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Web Site Claims GI Captured in Iraq AP — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq Feb 1, 2005 — Iraqi militants claimed in a Web statement Tuesday to have taken an American soldier hostage and threatened to behead him in 72 hours unless the Americans release Iraqi prisoners. | |
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Steve M.: The current Web posting, according to AP's story, is at ansarnet.ws — which is here. Judging from the English-language text, it's a discussion forum. James Joyner: Iraq Group Claims U.S. Soldier Hostage — Web Site Claims GI Captured in Iraq (AP) "Iraqi militants claimed in a Web... Joe Gandelman: The AP reports that an American G.I. has allegedly been captured by "insurgents" — which means terrorists — who... |
Jan Haugland: Jihadists kidnap action figure — ReutersTerrorists in Iraq claims to have kidnapped a US soldier and threatens to... Scott Sala: Original story. UPDATE: Blogs For Bush has an animated with the toy head superimposed over the photographed head. Jeff Quinton: Website claiming GI capture appears to be hoax AP "Iraqi militants claimed in a Web statement Tuesday to have taken an... |
| Also: Roger L. Simon, Ed Driscoll, Charles Johnson, Tully @Centerfield, Ace, McQ, Andrew Cochran | |
So-called U.S. hostage appears to be toy CNN — Permalink (CNN) — A photograph posted on an Islamist Web site appears to be that of an action figure and not a U.S. soldier being held hostage. Liam Cusack, the marketing coordinator for Dragon Models USA, said the figure pictured on the Web site is believed to be "Special Ops Cody," a military action figure the company manufactured in late 2003. | |
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Steve M.: Well, we're all having a chuckle over the story of the Iraqi insurgents who claim to have taken a U.S. soldier hostage... Jan Haugland: In fact, the face looks like that of a doll, or, as we say when boys play with dolls, an action figure. McQ: The CNN report: "A photograph posted on an Islamist Web site appears to be that of an action figure and not a U.S. soldier being held hostage. |
Vanderleun: By 5:37 EST they had almost liquidated their entire holdings in the Hostage GI story, keeping just a few shares for... Jim Henley: Life Imitates TEAM AMERICA, WORLD POLICE - They've captured one of our puppets! Look, I have to work all day. Jeralyn Merritt: Hoax: U.S. Soldier Captured, Threatened With Beheading — Update: It appears to be a hoax and the photo on the website appears to be that of an action figure. |
| Also: Joe Gandelman, Tom Tomorrow | |
What if Bush has been right about Iraq all along? By / Chicago Sun Times — Permalink Maybe you're like me and have opposed the Iraq war since before the shooting started — not to the point of joining any peace protests, but at least letting people know where you stood. | |
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Betsy Newmark: Mark Brown, a Chicago Sun Times columnist who opposed the war in Iraq and voted against Bush both times, is honest... Roger L. Simon: We all fear change mightily. (hat tip: Catherine) UPDATE: Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown is having second... Lorie Byrd: This is just a baby step, but one anti-war columnist, Mark Brown , is at least asking the question, and who knows where that may lead? |
C. D. Harris: There is at least one American liberal left who actually possesses some degree of broad-mindedness and capacity for... Ace: The unreality-based community is apparently not completely impervious to fact: [snipped quote] Thanks to Nick. Glenn Reynolds: . . . Meanwhile, liberal columnist Mark Brown is asking What if Bush was right about Iraq? |
| Also: Roger Kimball, Orrin Judd, K. J. Lopez, Tom Maguire, Pejman Yousefzadeh | |
Iraq Group Says Holds U.S. Soldier - Web Reuters — Permalink DUBAI (Reuters) - A little-known Iraqi insurgent group said on Tuesday it was holding a U.S. soldier and threatened to kill him within 72 hours if Iraqi prisoners were not released, according to an Internet statement. | |
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Will Collier: The only people dense enough to fall for that picture are Reuters reporters, and that's a Rather low standard for credibility, isn't it? Cori Dauber: Burned Again — By the time of the network news shows, the fact that this was an internet hoax was the story, but the... |
Jeff Quinton: 14:05 EST UPDATE Reuters "A little-known Iraqi insurgent group said on Tuesday it was holding a U.S. soldier and... Andrew Cochran: Updated AP story names www.ansarnet.ws as the site.Reuters: 'Our mujahideen ... have managed to capture the American... |
U.S. military: No soldier missing in Iraq AP — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — The U.S. military said Tuesday that no American soldiers have been reported missing in Iraq after a Web statement claimed that an American soldier had been taken hostage. | |
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Vanderleun: And then CNN began to sell their position off at 4:02 PM EST: "CNN.com - U.S. military: No soldier missing in Iraq -... |
Jeff Quinton: 16:00 EST Associated Press "The U.S. military said Tuesday that no American soldiers have been reported missing in Iraq... |
Islamist group claims to hold U.S. soldier CNN — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A group calling itself the Al Mujahedin Brigade claimed Tuesday it captured a U.S. soldier in Iraq and threatened to behead him unless prisoners are released. The claim and a photo — neither of which have been authenticated — were posted on an Islamist Web site. | |
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Vanderleun: UPDATE: CNN bought it at 1:51 PM EST: "CNN.com - Islamist group claims to hold U.S. soldier - Feb 1, 2005 BAGHDAD,... Tully @Centerfield: Web Site Claims GI Captured in Iraq Islamist group claims to hold U.S. soldier Report unconfirmed by U.S. military When... |
Jeff Quinton: 15:15 EST: CNN (via Conservative Friends) also is now casting doubts on the photo's authenticity. |
Insurgents say they are holding US soldier Guardian — Permalink A militant group in Iraq claimed last night to have kidnapped an American soldier and threatened to kill him if Iraqi prisoners were not released within 72 hours. The group posted on the internet what appeared to be a photograph of a soldier sitting in front of a black banner with a gun pointed at his head. | |
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Hindrocket: Tomorrow's Guardian, amazingly enough, reports the story of the captured toy, straight: [snipped quote] Well, actually it... |
Glenn Reynolds: LAST UPDATE TO THIS POST: Behind the curve, The Guardian is sucked in, repeating the bogus story with a dateline of 2/2. |
Train wreck of an election By / Boston Globe — Permalink IN THINKING about the election in Iraq, my mind keeps jumping back to last week's train wreck in California. A deranged man, intending suicide, drove his Jeep Cherokee onto the railroad tracks, where it got stuck. The onrushing train drew near. | |
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James Frederick Dwight: Regardless, Carroll still deserves some sort of honorable mention for the kind of drivel he puts out in today's Globe: "Iraq is a train wreck," Carroll wails. John Cole: People who have viewpoints like this need to be attacked, vilified, and humiliated, and there is nothing wrong with sane... |
Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: But on the other hand, the reliably wrong James Carroll writes: "IN THINKING about the election in Iraq, my mind... Peter Burnet: NO "BUTS" ABOUT IT — Train wreck of an election (James Carroll, Boston Globe, February 1st, 2005) [snipped quote] They really are very angry at the Iraqis, aren't they? |
CIA Corrects Itself on Arms By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — In what may be a formal acknowledgment of the obvious, the CIA has issued a classified report revising its prewar assessments on Iraq and concluding that Baghdad abandoned its chemical weapons programs in 1991, intelligence officials familiar with the document said. | |
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Jan Haugland: The CIA has formally acknowledged that the pre-war intelligence (to use the term broadly) about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction was bunk. Kos @DailyKos: CIA: 'Our bad! ' CIA says: [snipped quote] What's all this talk about "chemical weapons programs"? Taegan Goddard: CIA Issues Correction — "In what may be a formal acknowledgment of the obvious, the CIA has issued a classified report... |
Laura Rozen: CIA issues a correction: "In what may be a formal acknowledgment of the obvious, the CIA has issued a classified report... Eugene Oregon: Better Late Than Never — Not really "In what may be a formal acknowledgment of the obvious, the CIA has issued a... Kevin Drum: Its conclusion: there wasn't any. Final reports on bioweapons and nukes are coming up next. Stay tuned. |
Rewriting the Laws of War for a New Enemy LAT — Permalink The Geneva Convention isn't the last word. John C. Yoo, a law professor at UC Berkeley, is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. They w | |
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Digby: But, the administration is listening to ideologues like Robert J. Delahunty and John C. Yoo, who should be cast into the... Hindrocket: This morning, Robert J. Delahunty and John C. Yoo, the authors of Justice Department memos concluding that the Geneva... |
Matthew Yglesias: John Yoo of torture memo fame tries to cloud the issues with the tired right-wing argument that the Geneva Conventions are outdated in the age of assymetrical warfare. Avedon Carol: The long and the short of it — Leah has a long, comprehensive post at Corrente called When Did A Free Press Become The... |
Claims of GI Hostage in Iraq Raises Doubt AP — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq - A Web site posted a photograph of what it claimed was a kidnapped U.S. soldier, but doubts were quickly raised about its authenticity and the U.S. military said no soldiers were missing. | |
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Tom Biro: You can see the AP's latest here or here. |
Glenn Reynolds: MORE: A big-media report on the hoax. STILL MORE: Cool, Charles-Johnson-style animated graphic overlay here. |
AFL-CIO won't endorse anyone in race for Democratic post By / AP — Permalink (02-01) 09:38 PST WASHINGTON (AP) — AFL-CIO leaders decided Tuesday not to make an endorsement in the race for Democratic National Committee chairman, a move that could make it harder for any of Howard Dean's rivals to stop his push for the party leadership. | |
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Kos @DailyKos: AFL-CIO sits out DNC race — Frost's last big chance — a big labor endorsement — has gone up in smoke. ByronUT: The San Francisco Chronicle reports: [snipped quote] Diaries :: ByronUT's diary :: Tue Feb 1st, 2005 at 01:55:05 PM EST :: 34 Comments |
Byron LaMasters: The San Francisco Chronicle reports: "AFL-CIO leaders decided Tuesday not to make an endorsement in the race for... |
What got so many counties to go red from blue in '04? USA Today — Permalink When President Bush delivers his State of the Union address Wednesday, he'll survey a Capitol Hill landscape that reflects the heartland he won on Election Day. (Chat: USA TODAY's Susan Page, Tuesday, 11 a.m.) | |
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Patrick Ruffini: How America Got Redder — Jill Lawrence and Susan Page show us how good electoral postmortems are done, honing on the 153 counties that switched from blue to red in 2004. Betsy Newmark: USA Today looks at why some counties went from being blue in 2000 to red in 2004. [snipped quote] They cite five reasons that caused the change. Steve Bainbridge: "(Link with theories)" |
Avedon Carol: USA Today has a story which purports to answer the question, What got so many counties to shift from blue to red? and more or less comes out saying mainly it was 9/11 and the war. Orrin Judd: MOVEIN.GOP: What got so many counties to shift from blue to red? (Jill Lawrence and Susan Page, 2/01/05, USA TODAY) [snipped quote] Who will tell Tancredo... Taegan Goddard: Why the Map Turned Red — A USA Today analysis suggests the surge towards Bush and the GOP in the presidential election... |
How Bush's vodka thwarted Putin's thugs WorldNetDaily — Permalink Dr. Jack Wheeler, creator of a unique intelligence website dubbed "the oasis for rational conservatives," shares how a gift of vodka and a little ingenuity helped Ukraine's Orange Revolution succeed, bringing the former Russian satellite onto President Bush's list of new democracies. | |
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Jan Haugland: This story, though from a dubious source, indicates that I was right: "Eastern Ukraine is heavily ethnic Russian. Glenn Reynolds: DEMOCRACY, VODKA, SEXY? [quote] "Eastern Ukraine is heavily ethnic Russian. The main industry is coal.[end quote] |
Shannon Love: Aztecs and Arabs — A very interesting observation via Instapundit. |
PAC backing Romney pumps cash in key states Boston Globe — Permalink Friends and supporters of Governor Mitt Romney have established a political action committee that has lavished more than $250,000 on Republican candidates and county GOP organizations across the nation since July, apparently laying the groundwork for a potential presidential run for the Massachusetts politician in 2008. | |
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Joe Gandelman: A top GOPer seems to be systematically laying the groundwork for a 2008 Presidential run — the son of a famous... Shawn @LiquidList: According to this Globe article, evidence to support these claims continues to mount. Taegan Goddard: Romney's Gifts May Signal 2008 Bid — Supporters of Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) [snipped quote] the Boston Globe reports. |
Hugh Hewitt: Debate? She's running in '08, and she's not the only one, as this Globe story on Mitt Romney underscores. Oliver Willis: Heads Up — Republicans Mass. governor Mitt Romney is buying friends in an apparent move towards running for President. |
Kerry's Mich. chief behind in party race By / Detroit Free Press — Permalink As Howard Dean's campaign for chairman of the Democratic National Committee got a boost Monday, one of Dean's strongest opponents faced allegations that his leadership of the Michigan Kerry for President campaign was in disarray days before the election. | |
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Kos @DailyKos: Michigan, the Kerry Campaign, Fowler, and the big mess — The Democratic Party's open secret is out Taegan Goddard: Fowler Charged With Mismanaging Campaign — The Detroit Free Press runs an article based on information clearly intended to derail Donnie Fowler's candidacy for DNC Chairman. |
Ttagaris: We've moved from a losing party of the 20th centurty to a losing party of the 21st century. by Matt Stoller on Sat Dec... |
The Vietnam turnout was good as well Guardian — Permalink On September 4 1967 the New York Times published an upbeat story on presidential elections held by the South Vietnamese puppet regime at the height of the Vietnam war. | |
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McQ: Hitchens: Iraq is not Vietnam — Christopher Hitchens very easily deals the tired "Iraq/Vietnam" comparison, which the left continues to try to make, a death blow. Barbara O'Brien: Sami Ramadani writes in The Guardian, "With the past few days' avalanche of spin, you could be forgiven for thinking... RDF @Corrente: Why Write a Good Story Twice? Echo, echo, echoâ anybody else hear an echo echo echo? |
Harry @HarrysPlace: Sami Ramadani in this morning's Guardian compares the "propaganda about Iraq's elections" to the vote held in South Vietnam in 1967. Jeralyn Merritt: Election and Voter Turnout — Not to beat a dead horse, but it 's worth pondering that in 1967, the U.S. crowed about the good turnout in the Vietnam election. |
State Dems get into dispute with DNC as chairman's race heats up AP — Permalink LANSING, Mich. (AP) — As Democrats continue to wrangle over what the party should look like to ensure victory in 2008, a fight has broken out between the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic officials over how DNC money was spent on John Kerry's 2004 race in Michigan. | |
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Karl-Thomas Musselman: I doubt Fowler will stay in with the whole Michigan debacle now hitting the mainstream press in that state as of right now. |
Jeralyn Merritt: Donnie Fowler got some bad press related to the Michigan Kerry campaign (he was its Director.) |
Bush to Call for Near-Freeze in Spending: Aide By / Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush will call for a near-freeze in the overall growth of government spending not connected to national defense to try to rein in record deficits, a senior administration official said on Tuesday. | |
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Kos @DailyKos: Bush's budget plan — Bush's efforts to restrain the deficit don't seem, at first blush, to be up to the task:... |
Greg @TheTalentShow: How Cute... Isn't it adorable when Junior pretends to be a fiscal conservative? |
Brain immaturity can be deadly By / MSNBC — Permalink By most physical measures, teenagers should be the world's best drivers. Their muscles are supple, their reflexes quick, their senses at a lifetime peak. Yet car crashes kill more of them than any other cause — a problem, some researchers believe, that is rooted in the adolescent brain. | |
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James Joyner: Brain Develops Risk Aversion Late — Brain immaturity can be deadly (MSNBC) [snipped quote] It's not surprising that... K. J. Lopez: BRAIN IMMATURITY — Another reason for abstinence education! |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: THE RECKLESSNESS OF YOUTH — Now explained with an anatomical basis: [snipped quote] If true, I find this bizarre. |
Who Gets the Credit in Iraq? By / WaPo — Permalink Who deserves credit for the first free election in Iraq in 50 years? That's the question driving a lot of the international online commentary about the Iraqi elections Sunday. There is a good deal of positive reaction even from some critics of the United States. | |
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John Cole: Sheer Idiocy — Glenn links to this piece in the Washington Post arguing who gets credit for the Iraqi elections, but fails to mention the egregious final sentence of the story. |
Glenn Reynolds: "WHO GETS CREDIT IN IRAQ?" asks an article in the Washington Post. That people are fighting over credit tells you most of what you need to know about how things are going . |
A beacon is lit in Iraq. But not in your names, Robin, Douglas and the BBC By / Times of London — Permalink WHO WON the Iraqi elections? The formal counting won't be over for days. But the result's already clear. Iraq won. And who lost? Well, a full list would take up all this column, but, for starters, I would say that the people who seemed a little glum... | |
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Harry @HarrysPlace: Not in your name — Michael Gove's column in The Times today is, once again, right on the mark: Women in an Arab nation... Orrin Judd: VICTORY LAP: A beacon is lit in Iraq. Kevin Aylward: Quote Of The Day — [snipped quote] Michael Gove in The Times (UK) Via Scott Burgess, who notes that political knitting... |
Scott Burgess: Michael Gove of the Times offers a useful list: "I would say that the people who seemed a little glum yesterday morning... Greyhawk: [quote]"The real test is..." [end quote] Michael Gove in The London Times "WHO WON the Iraqi elections? The formal counting won't be over for days. |
Many Unhappy Returns By / NYT — Permalink The fight over Social Security is, above all, about what kind of society we want to have. But it's also about numbers. And the numbers the privatizers use just don't add up. Let me inflict some of those numbers on you. Sorry, but this is important. | |
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Tom Maguire: Krugman Versus The Strawmen — Paul Krugman vanquishes a strawman today, in his ongoing struggle with Social Security... Susan Q. Stranahan: Go to comments — February 01, 2005 Blog Report Ups & Downs of Social Security, Pensions and Blogging Today's column... Ian Welsh: Investing 101: SS Edition (It appears Krugman's written this article already, so you may wish to just read Krugman, if... |
Kevin Drum: The problem is that if long-term growth is strong, Social Security isn't in trouble in the first place: "It really is... DeLong: Paul Krugman on Social Security Returns — He writes: "The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Many... Max B. Sawicky: PRESENT AT THE CREATION — The challenge Paul Krugman poses today in the NY Times (via Atrios) about the returns to... |
| Also: Jim Dallas, Atrios, Christopher @ShrillBlog, Steve Antler, Michael Froomkin, Orrin Judd, Josh Marshall | |
AP: Videos Show Guantanamo Prisoner Abuse By / AP — Permalink SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Videotapes of riot squads subduing troublesome terror suspects at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay show the guards punching some detainees, tying one to a gurney for questioning and forcing a dozen to strip from the waist down, according to a secret report. | |
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Jeralyn Merritt: Videos were released today of Guantanamo prisoner abuse that occurred at the hands of the "Immediate Reaction Forces." |
Max @Centerfield: Well, it seems someone has done just that. These videos, some of which show gratuitous abuse of prisoners, help build the case that torture is not unique to Baghdad. |
As Clinton Shifts Themes, Debate Arises on Her Motives By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 - Conservatives have long caricatured Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York's junior senator, as the sort of Democrat whose positions on social issues are out of step with Americans deeply concerned about religious and moral values. | |
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Amy Sullivan: Today you can read about the revelatory New York Times article reporting that conservatives don't believe Hillary Clinton when she talks about faith and morality. McQ: The NYTimes entitles a piece today about Hillary Clinton: "As Clinton Shifts Themes, Debate Arises on Her Motives" Heh ... my first reaction was "what debate?" James Joyner: Today's NYT has this: As Clinton Shifts Themes, Debate Arises on Her Motives "Conservatives have long caricatured... |
Avedon Carol: Meanwhile, The New York Times has an article about how Hillary has shifted themes to expose more of her "spiritual"... Hugh Hewitt: "As Clinton Shifts Themes, Debate Arises on Her Motives." Debate? She's running in '08, and she's not the only one, as this Globe story on Mitt Romney underscores. Edward _: ;-) — Hillary's been seen sporting a more conservative power suit lately, and it ain't sitting too well with some of us... |
| Also: Betsy Newmark, Jesse Taylor, Orrin Judd, K. J. Lopez | |
Medicare to cover Viagra, similar drugs By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON — Sexual performance drugs such as Viagra will be covered in Medicare's new prescription drug program, a lifestyle rather than lifesaving benefit that conservatives and watchdog groups say the government shouldn't provide. | |
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Julian Sanchez: Well, via the Medicare prescription drug benefit, the federal government will now be giving men a hand getting it up by covering Viagra and other sexual performance drugs. |
Nathan Newman: All You Need is Love — Medicare to cover Viagra. Conservatives are protesting, but I'd love to see them vote to tell older folks that they don't have the right to get it on. |
The left is worth nothing By / Townhall.com — Permalink It took a Polish rescuer of Jews in the Holocaust, cited this week 60 years after the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration and death camp, to best describe those people who cannot or refuse to know the difference between good and evil. They are "worth nothing." | |
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Jesse Taylor: The Evil Left — Man, where's Bruce Campbell when we need him? Steve M.: Shorter Dennis Prager: Liberals are actually morally worse than suicide bombers who kill and mutilate children. |
Charles Johnson: Prager: The Left is Worthless — Dennis Prager precisely describes the moral vacuity of the far left: The left is worth nothing. |
Iraqi President: U.S. Troops Should Stay By / AP — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's president said Tuesday it would be "complete nonsense" to ask foreign troops to leave the country now, although some could depart by year's end. Officials began the final vote tally from elections to produce a government to confront the insurgency. | |
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McQ: Iraq's president, Ghazi al-Yawer, not at all known as an US "lackey", claims its utter nonsense to demand US forces... Pejman Yousefzadeh: But Iraq's President appears to have infinitely more strategic and tactical sense than do Senators Kennedy and Reid:... |
Jeralyn Merritt: And, big surprise, Iraq's President today said he wants U.S. troops to stay in Iraq. |
GOP Sees a Future in Black Churches LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — Black conservatives who supported President Bush in 2004 and gained new prominence within the Republican Party are launching a loosely knit movement that they hope will transform the role African Americans play in national politics. | |
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Jesse Taylor: Rather than deal with the issues that actually impact your lives, we're going to try to unify you around resentment of gay people. Orrin Judd: JUDIS GOATS: GOP Sees a Future in Black Churches: Social issues are binding the party with a group once firmly in the Democratic camp. |
Jayson @PoliPundit: Expanding the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy — GOP foot soldiers intend to take their message, of freedom, prosperity, and personal responsibility, to evangelical African-Americans. |
NEW: Text of Churchill statement Denver Post — Permalink In the last few days there has been widespread and grossly inaccurate media coverage concerning my analysis of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, coverage that has resulted in defamation of my character and threats against my life. | |
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Daveed Gartenstein-Ross: The statement can be found here. Those interested can read it and make up their own minds. |
Jeralyn Merritt: Professor Churchill Responds to Firestorm of Criticism — University of Colorado Professor Ward Churchill released this... |
Bird Flu Spate Signals Easier Transmission By / LAT — Permalink After smoldering through the summer and fall, avian flu has erupted again in Southeast Asia with 12 confirmed deaths since late December, the latest a 10-year-old Vietnamese girl who died Sunday. | |
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Kevin Drum: AVIAN FLU PANDEMIC?...A number of experts are beginning to think that a mutated form of the avian flu virus may be... |
Richard TPD: This is truly scary, when you consider it's the director of the CDC who's talking pandemic: [snipped quote] They say we are way overdue for the next big pandemic. |
6 Key Democratic Senators Oppose Bush Plan on Benefits NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 - Six of the seven Democratic senators from the states where President Bush plans to campaign this week for his Social Security plan say they are unalterably opposed to his main principle of diverting tax money into personal investment accounts. | |
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Josh Marshall: With less than 36 hours before the president kicks off his bamboozlepalooza tour, the turmoil and turnover within the Fainthearted Faction continues to grow. |
Matthew Yglesias: It's a small error, typographically speaking, but if The New York Times is going to keep covering Social Security, they... |
US military is the big threat now By / Boston Globe — Permalink THE BIGGEST threat to the new legitimately elected political leadership in Iraq is the very force that did so much to make it possible — the American military. The biggest threat is not an Iran-style theocracy ruthlessly imposed by the majority Shi'ites and triggering civil war. | |
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Dale Franks: The New Talking Points — Thomas Olphant rolls out the new argument for bringing the troops home from Iraq: They will destabilize the country. |
McQ: Oliphant says US Military now the "big threat" in Iraq — Maybe its just me but I do not follow Thomas Oliphant's... |
In Netherlands, Anti-Islamic Polemic Comes With a Price By / WaPo — Permalink THE HAGUE — Sometimes the threats come by e-mail. Other times, warnings show up on Internet chat sites. Occasionally they are short video clips. The latest has a soundtrack of Arabic song and automatic-weapons fire, and a photograph of the intended target — a Dutch lawmaker, Geert Wilders. | |
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Damian Penny: European democracy under seige — In the wake of Theo van Gogh's murder, Dutch politicians who speak out against... |
Hindrocket: The Washington Post reports: "Sometimes the threats come by e-mail. Other times, warnings show up on Internet chat sites. |
Bush, Pistons share traits By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON — Joking that they have something in common by defying skeptics, President George W. Bush honored the "mighty Detroit Pistons" at the White House on Monday for their 2004 NBA championship. | |
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Steve M.: President Bush, quoted by the Detroit News, "chuckling" with the Detroit Pistons in a White House celebration of their 2004 NBA championship. John J. Miller: GO PISTONS — President Bush met with the Detroit Pistons yesterday and congratulated them on their NBA championship. |
PoliPundit: Quote of the Day — "So, nobody expected you to win - I know how you feel." - President Bush to the Detroit Pistons. |
The Stuff Nations Are Built On NRO — Permalink Iraqis now have their own heroic story of resistance. The good news is that two of my favorite writers were wrong. Or, to speak more broadly, the good news is that two ideas they represented and popularized are proving to be wrong. | |
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Howard Kurtz: National Review's Jonah Goldberg has really lost patience with one of those senators: "Is there a more execrable,... |
Cori Dauber: National Myths of Resistance — Jonah Goldberg is absolutely right; every nation needs one, and now the Iraqis have theirs. |
Does Tomorrow Belong to Gingrich's 'Popular Majority'? By / NYT — Permalink In his sloppy, poorly reasoned new book "Winning the Future," the former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich sets up an either/or dynamic between "the liberal elite minority" and "the popular majority," and makes this aggrieved assertion: "Since the 1960's, the conservative majority has been intimidated, manipulated and bullied by the liberal minority. | |
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Sam Rosenfeld: From Michiko Kakutani's dismissive review of Newt Gingrich's new book: "He writes at length about the difficulties... |
Steve M.: Newt Gingrich, from his new book, as quoted in the New York Times review: "We must transform the health system so people... |
Stepping Out of the Tar Pit By / NYT — Permalink As I watched the images of Iraqis lining up to vote, even in the face of terrorists who threatened to wash the streets with blood, I couldn't help thinking of Whittaker Chambers. Chambers broke with the Communist Party in 1938, testified against Alger Hiss in 1948, and then emerged as a melancholy but profound champion of freedom. | |
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Steve M.: Here's David Brooks today: These Iraqis are people who ... have spent their lives in hell and cannot have been unaffected by it. Betsy Newmark: David Brooks explains why the Iraqi elections made him think about Whitaker Chambers. Pejman Yousefzadeh: "STEPPING OUT OF THE TAR PIT" — Excellent. |
Judith Weiss: Stepping Out of the Tar Pit - David Brooks on the elections. Juan Cole's most dedicated fisker returns to the task. Cori Dauber: Most certainly this one doesn't, but so far it's the one I'd most recommend to you today. |
In U.S., White House and the Democrats Seek an Edge By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 - Both President Bush and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill tried Monday to capitalize on the election in Iraq, with the White House saying it was a ratification of both its political and military strategies and Democrats saying it should open the way for a clear exit plan. | |
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Hugh Hewitt: Harry Reid, visionary: "But most of all, we need an exit strategy so that we know what victory is and how we can get there." |
Taegan Goddard: Both Sides See Validation From Iraq Vote — "Both President Bush and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill tried Monday to... |
4 Networks Reject Ad Opposing Bush on Lawsuits By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 - An advocacy group, USAction, said on Monday that four television networks had turned down its request to run an advertisement opposing President Bush's effort to clamp down on medical malpractice lawsuits. | |
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Sam Rosenfeld: The news that all four major networks have refused to air an anti-tort reform ad rekindled my curiosity. Dave Johnson: Networks Refuse Ads Opposing "Tort Reform" / Bush Gets Free Hour 4 Networks Reject Ad Opposing Bush on Lawsuits. Brian Stelter: NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox Broadcasting have rejected an advocacy group's request to run an [snipped quote] the New York Times says. |
Chris Bowers: Now, take a look at this (again, emphasis mine): [snipped quote] I asked before who would define "controversial subject matter." Oliver Willis: But then you cut them out of that too. [snipped quote] You all broadcast the "controversial" lies of the Bush administration without shame. |
As Iraqis Celebrate, the Kurds Hesitate By / NYT — Permalink Erbil, Iraq — OF all the remarkable things that happened at the Iraqi polls on Sunday, perhaps the most striking was pulled off by the Kurdish independence movement. | |
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Cori Dauber: Here's a piece in the Times arguing that all signs are they really want independence. |
Orrin Judd: MORE: As Iraqis Celebrate, the Kurds Hesitate (PETER W. GALBRAITH, February 1, 2005, NY Times) |
Universal's Second Chance to Make Video Pay By / NYT — Permalink The world's biggest music company wants to make sure it doesn't end up playing the blues again because of the music video business. The Universal Music Group of Vivendi Universal says it will no longer provide music videos free, or at a nominal cost, to... | |
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Jeff Jarvis: Universal Music just announced that it is doing the exact opposite of what it should be doing with music videos. |
Barry L. Ritholtz: Universal to Cable/Internet: Pay us for Videos — Here's an interesting new development from mega-label Universal, via... |
Reid, Pelosi reject Kennedy's calls for set withdrawal By / Washington Times — Permalink Congress' top two Democrats said yesterday that there should not be a set schedule for pulling troops out of Iraq, contradicting Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's call on Thursday for the United States to withdraw 12,000 troops immediately and complete a full withdrawal by early 2006. | |
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Hindrocket: Both Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi disagreed with Kennedy's demand to start withdrawing troops and set a timetable to complete the withdrawal yesterday. |
Jayson @PoliPundit: Harry ("racial profiling") Reid and Nancy ("Botox") Pelosi disagree with "Whiskey" Ted Kennedy, on whether the U.S. should immediately cut and run from Iraq. |
Professor resigns after 9/11 essay prompts protests AP — Permalink DENVER, Colorado (AP) — A University of Colorado professor who provoked a furor when he compared victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks to Nazis has resigned as a department chairman but will retain his teaching job, the university said. | |
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Jim Dallas: Well, good. Ward Churchill is taking a demotion (why not more?) . Granted, we're all here for academic freedom. |
Greyhawk: Scooby Doo — Ward Churchill quits - sort of: [snipped quote] And he might have gotten away with it - if it weren't for those durn kids blogs! |
Law Barring Junk E-Mail Allows a Flood Instead By / NYT — Permalink A year after a sweeping federal antispam law went into effect, there is more junk e-mail on the Internet than ever, and Levon Gillespie, according to Microsoft, is one reason. | |
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Steven Taylor: Along the same lines, the NYT today has a story about the failure of federal anti-spam laws (there's a shock): "Since... Orin Kerr: The New York Times takes a look. Among the interesting findings: Spam now accounts for about 80% of all e-mail sent, up from about 20% just two years ago. |
Matthew Yglesias: Can Spam — The New York Times reports that the Can Spam Act isnt working very well. |
Unrest on Campus Over Speaker Who Sees U.S. Role in 9/11 By / NYT — Permalink CLINTON, N.Y. , Jan. 29 - For months after Sept. 11, Matthew Coppo felt that he was reliving the death of his father at the World Trade Center in just about every news broadcast he saw. Everywhere were constant reminders that his personal loss was part of something larger. | |
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Cori Dauber: You've probably heard the story by now about the professor invited to speak at some little school whose ravings about the victims of 9/11 have everyone all in a tizz. K. J. Lopez: Here's his take on the whole situation, from NYTimes: "For his part, Professor Churchill said in an interview, 'My reaction is astonishment. |
McQ: Ward Churchill is "astonished" — Really he is: [quote] For his part, Professor Churchill said in an interview, "My reaction is astonishment.[end quote] MWS @Centerfield: Academic Parasites — I'm ashamed at having ever considered entering academia after this story in the NY Times about the... |
The Shiite earthquake By / Salon — Permalink The elections held on Jan. 30 in Iraq were deeply flawed as a democratic process, but they represent a political earthquake in Iraq and in the Middle East. The old Shiite seminary city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, appears poised to emerge as Iraq's second capital. | |
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Juan Cole: My article on Iraqi politics after the elections, "The Shiite Earthquake", is up at Salon.com. |
Ogged @Unfogged: Next — Damn stuff to do, but in the meanwhile, this Juan Cole piece in Salon (bit frightening that an editor at Salon... |
The Spinners, Casting Their Versions of the Vote in Iraq By / WaPo — Permalink Less than an hour before the Iraqi polls closed, correspondent Jim Maceda was reporting on MSNBC that some voters were so afraid that they asked if they could sneak in the back of a polling station. | |
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Greyhawk: Something for Everyone — Howard Kurtz reviews the post-election spin from various quarters. Brian Stelter: Howard Kurtz examines the "message wars" surrounding the weekend election in Iraq. Take the exaggerated turnout stats, for instance. |
Tim Graham: HERE COME THE YES-BUTS — If you're curious how the Iraqi-elections story will begin to get spun into "wait a minute,... |
Bush must embrace the values of open societies By / Lebanon Daily Star — Permalink President George W. Bush's second inaugural address set forth an ambitious vision of the role of the United States in advancing the cause of freedom worldwide, fueling worldwide speculation over the course of American foreign policy during the next four years. | |
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Stuart Buck: George Soros — From a recent op-ed by George Soros1: "Paradoxically, the most successful open society in the world,... |
Charles Johnson: Soros Finds a Home — George Soros has found a home at Lebanon's Daily Star, in an op-ed that says there's no right and... |
Churchill's statement Rocky Mountain News — Permalink The following is a statement from Ward Churchill: In the last few days there has been widespread and grossly inaccurate media coverage concerning my analysis of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, coverage that has resulted in defamation of my character and threats against my life. | |
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Gregory Djerejian: Check out his statement today defending himself: [quote] I am not a "defender" of the September 11 attacks, but simply...[end quote] |
Joanne Jacobs: Here's Churchill's explanation of his position: Apparently, only the finance guys are "little Eichmanns," not the restaurant workers or firefighters who died. |
HILL SELLS OUT New York Post — Permalink WHEN the British ul tra-liberals in the pre- Tony Blair Labor Party published their lengthy election manifesto in the late 1980s, the radical document so explicitly spelled out their defiance of English public opinion that a Tory politician called it "the longest suicide note in history." | |
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Avedon Carol: Hill Sells Out, it says, and he first declares the possible selection of Howard Dean as head of the DNC to be a "suicide note" for the party. Deacon: Robert Novak and Dick Morris agree. Even leftist Harold Meyerson thinks that Dean "shlepps too much baggage" but adds that it normally doesn't matter who the party chairman is. |
James Joyner: Dick Morris is far less kind in a NY Post op-ed entitled "Hil Sells Out." Orrin Judd: A FEW ANGLES TOO MANY: HILL SELLS OUT (Dick Morris, January 31, 2005, NY Post) [snipped quote] One wonders if Mr... |
Beating a Dead Parrot By / Slate — Permalink There it was again, across half a page of the New York Times last Saturday, just as Iraqis and Kurds were nerving themselves to vote. "Flashback to the 60's: A Sinking Sensation of Parallels Between Iraq and Vietnam." | |
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C. D. Harris: But the 'lessons' of Vietnam need to be run through the filter of Samuel Clemens: "We should be careful to get out of... James Joyner: Meanwhile, Christopher Hitchens has an essay entitled "Beating a Dead Parrot," which explains, yet again, "Why Iraq and Vietnam have nothing whatsoever in common." Cori Dauber: Just take a look at which Christopher Hitchens, no Vietnam-hawk he, has to say on the matter. |
Harry @HarrysPlace: By coincidence, Christopher Hitchens has an article in Slate today on the very same subject and argues that there is no reasonable parallel of any sort between Iraq and Vietnam. Maimon Schwarzschild: Hitch on Iraq and Vietnam — Hitch has it right on Iraq — and from the point of view of someone (i.e. Judith Weiss: They're all there. And Mark Steyn fisks most of them in one column. Christopher Hitchens handles one of the others. |
| Also: Pejman Yousefzadeh, Arthur Chrenkoff, John Cole, Stephen Green | |
Mark Steyn: The 'civil war' that wasn't The Australian — Permalink AND so the "looming Iraqi election fiasco" joins "the brutal Afghan winter" and "the brutal Iraqi summer" and "the seething Arab street" and all the other junk in the overflowing trash can of post-9/11 Western media fictions. | |
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Jeff A. Taylor: Mark Steyn gets off a good riff at the expense of John Kerry's dour reaction to the Iraq vote: [snipped quote] But I... Dale Franks: Stopped Clocks — Mark Steyn reviews the success of anti-war prognosticators so far. Greyhawk: Elsewhere — Mark Steyn in The Australian: [quote] AND so the "looming Iraqi election fiasco" joins "the brutal Afghan...[end quote] |
James Joyner: Iraq: Another Meme Beats the Dust — Mark Steyn tells us of "The 'civil war' that wasn't" in his latest column: "AND so... John Cole: Update *** Mark Steyn flays the meme alive: [quote] "No one in the United States should try to over-hype this election,"...[end quote] Greg Ransom: THE LATEST STEYN — ON IRAQ. |
First Amendment No Big Deal, Students Say By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) - The way many high school students see it, government censorship of newspapers may not be a bad thing, and flag burning is hardly protected free speech. | |
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Jesse Taylor: Of course, the students may form pressure on another front - their lack of willingness to extend First Amendment rights... Joe Gandelman: If you were expecting young people to be at the forefront of protecting the first amendment for themselves and future generations you are apparently mistaken. Atrios: I don't know if that trend is true, but these poll results should scare us all: Yet, when told of the exact text of the... |
Acidman: disturbing — I am not one bit surprised by this news, but it troubles me just the same. Todd Zywicki: A Problem and A Solution: The Problem: [snipped quote] The Solution: The Bill of Rights Institute I am the Chair of the... Orrin Judd: SO COMMONSENSICAL THEY SCARE THE OLD FOLK: First Amendment no big deal, students say: Study shows American teenagers... |
| Also: SK Bubba, Jeff Quinton, Oldman @BOPNews, Gary Farber, Mathew Gross | |
Resist the Filibuster Fiat By / WaPo — Permalink During President Bush's first term, 10 of his judicial nominees were filibustered by Senate Democrats. This month, when the 109th Congress convened, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist finally declared war. | |
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Eugene Oregon: So if you are providing a run-down of coverage pertaining to the fight over judicial nominations and you link to Kevin... James Joyner: The Filibuster Fiat — Congratulations to Kevin Drum, who has published a column in today's WaPo entitled, "Resist the Filibuster Fiat." Kevin Drum: I explain in more detail in the Washington Post today. |
Avedon Carol: Kevin Drum actually has an op-ed in the WaPo today, Resist the Filibuster Fiat - but I'm not sure who he's talking to. Steve Dillard: On the filibuster feud: Kevin Drum makes some fair points in this opinion piece he penned for WaPo*, but the bottom line... Orrin Judd: IT'S ALL FIAT: Resist the Filibuster Fiat (Kevin Drum, January 31, 2005, Washington Post) [snipped quote] What Mr. Drum... |
| Also: David Adesnik | |
Healthcare Overhaul Is Quietly Underway By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — Emboldened by their success at the polls, the Bush administration and Republican leaders in Congress believe they have a new opportunity to move the nation away from the system of employer-provided health insurance that has covered most working Americans for the last half-century. | |
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Steve M.: This story (from Yahoo News, originally published in the L.A. Times) infuriates me: Healthcare Overhaul Is Quietly... Skippy: the talent show wraps up this week's latimes story about the repubbb's plan for healthcare in this country: "so, let's... Orrin Judd: LESSON ONE—WHEN HE SIGNS A BILL IT'S BECAUSE HE WON: Healthcare Overhaul Is Quietly Underway (Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar,... |
Greg @TheTalentShow: The Bush Administration wants to take it away : "Emboldened by their success at the polls, the Bush administration and... Hilzoy @ObsidianWings: From the LA Times: [snipped quote] This is a very, very significant change. |
Black Days at Black Rock By / New York Magazine — Permalink At 7:30 on the morning of January 10—less than three hours before CBS would release the explosive 224-page report of the commission investigating the discredited September 8, 2004, 60 Minutes Wednesday report on President Bush's National Guard record—Betsy... | |
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Thomas Lang: David Blum starts in with a lengthy piece ripping apart the independent investigation that the network commissioned and the firings that followed. Michelle Malkin: Ratherbiased.com alerts us to the latest issue of New York magazine, which has an inside look at the internal strife at CBS News. Brian Stelter: Heyward Came "This Close" To The Ax — New York tells the story behind the Memogate report: > "Heyward has reportedly... |
Captain Ed: Inside Black Rock: A Look At The Memogate Fiasco From Within — New York Magazine has a fascinating look at the Memogate fiasco from people on the inside at CBS News. Greg Ransom: Quotable: [snipped quote] New Yorker also has gripping piece on life inside CBS News during and since the release the... Betsy Newmark: Check out this story from the New York Magazine on the doom and gloom at CBS after the reprot on the Rathergate story came out. |
| Also: Bill @INDCJournal, Jan Haugland, Scott Sala | |
There is no tomorrow By / Minneapolis Star Tribune — Permalink One of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the Oval Office and in Congress. For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington. | |
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Greyhawk: Moyers Equivalence — Bill Moyers: "One of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. Avedon Carol: Things to read — In The Star Tribune, Bill Moyers: There is no tomorrow: One of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. Hugh Hewitt: And don't miss Bill Moyers' latest "I'm still here" screech. Moyers is now relegated to the pages of the Star Tribune, which says a lot about the paper. |
Joe Carter: I assume then that his latest screed against conservative Christians is an intentional falsehood meant to dupe those who never travel outside of Blue state circles. Cliff May: BILL MOYERS CRI DE COUER — A bleg: Here's is Bill Moyers on why "There is no tomorrow," a howl of anger and despair... McQ: Being taken seriously — Lesson to me: Learn from Bill Moyers. [snipped quote] Lesson? |
| Also: Glenn Reynolds | |
Message From Iraq NYT — Permalink Courageous Iraqis turned out to vote yesterday in numbers that may have exceeded even the most optimistic predictions. Participation varied by region, and the impressive national percentages should not obscure the fact that the country's large Sunni Arab minority remained broadly disenfranchised - due to alienation or terror or both. | |
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Jon Henke: New York Times Editorial... "For now at least, the multiple political failures that marked the run-up to the voting stand eclipsed by a remarkably successful election day." Jesse Taylor: I did, however, wanted to remark on something that the New York Times said about the elections: [snipped quote] The... Captain Ed: However, they still manage to outdo their East Coast counterparts: "This page has not hesitated to criticize the Bush... |
Andrew Sullivan: So check the NYT editorial today. No such acknowledgment. The difference between the blogosphere and the MSM: more accountability. Steven Taylor: The NYT: Message From Iraq "This page has not hesitated to criticize the Bush administration over its policies in Iraq,... Avedon Carol: But everyone thinks it's time to crow about Iraqi democracy. I say it's too soon. How about you? |
| Also: Chris Lawrence, David Adesnik, Daniel Drezner, Ed Cone, K. J. Lopez | |
Is the Y Chromosome for Yuks? By / NRO — Permalink Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers recently issued his third apology for remarks suggesting that women might not possess the same aptitude in math and science as men. So, if the academic women of America are anything like my wife, another three or four apologies and he should be good to go. | |
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Michele Catalano: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun — The questions I asked of you last night were part of my reaction to this article in yesterday's National Review: Is the Y Chromosome for Yuks? Tom Smith: That's not funny — Are men funnier than women? The fact that you can even ask that question shows you have no sense of humor. |
Betsy Newmark: Warren Bell has his own theory to explain why men are funnier than women. |
VINDICATED New York Post — Permalink WHEN you heard about the stunning success of the Iraqi elections, were you thrilled? Did you see it as a triumph for democracy and for the armed forces of the United States that have sacrificed and suffered and fought so valiantly over the past 18 months to get Iraq to this moment? | |
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Tbogg: And today is another day — John Podhoretz, who has been stationed over in Iraq since the beginning and has personally... Steve M.: And from the professional press, here's John Podhoretz in the New York Post: WHEN you heard about the stunning success of the Iraqi elections, were you thrilled? Jeff Jarvis: Hell, democracy in America still requires work. : The eeyore meme spreads. |
Leah A: The NYPost this morning features two prime examples of the genre, one by Deborah Orin, one by John Podhoretz, whose... Charles Johnson: Bush Vindicated, Dems and MSM Whine — John Podhoretz on the Iraqi elections and the disgraceful behavior of mainstream... Glenn Reynolds: MICKEY KAUS offers an explanation for the Democrats' political tin ear this week: Internet fundraising is tilting their message toward the fringe. |
| Also: The Big Trunk, Ace, Betsy Newmark | |
The New Boss By / NYT — Permalink Purple is the color of Andrew Stern's life. He wears, almost exclusively, purple shirts, purple jackets and purple caps. He carries a purple duffel bag and drinks bottled water with a purple label, emblazoned with the purple logo of the Service Employees International Union, of which Stern is president. | |
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Chris Bowers: In the labor movement, there is quite a bit of mythology surrounding Stern, and this section of Matt Bai's recent piece... Nathan Newman: Celebrity-Driven Labor Coverage — The Sunday NY Times Magazine gave Andy Stern the front page treatment and the result was sadly disappointing. Chris Nolan: There is perhaps - although that's not what he meant by the story - no better illustration of the simmering conflicts... |
Ruy Teixeira: As Matt Bai's fascinating portrait of Stern in the New York Times magazine demonstrates, he is indisputably the labor... Sam Rosenfeld: LABOR'S CRISIS. Nathan Newman takes a few well-chosen shots at Matt Bai's New York Times Magazine profile of Andy Stern. |
The De Soto Delusion By / Slate — Permalink It's Davos week, which means it's time for the world's most influential people to bask in the catchy wisdom of Hernando de Soto. Author of The Mystery of Capital and The Other Path, armchair consultant to numerous heads of state, and white knight for the... | |
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Ezra Klein: While I've already pointed to a few articles offering a general overview of our despotic allies, Steve's rundown of the... Kerry Howley: Debating Dead Capital — Over at Slate, John Gravois has a piece slamming Hernando de Soto's claim that conferring property rights are key to fighting poverty. |
Shannon Love: Delusions of De Soto's Delusion — John Gravois over at Slate pronounces Hernado de Soto's ideas a failure in alleviating poverty in the 3rd world. Greg Ransom: Well, a staff reporter from the Chronicle of Higher Education writing in Slate magazine could: "It's Davos week, which... |
Hillary Clinton collapses during speech in New York AP — Permalink BUFFALO, N.Y. - Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton collapsed Monday during a speech in Buffalo. Colleen DiPirro, president of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce, told WBEN radio station that the 57-year-old Clinton told the audience she was feeling weak from a... | |
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Joe Gandelman: Hillary Faints — You just KNOW there will be lots of speculation — and jokes — about this: BUFFALO, N.Y. Taegan Goddard: Hillary Clinton Collapses During Speech — Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) collapsed during a speech in Buffalo, NY, the AP reports. |
Steve Soto: Hillary Clinton Collapses In Buffalo — The AP is reporting that Hillary Clinton collapsed at a chamber of commerce event in Buffalo a short while ago. Oliver Willis: Hillary Clinton collapses — Hillary Clinton | Right-Wing Stupidity "Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton collapsed Monday during a speech in Buffalo and was taken to a local hospital. |
Child Said Used in Iraq Suicide Attack AP — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's interior minister said Monday that insurgents used a handicapped child as one of the suicide bombers who launched attacks on election day. Falah al-Naqib told reporters in Baghdad that 38 attacks were carried out on polling stations in Iraq on Sunday and that one of the suicide bombings was carried out by a disabled child. | |
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Joe Gandelman: ANSWER: As low as humanly — and inhumanly — possible: BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's interior minister said Monday that... James Joyner: Handicapped Child Said Used in Iraq Suicide Attack — Child Said Used in Iraq Suicide Attack (AP - WaPo) |
Charles Johnson: Holy Warriors Use Handicapped Child — Child Said Used in Iraq Suicide Attack. K. J. Lopez: ONE OF THE SUICIDE BOMBERS IN IRAQ SUNDAY was a disabled child?! This is the face of the enemy there: people who use a handicapped kid to kill. |
The Last Palestinian By / New York Review of Books — Permalink Much as his political ascent gave shape to the contemporary Palestinian landscape, Yasser Arafat's death will fundamentally transform it. Arafat was unique, and uniquely suited to his people's condition following the 1948 war: defeated, dispossessed, and... | |
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Jan Haugland: Hussein Agha and Robert Malley has written an obviously pro-Palestinian article about the challenges ahead for Mazen, trying to explain who this man is. Gregory Djerejian: The State of Abu Mazen — [snipped quote] More here. |
Ezra Klein: I've always found his theories appealing, but it seems the evidence isn't stacking up that way. â The Nation has... |
Webb drops out of race for DNC chairmanship By / Denver Post — Permalink Wellington Webb dropped out of the race to chair the Democratic National Committee today and endorsed former Vermont governor Howard Dean for the job. Webb, a former three-term Denver mayor, pulled out of contention immediately after an influential group... | |
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Kos @DailyKos: But we still have two weeks to go... Update: Webb drops out, endorses Dean. Chris Bowers: Webb Endorses Dean — Another big win for Dean: [snipped quote] If inevitability was dead yesterday, today it is an undead zombie rampaging the populace: [snipped quote] Wow. |
Taegan Goddard: Webb Backs Dean — Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb "dropped out of the race to chair the Democratic National... |
Security Efforts Hold Insurgents Mostly at Bay NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 - By increasing American troop strength in Iraq, banning all civilian car traffic and ordering a host of other security measures - some within standard military procedure and others distinctly not - American and Iraqi forces widely thwarted insurgents who had threatened to wash the streets with blood. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: And one can't be anything but thankful for the fact that a week's worth of special security measures ensured that only about four dozen Iraqis got killed for their trouble. Phillip Carter: The NYT agrees, reporting that Iraqi security forces bested the insurgents on a day when the insurgents were expected to inflict a terrible toll on the Iraqi population. K. J. Lopez: From the NYTimes: "Every soldier on election duty heard intelligence warnings that insurgents would try to slip... |
Cori Dauber: I mention this because the Times features a front page above the fold article this morning that in part asks the question: how good is the good news? Pejman Yousefzadeh: KEEPING IRAQ SECURE — This story discusses how the United States military was able to secure Iraq for a peaceful election, and is well worth a read. |
Bullets and ballots Guardian — Permalink The most obvious message to draw from yesterday's elections in Iraq is that it will be a long time before it becomes clear who the real winners are. Not only is this literally the case - in that it will be at least a week and a half before the results are known, and many of the candidates were anonymous - but figuratively too. | |
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Brownie @HarrysPlace: Today's Guardian editorial, quoting Kofi Anan, is perhaps the finest exemplar: This election is...only a first step in deciding Iraq's future. |
Norm Geras: One site of such urging, as you might expect, was this morning's Guardian editorial page. |
Race for Democratic Leader Entering Its Final Stage By / LAT — Permalink NEW YORK — Except for the higher quality of the bagels at breakfast, the regional Democratic National Committee meeting here over the weekend might have been a gathering of Iowa Democrats in the weeks before their kickoff presidential caucus last year. | |
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Nathan Newman: But he temporarily reverted today when he crowed about people fearing Dean's Internet supporters: "Once upon a time,... K. J. Lopez: Ron Brownstein: "The behind-the-scenes anxiety about Dean probably equals the public support he has generated. |
Kos @DailyKos: They finally fear us — From the LA Times: [snipped quote] Once upon a time, party officials feared NARAL, they feared... |
Even in the Wake of Suicide Blast, 'They Didn't Want to Go Back Home' By / WaPo — Permalink BAGHDAD, Jan. 30 — The young man wore a winter jacket over his explosive vest and approached the polling station with his hands in the pockets. "Take your hands out of your pockets," said Ali Jabur, the Iraqi police officer in charge of patting down voters on the street outside. | |
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Cori Dauber: Because the people were so intent on voting that they refused to go home. Betsy Newmark: It is so inspirational to read about Iraqis waiting in line to vote while the bodies of victims of a suicide blast are cleared away. PoliPundit: Suicide Bomber Succeeds, but Fails — This is an amazing story. |
Smash: But the Iraqis kept coming to the polls anyway â" in one case, waiting in line just a few feet away from the... Damian Penny: The best: after another suicide bomber (or was it the same guy?) killed five people at a Baghdad polling station, people still waited around to vote. |
Form Follows Fascism By / NYT — Permalink THE death last week of Philip Johnson, the nonagenarian enfant terrible, brought 20th-century architecture to a symbolic close. Even Mr. Johnson's friends sometimes doubted that he was an architect of the first rank, but friend and foe alike agreed that he was an emblematic figure of his time. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: JOHNSON AND SONTAG: Check out Mark Stevens' interesting and tough assessment of the late architect Philip Johnson in the NYT. Orrin Judd: Form Follows Fascism (MARK STEVENS, 1/31/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] It can hardly be surprising that anti-human building proceeded from such an anti-human personality. |
James Panero: Mark Stevens's essay today comes as a welcome tonic to all this. Rick Brookhiser: JOHNSON AND FASCISM — An op-ed in today's New York Times discusses Philip Johnson's fascism. A recent biography had the goods. |
Guantanamo Bay Tribunals Ruled Illegal By / WaPo — Permalink A federal judge ruled this morning that special military tribunals the Pentagon has used to determine the likely guilt of most of the 500 men held at a prison in Guantanamo Bay — and to justify their continued imprisonment — are illegal. | |
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Phillip Carter: In breaking news this morning, the Washington Post reports that U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green has similarly held... Michael Froomkin: Early news coverage: Guantanamo Bay Military Reviews Ruled Illegal, U.S. Denies Guantánamo Inmates' Rights, Judge Says. |
Jeralyn Merritt: Guantanamo Detainees Entitled to Court Review — Bump and Update: This is still a big story: New York Times Washington... |
Acts of Bravery By / NYT — Permalink You'd have to be pretty hardhearted not to be moved by the courage of the millions of Iraqis who insisted on turning out to vote yesterday despite the very real threat that they would be walking into mayhem and violent death at the polls. | |
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Steve Antler: Because he made the trains run on time... With what can only be described as a breathtaking lack of idealism and... Barbara O'Brien: Also, Bob Herbert writes in today's New York Times, [snipped quote] Herbert's entire column is very much worth reading. Orrin Judd: "BUT" HEADS: Acts of Bravery (BOB HERBERT, 1/31/05, NY Times) "You'd have to be pretty hardhearted not to be moved by... |
Stephen Green: Bored Now — When the first-ever free & fair election in the entire Arab world was held yesterday in Iraq, Bob Herbert... Cori Dauber: So when Times columnist Bob Herbert writes: In a war with very few feel-good moments, yesterday's election would qualify as one. |
Sen. Clinton Faints, Later Gives Speech By / AP — Permalink BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton fainted Monday after complaining of a stomach virus before a scheduled speech on Social Security. She received medical attention at the scene and then went on to give another speech at a Catholic college Monday afternoon. | |
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John Cole: Hillary — Here is to wishing Hillary Clinton a speedy recovery. |
Kate @OTB: "All I Ate Was A Little Soup" — The leading contender for the 2008 Democratic nomination collapsed today just before she was to give an address on health care. |
U.S. Judge: Guantanamo Tribunals Unconstitutional Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge ruled on Monday that the Guantanamo military tribunals for terrorism suspects are unconstitutional. In a setback for the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green also ruled the prisoners at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have constitutional protections under the law. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green is but the latest example: [snipped quote] Somebody needs to remind Judge Green of... Mathew Gross: Constitution — Reuters: "A U.S. judge ruled on Monday that the Guantanamo military tribunals for terrorism suspects are unconstitutional. |
Andrew Cochran: Story here, the memorandum decision is here, and the order is here. No doubt, the Administration will appeal this ruling. |
Sen. Clinton Recovers After Collapsing By / AP — Permalink BUFFALO, N.Y. - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton collapsed Monday during a speech on Social Security, moments after complaining about a stomach virus. "She fainted after not feeling well, got medical attention and is proceeding with her planned schedule," according to a statement released by her office in Washington. | |
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Ace: Hillary Overcome by Emotions — Drudge siren: "Hillary in Faint Scare" [snipped quote] Looks like she was finally... |
K. J. Lopez: RE: HRC — She had mentioned she wasn't feeling well because of a stomach flu. |
NOT AVAILABLE New York Post — Permalink January 31, 2005 — EVEN in death, Rodney Dangerfield gets no respect. The late comedy legend's longtime publicist, Kevin Sasaki, got a call from a booker at CNN last week asking him if "Rodney would be available to share his comments on the passing and legacy of Johnny Carson." | |
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Kevin Aylward: In other Carson news, Richard Johnson in New York Post notes:Even in death, Rodney Dangerfield gets no respect. |
Joe Gandelman: OOPS.... How about this tidbit from the New York Post: January 31, 2005 — EVEN in death, Rodney Dangerfield gets no respect. |
Social Security redesign debated By / Raleigh News & Observer — Permalink Marc Major, 34, isn't worried and has no plan to follow the Social Security debate. Major, a Durham resident who just completed a master's degree at Northwestern University, said young people don't project the future well. | |
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Josh Marshall: Rep. Howard — Coble (R) of North Carolina sidling up to the Conscience Caucus? |
Ed Cone: Howard Coble spoke bravely about our lack of planning in Iraq...now he's hinting that he may not back Bush on Social Security. |