memeorandum: Say no to AP's shoddy work (Jules Crittenden/Boston Herald)

2:15 PM ET, December 3, 2006

Top Items:

Jules Crittenden / Boston Herald:

Say no to AP's shoddy work — When a company defrauds its customers, or delivers shoddy goods, the customers sooner or later are going to take their business elsewhere. But if that company has a virtual monopoly, and offers something its customers must have, they may have no choice but to keep taking it.

Discussion: Don Surber, Flopping Aces, Hyscience, Wake up America, Blue Crab Boulevard, Gateway Pundit, PrairiePundit, Power Line, NewsBusters.org and Instapundit.com

jules crittenden:

Brave New World — The pajama-clad ranks of conservative bloggers are officially here as effective media watchdogs, having forced Dan Rather's retirement; having forced Reuters and other news agencies to come to terms with the propaganda they were shilling for terrorists in Lebanon …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Douglas Brinkley / Washington Post:

Move Over, Hoover — Shortly after Thanksgiving I had dinner in California with Ronald Reagan's best biographer, Lou Cannon. Like many historians these days, we discussed whether George W. Bush is, conceivably, the worst U.S. president ever. Cannon bristled at the idea.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Riehl World View, Joust The Facts, The Swamp, Taylor Marsh, All Spin Zone, Middle Earth Journal, Prairie Weather and The Reaction

Vincent J. Cannato / Washington Post:

Time's On His Side — After the 2004 election, a number of terribly depressed people at my university told me what a shame it was that President Bush had been reelected. If only people knew history, they lamented, they would never have voted for him. — It must be a comforting thought …

David Greenberg / Washington Post:

At Least He's Not Nixon — In 1950, President Harry S. Truman was under fire for "losing" China to communist forces, engaging in deficit spending and seeking to expand unemployment insurance. Harold E. Stassen, a prominent Republican, blasted him as "the worst president ever to occupy the White House."

Discussion: TPMCafe blogs and Rising Hegemon

Michael Lind / Washington Post:
He's Only Fifth Worst

Discussion: The Mahablog and Lean Left

Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:

The Meaning Of Rumsfeld's Leak — Many bloggers have written about the leaked Rumsfeld memo published by the New York Times on Friday and confirmed by the Pentagon later the same day, but no one has a better political analysis than Andy McCarthy at NRO's The Corner.

Discussion: The Corner, Redstate, The Political Pit Bull, PrairiePundit, Political Animal and Suitably Flip

Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:
Rumsfeld Called for Change in War Plan

Discussion: AMERICAN FUTURE

jules crittenden:
A Testament to Cluelessness

Discussion: Angry Bear

Michael / Petrelis Files: From DoD: Rummy in Philly, Dec. 1, 2006

New York Times:

New on the Web: Politics as Usual — THE Netroots. " "People Power. " "Crashing the Gate. " The lingo of liberal Web bloggers bespeaks contempt for the political establishment. The same disdain is apparent among many bloggers on the right, who argued passionately for a change …

Discussion: The News Blog, Althouse and The American Mind

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:

Lame-Duck Congress May Run Out the Clock — Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) wants legislation on President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) is sure the time has come for Congress to declare that aborted fetuses feel pain.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Blue Crab Boulevard, Outside The Beltway, The Corner, Daily Kos and The Impolitic

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Democrats Face a Tough Job, Leader Says — The Democratic National Committee chairman, Howard Dean, warned party leaders on Saturday not to revel too long in the victories from last month's midterm elections or treat their Congressional majorities as a permanent directive from voters.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Democratic Underground

Alan Cowell / New York Times:

Russian Ex-Spy Lived in a World of Deceptions — The tangled tale of Alexander V. Litvinenko, the maverick Russian K.G.B. agent turned dissident who died of radiation poisoning last week, has seized the headlines recently, but its roots can be traced to a late spring evening in Moscow in 1994.

Discussion: Defense Tech and The Huffington Post

Times of London:
Putin wanted Blair to gag poisoned spy

Discussion: Samizdata.net

BBC:

Canada Liberals spurn Ignatieff — A former Canadian minister has beaten prominent writer Michael Ignatieff in a leadership election for the country's opposition Liberal party. — Mr Ignatieff had been favourite to win the race, but was defeated by ex-Environment Minister Stephane Dion.

Discussion: The Reaction and Captain's Quarters

M. P. Dunleavey / New York Times:

Plan to Retire but Leave Out Social Security — USUALLY I do little more than skim my Social Security statement — the four-page folded newsletter that arrives periodically with updates about my benefits. — This time I read the whole thing, starting with the opening letter from Jo Anne B. Barnhart …

Discussion: The American Street, Angry Bear and Brad DeLong's Semi …

William J. Broad / New York Times:

Polonium, $22.50 Plus Tax — THE trail of clues in the mysterious death of Alexander V. Litvinenko may lead to Moscow, as the former spy claimed on his deathbed. But solving the nuclear whodunit may prove harder than Scotland Yard and many scientists at first anticipated.

Discussion: Hot Air and Gateway Pundit

Alexei Barrionuevo / New York Times:

Imports Spurring Push to Subsidize Produce — FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. — For decades, the fiercely independent fruit and vegetable growers of California, Florida and other states have been the only farmers in America who shunned federal subsidies, delivering produce to the tables of millions of Americans on their own.

Discussion: Marginal Revolution

Matthew Yglesias:

Sears, Valentino, and "Symbolic Racism" — Dave Noon writes more about race and southern politics following up on the discussion launched by Rick Perlstein's article on the subject: … I read the Valentino and Sears paper yesterday, and I think it's plausibly true that the authors are biased against Republicans.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money, The American Scene and Alabama Liberation Front

Times of London:

Saudis lead Israel peace bid — THE Saudi Arabian government is emerging as a key player in talks to broker a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace agreement. — According to senior Israeli sources, Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, will soon meet high-ranking Saudi officials to explore …

Discussion: PrairiePundit and Israel Matzav

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Gergen: Press was guilty of "cheerleading" the run up to the war. — On Reliable Sources today, David Gergen admitted what many of us crazy f*&king hippies have been saying all along now—that the press didn't do their job and failed the American people in the run up to the war in Iraq.

Spocko / First Draft:

Re: This could kill New Orleans (Score: 1) — I have multiple ideas. I'm thinking about official leverage, unofficial leverage. Public PR and underground PR. — Also Counterintuitive across the crazysphere reaching — Official Public PR Leverage. Someone who is a press darling needs to say something strong.

Discussion: Majikthise and Rising Hegemon