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FBI E-Mail Refers to Presidential Order Authorizing Inhumane Interrogation Techniques ACLU — Permalink NEW YORK — A document released for the first time today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests that President Bush issued an Executive Order authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods against detainees in Iraq. | |
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Larre @LeftCoaster: On the President's Authority — The American Civil Liberties Union today released documents obtained from the Government... Chris Bowers: Bush Authorized Torture — The strict father will kill us all: [snipped quote] As noted in the post directly below this... Hilzoy @ObsidianWings: Bush's Moral Values — From the ACLU, via Atrios, comes news that President Bush authorized the use of inhumane... |
Steve M.: FBI E-Mail Refers to Presidential Order Authorizing Inhumane Interrogation Techniques — Newly Obtained FBI Records Call... Jesse Taylor: Fair Warning To Jessica Lynch — Some mysterious "Iraqi" men might be rebreaking your legs pretty soon. Susan Madrak: A CANCER ON THE PRESIDENCY — Via Atrios, this shocker from documents obtained in an ACLU lawsuit after their Freedom of... |
| Also: Matt Stoller, Tom Tomorrow, The Poor Man, Atrios | |
President Holds Press Conference White House — Permalink THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, and happy holidays to you all. I thought I'd come and answer some of your questions. Before I do so, I've got a statement I'd like to make. We're nearing the end of a year where — of substantial progress at home and here — and abroad. | |
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PGL: But he did explain WHY we needed to have Social Security deform: "There's more we must do to keep this economy flexible, innovative and competitive in the world. Sam Rosenfeld: We'll have to wait for the official transcript for verbatim quotes, but here are some highlights from my notes: Philosophical Bush. Susan Madrak: BAIT AND SWITCH — From today's rare hour-long Bush press conference: [snipped quote] What a lying con artist. |
Nathan Nance: Read the entire response and see if it reads as anything other than "f**k yourself for even asking" to you. Barbara O'Brien: Time Warp — The transcript of today's presidential press conference is, typically, surreal. The part about Social Security is surreal. Orrin Judd: THEY KNOW WHAT I'LL SIGN, LET THEM WRITE IT: President Holds Press Conference (George W. Bush, Room 450, Dwight DC... |
The Blogosphere's Smaller Stars By / NRO — Permalink Things happen in real time on the web, and by now, "Rathergate" is rather old. But its early days marked a dramatic moment for bloggers, and a dark one for traditional journalism: one that Dan Rather will never forget. | |
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Hugh Hewitt: La Shawn Barber has a great column in NationalReviewOnline, and a great blog at LaShawnBarber.com. Baldilocks: Krauthammer: Even a Jewish guy is defending the beleaguered Christmas. Barber (yes, that one! ) Robert Prather: A little blogosphere triumphalism — The blogosphere's own LaShawn Barber has a column in NRO about the smaller corners... |
Michelle Malkin: And so do I. The bloggers and Internet discussion board members who exposed Rathergate—from Power Line, to LGF, to INDC... Arthur Chrenkoff: La Shawn Barber has her first article on National Review Online, paying tribute to many smaller blogs which played their... Charles Johnson: The Blogosphere's Smaller Stars — La Shawn Barber has a piece in the National Review, drawing well-deserved attention... |
| Also: Jesse Taylor, The Big Trunk, Betsy Newmark, Glenn Reynolds | |
A Misguided Challenge to Affirmative Action By / LAT — Permalink Sander is wrong: It helps blacks in law school. Eighteen months ago, the Supreme Court found that affirmative action in law schools helps cultivate diverse leaders for a diverse society. Now, a new study by UCLA law professor and economist Richard H. Sander claims that the court was wrong on the facts. | |
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Ross Douthat: This suggests, first of all, that liberals should stop racing to the barricades every time somebody hints that racial... Reihan Salam: GOOD ONE, GOODWIN: Goodwin Liu, superstar, attempts to "debunk" Richard Sander's work on the effects of racial... |
Kevin Drum: For an alternate view, the Times has a rebuttal to Sander's article from Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu here.) Steve Bainbridge: The Times also published an opposing view, which to my mind fails to join issue with Sanders' central empirical findings. |
Roth Plot II By / NYT — Permalink Washington — In "The Plot Against America," the novelist Philip Roth imagined what might have befallen this nation if the appeasing Charles A. Lindbergh had defeated the anti-Hitler F.D.R. in the 1940 election. Here's my idea for the sequel: | |
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Ross Douthat: I'm not sure which is weirder — that Maureen Dowd and William Safire both wrote alternate histories of the Iraq War... Cori Dauber: Today William Safire comes right back, and while you could read his column and disagree, that is you could believe that... Betsy Newmark: William Safire has a very perceptive column looking at the contrafactuals that might have happened if Bush had decided not to go after Saddam Hussein. |
Tom Maguire: Back To The Past — Yesterday, Maureen Dowd tried her hand at alternative history; today, William Safire delivers a rebuttal piece. Edward _: Dowd, playing off "It's a Wonderful Life" (as experienced by Rumsfeld seeing the world as it would have been if he never... Laura Rozen: It's always Munich 1939 for Safire; here he envisions an implausible nightmare scenario if Bush had not gone to war in... |
| Also: Roger Ailes | |
Fast Chat: The Wonkette Newsweek — Permalink Dec. 27 / Jan. 3 issue - Ana Marie Cox started writing as the Wonkette in January '03, delivering a gossipy, satirical blog on D.C. politics. Now she's working on her first novel. She dished with Richard Wolffe. What's the relationship between bloggers and mainstream journalists? | |
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Bill @INDCJournal: Something to Brighten Your Day — This quote angers me on many levels ... [snipped quote] ... namely the typically... Charles Johnson: Wonkette Services the Debate — Courtesy of Newsweek, mainstream media's pet blogger Wonkette takes a cute little slap... |
Hindrocket: Advantage: Time — While Time has us as Blog of the Year, Newsweek has a "fast chat" with Wonkette. Tom Maguire: The Wonkette stands on the shoulders of giants and shakes it - nice job. |
More Aggressive Congress Could Hinder Bush's Plans WaPo — Permalink President Bush's second-term plans to reshape Social Security, immigration laws and other domestic programs are facing a stiff challenge from a group that was reliably accommodating in the president's first four years: congressional Republicans. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: I've just been reading The Washington Post's writeup of the new, more quarrelsome Republican Congress that Sam linked to... Steve Soto: Now Firmly In Power, GOP Begins Overreach - Undermining Of Bush Second Term Agenda To Follow — Bush has now said that... |
Sam Rosenfeld: The president, strangely, seemed perhaps at his most passionate and animated when describing his guest-worker proposal... Ezra Klein: Sing The Second Term Blues — I've been having great fun keeping track of the Republican Party's inability to function,... |
Poll: Most Americans Think Iraq War Not Worth Fighting By / WaPo — Permalink Most Americans now believe the war with Iraq was not worth fighting and more than half want to fire embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the chief architect of that conflict, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. | |
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Joe Gandelman: Bush Enters The Political Danger Zone — This does not portend well for President George Bush's yet-to-start second term... Steve Soto: The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll out tonight, of over a thousand adults taken through last night shows Bush's... |
Ivolsky: From the diaries. See also the latst ABC poll on the subject, and the latest NBC and Q-polls on the subject. |
Frist draws the line on filibusters By / Chicago Sun Times — Permalink A scenario for an unspecified day in 2005: One of President Bush's judicial nominations is brought to the Senate floor. Majority Leader Bill Frist makes a point of order that only a simple majority is needed for confirmation. | |
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Captain Ed: Novak Weighs In On Frist And The Nuclear Option — Robert Novak lined up behind Senate majority leader Bill Frist and... Hugh Hewitt: Robert Novak points to Robert Byrd's precedents when it comes to Senator Bill Frist's "nuclear option" on judicial nominees. Jonathan H. Adler: FRIST & THE FILIBUSTER — Robert Novak's latest column reports Senator Frist is preserving all of his options. |
Ace: Novak: Frist Gettin' Serious About Goin' Nuclear 'Bout time: "Ever since Frist publicly embraced the nuclear option, he... James Joyner: Nuclear Option Has Precedent — Bob Novak argues that, not only is the so-called "nuclear option" sound policy but it's been done before: [snipped quote] Very interesting. Orrin Judd: IT'S EVEN A SENATE TRADITION: Frist draws the line on filibusters (ROBERT NOVAK, December 20, 2004, Chicago SUN-TIMES)... |
Trouble With Choices By / WaPo — Permalink The economics of Social Security privatization get plenty of attention: how to think about transition costs, the effect on national savings, the risk of equity investment. | |
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Avedon Carol: We keep being told that what we want is choice about schools and investments and medical plans and what-have-you, but... Matthew Yglesias: Risky, Risky — This excellent column from Sebastian Mallaby is noteworthy for being by Sebastian Mallaby who's just the... |
Garance Franke-Ruta: Meanwhile, the seeds of the best counter-argument to Bush's plan that I've heard thus far were scattered about Sebastian... Orrin Judd: A 401k FOR DUMMIES: Trouble With Choices (Sebastian Mallaby, December 20, 2004, Washington Post) [snipped quote] Which is... |
Nobel laureate compares Israeli nuclear arms to gas chambers AP — Permalink Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire on Sunday compared Israel's alleged nuclear arsenal to Hitler's gas chambers and called on Israel to lift travel restrictions on nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu. | |
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Charles Johnson: Insane Comparison of the Day — Nobel laureate compares Israeli nuclear arms to gas chambers. Roger L. Simon: Senility or Insanity? You decide. (via Normblog, who has more patience to analyze this reactionary blather than I do) |
Judith Weiss: Has there ever been a Nobel Peace Prize winner who wasn't willing to shill for Jew-haters? Just wondering. |
INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES ABCNEWS — Permalink Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Wolfowitz "did not approve interrogation techniques." Whitman added, "It is difficult to determine from the second-hand description whether the technique in this e-mail (impersonating the FBI) was permissible or not." | |
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Gregory Djerejian: It's all here...including the original Emails in PDF format. Don't miss this report from ABC either. |
Laura Rozen: More from ABC News: [quote] FBI e-mails dating from December 2003 and January 2004 complained of "DOD (Department of Defense)...[end quote] |
Evangelicals Use Courts to Fight Restrictions on Christmas Tidings By / WaPo — Permalink Jonathan Morgan handed out candy canes with the story of Jesus to his fourth-grade classmates in Plano, Tex., on Friday. But it took a court order. After years of legal assaults on municipal displays of Nativity scenes and Christmas observances in public schools, Christian groups are now mounting court challenges in the other direction. | |
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Ed Driscoll: Fighting Back Against The Grinch — Betsy Newmark links to this Washington Post article on using the courts to fight... Hugh Hewitt: You should also read this from today's Washington Post and this from today's Washington Times. Betsy Newmark: Now Christians are fighting back in court to allow their religious symbols to be shown when public officials go all PC on them. |
Frederick Maryland: One of the latest efforts by evangelicals in suburban Dallas to pitch religion to public school children was described... RalphTaylor: According to the Washington Post, "After years of legal assaults on municipal displays of Nativity scenes and Christmas... |
THE REGENTS' KANGAROO COURT By / New York Post — Permalink POOR kids trapped in Niagara County's failing public schools are headed for an ambush — one being set, surprisingly enough, by the state Board of Regents. On Thursday, the Regents considered an application to open a charter school just outside economically depressed Niagara Falls City. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: Ryan Sager explains. SEPARATIONISTS?? The paranoia continues: [snipped quote] That's from Mary Eberstadt, National... Joanne Jacobs: Sager's New York Post columns one and two observe that 70 percent of minority students in Niagara Falls are failing to meet standards. |
Orrin Judd: OPEC WITH APPLES: THE REGENTS' KANGAROO COURT (RYAN SAGER, December 20, 2004, NYPost) [snipped quote] You'll never... |
FBI Claims More Arab Prisoners Abused By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — FBI agents are increasingly complaining about what they consider abusive physical and mental torture by military officials against prisoners held in Iraq and Cuba, including lighted cigarettes stuck in detainees' ears and Arab captives being humiliated with Israeli flags wrapped around them, according to new documents released today. | |
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Kevin Drum: TORTURE UPDATE...Here's the latest on the torture of prisoners in Iraq and Cuba: "According to FBI officials, the Bush... |
Laura Rozen: [quote]At one point, soldiers apparently were "beating him and grabbed his head and beat it into the cell floor," knocking him unconscious... [end quote] Link. |
Porn foes lament Ashcroft record on prosecutions By / Washington Times — Permalink When Attorney General John Ashcroft was lampooned for shrouding the bare-breasted statue at the Department of Justice, many expected he would reverse the eight-year decline in obscenity prosecutions under former President Bill Clinton. | |
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Jan Haugland: Anti-porn nuts disappointed with Ashcroft — Maybe John Ashcroft was not that bad after all. Glenn Reynolds: THIS KINDA MAKES ME FEEL SORRY for John Ashcroft: [snipped quote] That suggests to me that, in a time of war, he's got his priorities straight. |
Jon Henke: Instapundit picks up on the Washington Times story about low/declining obscenity prosecutions under the Bush... KJL: AG/BREAST COVERER JOHN ASHCROFT... ...ironically didn't spend a lot of time cracking down on porn, which has some groups complaining about the Bush record in this regard. |
Today He Is a Dog; Actually, He Always Was By / NYT — Permalink In the long walk of history between man and dog, the bark mitzvah could be seen as an unexpected pit stop. Yet it was celebrated on Saturday night in the Bronx in a traditional way, with a party for family and friends of the 13-year-old that included a chopped-liver sculpture, choruses of "mazel tov!" (or, in this case, "muzzle tov!"), a cantor and gifts. | |
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Radley Balko: "" That trend? The "Bark Mitzvah." Mark Krikorian: COSMO, CALL YOUR OFFICE — Some readers thought I was too nonchalant a few weeks back about Adam Sandler's silly... |
Steve Bainbridge: The Bark Mitzvah — I was all set to make fun of this story, but then I remembered that we Catholics have the annual... |
Three Shelby officials leave Democratic Party for GOP By / Courier-Journal — Permalink SHELBYVILLE, Ky. — Three elected officials in the traditional Democratic stronghold of Shelby County defected yesterday to the Republican Party, the same day the local Democratic chairman resigned. | |
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C. D. Harris: Reader Jack directs my attention to the fact that my state just became just a little bit redder: [snipped quote] Memo to... |
Orrin Judd: PARTY OF OPPORTUNITY: Three Shelby officials leave Democratic Party for GOP: Officials join GOP, say values differed... |
Text of President Bush's News Conference AP — Permalink A text of President Bush 's news conference on Monday, as transcribed by eMediaMillWorks, Inc.: PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you. Please be seated. Good morning and happy holidays to you all. I thought I'd come and answer some of your questions. | |
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Byron LaMasters: It affects you (via Atrios) points to President Bush's news conference today in which Bush begins with this greeting:... |
DeLong: James Lileks Is the Latest Shrill Critic of George W. Bush Yahoo! News - Text of President Bush's News Conference Bush: "Yahoo! |
Iraqi Bloggers, In the News And Critiquing It By / WaPo — Permalink Omar Fadhil says the media are painting far too dark a portrait of Iraq. Outsiders "think there is fighting at every corner, people can't walk the streets, the economy is devastated and people are starving," he says. "No one is showing the good news coming from Iraq. | |
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Roger Ailes: The're No Putz Like Howie For The Holidays — Nine days after this blog pointed out that Lani Guinier did not employ an... Deacon: The Model minus one — Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post has a story about Omar and Mohammed Fadhil of Iraq the Model. Laura Rozen: Howard Kurtz has more on the blogging Iraqi brothers who met with President Bush earlier this month. |
Hugh Hewitt: Howard Kurtz on Iraqi bloggers. Here's the Time article on Powerline. Betsy Newmark: Howard Kurtz profiles the brothers of Iraq the Model. They are, apparently, getting a lot of flack from people who see them as American propagandists. Jeff Jarvis: Omar and Mohammed meet Howie : Howard Kurtz interviews Iraqi bloggers Omar and Mohammed in the Washington Post today. |
| Also: Glenn Reynolds | |
Revisiting Rwanda's Horrors With an Ex-National Security Adviser By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - In a pivotal scene in "Hotel Rwanda," which opens Wednesday, the colonel in charge of a beleaguered United Nations peace-keeping force rushes to talk with the commanding officer of a fresh and heavily armed United Nations contingent that has just arrived at a hotel packed with refugees from the bloody genocide outside its walls. | |
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Cori Dauber: For reasons so bizarre as to be beyond fathoming the New York Times decided it would be really nifty to take President... Betsy Newmark: The New York Times watched the movie with Anthony Lake, Clinton's National Security Advisor at the time. |
Tom Maguire: "Make More Noise" — Former National Security Adviser Anthony Lake agreed to watch a screening of "Hotel Rwanda" and... |
Moyers Says "Ciao" to Now By / Slate — Permalink The sad news of Bill Moyers' retirement from the PBS newsmagazine Now is all over the place today. (He will be ceding his anchor post to co-host David Brancaccio after tonight's episode, at 8:30 p.m. ET.) | |
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Steve M.: Of course, wearing Christianity on your sleeve is all the rage on the right this season, as Slate notes: The new... |
Barbara O'Brien: Three Wise Persons — A little followup to the last post ... I just found this in Slate: "So it's official: The new... |
House of Cards for Black Law Students By / LAT — Permalink His article on this subject is forthcoming in the Stanford Law Review. Traditionally, critics of affirmative action have focused either on its unfairness to those groups that don't receive preferences (usually whites and Asians) or on the inherent conflict between racial preferences and the legal ideal of colorblindness. | |
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Kevin Drum: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION...In the LA Times today, UCLA law professor Richard Sander summarizes his now-famous research... |
Orrin Judd: THE OWNING OF THE HOUSE: House of Cards for Black Law Students (Richard H. Sander, December 20, 2004, LA Times)... |
President's Year-End Press Conference LAT — Permalink PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you. Please be seated. Good morning and happy holidays to you all. Q And you. | |
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Ann Althouse: But I note that President Bush, at his press conference today, said "Happy Holidays" twice. |
Joe Drymala: Don't Bother To Ask Me — From Bush's 17th press conference in four years, this is the President fielding a question on... |
Investigators Consider Race as Possible Motive in Maryland Arson AP — Permalink INDIAN HEAD, Md., Dec. 19 (AP) - Racial animosity and revenge are among the possible motives in the arson fires in a subdivision in southern Maryland on Dec. 6, a spokesman for federal investigators said Sunday. | |
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Tom Tomorrow: Alicublog updates us: [snipped quote] On a related note, conservatarians also got the "ecoterrorist" story completely wrong. Mathew Gross: Oops — Atrios points out that the early suspicions of eco-terrorism, which are trotted out whenever an expensive... |
Atrios: So much for eco-terrorists: INDIAN HEAD, Md., Dec. 19 (AP) - Racial animosity and revenge are among the possible motives... |
War on the Cheap By / NYT — Permalink Greg Rund was a freshman at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999 when two students shot and killed a teacher, a dozen of their fellow students and themselves. Mr. Rund survived that horror, but he wasn't able to survive the war in Iraq. | |
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Kos @DailyKos: Herbert runs down the consequences of such incompetence: [snipped quote] It's Bush war. Those are Bush's dead. Bush's crippled. Atrios: Herbert — Link: [snipped quote] Indeed. heh. |
Tom Tomorrow: And Bob Herbert writes on the same topic: "Greg Rund was a freshman at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in... |
12/16/04 FOX Poll: Iraq, Economy Most Prevalent Issues of 2004 By / Fox News — Permalink NEW YORK — The latest FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll finds that Iraq and the economy are the most talked about issues among friends and neighbors right now — the same two issues that topped the list at the beginning of the year, as well as largely throughout 2004. | |
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Byron LaMasters: She polls better than I would otherwise expect (although, consider the source): Hillary Clinton: 40% Bill Frist: 33... |
Kos @DailyKos: Hillary numbers (Kerry and Edwards too) Fox News is polling Hillary for obvious reasons — it's red meat for their base. |
The Silent Majority By / Opinion Journal — Permalink The newest member of the international democratic leaders club, Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, recently had some words of encouragement and advice for the Iraqi people on their hard road to a better future: "They must go to polls. | |
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Deacon: The democratic urge — Chrenkoff has the latest installment of good news from Iraq. This edition focuses on news relating to the upcoming elections. Glenn Reynolds: ARTHUR CHRENKOFF has more underreported news from Iraq. [snipped quote] Read it all. Orrin Judd: The Silent Majority: A roundup of the past two weeks' good news from Iraq. |
Cori Dauber: I've noticed something missing — As you read the latest installment of good news from Iraq, focus particularly on the... Arthur Chrenkoff: Good News from Iraq, 20 December 2004 — Note: Also available at the "Opinion Journal" and Chrenkoff. Pejman Yousefzadeh: UNDER A BUSHEL — Arthur Chrenkoff uncovers more news in Iraq that few people seem to be paying attention to. |
| Also: KJL | |
BACKSTAGE CONTROVERSY AFTER NBC DEPICTION OF LIMBAUGH Drudge Report — Permalink NBC's comedy depiction of talkradio king Rush Limbaugh passed-out in vomit from drug abuse ignited backstage outrage at SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. The animated sketch left one senior production source stunned and outraged, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. | |
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Ace: The latest is this "controversy" over the dopey "Blue Christmas" puppet short, which showed Rush Limbaugh passed out on the bathroom floor, apparently having OD'd on oxycontin. Michelle Malkin: SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE CHANNELS CHEVY CHASE — The bitter, twisted, unfunny skit on Saturday Night Live that's mentioned on the Drudge Report this morning can be viewed here. James Joyner: SNL Limbaugh Drug Skit Controversy DRUDGE REPORT 2004 [snipped quote] Truly bizarre. |
Jack Cluth: BACKSTAGE CONTROVERSY AFTER NBC DEPICTION OF LIMBAUGH I didn't see this sketch, so I couldn't begin to tell you what all the fuss is about. Lorie Byrd: When I saw this at Drudge I was glad that I didn't see it this weekend. KJL: SNL — This seems quite rotten. |
PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE By / San Francisco Chronicle — Permalink A TAX REVOLT in Berkeley? That seems to be what's happening in one of the nation's most left- leaning strongholds. After years of voting for various tax measures that have made Berkeley's property taxes the highest in the state, voters are now saying: enough already. | |
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Ace: But they are getting pissed off about unending tax hikes: [snipped quote] Dude, if you want to pay high taxes, fine, do it in your own neighborhood. |
Michelle Malkin: A TAX REVOLT IN BLUE AMERICA — A San Francisco Chronicle editorial writer reports on how Berkeley residents have had enough of tax-hiking ballot measures. |
Medicare's Troubles May Be Sleeping Giant By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — As restructuring Social Security moves to the top of his agenda, President Bush is sidestepping a troublesome problem: Medicare, which provides health insurance for 41 million elderly and disabled people, is fast going broke. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: Pressure should be on the administration to do something about the very real crisis in the general fund caused by Bush's... |
Jesse Taylor: In other words, we're f**ked. "The Bush administration holds out hope that new tax-free health savings accounts could... |
One religion, two realities in Iraq By / MSNBC — Permalink BAGHDAD - In a ritual practiced thousands of times, the men gather at two mosques — Um al-Qura in a Sunni neighborhood, Baratha in a Shiite one — at the appointed hour. The phrase "God is greatest" is uttered four times, and the men line up in successive rows. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: Sunni and Shiite leaders are at odds and have been for some time. |
Juan Cole: But Anthony Shadid of the Washington Post signals the clear danger that Sunni Arab and Shiite views of the guerrilla war... |
All the Votes Fit to Count Opinion Journal — Permalink If President Bush's margin of victory in Ohio had been 1,190 votes instead of 119,000 votes, it's a safe bet that state's 20 decisive electoral votes would still be locked in a bitter legal battle. | |
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Michelle Malkin: To be continued... Update: John Fund has much more and his concluding observation should be heeded... "Washington... Steve Bainbridge: So I'm predisposed to agree with John Fund's take on things: [snipped quote] Go read the whole thing. Greg Ransom: John Fund reports: [snipped quote] UPDATE: Lack of valid signature at the bottom of King county vote count dust-up. |
James Joyner: Revote in Washington Governors Race? John Fund poses the question, "Ukraine gets to revote. Why can't Washington state?" Betsy Newmark: John Fund has been diligently following the Washington State governor's vote recount. It truly is a mess. |
How About Not 'Curing' Us, Some Autistics Are Pleading By / NYT — Permalink BOICEVILLE, N.Y. - Jack Thomas, a 10th grader at a school for autistic teenagers and an expert on the nation's roadways, tore himself away from his satellite map one recent recess period to critique a television program about the search for a cure for autism. | |
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Ann Althouse: Some autism activists don't think in terms of curing a disease but celebrating difference. |
Tyler Cowen: Here is the New York Times story, fascinating in its own right, about how many autistics do not wish to be "cured." |
In Iraq: One Religion, Two Realities By / WaPo — Permalink BAGHDAD — In a ritual practiced thousands of times, the men gather at two mosques — Um al-Qura in a Sunni neighborhood, Baratha in a Shiite one — at the appointed hour. The phrase "God is greatest" is uttered four times, and the men line up in successive rows. | |
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Cori Dauber: Today the Post puts up a long and scary comparison of the way two mosques, one Shia and one Sunni, view the world (as... |
Orrin Judd: TWO STATES IS PLENTY: In Iraq: One Religion, Two Realities: Sunni, Shiite Sermons Leave No Room for Dialogue on Election... |
The New Military Life: Heading Back to the War By / NYT — Permalink MANHATTAN, Kan. , Dec. 15 - Earlier this year, as Sgt. Alexander Garcia's plane took off for home after his tense year of duty in Iraq, he remembered watching the receding desert sand and thinking, I will never see this place again. | |
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Cori Dauber: It's supposed to demonstrate that never before have military personnel deployed at such a stressful pace in such dangerous operations. Tom Tomorrow: The war so nice, we're sending you twice "Earlier this year, as Sgt. Alexander Garcia's plane took off for home after... |
Armando @DailyKos: In (now today's) tomorrow's New York Times, this story is presented with human faces: "Earlier this year, as Sgt... Susan Madrak: RINSE AND REPEAT — The guy across the hall from me was in Iraq for three months and is being sent back next month. |
Uncharitable? By / NYT — Permalink Margaret Loncar was about to leave her trailer home in Bridgeview, Ill., one April morning in 2003 when she noticed her 49-year-old husband, Michael, hunched over the side of the bed and coughing up fluid. | |
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Gary Farber: As General MacArthur most famously said.... Meanwhile, here is a bit of on-topic reading. |
Susan Madrak: But still: [snipped quote] When you're living so close to the edge, there's this whole domino effect: It only takes one crisis to push you over. |
Let's Face It, Blogs Are Better By / LAT — Permalink If you're going to peddle opinions for a living, self-assurance is essential. If you don't have it, you need to bluff. People don't want to read a lot of "Oh dear, this is so terribly complicated, I just can't make up my poor little mind.... " Many's the... | |
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Tom Maguire: That said, I am thinking of Mickey's point about Michael Kinsley's experience with the blogosphere: "...Kinsley got... Greg Ransom: MICHAEL KINSLEY — when blogs are are better than newspapers. |
Kevin Roderick: • Michael Kinsley's Sunday op-ed column in the Times applauded bloggers for their "seriousness and sophistication." Cookie Jill: quote of the weekend..... [quote] "let's face it, blogs are better" - michael kinsley - latimes [end quote] |
Local site a top dog in Web logs AP — Permalink A fraudulent document and a fallen television icon propelled a trio of online writers to Internet stardom earlier this year when they used their Web site, Power Line, to help uncover the truth of a fake story shown on CBS' "60 Minutes." | |
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The Big Trunk: Thus it's not a surprise that Star Tribune reporter Matt McKinney has written a gracious and informative article about... |
Hugh Hewitt: The Star Tribune celebrates Powerline's recognition as Time's Blog of the Year, and also provides a long list of poliblogs. |
A Buddy Picture By / Newsweek — Permalink Dec. 27 / Jan. 3 - For 15 years, Rudy Giuliani and Bernard Kerik watched each other's back. They met in 1989 at a fund-raiser for a slain officer, grew close, and Giuliani asked Kerik to be his bodyguard and driver during his mayoral campaign in 1993. | |
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Kos @DailyKos: Giuliani gets busted lying to MSNBC: [snipped quote] Giuliani Partners has at least 12 partners and executives in the company. Roger Ailes: Republican Family Values: Incest Is Best Edition — It's a very good thing Bernie Kerik was an only child, that is, if... |
Taegan Goddard: In "a lengthy and candid interview" with Newsweek, Giuliani "said repeatedly" that Kerik's "role in the firm is very limited, representing 'less than 5 percent' of its business. Josh Marshall: Hmmm ... This may be the best entry to the Kerik-Rudy TPM T-shirt contest yet, which TPM reader JP sends our way from Newsweek. |
Debate on Malpractice Looms for Senate By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - Republicans, who favor limits on medical malpractice lawsuits, have stories about towns in Ohio with no obstetricians to deliver babies and places in southern Illinois with no neurosurgeons - the doctors having taken down their shingles because of the high cost of malpractice insurance. | |
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Jeralyn Merritt: The New York Times reports Monday on the battle that will ensue in Congress over the issue. |
Orrin Judd: OUR DOCTORS VS. THEIR LAWYERS: Debate on Malpractice Looms for Senate: The question of limits on malpractice lawsuits is... |
Report: Schwarzenegger suggests U.S. Republicans move leftward AP — Permalink BERLIN (AP) — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested in a German newspaper interview published Saturday that the Republican Party should move "a little to the left," a shift that he said would allow it to pick up new voters. | |
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Arthur Chrenkoff: Conan the Libertarian's suspect maths — The Governator demonstrates why - aside from the constitutional restraints - it... Taegan Goddard: Schwarzenegger Says GOP Should Move Left — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) [snipped quote] the AP reports. |
Tarek @LiquidList: Who would suspect words of wisdom from this lunkhead? I guess we should amend the Constitution after all. Well, maybe not. |
On a Deadly Day in Iraq, Republicans Step Up Debate Over Whether Rumsfeld Should Stay By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - The continuing debate among Republicans over whether Donald H. Rumsfeld should remain as defense secretary grew more fractious on Sunday, as two prominent senators argued that removing Mr. Rumsfeld would disrupt the coming Iraqi... | |
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Steve Soto: Sure, Bill Frist, Mitch McConnell, and John Warner made comments in support of Rummy by the end of the week, with Frist... TChris: While the President refuses to criticize Rumsfeld, others are not so circumspect. |
Matthew Yglesias: As conservatives continue to pile on with criticisms of Don Rumsfeld, it's worth asking what's going on here. |
U.S. Waters Down Global Commitment to Curb Greenhouse Gases By / NYT — Permalink BUENOS AIRES, Dec. 18 - Two weeks of negotiations at a United Nations conference here on climate change ended early Saturday with a weak pledge to start limited, informal talks on ways to slow down global warming, after the United States blocked efforts to begin more substantive discussions. | |
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Steve Soto: Bush Embarrasses America Again On Global Warming — It should come as no surprise that at the recently-concluded UN... |
Chris Mooney: But now they're spinning further: [snipped quote] Um, not just nebulous: It implies natural variability, which is not... |
Exchanging Cigarettes For Bagels By / NYT — Permalink OBESITY is considered a major public health problem today, but a number of scientists are coming to see it as a comparative blessing, given the alternative. These public heath experts believe, in effect, that America may have traded smoking - a truly lethal habit - for the lesser deadliness of eating too much. | |
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Radley Balko: Her two latest include a piece question the wisdom of the Body Mass Index under the very funny headline (as far as... |
Will Baude: Some drive fast; some smoke; some prefer bagels. So. |
Maverick McCain Is at It Again By / WaPo — Permalink John McCain is back. In the six weeks since the end of a campaign in which he wholeheartedly promoted President Bush's reelection, the Republican senator from Arizona has wasted no time reasserting his independence from the White House. | |
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Taegan Goddard: Maverick McCain Returns — "John McCain is back," the Washington Post reports. |
KJL: DANA MILBANK SECURES HIMSELF A SEAT on any potential McCain 2008 bus. |
A Tenuous Hold on the Middle Class By / WaPo — Permalink MIAMI — A couple of months ago, Kayasa Cobb entered a dim, cramped cubicle to apply for a job paying about $7 an hour selling clothes at Burdines-Macy's. Then she started thinking. | |
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Thomas Lang: Adesnik breaks down Saturday's front page Washington Post story on the struggling American middle class. John Rosenberg: Mickey Kaus has a masterful debunk of this bunk-filled article in the Washington Post on the trials and tribulations of the black middle class. |
David Adesnik: On yesterday's front page, the Post ran the fifth article in its ongoing look at how hard it is for Americans to make... |
Iran's secret plans for 'nuclear' gas go ahead despite earlier promises By / Telegraph — Permalink Iran has drawn up secret plans to make large quantities of a gas that can be used to produce highly enriched uranium, despite promises to suspend enrichment activities. | |
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WoW Team Monday: ; The secrets of Gitmo; Contracting Colombians; Gaddafi speaks. read the rest! » IRAN REPORTS Iran continues to... KJL: ONE OF THOSE HEADLINES THAT MAKES YOU PRETTY SURE THE WORLD IS MAD — "Iran's secret plans for 'nuclear' gas go ahead despite earlier promises." |
Chris Lawrence: Another diplomatic success story — Raise your hand if you didn't see this one coming: [snipped quote] Cash money says the latter use is far more likely than the former. |
A Not So Wonderful Life By / NYT — Permalink CLOSE SHOT - Rummy is standing by the railing, staring morosely into the water. The snow is falling hard. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he wheels around and wrestles an old man with wings into a headlock. OLD MAN: Ouch! Tut, tut. | |
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Thomas Lang: Go to comments — December 20, 2004 Blog Report Rumsfeld, Frank Capra, Tucker Carlson and The Rock With only five days... Cori Dauber: Fairy tales — MoDo's fantasy life spills onto the pages of the New York Times today. KJL: MO-DO — I thought the (only?) funny part of Maureen Dowd's "Wonderful Life" column was when she had Rumsfeld say "Now... |
Jon Henke: Divider Maureen Dowd: "You weren't at that cabinet meeting the day after 9/11, so nobody suggested going after Saddam." Orrin Judd: NOT QUITE HAMLET: A Not So Wonderful Life (MAUREEN DOWD, 12/19/04, NY Times) In keeping with her recent trend of turning... Ezra Klein: It Must Be Christmas — Alright, props to Dowd, this one's a gem. |
George W. Bush Time — Permalink Eagles rather than doves nestle in the Oval Office Christmas tree, pinecones the size of footballs are piled around the fireplace, and the President of the United States is pretty close to lounging in Armchair One. He's wearing a blue pinstripe suit, and his shoes are shined bright enough to shave in. | |
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Brian Montopoli: Over the weekend, Time magazine named George W. Bush the "Person of the Year." (Last year, you may recall, the "person" was "The American Soldier.") Tim Dunlop: One final observation: based on what I was told, I reckon the Indian officials involved in the talks would get a good... Jan Haugland: "For sticking to his guns" — There really was little doubt: Time's Person of the Year 2004 is George W. Bush. |
Norbizness: From Time's recent "Why The President Is Important" essay contest for schoolchildren: For sharpening the debate until... Ed Driscoll: (Of course, Time could be setting Matt up for a last minute head fake.) Update: Nope, it's President Bush. Betsy Newmark: My scoop on Time's Person of the Year has been borne out in every detail. On December 15, I wrote this "Here's a scoop. |
| Also: Captain Ed, Nathan Nance, Orrin Judd, Taegan Goddard, James Joyner | |
2004: The Year of 'The Passion' By / NYT — Permalink WILL it be the Jews' fault if "The Passion of the Christ," ignored by the Golden Globes this week, comes up empty in the Oscar nominations next month? Why, of course. | |
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Ross Douthat: THE CHRISTMAS WARS: I stand firmly behind any effort that has Frank Rich frothing, and I was on the "Merry Christmas!"... Orrin Judd: IRONY-CHALLENGED LEFT: 2004: The Year of 'The Passion' (FRANK RICH, 12/19/04, NY Times) [snipped quote] We've lost track... Steve Dillard: Frank Rich: Grade-A jackass. |
Jeff Jarvis: Frank Rich in the same edition of The Times argues soberly that there is a more serious religous confrontation... KJL: LIFE IS TOO SHORT to spend time reading Frank Rich's latest rant against The Passion. I will, of course, later, but can't bear it now. |
After Outcry, Rumsfeld Says He Will Sign Condolence Letters By / WaPo — Permalink The Pentagon has acknowledged that Donald H. Rumsfeld did not sign condolence letters to the families of soldiers killed in Iraq, but it said that from now on the embattled defense secretary would stop the use of signing machines and would pick up the pen himself. | |
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Steve Soto: That would come as news to the families of fallen American soldiers who got machine-signed letters of condolences from Rummy. Lambert @Corrente: They also said they were suspicious about the signature on similar letters they received from President Bush, but a... James Joyner: After Outcry, Rumsfeld Says He Will Sign Condolence Letters (WaPo) "The Pentagon has acknowledged that Donald H... |
Aaron @LiquidList: Defense Secretary Rumsfeld has also not stood up to bi-partisan scrutiny. The man apparently has no common sense. Taegan Goddard: Rumsfeld Will Sign Death Notices — "The Pentagon has acknowledged that Donald H. Rumsfeld did not sign condolence... James Martin Capozzola: What was he doing before now, you ask? Outsourcing the task to a machine. | HOME |
Time names President Bush Person of the Year Reuters — Permalink NEW YORK (Reuters) — U.S. President George W. Bush's bold, uncompromising leadership and his clear-cut election victory made him Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2004, its managing editor said Sunday. | |
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Fafnir: FAFBLOG'S MAN OF THE YEAR 2004 — Man of the Year 2004: A Head of Cabbage 2004 was the year of a head of cabbage! Jan Haugland: The year was, after all, mostly about Bush. Time also, deservedly, named Power Line the first blog of the year. Kevin Drum: NO MORE WHINING?....Let me be the first liberal blogger to thank Time magazine for naming George Bush its Person of the Year for 2004. |
David Allan Pell: Bigger Than Namath — Time named W this year's Person of the Year. It makes perfect sense. If anything, it was too obvious a pick. Captain Ed: Time Magazine Names Power Line Blog Of The Year — The Northern Alliance is proud to congratulate our friends and... Digby: Ouch! "Time chose Bush for sticking to his guns (literally and figuratively)..." Super glue? Grape jelly? How? |
This Season, Greetings Are at Issue By / LAT — Permalink This year, as Christmas season swung into gear, Pastor Patrick Wooden's followers fanned out to shopping malls across Raleigh to deliver a muscular message of holiday cheer: As Christian shoppers, they would like to be greeted with the phrase "Merry... | |
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Kevin Raybould: Happy Effin' Holidays — I swear, I am never going to say Merry Christmas for the rest of my life, just because it would... |
Kevin Drum: Here's a typical example from yesterday's LA Times: [snipped quote] Apartheid in reverse! |
Social Security reform 'could hit high earners' By / Financial Times — Permalink Bush administration officials on Sunday refused to rule out the possibility that high-income earners would be required to make larger payroll tax contributions as part of Social Security reform. | |
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Mary @LeftCoaster: Today's floated idea is that the upper cap on Social Security wages could be lifted so those making over 85K a year would continue to have taxes taken out. Orrin Judd: Social Security reform 'could hit high earners' (Andrew Balls, December 19 2004, Financial Times) [snipped quote] If we... |
Clayton Cramer: Well, the Bush Administration at least recognizes the unfairness of a regressive payroll tax: [snipped quote] I wonder... |
Democrats eye softer image on abortion By / Boston Globe — Permalink WASHINGTON — Leading Democrats, stung by election losses, are signaling they want the party to embrace antiabortion voters and candidates, softening the image of the party from one fiercely defensive of abortion rights to one that acknowledges the moral and religious qualms some Americans have about the issue. | |
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Rickheller @Centerfield: Democrats eye softer image on abortion — This article is the first instance where I've seen Democrats really discussing moving closer to the center. Digby: And while the Democratic "orthodoxy" on abortion inherently allows for people who are personally opposed to abortion,... KJL: NOW HERE'S AN IDEA — Dems realize alienating pro-life Americans isn't a grand strategy? |
Nathan Nance: But right now, I'm not sure how much I welcome the idea of just anybody being in the tent when it comes to abortion rights and the very foundation of the party. Orrin Judd: THE WORLD REAGAN MADE: Democrats eye softer image on abortion: Leaders urge more welcome for opponents (Susan Milligan,... |
Lawmakers Chide Rumsfeld for Auto-Signed Sympathy Letters By / Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not personally sign his name on letters of condolence to families of troops killed in Iraq but instead had it done by a machine, an action lawmakers said on Sunday showed insensitivity and was inappropriate for leadership during war. | |
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Captain Ed: Rumsfeld Digs A Little Deeper (Updated) In a development that hardly helps out the beleaguered Defense Secretary,... Jesse Taylor: It's As Good As His Word — When I said I'd sign the letters, it's the universal "I". Is not the spirit of Rumsfeld in the computer? |
Harley: Meanwhile, and proving there really isn't much of anything he can't do and do badly, the Secretary has acknowledged that... |
Does Christmas Need to Be Saved? By / NYT — Permalink A pastor in Raleigh, N.C., took out a full-page newspaper ad in November exhorting Christians to shop only at stores that included "Merry Christmas" in their promotions. | |
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Byron LaMasters: There was a good article in the New York Times Week in Review yesterday that I would recommend as well. Michelle Malkin: O COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL — If you live in or near Bogota, N.J., or feel like driving there to play a small part in the... |
Jeff Jarvis: There is plenty of reading material on the topic from just the last few days: : Here is The New York Times Week in... |
Blogged Down By / WaPo — Permalink If you're going to peddle opinions for a living, self-assurance is essential. If you don't have it, you need to bluff. People don't want to read a lot of "Oh dear, this is so terribly complicated, I just can't make up my poor little mind . . . ." | |
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Baldilocks: Kinsley: Hyperlinking like rabbits! Krauthammer: Even a Jewish guy is defending the beleaguered Christmas. Barber (yes, that one! ) Andrew Sullivan: KINSLEY RESPONDS: Mike's encounter with the new world of the collective blog-brain can be read here. Thanks for helping. Robert Prather: Here's a quote: [snipped quote] I always thought Kinsley was fundamentally decent, and regardless of what he has to say about SS privatization, I'll probably continue to think so. |
Deacon: The bubbling cauldron — Michael Kinsley discovers the "unnerving seriousness and sophistication" of the blogosphere. Matthew Yglesias: WEEKEND UPDATE. Shifted into vacation mode a bit early? Here's what you missed: The Columnists Michael Kinsley. Pejman Yousefzadeh: CELEBRATING THE BLOGOSPHERE — It would appear that Michael Kinsley is a blog fan. |
| Also: Tom Maguire, Glenn Reynolds | |
Born-Again President -- White House Hanukkah By / LAT — Permalink His website is www.dennis prager.com. "Only in America." That's what I kept repeating to myself last week when I celebrated Hanukkah at a White House party attended by President and Mrs. Bush. | |
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The Big Trunk: The congregation's beatiful letter is called to mind by Dennis Prager's Los Angeles Times column noting his celebration... Orrin Judd: WHITE HOUSE OF DAVID: Born-Again President — White House Hanukkah (Dennis Prager, December 19, 2004, LA Times) [quote] "Only in America."[end quote] |
Ken Masugi: Dennis Prager on Jews in America — In the LA Times conservative talk show host Dennis Prager explains what we take too... Betsy Newmark: Dennis Prager has some sweet reflections on being a Jew in America and being invited to the Hannukah celebration at the White House. |
TIME NAMES PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH 2004 PERSON OF THE YEAR Time — Permalink New York - President George W. Bush has been named TIME magazine's 2004 Person of the Year. "For sticking to his guns (literally and figuratively), for reshaping the rules of politics to fit his ten-gallon-hat leadership style and for persuading a... | |
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Joe Gandelman: Time Names GWB Man Of The Year — Time Magazine has named President George Bush its "Man Of The Year" basically for his... Bill @INDCJournal: What a Great Quote — From Time's Man of the Year press release and the current issue: [snipped quote] Hell yeah, 41; hardcore. |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: [FILL IN THE BLANK] OF THE YEAR I suppose that it was inevitable that George W. Bush should be named Person of the Year. |
Kerik's e-mail messages fuel mess By / NY Daily News — Permalink Former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik is likely to face fresh questions about his conduct this week when explosive E-mails are turned over to city investigators, the Daily News has learned. The messages were sent by Kerik to Lawrence Ray, one of his closest friends and the best man at his 1998 wedding. | |
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Steve Gilliard: Bernie's world: sending e-mails, tax fraud — The friends of Bernie Soprano Kerik's email messages fuel mess DOI to get... Josh Marshall: And next week, as The Daily News just reported, Kerik's ex-buddy Lawrence Ray will give the New York City Department of... |
Steve M.: And the Daily News said that Kerik reportedly sent an e-mail message to Lawrence Ray with inside information on the... |
Firefighter Is Among Those Charged in Md. Arson Case WaPo — Permalink Law enforcement authorities arrested and charged three more people this morning in connection with the early-morning arson fire that engulfed a new housing subdivision in Charles County last week. Among them was a man listed as a member of a volunteer fire department that responded to the blaze. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: FIRES IN MARYLAND: AN UPDATE — Apparently, they were caused by a disgruntled employee and there is no mention of any connection to ecoterrorism. |
Glenn Reynolds: THOSE MARYLAND FIRES MENTIONED EARLIER were apparently not ecoterrorism after all. |
Al Qaeda Shifts Its Strategy in Saudi Arabia By / WaPo — Permalink RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Al Qaeda forces in Saudi Arabia have shifted their strategy and are now almost exclusively searching for U.S. and other Western targets in the kingdom while avoiding attacks on domestic institutions in a bid to strengthen their flagging network, according to security officials and Saudi experts on radical groups. | |
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Juan Cole: ' Given al-Qaeda's increasing emphasis within Saudi Arabia on attacking US targets, and given Usama Bin Laden's recent... Jason Van Steenwyk: Evidence of Al Qaeda's Defeat in Saudi Arabia — Captain's Quarters links to this Washington Post story. |
Captain Ed: AQ In Decline In Saudi Arabia — Al-Qaeda has apparently declined in stature in its own Wahhabist birthplace to such an... |
French Holocaust Denier on Ban of Al-Manar: 'The Big Lie of the Alleged Holocaust ... is the Shield of Jewish Tyranny... Destroy it' MEMRI — Permalink On Saturday December 18, 2004 French Holocaust denier Professor Robert Faurisson former lecturer of Lyon University, gave an interview to Iran's Mehr News Agency about France's decision to ban Al-Manar TV. The following is the interview: | |
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Gene @HarrysPlace: The order provoked protests at the French embassy in Beirut, and also from veteran French Holocaust denier Professor... |
Damian Penny: Never mind Jean-Marie Le Pen getting almost 20% of the vote in France, or mosques being burned to the ground in Holland... |
Many New or Expectant Mothers Die Violent Deaths By / WaPo — Permalink Their killings produced only a few headlines, but across the country in the last decade, hundreds of pregnant women and new mothers have been slain. Even as Scott Peterson's trial became a public fascination, little was said about how often is happens, why, and whether it is a fluke or a social syndrome. | |
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Sarah Wildman: Now the Washington Post has started a brilliant and important, if terribly depressing, series on violence against... David Adesnik: LACI PETERSON, YOU ARE NOT ALONE: Under a banner headline on the front page of the WaPo, a lengthy article describes a... |
James Joyner: Many New or Expectant Mothers Die Violent Deaths (WaPo, A01) "Their deaths passed quietly. |
Bombs in Karbala, Najaf kill 67 CNN — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Deadly car bombings on Sunday hit the Iraqi Shiite Muslim holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, killing 67 people, officials said. In Najaf, a suicide car bomber plowed his vehicle into a funeral procession and exploded it just yards... | |
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Talking Dog: For those who, like Senators Kerry and Edwards, were cowed by George W. Bush's asinine question "Would you rather Saddam... |
Jack Cluth: This carnage has been brought to you by TIME's Person of the Year |
A Political Arabesque By / NYT — Permalink I have long believed that any American general or senior diplomat who wants to work in Iraq should have to pass a test. It would be a very simple test. It would consist of only one question: "Do you think the shortest distance between two points is a straight line?" | |
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Cori Dauber: Tom Friedman shares interesting news from the Persian Gulf: Yes, the U.S. invasion of Iraq made America some new... Matthew Yglesias: The Good News... ...is that Tom Friedman and Jim Hoagland have both written insightful columns on the topic of Iranian influence in Iraq. |
Gregory Djerejian: Not All Shi'a Are the Same — Tom Friedman reminds us that Iraqi Shi'a are Arabs and Iranian Shi'a, well, not. That's important. |
Rights Groups Reassess Strategies By / WaPo — Permalink At year's end, the leaders of the nation's largest African American and Hispanic civil rights organizations will step down on the same day — a first. But despite the common timing, the transitions highlight differences in the two organizations' outlooks and agendas. | |
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John Rosenberg: Today he asserts that what minorities in the U.S. have in common (and presumably all they have in common) is their... Orrin Judd: WE'LL TAKE THE HISPANICS, DEMOCRATS CAN HAVE THE BLACKS: Rights Groups Reassess Strategies: Black, Hispanic... |
Captain Ed: Darryl Fears reports in today's Washington Post that the 2004 elections taught at least one ethnic-advocacy group the... |
Where Aquarius Went By / NYT — Permalink IN the summer of 1989 I was a speaker at a memorial for Abbie Hoffman. This was a rolling and unstructured all-day event, but at the closing moment the stage held the simultaneous presence of Bobby Seale, Norman Mailer, Amiri Baraka, William Kunstler, Terry... | |
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Gregory Djerejian: Hitchens on the Hippies... ... here: [snipped quote] A not uninteresting contrarian take from Hitchens. |
Ann Althouse: Christopher Hitchens, who makes a point of saying he's never smoked marijuana, writes about hippiedom (in the NYT Book Review). |
KERIK TAX 'BREAK' By / New York Post — Permalink A city correction officer romantically linked to Bernard Kerik when he was correction commissioner got away with breaking tax rules that led to more than 100 of her co-workers being arrested or fired in a 1990s scandal, The Post has learned. | |
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Steve Gilliard: Kerik Tax 'Break' By RICH CALDER "December 19, 2004 — A city correction officer romantically linked to Bernard Kerik... |
Steve M.: I GOT 99 PROBLEMS BUT WITHHOLDING AIN'T ONE — In case you missed the Kerik news this weekend, the New York Post... |
Capitalizing on a Politician's Clout LAT — Permalink U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters' family members have made more than $1 million in the last eight years by doing business with companies, candidates and causes that the influential congresswoman has helped. | |
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Kevin Roderick: • The Times reported Sunday that Rep. Maxine Waters' son, daughter and husband have made more than $1 million in... |
Betsy Newmark: The LA Times looks at how Maxine Waters' family has cashed in big time on her position as an influential Congresswoman and black politician. |
Saddam bids to challenge case in the US AFP — Permalink LONDON (AFP) - Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is preparing a legal challenge in the United States to his trial for war crimes, a newspaper reports, citing leaked papers prepared by his defense team. | |
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Charles Johnson: The Circus is Coming to Town — The lawyers for Saddam Hussein are preparing to turn his trial into the Circus of the Century: Saddam bids to challenge case in the US. |
Hindrocket: Saddam Sues — Little Green Footballs has this infuriating item: [snipped quote] In a great bit of instant sleuthing,... |
Researchers Stunned By Scope of Slayings By / WaPo — Permalink In the mid-1990s, Cara Krulewitch sat in a dark, cramped file room in the office of the D.C. medical examiner, poring over autopsies for days that became weeks, then months. She was an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, assigned to the District. | |
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James Joyner: A companion piece, "Researchers Stunned By Scope of Slayings," points out that the academic research on the issue is inconclusive. |
Orrin Judd: CELL CLUMPS AND THE CELL CLUMPS THAT CARRY THEM: Researchers Stunned By Scope of Slayings: Further Studies Needed, Most... |