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Kerik Pulls Out as Bush Nominee for Homeland Security Job NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 - Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner, abruptly withdrew his name from consideration to be President Bush's secretary of homeland security late Friday night, citing questions related to the immigration status of a former household employee. | |
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Phillip Carter: Kerik withdraws — I don't have much to add regarding the well-reported withdrawal of Bernie Kerik's nomination for Secretary of Homeland Security. Talking Dog: Almost on cue (commenter Miss Authoritiva questioned if "the corporatists" who run the world might want to knock the... Matthew Yglesias: Bye, Bye Bernie — Of all the reasons not to put Bernard Kerik in charge of the Department of Homeland Security, having... |
James Martin Capozzola: In the words of the New York Times, Kerik "abruptly withdrew his name from consideration to be President Bush's... SLZoll: Twas Nanny Killed the Nomination From the NY Times: Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner,... James Joyner: Kerik Withdraws as Homeland Security Nominee — Kerik Pulls Out as Bush Nominee for Homeland Security Job (NYT)... |
Withdrawn By / Newsweek — Permalink Dec. 11 - It's hard to know what was the last straw. Ever since President Bush announced on Dec. 3 that Bernard Kerik was his choice to replace Tom Ridge as Secretary of Homeland Security, official circles in Washington and New York have been buzzing with stories about Kerik's potential liabilities. | |
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Avedon Carol: But there was lots of dirt on Kerik that was due to erupt, and before the type could even be set, Kerik backed out and his nomination was Withdrawn. Barbara O'Brien: The Newsweek story leaves out some facts that were already known, at least if you read Salon. Tom @Corrente: Nanny problem my, um, hind foot. |
Kevin Drum: Newsweek's Mark Hosenball reports today that Kerik actually had more serious problems: "Kerik, who recently made... Randy Paul: My Only Post About Bernard Kerik — I am happy that Bernard Kerik has withdrawn his name from consideration as Secretary... Joe Gandelman: But Newsweek contends there may be a lot more reasons why he bowed out. |
| Also: Steve Soto, Atrios, Steve M., Josh Marshall, Oliver Willis | |
Exodus as Dutch middle class seek new life Telegraph — Permalink For years Holland was celebrated as a symbol of racial tolerance. But two high-profile murders have changed all that, reports Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Escaping the stress of clogged roads, street violence and loss of faith in Holland's once celebrated way... | |
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Maimon Schwarzschild: Back to the Europe Question: Here is Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Daily Telegraph (London) on Dutch middle-class families giving up on Holland and emigrating. Hindrocket: Dutch Exodus Under Way — Reader Joel Goldberg pointed out this piece by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Telegraph: [snipped quote] How, indeed. |
McQ: Sometimes tolerance is more dangerous than intolerance — It appears many of the Dutch middle class are choosing to vote... Mitch Berg: "The Netherlands", to much of the Dutch public, is not an idle, specious concept. So this story is interesting. |
Iraq, Ballots and Pistachios By / NYT — Permalink On the flight over to the Persian Gulf, I was reading an article in The Financial Times about NATO fighting with itself over whether to send a few dozen more trainers to Baghdad to help the Iraqi Army. I couldn't help but wonder to myself: Let's see, there are now 26 countries in NATO. | |
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Armando: Friedman Says "Is it so much to ask that each NATO country contribute 100 soldiers for a long weekend to advance the prospect of Iraqi elections? |
Tbogg: Shorter Tom Friedman — We broke it. You should buy it. |
Real Reform for Social Security By / NYT — Permalink Before we get lost in the policy details, let's be clear about what this Social Security reform debate is really about. It's about the market. People who instinctively trust the markets support the Bush reform ideas, and people who are suspicious oppose them. | |
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DeLong: In the case of this particular columnist—David Brooks—this is a regular, twice-a-week occurrence: "Matthew Yglesias:... Avedon Carol: Real Reform for Social Security: "Before we get lost in the policy details, let's be clear about what this Social Security reform debate is really about. Steve Antler: Deconstruction... David Brooks: Before we get lost in the policy details, let's be clear about what this Social Security reform debate is really about. |
Kevin Drum: DAVID BROOKS TELLS THE TRUTH...I have a feeling this was a mistake on his part, but in today's column David Brooks... Matthew Yglesias: Bulls**t — Brooks says: "Before we get lost in the policy details, let's be clear about what this Social Security reform debate is really about. Peter Burnet: SACRED COWS — Real Reform for Social Security (David Brooks, New York Times, December 11th, 2004) [snipped quote] The... |
The Ents of Europe NRO — Permalink Strange rumblings on the continent. One of the many wondrous peoples that poured forth from the rich imagination of the late J. R. R. Tolkien were the Ents. These tree-like creatures, agonizingly slow and covered with mossy bark, nursed themselves on tales of past glory while their numbers dwindled in their isolation. | |
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Ed Driscoll: Another Update: Victor Davis Hanson writes that for Europe, "gut-check time is coming". Jayson @PoliPundit: Good Question — Victor Davis Hanson wonders what will become of Europe. |
Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: Victor Davis Hanson: [snipped quote] Read the whole thing. |
'Nanny Problem' Forces Kerik to Withdraw By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - Bernard Kerik, New York City's former top cop, withdrew his name from consideration to be President Bush 's homeland security secretary, a victim of the embarrassing "nanny problem" that has killed the nominations of other prominent officials. | |
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Jonathan Gewirtz: Modern Geopolitical Reality — The able Bernard Kerik is out but underperformin' Norman Mineta stays. Captain Ed: Call It The Shotgun Approach — After enduring days of innuendo, character assassinations, and pseudoscandals, Bernard... |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: FUMBLING PROCESS — The withdrawal of Bernard Kerik as the nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security can be overcome... Tgirsch: Kerik Withdraws — Looks like Kerik has stepped down as presumptive DHS secretary because of a nanny immigration... |
Why the Jails Didn't Explode City Journal — Permalink Five years ago, Gotham's jails looked like they were ready to explode with violence. At Rikers Island—the democratic world's largest penal complex, with ten facilities sprawling across 490 acres of concrete and razor ribbon—"a full-scale riot [was] . . . only one dis, one argument, one short-tempered outburst away," as New York magazine then put it. | |
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Jonathan Gewirtz: One corollary of all this is that people like Bernard Kerik, who was probably an excellent choice to head Homeland... |
Lexington Green: (Update: Jonathan reminds me of this article about successful prison reform in New York.) |
Ukraine's Yushchenko Poisoned by Dioxin-Doctors By / Reuters — Permalink VIENNA (Reuters) - The man who hopes to become Ukraine's next president was the victim of poisoning by dioxin — a toxic chemical that can easily be administered in soup containing cream, Austrian doctors said on Saturday. | |
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Charles Johnson: Yushchenko Was Poisoned by Dioxin — It's confirmed; Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned with dioxin. |
Captain Ed: A Little Dioxin In His Borscht — Doctors treating Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko have determined... |
Europe's failed multiculturalism By / Washington Times — Permalink For nearly 50 years Western Europe has weathered the storm of the Cold War, living with the threat of the Soviet Union on its doorstep. Now Europe is waking up to a new threat, only this time the danger comes from within. | |
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Joseph Alexander Norland: Indispensable. At FaithFreedom. 2. Commentary at Washington Times: "Europe's failed multiculturalism". |
Ted Belman: Europe's failed multiculturalism — By Claude Salhani, writing in Washington Times makes the point that European multiculturalism has lead to separation rather then integration. |
Present at the Creation By / Weekly Standard — Permalink NINETY MINUTES before he was inaugurated as the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai emerged from a private meeting at his presidential palace with Vice President Dick Cheney to address reporters. "Presidential palace" is what the Afghans call it, anyway. | |
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Jayson @PoliPundit: Stephen Hayes reports from the birth chamber of the new Afghan democracy. |
KJL: STEVE HAYES went along with Cheney to the Afghan presidential inauguration. |
Ukraine candidate 'was poisoned' BBC — Permalink Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko's mystery illness was caused by poisoning, his Vienna doctors say. The doctors said extensive tests showed a form of dioxin had been used, leaving Mr Yushchenko's face disfigured. | |
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Jan Haugland: Yushchenko was poisoned — Tests show that Ukraine's opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned by dioxin, according to his doctors. |
KJL: HGH CONCENTRATIONS OF DIOXINS — The Yuschenko poisoning diagnosis. |
Doctors: Yushchenko was poisoned CNN — Permalink VIENNA, Austria — Dioxin poisoning caused the disfiguring illness afflicting Ukraine opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, doctors at an Austrian hospital have said. Doctors told a news conference Saturday they suspect a "third party" administered the poison, possibly by putting it in Yushchenko's soup. | |
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Gregory Djerejian: Poisoned — I hope this trail doesn't lead to Moscow. If Moscow played pool that dirty, even via proxies, a fundamental reappraisal of the U.S. |
Talking Dog: No mention, of course, is made of the poisoning of Ukrainian opposition candidate Victor Yuschenko, which has just been confirmed by doctors in Austria. |
Ashcroft's farewell praises Justice effort By / Washington Times — Permalink Attorney General John Ashcroft, in a farewell speech yesterday to Justice Department employees, praised their efforts in deterring terrorism since the September 11 attacks on America, but warned that al Qaeda "has not lost its thirst for American blood." | |
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Jayson @PoliPundit: Duty, Honor, Country — John Ashcroft rides off into the sunset. |
Ted Belman: Ashcroft in the dock — Ashcroft's farewell praises Justice effort By Jerry Seper, THE WASHINGTON TIMES (The Left,... |
Kerik apologizes for withdrawing MSNBC — Permalink WASHINGTON - Bernard Kerik apologized to President Bush on Saturday after questions about the immigration status of a housekeeper-nanny he employed led the former New York City police commissioner to withdraw his nomination as homeland security chief. | |
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Tbogg: A spoonful of nanny makes the candidate go down — For those of you playing Clue at home, it appears that the... |
Mathew @Centerfield: Read here. I was really looking forward to seeing Kerik's perspective as a former Big Apple police commissioner play out. |
Missing Answers About Jonathan Magbie By / WaPo — Permalink The first thing you notice when you read the D.C. Health Department's report into the death of 27-year-old quadriplegic Jonathan Magbie is that several critical pieces of information have been blacked out. | |
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Andrew Stuttaford: Here's a description (by Colbert King of the Washington Post of Magbie's physical condition: [snipped quote] Magbie was a... |
Radley Balko: Magbie — Colby King sticks with the Jonathan Magbie case. |
Nanny Problems Plagued Clinton Nominations AP — Permalink Bernard Kerik's decision to withdraw his name as homeland security secretary-designate because of issues involving hired help at home is not the first time a president has had his Cabinet and other high-level appointments thrown awry by the nanny problem. | |
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Roger Ailes: And here's the A.P., doing a story on past illegal immigrant-related confirmation problems without mentioning Linda... |
SLZoll: The A.P has a short piece out called Nanny Problems Plagued Clinton Nominations, about Kimba's, Zoe's, and Lani Guinier's problems with the help. |
Muslims Call on Wiesenthal Center to Repudiate Islamophobia PRNewsWire — Permalink ANAHEIM, Calif., Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ — The Southern California office of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today called on the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles to repudiate Islamophobic comments blaming the faith of Islam for terror made at a recent conference sponsored by the center's Canadian branch. | |
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Charles Johnson: CAIR Goes After Wiesenthal Center — Radical Islamist front group CAIR is now attempting to bully the Simon Wiesenthal... |
KJL: CAIR vs. the Simon Wiesenthal Center. |
Security nominee Kerik withdraws By / Washington Times — Permalink Bernard Kerik, the tough-talking former New York City police commissioner named last week by President Bush to head the Homeland Security Department, abruptly asked last night that his name be withdrawn amid a growing number of questions concerning his past business dealings. | |
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Hindrocket: Kerik's Nanny Problem — Bernie Kerik's withdrawal was apparently caused at least in part by a "nanny problem." |
SLZoll: From the Moonie Times we learn that it was probably the rigorous process of filling out forms that brought about these revelations. |
Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid. NYT — Permalink Dan Aykroyd once played a toy manufacturer on "Saturday Night Live" who sold children perilous products like bags of glass. If he branched into fast food, Mr. Aykroyd's character would probably have come up with Hardee's new Monster Thickburger, an... | |
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Andrew Stuttaford: There's confirmation today that they were right and I was wrong - the always incorrect New York Times has now attacked... |
Radley Balko: Nanny Times — The NY Times on Hardee's Monster Thickburgers: [snipped quote] Sorry, but if you need calorie and fat... |
Kerik Withdraws His Name for Top DHS Job By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) - In a surprise move, former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik abruptly withdrew his nomination as President Bush's choice to be homeland security secretary Friday night, saying questions have arisen about the immigration status of a housekeeper and nanny he employed. | |
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Greg Ransom: BUSH'S HOMELAND SECURITY nominee quits over a "nanny problem". Lorie Byrd: UPDATE: This story quotes Kerik saying, "I uncovered information that now leads me to question the immigration status of... Digger: Yahoo/AP [snipped quote] Tipped by: Wizbang Other Commentary: The Galvin Opinion PoliBlog PoliPundit Blogs For Bush... |
Lambert @Corrente: "But the only moderately troubling information uncovered..." By the Bush fluffers in our supine media, that is. Roger L. Simon: My "Nanny Problem" and Yours — Bernard Kerik has withdrawn his name from consideration for Homeland Security Director... Steve M.: Kerik's out, for the wrong reason. I've recounted some of the dubious moments in his past (here and here). |
| Also: Baldilocks, Jeralyn Merritt, Steve Gilliard, Glenn Reynolds | |
Homeland security nominee withdraws CNN — Permalink WASHINGTON (CNN) — One week after President Bush's nominated him to be secretary of homeland security, former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik withdrew from consideration Friday night after discovering a former household employee had a questionable immigration status. | |
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Kevin Drum: On Friday he withdrew his nomination to be secretary of homeland security, saying he had "discovered" that a former... Oliver @LiquidList: He has intimate knowledge of Lou Dobbs' greatest fear: Latin terrorists. Seriously, though, what does this mean? David Allan Pell: Housekeeper of Cards — Anyone else out there think that the main reason Kerik just withdrew his name from homeland security consideration is because of a housekeeper issue? |
Josh Marshall: I was away from the computer and any news for the evening and here I come back to find out that Bernard Kerik has... Oliver Willis: Another One Bites The Dust — Homeland security nominee withdraws [snipped quote] Those skeletons will always get ya. |
Mockery, calumny and scorn: these are the weapons to fight zealots By / Times of London — Permalink THE WHOLE religious complexion of the modern world, said the writer and clergy-baiter Havelock Ellis early in the last century, "is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum". | |
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Andrew Stuttaford: The London Times' Matthew Parris is not impressed: "There is a huge danger at the centre of the thinking which grounds this measure. |
Marcus @HarrysPlace: You Can't Say That — Even-tempered Times columnist Matthew Parris raises his voice against the proposed Serious Organised Crime and Police Act. |
A Few Choice Words on Senate Filibusters LAT — Permalink Re "Senate's 'Nuclear Option,' " Commentary, Dec. 5: Michael Gerhardt and Erwin Chemerinsky seem to be inconsistent. They state that the Senate may end up "declaring filibusters of judicial nominations unconstitutional." | |
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Stuart Buck: "John Cornyn United States Senator" UPDATE: As a commenter points out, the LA Times did print Cornyn's letter today. |
Patterico: UPDATE 12-11-04: Kevin Murphy notes in comments at my blog that Senator Cornyn's letter to the L.A. Times was published today. |
Unions Plan Big Drive for Better Pay at Nonunion Wal-Mart By / NYT — Permalink The A.F.L. -C.I.O. and more than a half dozen unions are planning an unusual - and unusually expensive - campaign intended to pressure Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, to improve its wages and benefits. | |
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Steve Gilliard: Unions v Wal-Mart endangering the American way of life Unions Plan Big Drive for Better Pay at Nonunion Wal-Mart... |
Susan Madrak: AND THANKS TO MEDICAL ASSISTANCE, MY WHOLE FAMILY WORKS AT WALMART, TOO — Great idea: [snipped quote] If this works, I may even shop there again. |
Bernard Kerik Withdraws His Name From Consideration As Homeland Security Chief ABCNEWS — Permalink Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, left, speaks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 after President Bush announced Kerik as his choice to replace Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) | |
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Joe Gandelman: Nanny Nixes Another Cabinet Choice — Once again the pesky issue of an illegal immigrant nanny employee seems to have... Jeff Jarvis: Oh, those nannies : Bernie Kerik withdraws from the run for head of homeland security because of a pesky nanny immigration problem. |
Kathryn Jean Lopez: (He's dropped out of the Homeland Security gig.) I remember saying to a colleague, [snipped quote] There evidently was reason? |
Kerik Withdrawal Statement AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) - A text of Bernard Kerik's statement explaining his reason for withdrawing as President Bush's nominee to be secretary of homeland security. The statement was separate from the resignation letter that he sent to the White House: | |
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Steve Soto: Kerik Withdraws Tonight After Newsweek Alerts White House About His Arrest Warrant — Yes, just several days after Bush... |
Jeralyn Merritt: Update: Text of Kerik statement is here. Article claiming decision based on a nannygate problem is here. I'm not buying the nanny story. |
Candlelight Vigil to Protest the Ongoing Genocide in Darfur, Sudan, Dec. 13 in New York's Washington Square Park U.S. Newswire — Permalink Diverse groups will join in a candlelight vigil on Monday, Dec. 13, at the Fountain Plaza in Washington Square Park in New York City at 6:30 pm EST. Slavery survivor Simon Deng will be a keynote speaker at the event. | |
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Randy Paul: Candlelight Vigil to Protest Darfur — I'll be there and if you're in New York City on Monday, think about going as well. |
Jeralyn Merritt: Candlelight Vigil to Protest Darfur — If you're going to be in New York City Monday evening, head on over to Washington Square Park for a candlelight vigil. |
Guantánamo torture and humiliation still going on, says shackled Briton Guardian — Permalink Fresh allegations about a regime of torture and humiliation inflicted on detainees by their American captors at Guantánamo Bay have been made by a Briton still held there, according to Foreign Office documents seen by the Guardian. | |
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Michael Froomkin: Briton Says Torture Continues at Guantánamo — Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Guantánamo torture... |
Tim Blair: Here's The Guardian's latest shocking report: [snipped quote] Imagine, if you can, a prison so brutal that inmates don't have their own personal urine-mopping maids. |
Tapping the hornets' nest By / Haaretz — Permalink During the U.S. presidential campaign, debate over Iran policy received unprecedented attention. The reasons are multifold. With Iran on the verge of developing both nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile capability, Washington policymakers can no... | |
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Matthew Yglesias: Odd assertion from Michael Rubin: [snipped quote] Terrorist blackmail usually isn't the sort of thing you want to give in to. |
Laura Rozen: The writer thinks that others in government should aspire to his level of moral clarity regarding Iran, which he... |
Bernard Kerik Withdraws His Name From Consideration As Homeland Security Secretary ABCNEWS — Permalink Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, left, speaks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 after President Bush announced Kerik as his choice to replace Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) | |
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Josh Marshall: (AP quotes the White House saying simply that it was for "personal reasons.") Frankly, I doubt that was all there was. |
Atrios: Flip Flop — Kerik's out. |
Kerik Pulls Out as Bush Nominee for Security Job By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 - Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner, abruptly withdrew his name from consideration to be President Bush's secretary of homeland security Friday night because of the immigration status of a former household employee. | |
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Michael Froomkin: Kerik Has A Nanny Problem — Kerik Withdraws Name for Homeland Security Chief. Does that mean we can expect the original to replace the copy? |
Taegan Goddard: Kerik Withdraws Nomination — Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, President Bush's choice to be homeland security secretary, [snipped quote] the AP reports. |
Why Academia Shuns Republicans By / LAT — Permalink A few weeks ago, a pair of studies found that Democrats vastly outnumbered Republicans among professors at leading universities. Conservatives gleefully seized upon this to once again flagellate academia for its liberal bias. | |
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Henry Farrell: Republican anti-intellectualism — Stephen Bainbridge, in the course of attacking Jonathan Chait's recent article on the... Oliver @LiquidList: Politics: It's The Other Way Around, You Idiots — Beautiful piece from Jonathan Chait: [snipped quote] This goes... Pejman Yousefzadeh: MORE ON IDEOLOGY AND ACADEMIA — In response to a rather silly and dismissive column by Jonathan Chait (one which rolls... |
Betsy Newmark: Anyways, Patterico points to this response by Professor Bainbridge to Jonathan Chait's LA Times column. Paul Waldman: Jonathan Chait takes up this question in his latest column. Juan Non-Volokh: Bainbridge Blasts Chait: Jonathan Chait wrote a rather dismissive LAT column on why there are so few conservatives in academia. |
| Also: Steve Bainbridge, The Poor Man, Matthew Yglesias, Greg Ransom, Nick Confessore | |
Harvard hire's detainee memo stirs debate By / Boston Globe — Permalink A new Harvard Law School professor who wrote a controversial memo for the Bush administration on the handling of prisoners in Iraq has triggered angry debate among his colleagues, some of whom charge that the school faculty did not check his record thoroughly enough before hiring him last spring. | |
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Juan Non-Volokh: Bainbridge cites current evidence that the academy can be quite hostile to folks with right-leaning views: the "controversy" over Jack Goldsmith's appointment at Harvard. Mike Rappaport: Jack Goldsmith — An interesting piece on international law scholar Jack Goldsmith, who headed the Office of Legal Counsel and has now been hired by Harvard Law School. |
Steve Bainbridge: Indeed, according to the Boston Globe, Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan (a former Clinton staffer) observed of... Glenn Reynolds: HARVARD is addressing its academic diversity problem, and it deserves congratulations for that. But diversifying an institution is never easy. |
'Scarborough Country' for Dec. 8 MSNBC — Permalink PAT BUCHANAN, GUEST HOST: Could Academy Award judges really choose Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" over Mel Gibson's biblical masterpiece, "The Passion of the Christ"? We'll soon find out. And if they do, will there be a red state revolt against Hollywood? | |
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James Joyner: Catholic League President's Anti-Semitic Remarks on "Scarborough Country" — The blogosphere is all abuzz (see Andrew... Josh Marshall: Maybe the conservatives who go into paroxysms with charges of anti-Semitism any time the word "neoconservative" is... Andrew Sullivan: MALKIN AWARD NOMINEE: [snipped quote] - Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, Scarborough Country, December 8. |
Steve M.: By now you may have seen what Donohue said last night on MSNBC's Scarborough Country in a discussion about Fahrenheit... Jeff Jarvis: The transcript is now up. Here's the quote Andrew Sullivan picked out: [snipped quote] A big believer in restraint, you are, Billy. |
Bill Moyers Retiring From TV Journalism By / AP — Permalink NEW YORK (AP) - "I was just in the editing room, working on the last piece," Bill Moyers says. "I thought: 'I've done this so many times, and each one is as difficult as the last one.' Maybe finally I've broken the habit." | |
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Echidne @AmStreet: No, the rightward shift of the PBS is just part of the same general conservative takeover in this country as all the... Jay Rosen: Bill Moyers, who will retire from TV journalism next week: "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism... Betsy Newmark: He's found another issue that is much more important. [snipped quote] I guess he's missed out watching network news for the past couple of decades. |
MJA @SouthernAppeal: Bill Moyers, perhaps the most liberal "journalist" on television, complains in this AP report that the real problem in... Tim Graham: PBS'S ROBUST HUMANIST CITIZEN-JOURNALIST — About that AP story on Bill Moyers today...I know everyone is properly... Greg Ransom: THE MOST DISHONEST man in journalism retires. You won't be missed, Bill Moyers. |
Armor Scarce for Big Trucks Transporting Cargo in Iraq NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 - Congress released statistics Thursday documenting stark shortages in armor for the military transport trucks that ferry food, fuel and ammunition along dangerous routes in Iraq, while President Bush and his defense secretary both spoke out to defuse public criticism. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: The New York Times offers further information on the lack of armor for American vehicles in Iraq, while Armor Holdings,... David Allan Pell: Today, the big story is that many of the transport vehicles being used in Iraq are not protected by armor. Steve Gilliard: Not enough armor Armor Scarce for Big Trucks Transporting Cargo in Iraq By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT Published:... |
James Martin Capozzola: "Armor Scarce for Big Trucks Transporting Cargo in Iraq," by Thom Shanker and Eric Schmitt, New York Times, December 10. McQ: To bolster that point of view, today we learn that in the 2+ years of this problem which we have known about since the... Jesse Taylor: Spitballs — There is an armor shortage in Iraq. |
| Also: Julia @AmStreet | |
SEND MORE BRAINS... NRO — Permalink This reminds me of a story about Hillary Clinton. When she was leading her health-care task force, she invited an army of experts and scholars to collect reams and reams of research about every facet of America's health-care "crisis." | |
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Ace: Must-Read From Jonah Goldberg: Liberals, Soft on Terror — Outstanding summary of liberals' three-year AWOL status on... Oliver Willis: Warning Signs for the DLC/TNR Crowd — Jonah Goldberg now apparently endorses, at least in part, Peter Beinart's call to the right for the Democrats. |
Roger L. Simon: Liberalism on Fumes — Jonah Goldberg has drummed Kevin Drum's arguments on the War on Terror into the ground and... |
Borrow, Speculate and Hope By / NYT — Permalink "The National Association of Securities Dealers," The Wall Street Journal reports, "is investigating whether some brokerage houses are inappropriately pushing individuals to borrow large sums on their houses to invest in the stock market. | |
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Barbara O'Brien: In essence, Krugman writes today, the privatization scheme amounts to the government borrowing money to speculate on stocks. Norbizness: (6) Forget personal accounts, The Left wants to take its Social Security money to the dog track down in San Antonio for dollar margarita Fridays. Avedon Carol: What else would be on my mind as Paul Krugman continues his busman's holiday with Borrow, Speculate and Hope? |
Tom Maguire: Krugman Rides Again (We Deride Again) Krugman continues his break from a break, warning us yet again about the perils of Social Securty privatization. Steve Gilliard: Borrow, Speculate and Hope By PAUL KRUGMAN [snipped quote] There are two things which will eventually drive Wall Street away from this. Julian Sanchez: Specious Speculation — In the course of raising some valid enough questions about the funding of a Social Security... |
| Also: Steve Antler, Kevin Raybould, Susan Madrak | |
Berlusconi cleared of corruption BBC — Permalink Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been cleared of corruption after a four-year trial. Mr Berlusconi had been accused of bribing judges in the 1980s to favour his business interests. | |
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Tim Blair: BRAVO SILVIO — Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been cleared of corruption. Clayton Cramer: An Italian court found him innocent on one charge, and declared that the statute of limitations had expired on the rest. |
Jan Haugland: Berlusconi acquitted — Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been acquitted of corruption charges. KJL: BERLUSCONI in the clear |
A political hustling? NY Daily News — Permalink Until he abruptly quit last month - around the time that President Bush nominated his stepfather, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, to be U.S. attorney general - Web designer Jared Freeze worked as a consultant for notorious pornographer Larry Flynt. | |
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Nathan Nance: I never would have guessed that — Guest post by Nate Nance I couldn't make this up if I tried, Alberto Gonzales'... Josh Marshall: What is this world coming to when you have to quit your job at Hustler just because your stepdad gets nominated as AG? |
KJL: I'M PRETTY SURE — Alberto Gonzalez's stepson's job as a consultant to the vile Hustler shouldn't be a "legitimate issue" in his nomination hearings. |
Soldier admits his story of Iraqi boy's death a lie By / Boston Globe — Permalink When Army Sergeant Dennis Edwards spoke at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School last month, 100 students listened in rapt silence as he told chilling tales of battlefield horror in Iraq and criticized President Bush's motives for going to war. | |
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Ace: An Anti-War Activist Lied, Because No One Died — When you need to slam the War in Iraq, nothing satisfies better than a... Glenn Reynolds: ANOTHER "WAR CRIMES" STORY COLLAPSES: [snipped quote] Yes, they might. Some such stories are true, of course. But some aren't. |
Greyhawk: Teach Your Children — Meet Sgt Dennis Edwards: "When Army Sergeant Dennis Edwards spoke at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional... Clayton Cramer: Now the soldier admits that it didn't happen: [snipped quote] I would love to know the context of him telling this tale. |
Leading Egyptian Government Daily Columnist: Develop Relations with Israel and Drop the Negative Attitudes Towards Her MEMRI — Permalink Under the title "Relations with Israel," columnist Hazem Abd Al-Rahman, in the leading Egyptian Government daily Al-Ahram, calls for developing Egyptian-Israeli relations and dropping the negative attitude towards Israel. The following are excerpts from the article:(1) | |
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Damian Penny: (MEMRI, of course, does feature such moderate voices, but lets take Cole at his word for a moment.) Roger L. Simon: The almost always reliable MEMRI quotes an oped in the leading Egyptian government paper Al Ahram advocating improved relations with Israel. |
Captain Ed: Drop Negative Attitudes Towards Israel: Egypt — Buffalo Springfield once sang, "There's something happening here, and... |
Racism finds a home in white towers By / USA Today — Permalink Has white liberal Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., no sense of decency? His defamatory comments about Associate Justice Clarence Thomas as a prospective chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court support a corrupt racial universe, in which the best and brightest... | |
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Jayson @PoliPundit: "America's Newspaper," the two million-plus circulation, USA Today, now is running this opinion piece by Armstrong Williams. Betsy Newmark: Armstrong Williams has a good point about how liberals look at black conservatives. "The United States now confronts a modern edition of Jim Crow. |
Rice Grad: Armstrong Williams on Sen. Reid's slander of Justice Thomas: USA Today editorial on Harry Reid: [snipped quote] Hmm. |
Liberal group blasts Democratic Party, outgoing chairman By / Tallahassee Democrat — Permalink WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The liberal group MoveOn.org threw down a challenge to the Democratic Party on Thursday, saying it should stop cuddling up to corporate America and shun "professional election losers." | |
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Joe Gandelman: How To Destroy Your Political Party In One Easy Lesson — I'm not being cynical, mind you, but it just MUST have been... Taegan Goddard: Meanwhile, the New York Daily News notes MoveOn.org "threw down a challenge to the Democratic Party on Thursday, saying... |
Avedon Carol: "MoveOn.org has made the appropriate response to the DLC's attack on any Democrat that isn't DLC: The liberal group..." C. D. Harris: The left-wingnuts apparently aren't very pleased with Terry "GOP Mole" McAuliffe and want one of their own to be the next DNC Chair. |
Fists fly in game of strategy By / Washington Times — Permalink First things first. Dynamite is banned. Verboten. Does paper snuff wick? Or does it burn? Too ambiguous. Make a hitchhiker fist during a serious game of Rock Paper Scissors, and you'll be laughed out of the room. | |
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Tyler Cowen: Here is the full story. Here is the world championship web site, which offers T-shirts and books, and of course the exact rules. Captain Ed: Look out, ESPN poker challenges, here comes ... Rock, Paper, Scissors? [snipped quote] My first reaction to this story was, "You have got to be kidding me." |
Norbizness: (5) The Left believes that people will link to anything in order to compensate for their own lack of content. Betsy Newmark: Rock Paper Scissors is serious business. [snipped quote] And, the game was brought to America by a Frenchman. |
The Afghan Miracle By / WaPo — Permalink "Miracle begets yawn" has been the American reaction to the inauguration of Hamid Karzai as president of Afghanistan. Before our astonishing success in Afghanistan goes completely down the memory hole, let's recall some very recent history. | |
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Cori Dauber: (Although I'd also say that I have a quarrel with what it takes to get Afghanistan into the news.) Joey Tartakovsky: But why should this be the case? The Taliban ruled, now they don't. Al-Qaeda plotted and trained there, now they don't. Charles Johnson: Krauthammer: The Afghan Miracle — Charles Krauthammer wonders why mainstream media seems so unimpressed with The Afghan Miracle. |
Norbizness: One-tenth of an insufficient number is, in the field of mathematics, called hella-insufficient. (4a) The Left Presents—... Pejman Yousefzadeh: In the meantime, read Krauthammer: [snipped quote] Now, before someone tells me off in the comments section, let me say... Betsy Newmark: Charles Krauthammer wonders why people aren't more impressed with what has happened in Afghanistan. |
| Also: Glenn Reynolds, Stephen Green, Greg Ransom | |
FCC Weighs Olympics Indecency Complaints By / Mediaweek — Permalink The Federal Communications Commission’s enforcement bureau has asked NBC for tapes of the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics, apparently in response to one or more indecency complaints. | |
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Damian Penny: Bozell's at it again — Now someone is complaining about the Olympic opening ceremonies. |
Jeff A. Taylor: F**k the FCC — OK, if things were not goddamn absurd before, they sure as hell are now. |
Fewer Teens Engaging in Sex, Study Finds AP — Permalink Fewer teens are engaging in sexual activity than in the past, and those that do are more likely to use contraceptives (search), the government said Friday. The National Center for Health Statistics said that for girls aged 15 to 17 the percentage who had ever had intercourse declined from 38 percent in 1995 to 30 percent in 2002. | |
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Clayton Cramer: Good News — It may upset Hollywood, but teens seem to be getting the message: [snipped quote] More teens are choosing... |
Joanne Jacobs: Less sex — Fewer teen-agers are having sex, and those who do are more likely to use contraceptives, says a federal report. |
The Grapes of Protectionist Wrath By / TCS — Permalink U.S. oenophiles held their breath this week as the Supreme Court heard argument in cases challenging the constitutionality of New York and Michigan laws prohibiting their residents from importing wine from other states. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: MORE ON THE WINE CASES — Stephen Bainbridge has a very good column discussing the wine cases heard this week by the... |
Steve Bainbridge: Wine Column — My latest TCS column discusses the Supreme Court's oral arguments in the interstate wine shipment case: The Grapes of Protectionist Wrath |
Bush Rejects Tax Hike for Social Security By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — President Bush on Thursday flatly rejected a payroll tax increase to shore up Social Security, narrowing the range of options available to lawmakers to address the retirement system's long-term financial needs. | |
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Barbara O'Brien: Boy, were we wrong. The Boy King has put privatization at the head of his second-term "agenda." Tim Lee: The issue itself would become front page news, but the Cato name would recede into the background. Well, it's happening. |
Howard Kurtz: "Although the president said he did not want to prejudge Social Security legislation under consideration in Congress,... |
Measure Expands Police Powers By / WaPo — Permalink The intelligence package that Congress approved this week includes a series of little-noticed measures that would broaden the government's power to conduct terrorism investigations, including provisions to loosen standards for FBI surveillance warrants and allow the Justice Department to more easily detain suspects without bail. | |
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Avedon Carol: Measure Expands Police Powers: Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) said that while he voted for the bill because of its... |
MWS @Centerfield: Shouldn't Someone Be Worried About Civil Liberties — Accroding to the Washington Post,... |
A Judge Appointed by Bush After Impasse in Senate Retires By / NYT — Permalink Charles W. Pickering Sr., who was appointed by President Bush to a federal appeals court without Senate approval during a Congressional recess, announced his retirement on Thursday at a ceremony at the federal courthouse in Hattiesburg, Miss. | |
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Steve M.: The New York Times has it: "Extreme special-interest groups opposed my nomination primarily due to their hostility to... |
TChris: Pickering Steps Down — Complaining of the "extreme special-interest groups" that opposed his appointment to the United... |
'Madrid attack' averted in London BBC — Permalink Police have prevented a terror attack in London on the scale of the Madrid bombings, according to a police chief. Speaking to BBC London on Thursday, Met Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens said terrorism was a major issue for the UK capital. | |
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Cori Dauber: With the usual caveat that I surf betwixt and between, so I can never say with certainty, I didn't notice one of the... Glenn Reynolds: BRITISH POLICE say they have averted a "Madrid-style attack" in London. |
KJL: "MADRID STYLE ATTACK" AVERTED IN LONDON according to police. But, "an attack is still inevitable." |
Jewish group blasts 'offensive' artwork The Age — Permalink Public art in Melbourne's CBD depicting dead militant Palestinian leaders has sparked an outcry from the nation's peak Jewish group. The Australian and Jewish Affairs Council has branded the artwork, which features the faces of two former Hamas leaders, offensive. | |
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Tom Paine: So does Ted Lakpin of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (hi Ted, have your people call my people, lets do... |
Tim Blair: HAMART — The same brilliant artist who gave us this now presents his latest work — a celebration of Hamas: "The... |
Buckleys team up to fire at politics By / Arizona Republic — Permalink Conservative patriarch William F. Buckley Jr. and satirical son-of-a-patriarch Christopher Buckley aggregated their respective talents Thursday to bestow upon a Phoenix audience a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition of erudition, perspicacity and not least, mirth. | |
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Jack Fowler: THE BUCKLEY AND BUCKLEY SHOW — Bill and Chris's Excellent Adventure last night at the Goldwater Institute. |
Betsy Newmark: This will be fun to watch when it appears on C-Span. |