants it. |
Steve M.: Zev Chafets of the New York Daily News thinks we haven't seen the last Bush presidential campaign: ...Even before this... Jayson @PoliPundit: . . Hemlock: Will Jeb be the GOP nominee in 2008? Oh, the humanity . . . . |
PR Meets Psy-Ops in War on Terror By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — On the evening of Oct. 14, a young Marine spokesman near Fallouja appeared on CNN and made a dramatic announcement. "Troops crossed the line of departure," 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert declared, using a common military expression signaling the start of a major campaign. | |
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Cori Dauber: I bring this up because of a piece in the Los Angeles Times that begins with this story: On the evening of Oct. 14, a... Mark Kleiman: Dishonoring the uniform — Today's LA Times story about the decision by the U.S. military in Iraq to have a uniformed... Hugh Hewitt: The Los Angeles Times covers it. The Fourth Rail points to signs that the terrorists are losing across the board. |
John Hawkins: The slip was triggered by a Los Angeles Times story that the Atlanta-based Cable News Network had reported Pentagon... James Joyner: Information Control in the War on Terror — PR Meets Psy-Ops in War on Terror (LAT) "On the evening of Oct. 14, a young... Tbogg: And finally, the Pentagon used CNN to dupe the insurgents by reporting news of a phony assault in Fallujah. |
| Also: Dave Johnson, Brian Montopoli, Mary @LeftCoaster, Matt Welch, Jonah Goldberg, Laura Rozen | |
President Discusses Strong Relationship with Canada White House — Permalink PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you very much. (Applause.) Please be seated. Thank you all very much. Thanks for the warm welcome. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you, and Mrs. Martin, for a fantastic dinner last night in Ottawa. We really loved it. My only regret today is that Laura is not with me. | |
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McQ: Bush's Canadian Speech — Some excerpts from the speech I found interesting. Its being touted as the outline of his foreign policy for the next 4 years. Orrin Judd: A DISTURBING IMAGE, BUT A GRACIOUS SPEECH: President Discusses Strong Relationship with Canada (President Bush, Halifax,... |
Cori Dauber: I'll try and post a link when the text goes up. Update: As promised, here's the text. |
U.S. to Increase Troop Strength in Iraq by 12,000 By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 - American forces in Iraq will be expanded by about 12,000 troops to provide better security as the Jan. 30 elections approach, military officials said today. There had been reports in recent weeks that troop strength might be increased by more than 6,000, but today's announcement almost doubled that figure. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: MORE TROOPS: Finally, we're getting more serious. Kudos to the Bush administration for finally cottoning on. |
TChris: Duty Tours Extended in Iraq (Again) More soldiers will be heading to Iraq and others will stay longer than they might... |
A broken window into civilization By / Townhall.com — Permalink As we marveled over the basketball brawl between players and spectators at a recent Indiana Pacers-Detroit Pistons game - and then the fourth-quarter melee between Clemson University and University of South Carolina football players - I kept thinking, "broken windows." | |
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SLZoll: Kathleen Parker It will all be TV's fault if Kathleen's children grow up to be unmannered louts, serial killers, or even worse, Howard Stern fans. Orrin Judd: IF IT'S BROKE, FIX IT: A broken window into civilization (Kathleen Parker, December 1, 2004, Townhall) |
Steve M.: Syndicated righty columnist Kathleen Parker falls for a myth: As we marveled over the basketball brawl between players... Betsy Newmark: Kathleen Parker applies the broken windows theory to popular culture. Now, we just need a Rudy Giuliani to come along and show that the theory works. |
U.S. senator wants Annan to resign as U.N. leader CNN — Permalink WASHINGTON (CNN) — The U.S. senator leading the investigation into allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the Iraq oil-for-food program is urging U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to resign, saying the "massive scope of this debacle demands nothing less." | |
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Libertarian: "CORRUPTION HAPPENS": WHO CREATED THE NEED FOR AN OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAM? |
Josh Marshall: Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn) wants a certain chief executive to resign over the failures of his Iraq policy because the "massive scope of this debacle demands nothing less." |
It's time for a rational debate By / Townhall.com — Permalink The International Committee of the Red Cross has accused the United States of torturing enemy combatant prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to documents leaked to The New York Times this week. | |
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SLZoll: Linda Chavez Even though the International Committee of the Red Cross has accused the United States of torturing... Tbogg: Shorter Linda Chavez — You call that torture? I treated my illegal Guatemalan slave maid worse. |
Jesse Taylor: Linda Chavez, a reminder of the kind of quality person Bush would instinctively choose for his administration, demonstrates that swimmingly. Betsy Newmark: Linda Chavez asks some important questions. |
Red Cross President Plans Visit to Washington on Question of Detainees' Treatment By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 - Officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday that the organization's president, M. Jakob Kellenberger, was hoping to visit Washington soon to press senior Bush administration officials about the treatment of detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. | |
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Mark Kleiman: (Of course, if that's going to be the party line, it would help if the State Department spokesman, who has no need to... Nick Gillespie: The details of the Red Cross' report are confidential, though the Seattle Times is reporting the group found "cruel, inhumane, and degrading" conditions there. |
Michael Froomkin: New York Times, Red Cross President Plans Visit to Washington on Question of Detainees' Treatment…showing how... |
U.S. Generals in Iraq Were Told of Abuse Early, Inquiry Finds By / WaPo — Permalink A confidential report to Army generals in Iraq in December 2003 warned that members of an elite military and CIA task force were abusing detainees, a finding delivered more than a month before Army investigators received the photographs from Abu Ghraib prison that touched off investigations into prisoner mistreatment. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: Now we read this: "Until now, U.S. military officials have characterized the problem as one largely confined to the... Jesse Taylor: Just Clap Your Hands And Believe — Once again, it becomes patently obvious that in the shakeup of the Bush White House,... Bird Dog: The Herrington Report — This one was written a year ago, the Washington Post reports, and it was written by a humint specialist and former member of the infamous Phoenix Program. |
Hilzoy @ObsidianWings: The Washington Post reports: [quote] "A confidential report to Army generals in Iraq in December 2003 warned that members of...[end quote] Steve M.: Today's Washington Post makes that clear: A confidential report to Army generals in Iraq in December 2003 warned that... David Allan Pell: Before Torture Was Hip — Before most Americans had heard of Abu Ghraib, the higher-ups in the military (and it's... |
| Also: Tom Tomorrow, Jeralyn Merritt | |
Dollar Pressure Points NRO — Permalink Here's what's happening. For more than a year, I have been predicting — not advocating, just predicting — a significant tax increase to deal with the budget deficit. | |
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Clayton Cramer: There's another explanation for rising interest rates, over here at Bruce Barlett's National Review Online column |
Greg Ransom: THE SIGNIFICANCE of the U.S. current account deficit — Bruce Bartlett explains it all for you. |
Panel Calls for Sweeping U.N. Reform By / AP — Permalink UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A high-level panel called for sweeping reform of the United Nations in the wake of bitter divisions over the U.S.-led war in Iraq, with proposals to expand the Security Council and to give the powerful body clear guidelines for authorizing pre-emptive military attacks. | |
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Wretchard: [quote]Allowing one to so act is to allow all.'" [end quote] An Associated Press article in the Guardian laid out the competing plans for Security Council expansion. |
Roger L. Simon: I have seen no reference to it so far, but perhaps I have missed it. The NYT does not mention it, nor does the AP. |
The Fourth Election By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON — "Welcome to the world's interrelated four-month, four-nation election cycle" was the challenge posted here in October. So far, voters who support implanting freedom in the Middle East have won three in a row, electing President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan, the American ally John Howard in Australia, and George Bush here. | |
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Jesse Taylor: William Safire Explains It All — William Safire busts out the newspinion reporting that's made him such a beloved... |
Hugh Hewitt: Safire writes today about the forces in the world favoring freedom's march, and Annan is not only not among them, he has... |
Wounded or Disabled But Still on Active Duty By / WaPo — Permalink After an anti-tank mine destroyed his foot and part of his leg in Iraq, Capt. David Rozelle, 31, considered his future. In another era, the commander of a cavalry troop would have been heralded for his bravery and likely issued a medical retirement. | |
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Phillip Carter: According to this moving article by Anne Hull in the Washington Post, more and more severely wounded combat vets like... |
Barbara O'Brien: But it gets worse - today, the Washington Post reports U.S. is keeping seriously wounded and disabled soldiers on active duty. |
Jesusland for thee, but not for me By / Townhall.com — Permalink Federalism! It's not just for conservatives anymore! That's right. All of a sudden, liberals have discovered federalism and states' rights. I discovered this while listening to a recent episode of NPR's "Talk of the Nation," in which host Neal Conan and various callers discussed the idea as if some lab had just invented it. | |
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Orrin Judd: Jesusland for thee, but not for me (Jonah Goldberg, December 1, 2004, Towmhall) [snipped quote] The diuscussion with... Betsy Newmark: Jonah Goldberg sums it all up with a great analogy that I will have to purloin and use with my classes now. |
Lorie Byrd: Federalism For All — I will have to steal this excellent explanation of federalism from Betsy Newmark (who stole it... |
America's New Political Capital By / Slate — Permalink It's hard to imagine it, but there once was a time when people used the phrase "political capital" to mean "seat of government." Now the most common usage of "political capital" means the power that popularity confers on a politician, or something like that. | |
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Nick Confessore: Slate's Chris Suellentrop does a funny and definitive take on "political capital," and the president's belief that he has large amounts of it to spend. |
David Cohen: THE WORD HE'S LOOKING FOR IS "POWER" — America's New Political Capital: President Bush infects Washington with his... |
Barghouti to Seek Palestinian Presidency By / AP — Permalink RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Associates of Marwan Barghouti said Wednesday the jailed Palestinian uprising leader has decided to run for president, reversing an earlier decision and throwing Palestinian politics into disarray. | |
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Captain Ed: Apparently, my analysis was a bit too optimistic: [snipped quote] Hmmm. The Palestinians either convinced him to run, or could not talk him out of it. |
Orrin Judd: THEIR CUOMO: Barghouti to Seek Palestinian Presidency (IBRAHIM BARZAK, 12/01/04, Associated Press) [snipped quote] It... |
Embassy sounds alarm over growing dangers in Iraq By / Independent — Permalink Disintegrating security in Baghdad was underlined in a sombre warning yesterday from the British embassy against using the airport road or taking a plane out of Iraq. The embassy says a bomb was discovered on a flight inside Iraq on 22 November. | |
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Holden: The British Embassy in Iraq has ordered its staff not to use the road linking Baghdad to the Baghdad International... |
Steve Gilliard: Embassy sounds alarm over growing dangers in Iraq By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad 30 November 2004 "Disintegrating... |
An epidemic of election challenges By / Houston Chronicle — Permalink This hot new trend of challenging legislative elections is getting out of hand. State Rep. Talmadge Heflin has drawn most of the media attention, but three other losing candidates have joined him, setting an all-time record. | |
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Charles Kuffner: Hotshot Casey is thinking along the same lines. Meanwhile, Greg does the math and sees blaming the voters as Heflin's only viable strategy. |
Byron L: (Also Via Kuff). The Houston Chronicle has more. Why did Jack Stick contest his election loss to Mark Strama? One reason. |