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U.S. Will Revise Data on Terror By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — The State Department is scrambling to revise its annual report on global terrorism to acknowledge that it understated the number of deadly attacks in 2003, amid charges that the document is inaccurate and was politically manipulated by the Bush administration. | |
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Robert Garcia Tagorda: According to the Los Angeles Times, Democratic congressman Henry Waxman has accused the Bush administration of skewing the numbers for political gain. Jesse Taylor: No Terror Here, No Sir — Via Political Wire, the State Department is revising its 2003 report on terror attacks. Dean Esmay: The Los Angeles times reports that previous positive estimates of worldwide terrorism going down may have been wrong, and Democrats are attacking the administration for that. |
David Allan Pell: It turns out the terror numbers for 2003 originally released by the State Dept were way off the mark and made a pretty bleak picture look pretty impressive. Taegan Goddard: Revised Report May Show Terror at 20 Year High — The State Department "is scrambling to revise its annual report on... Oliver Willis: U.S. Will Revise Data on Terror When the most recent "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report was issued April 29, senior... |
| Also: Kevin Drum | |
Fewer Republicans Trust the News, Survey Finds By / WaPo — Permalink In a country increasingly divided into red and blue states, the media are taking on a more partisan coloration as well — at least in the eyes of those who read and watch. | |
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Cori Dauber: I think his piece reveals some interesting things about what he finds credible. David Allan Pell: Somehow, in the last several years, more and more Americans (especially Republicans) have become convinced that the media is made up of a bunch of liberals who can't be trusted. Edward Driscoll: "Howie Kurtz has a rundown in today's Washington Post, including some crowing from various network/newspaper PR flacks about the results." |
James Joyner: Howard Kurtz comments on this research, as well: "While the percentage of people who rate CNN as highly credible has... Joe Drymala: Media Credibility Gap — An interesting poll came out recently about Americans and how they view the media. Steve Lovelady: Howard Kurtz reports on the poll in this morning's Washington Post, highlighting this surprising finding: While 45... |
| Also: Will Collier | |
The Road Map for A Sovereign Iraq By / Opinion Journal — Permalink After a suicide car bombing killed Iraqi Interim Governing Council President Izzedine Salim and eight others on May 17, one Iraqi put that act of terror into a larger perspective for those who wonder if democracy can work in Iraq. | |
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Ed Cone: Paul Wolfowitz leads his WSJ opinion piece this morning by citing an Iraqi blogger. The media revolution is not over, but its outcome is not in doubt. Charles Johnson: The Road Map for A Sovereign Iraq — A terrific piece by Paul Wolfowitz (or as Al Gore pronounces the name,... QD @SouthernAppeal: Wolfowitz on Iraq: Paul Wolfowitz on Iraq - before and after June 30. His citations of Iraqi bloggers are pretty interesting. |
Jeff Jarvis: Blogs read in the halls of power : For the second time (the first was in the NY Post, this is in the Wall Street Journal), Paul Wolfowitz is quoting Iraqi bloggers. Dale Franks: Our Plan for Iraq — Dep. Sec. of Defense Paul Wolfowitz provides us with a long and detailed article about the progress... Cori Dauber: Today, in OpinionJournal.com, he writes a piece that's a bit long winded, but still quite useful. |
| Also: Roger L. Simon, Robert Cox, Sadly @SadlyNo, Ted Belman, Josh Chafetz, Dean Esmay | |
Chirac snubs Bush's Nato request BBC — Permalink French President Jacques Chirac has poured cold water on US calls to expand Nato's role in Iraq. President George W Bush said earlier that the Nato alliance should become more involved in Iraq after the 30 June handover of sovereignty. | |
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Donald Sensing: Chirac just vicariously told Kerry to take a hike when it comes to Iraq. Jeff Jarvis: F' vous : Chirac, in the words of the BBC, snubs Bush's suggestion that NATO should get involved in Iraq. |
Jan Haugland: The Beeb, France and Nato — Bush has indicated he'd like to see a role for Nato in Iraq, and not surprisingly France's Jacques Chirac is not positive to the plan. Roger L. Simon: And now we learn, just as the whole world is trying to pull together to help Iraq's move to democracy Chirac snubs Bush's Nato request. |
DAN & TOM: ENOUGH REAGAN New York Post — Permalink DAN Rather and Tom Brokaw work for dif ferent networks but agree one thing — coverage of Ronald Reagan's death has been excessive, they say. "Even though everybody is respectful and wants to pay homage to the president, life does go on," Rather told the Philadelphia Inquirer. | |
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John Hawkins: Rather & Brokaw Sick Of Talking About Reagan — This is just un.be.lievable... "DAN Rather and Tom Brokaw work for... Stefan Beck: But don't tell that to Tom Brokaw or Dan Rather, who feel that too many words have been spent on the man who smashed the greatest tyranny of the twentieth century. |
Jonathan Gewirtz: UPDATE: Such thoughtful fellows — So fair! So balanced! So measured and restrained! So devoted to the reporting of facts without sensationalizing anything! Steve Antler: Dan Rather is impatient with continual media coverage of Ronald Reagan's passing: "Once the herd starts moving in one... |
News Audiences Increasingly Politicized Pew Research Center — Permalink I. Where Americans Go for News II. The Changing Online News Audience III. International News Audience Broader, Not Deeper | |
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Jeanne D'Arc: Trust fun media_pollOver at the Campaign Desk, Steve Lovelady takes a look at a recent Pew Research Center poll of how... James Joyner: Polarized Press — Pew Research — News Audiences Increasingly Politicized "Despite tumultuous events abroad, the... Will Collier: Coin Of The Realm — Expect to see a lot of chatter today and tomorrow over the just-released Pew study of news audience attitudes. |
Taegan Goddard: Fewer Republicans Trust the News — "Republicans have become more distrustful of virtually all major media outlets over... Steve Lovelady: Fact Check — Whom Do You Trust? No one, if a new poll by the Pew Research Center is any indication. Jesse Taylor: Even In Victory, Defeat — The Pew Center's latest survey on media perception and partisan consumption is out, and I... |
| Also: Greg Ransom, Jason Van Steenwyk, Edward Driscoll | |
Laura Bush Says Cannot Support Stem Cell Research By / Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Laura Bush, whose father died from Alzheimer's, said on Wednesday she admired Nancy Reagan's devotion to former President Ronald Reagan until his death but could not back her call for relaxation of stem cell research restrictions. | |
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Brian Crouch: Vilifying the First Lady — The Reuters headline reads: "Laura Bush Says Cannot Support Stem Cell Research" However,... Roger L. Simon: Two Steps Forwards, One Step Backwards... ... and this one really is backwards to me. (I'm with Nancy!) |
KJL: LAURA BUSH ON STEM CELLS Jesse Taylor: Not if Laura Bush is any indication. [snipped quote] I'm not even sure why the question was asked - Reagan's suffering in life didn't sway them, why would his death? |
Poll shows dissatisfaction with Bush By / Financial Times — Permalink A growing number of Americans believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, underscoring dissatisfaction with the leadership of President George W. Bush, according to a poll published on Thursday. Fifty-eight per cent believe the nation is on the wrong track, up from 55 per cent in March. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: Why not? What is he hiding? KERRY'S LEAD WIDENS: I don't think this has anything to do with Kerry. |
Taegan Goddard: Update: The Financial Times has more on the poll. |
Moon Over Washington By / Gadflyer — Permalink Should Americans be concerned that on March 23rd a bipartisan group of Congressmen attended a coronation at which a billionaire, pro-theocracy newspaper owner was declared to be the Messiah - with royal robes, a crown, the works? | |
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Ezra Klein: Lucky for us, John Gorenfeld has done just that in an article explaining how Moon is consolidating his power and the ridiculous role our elected officials are playing to help him. Roger Ailes: Read This Article — A very important article from John Gorenfeld on the Moon psuedo-coronation in a United States Senate office building, this past March. |
H.D. Miller: Lunatic = Moonstruck — When a lunatic crowns himself emperor we generally ignore him, or if San Franciscans, humor him... Atrios: Moon Over Washington — Gorenfeld on Moon in the Gadflyer. |
Army Now Says G.I. Was Beaten in Role AP — Permalink LOUISVILLE, Ky., June 8 — Reversing itself, the Army said Tuesday that a G.I. was discharged partly because of a head injury he suffered while posing as an uncooperative detainee during a training exercise at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. | |
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Mark Kleiman: Since the story broke in the press the Army has reversed itself. I don't want to downplay how hard this problem looked from the Army's viewpoint. |
Josh Marshall: From the — Associated Press ... [snipped quote] What can you say about this stuff? |
Bush Sees Possible NATO Role for Iraq, Not Chirac By / Reuters — Permalink SEA ISLAND, Ga. (Reuters) - President Bush proposed a NATO role for Iraq at the Group of Eight summit on Wednesday but the main opponent of the war, French President Jacques Chirac, said the alliance had no role there. | |
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Jeff Goldstein: Apportez-moi mon cheval digne de confiance — Jacques Chirac, le cowboy français.* **** h/t Blackfive |
Blackfive: Here's some comments from Reuter's: Bush Sees Possible NATO Role for Iraq, Not Chirac We believe NATO ought to be... |
REAGAN TO THE RESCUE By / New York Post — Permalink IN 1976, I joined the U.S. Army as a private. Our military was broken. My first unit, in Germany, had trucks built in the 1940s, inadequate winter clothing, inept medical care and an atmosphere of pessimism. We were not "combat ready." | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: A SOLDIER REMEMBERS — Ralph Peters pays tribute to Ronald Reagan. I won;t even try to excerpt favorite parts. Just read it all. Stephen Green: Private Ralph Peters remembers: [snipped quote] How good did things get in the '80s? Read the whole thing to find out. |
Daniel Drezner: For an example, consider Ralph Peters' New York Post column (link via James Joyner). |
Prison Interrogators' Gloves Came Off Before Abu Ghraib By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — After American Taliban recruit John Walker Lindh was captured in Afghanistan, the office of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld instructed military intelligence officers to "take the gloves off" in interrogating him. | |
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Atrios: Arrest Rumsfeld — LA Times. Kevin Raybould: Rumsfeld Authorized Lindh Abuse — This is not acceptable in a democracy: [snipped quote] By using ambiguous, though... |
Tom Tomorrow: A few bad apples — Their names are Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld: [snipped quote] Via Atrios. |
Reaganomics in Context By / TCS — Permalink "Let me talk, rather, of those presidents who I've known in my own lifetime. And there, there's no doubt in my mind that Ronald Reagan was by far the greatest. | |
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Greg Ransom: Arnold Kling. Economics — Learning from Reagan. |
Betsy Newmark: Arnold Kling gives some more insight on Reagan's economic record. "I believe that President Reagan made a positive difference for the economy. |
Calif. Guardsman Alleges Abuse in Iraq By / AP — Permalink SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A California National Guardsman says three fellow soldiers brazenly abused detainees during interrogation sessions in an Iraqi police station, threatening them with guns, sticking lit cigarettes in their ears and choking them until they collapsed. | |
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Jeralyn Merritt: Guardsman Makes New Iraqi Abuse Allegations — Greg Ford, a California National Guardsman, makes some new Iraqi prisoner... |
Steve M.: JUST A FEW BAD APPLES — A California National Guardsman says three fellow soldiers brazenly abused detainees during... |
Scientists Say Dirty Bomb Would Be a Dud By / AP — Permalink NEW YORK - The "dirty bomb" allegedly planned by terror suspect Jose Padilla would have been a dud, not the radiological threat portrayed last week by federal authorities, scientists say. | |
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Mathew Gross: Idiots Holding Idiots — We set aside the consitution for this? [snipped quote] Ridiculous. |
Steve M.: Now AP tells us that scientists say Padilla's other alleged terror plot wouldn't have worked either: The "dirty bomb"... |
Hatchet Man By / American Prospect — Permalink Born a few months after Reagan's inauguration, I have no personal recollection of the man, and this weekend's wall-to-wall coverage has been my first sustained exposure to his presidency. The tone of his rhetoric is striking. | |
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John Cole: With that in mind, Matthew Yglesias has some stunning news for President Dukakis, President Gore, Speaker ofthe House... |
Matt Yglesias: How Reagan Killed Conservatism — Read all about it at TAP Online: [snipped quote] So there. |
Author Ann Coulter Enters the No Spin Zone AP — Permalink This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," May 27, 2004 that has been edited for clarity. Watch The O'Reilly Factor weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET and listen to the Radio Factor! BILL O'REILLY HOST: In the personal story segment tonight. | |
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John Cole: You Couldn't Pay Me — You couldn't pay me to read or watch this interview, and I am beginning to wonder if Jesse Taylor is a masochist. |
Jesse Taylor: Oh, Ann Coulter Said Something — Bill O'Reilly interviews Ann Coulter. Complete detachment from reality ensues. |
Reagan's history with reporters By / Townhall.com — Permalink The greatest president of the 20th century has passed away. Everyone is assessing and re-assessing the giant legacy of this man, as well as the winning personality that helped create it. | |
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Jesse Taylor: Digging Til The Fingers Break Off — And following up my previous post, Brent Bozell decides that since he can't find... SLZoll: Brent Bozell The liberal media is saying nice things about the Reagan, and this makes Brent really mad, since it's NOT FAIR that he can't criticize them for maligning the dead. |
Betsy Newmark: Brent Bozell revisits how the media treated Reagan while he was president and after he left the presidency. Tbogg: One need not read any further than this from Brent Bozell's latest: The greatest president of the 20th century has passed away. |
Political cartoonist defends anti-Reagan Web tirade By / Washington Times — Permalink Political cartoonist Ted Rall's comment that the late President Ronald Reagan is "turning crispy brown right about now" provoked a reaction that crashed his Web site for at least 24 hours after the remark was posted on the Drudge Report. | |
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Tim Cavanaugh: Ted Rall, defending his latest outrage against the late President Reagan, drops an interesting political factoid: [snipped quote] Whole story here. John Cole: Quote of The Day — Who said the following: [quote] "Still, I'm not a knee-jerk left-wing guy," ******************** said.[end quote] |
Steve Bainbridge: Ted Rall — Despite his protestations, Ted Rall is an evil guy. It cannot be said often enough. |
Blog-rolling for votes and dollars By / Salon — Permalink Most Americans probably don't know who Roy Blunt is, and they probably don't much care. As the House majority whip, he is the man responsible for getting Republican representatives to toe the party line — but his name doesn't inspire a whole lot of passion. | |
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Taegan Goddard: Blog-rolling for Votes and Dollars — "Political advertising on weblogs is booming, and some local candidates are raising big national money," Salon reports. |
Atrios: Candidate Blogads — I think this Salon story gets it about right. |
Legalizing Torture WaPo — Permalink THE BUSH administration assures the country, and the world, that it is complying with U.S. and international laws banning torture and maltreatment of prisoners. | |
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Tom Smith: This fulminating editorial from the Washington Post is an example. Dan Gillmor: Abusing Morality and Law — Washington Post: Legalizing Torture. |
Dale Franks: It's Not Torture if You're Just Smacking Them Around a Little Bit — Both the Washington Post and the New York Times are... Atrios: Slumbering Giant Awakens — WaPo: "THE BUSH administration assures the country, and the world, that it is complying... |
Memo Draws Focus To Bush WaPo — Permalink The disclosure that the Justice Department advised the White House in 2002 that the torture of al Qaeda terrorist suspects might be legally defensible has focused new attention on the role President Bush played in setting the rules for interrogations in the war on terrorism. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: CONDONING TORTURE: The lame responses by John Ashcroft to the evidence in leaked memos that the Bush administration... Billmon: In the Washington Post's follow up to yesterday's story on the Justice Department's torture memo - the bureaucratic Big... Hugh Hewitt: The back-story is that the DOJ has provided advice to the executive branch on what can and cannot be done to interrogate prisoners. |
Matthew Yglesias: Nevertheless, it's time to come back to the present and focus on the major news of the week, namely the revelation that... Phillip Carter: More to follow... Update I: Before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, Attorney General John Ashcroft denied... |
Text: Ashcroft Comments on Anti-Terror Policy WaPo — Permalink U.S. SENATOR ORRIN G. HATCH (R-UT) CHAIRMAN U.S. SENATOR CHARLES E. GRASSLEY U.S. SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER | |
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Billmon: Ashcroft — I spend this morning reading the transcript of the AG's testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee... |
Adam Mordecai: The transcript of those hearings is quite a fascinating series of dodges by Ashcroft on various issues. |
Kurds Threaten to Walk Away From Iraqi State By / NYT — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 8 — A crisis for the new Iraqi government loomed Tuesday as Kurdish leaders threatened to withdraw from the Iraqi state unless they received guarantees against Shiite plans to limit Kurdish self-rule. | |
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Cori Dauber: After listening to the Shia go on for weeks about their intention to remove provisions in the Constitution guaranteeing... |
James Joyner: Kurds Threaten To Walk Away From Iraqi State — NYT — Kurds Threaten To Walk Away From Iraqi State [RSS] |
Speaker Pushes Jobs Bill Provision By / WaPo — Permalink House Republican leaders have tacked on to a major jobs bill a provision that would give religious leaders more freedom to engage in partisan politics without endangering the tax-exempt status of their churches. | |
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Steve Soto: Well we now see how the GOP plans to fix that, just in time for the election. Ezra Klein: Legislator 7:15 — Can somebody remind me which Gospel counseled achieving by deceit what you couldn't pass with transparency? |
Josh Marshall: From today's — Washington Post ... [snipped quote] See the rest here. Separate of church and state, sic transit ... |
How Long Should People Live? By / TCS — Permalink How long should people live? Randall Parker's FuturePundit blog has an interesting post and discussion on aging research. The discussion revolves around an argument by Cambridge University's Aubrey de Grey that political reluctance is a major barrier to research that could extend human life substantially, or even reverse aging. | |
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Dean Esmay: Longevity — Professor Reynolds has good column on longevity research, and how some people seem to be resistant to the idea politically. |
Glenn Reynolds: LONG LIFE AND ITS ENEMIES: My TechCentralStation column is up. |
Sneaky Moves on Tobacco NYT — Permalink House Republicans are trying to slip through a measure that would provide almost $10 billion in buyout payments to tobacco growers in return for eliminating an outmoded price support system under which many of them are losing out to foreign competition anyway. | |
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Jon Henke: "Perhaps they better think twice about invoking Reagan's legacy every five minutes if they keep trying nonsense like..." |
John Cole: Perhaps they better think twice about invoking Reagan's legacy every five minutes if they keep trying nonsense like... |
Cease-Fire Fails to Hold By / NYT — Permalink More trouble on the presumed freeze on campaigning by the Bush and Kerry teams during this week of mourning Ronald Reagan. Aides to President Bush announced that they were shocked to learn that an independent Democratic political organization, the Media... | |
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Jane Galt: Cease fire collapses — The political attack ads are already running again, thanks to a Democratic 527 group. |
Taegan Goddard: Campaign Cease Fire Fails — Republicans "cried foul" when a Democratic group was found to be running political... |
Schisms From Administration Lingered for Years WaPo — Permalink As the nation mourns its 40th president, much is being made of Ronald Reagan's role in reordering U.S. -Soviet relations and dramatically redefining the terms of the political debate over tax policy, defense, domestic priorities and social justice. | |
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Kevin Raybould: A Look at the Darker Side of Reagan's Legacy — It is hardly complete, but for a major newspaper, this is a decent look at the controversies and scandals of the Reagan era. |
Betsy Newmark: Just in case you thought the press was going overboard on its Reagan coverage, the Washington Post has a front page... |
Campaigns seize on Reagan's legacy By / Boston Globe — Permalink WASHINGTON — After three days of suspended political activity, the Bush campaign began openly incorporating Ronald Reagan's death into its reelection message yesterday, revamping its website to give Reagan a dominant role and distributing official campaign letters that invoke the former president. | |
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Taegan Goddard: According to the Boston Globe, Republicans now say "it would be impossible to separate Reagan's death from the current... |
Howard Kurtz: The Bush team has shifted to an RR strategy, says the Boston Globe: "After three days of suspended political activity,... |
Security Council Backs Resolution on Iraq Turnover By / NYT — Permalink UNITED NATIONS, June 8 — The Security Council voted unanimously on Tuesday in favor of an American and British resolution to end the formal occupation of Iraq on June 30 and transfer "full sovereignty" to an interim Iraqi government. | |
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Cori Dauber: GOOD NEWS WATCH — Well, a unanimous UN vote, and the New York Times is happy. You have to look at the online edition for a note of trouble. Andrew Sullivan: THE ENEMY: In the wake of the U.N. resolution backing the new government in Iraq, it's useful to remember that this will only intensify the violence against us. Hugh Hewitt: Even as the United Nations handed the Bush Administration a huge diplomatic win with the unanimous approval of a... |
Edward _: But while the US and other nations of the UN Security Council congratulate themseleves on their unanimous vote... Robert Garcia Tagorda: UPDATE: The resolution wins unanimous approval. |
Court Draws Line On Colorado GOP Redistricting Case By / WaPo — Permalink The Democrats got some good news in their uphill battle to take control of the House. The Supreme Court has rejected a Republican-backed plan to redraw the congressional districts in Colorado in a way that would have favored GOP candidates. | |
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Jesse Taylor: Already Drawn Once — Colorado Republicans' redistricting plan was rejected by the Supreme Court yesterday. |
Taegan Goddard: Justices Decline To Hear Redistricting Case — Democrats "got some good news in their uphill battle to take control of the House," the Washington Post reports. |
Moran Wins Va. Primary By / WaPo — Permalink Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (Va.) won renomination yesterday in a Democratic primary that became a debate between the seven-term congressman from Northern Virginia and his relatively little-known opponent, Andrew M. Rosenberg, about the incumbent's fitness for office. | |
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James Joyner: Moran Wins Primary — WaPo — Moran Wins Va. Primary [snipped quote] No great surprise, but a shame regardless. Betsy Newmark: Unfortunately, Jim Moran won his primary for reelection to his seat in Congress yesterday. |
Gary Farber: DRAT. [snipped quote] Not a surprise, but I had had wistful hopes. Read The Rest as interested. |
Fiery cleric al-Sadr gains political ground among Iraqis By / Knight Ridder — Permalink NAJAF, Iraq - After months of losing hundreds, if not thousands, of men in battles with the U.S. military, firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr appears to be more popular than ever in Iraq. | |
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Oliver Willis: Now here comes a story that says Sadr is more popular than ever. Kevin Drum: SADR'S POPULARITY GROWING?...I hope this isn't true, but I have a feeling it probably is: [snipped quote] The story goes... |
Juan Cole: Muqtada Emerges Strengthened; Allawi calls for Dialogue — Tom Lasseter of Knight Ridder argues from anecdotal evidence... |
My Ronald Reagan moment By / Townhall.com — Permalink The passing of President Reagan brought me back to Jan. 26, 1982. That was the date the "Great Communicator" first inspired me. I was 11 years old. In his State of the Union address that evening, Reagan spoke of recessions, regulations, entitlements, Soviets and sanctions. | |
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Sadly @SadlyNo: Time for a Michelle Malkin Moment — According to Michelle Malkin: "Skutnik jumped out of his car near the Fourteenth... |
SLZoll: Michelle Malkin Ronald Reagan inspired an 11-year-old Michelle to become a pundit by telling irrelevant stories in a SOTU address. |
More Enron Tapes, More Gloating CBS News — Permalink Traders can be heard manipulating the market, using now-infamous schemes with names like death star, ricochet and fat boy. (CBS) The Department of Justice reportedly has thousands of hours of Enron employees recorded during the West Coast power crisis. | |
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Jesse Taylor: Well, you can relive all of Enron's greatest hits with the Monsters of Fake Money compilation set, including the brand-new hit, "This Is Where California Breaks"! Mathew Gross: That seems to be the reaction to the latest round of revelations regarding how Enron sacked California. |
Steve Antler: Kids with expensive haircuts driving expensive cars... Instead of acting in a businesslike fashion — like boring... |
Kerry on Reagan By / Weekly Standard — Permalink SENATOR JOHN KERRY issued a respectful and respectable statement in response to the news of President Reagan's death on Saturday. "Ronald Reagan's love of country was infectious," he said. "Even when he was breaking Democrats' hearts, he did so with a smile and in the spirit of honest and open debate. | |
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Jeanne D'Arc: Kerry and Reagan — Katherine Mangu-Ward has dug up a real shocker: When John Kerry made his gracious statement on the... Howard Kurtz: The Weekly Standard's Katherine Mangu-Ward rounds up some of Kerry's anti-Reagan rhetoric, saying that occasionally he... |
Betsy Newmark: Katherine Mangu-Ward has a collection of prime quotes also on the Weekly Standard site. Charles Johnson: But at the Weekly Standard, Katherine Mangu-Ward has compiled a list of Kerry's previous statements about Reagan—and they were anything but gracious: Kerry on Reagan. |
Republicans Mull New Honors for Reagan By / Reuters — Permalink WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon would be renamed after Ronald Reagan and his image placed on some American currency under proposals by congressional Republicans to honor one of their party's most popular former presidents. | |
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Steven Taylor: Let's Not Go Overboard — Reuters reports the following: [snipped quote] While the idea of putting Reagan on some of the... |
John Hawkins: Mitch McConnell wants to have Reagan replace Alexander Hamilton on the $10 bill, Dana Rohrabacher wants Dutch on the... |
Ashcroft Refuses to Release Torture Memo By / WaPo — Permalink Attorney General John D. Ashcroft told Congress today that he would not release to members a 2002 policy memo on the degree of pain and suffering legally permitted during enemy interrogations, but he said he knows of no presidential order that would allow torture for al Qaeda captives. | |
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Jon Henke: Government 101 for Patrick Leahy — So little said, so much wrong... [snipped quote] In order to help Senator Leahy... TChris: Ashcroft Refuses to Release Torture Memo to Congress — In another affront to open government and Congressional... |
Atrios: Shorter Steno Sue — Republicans are pro-torture, and Democrats are against it. Fair enough. Oliver Willis: Ashcroft Refuses to Release Torture Memo Angry Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee called on Ashcroft to... |
Unsung Triumph By / WaPo — Permalink It's a magnificent irony. Amid all the affection and adulation for Ronald Reagan, one of his greatest achievements stands all but overlooked. He helped subdue double-digit inflation, setting the stage for the prolonged economic expansions of the 1980s and 1990s. | |
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Greg Ransom: Reagan's greatest domestic achievement. It's not what you think. Robert Samuelson on Ronald Reagan vs. inflation. |
Stephen Green: But Robert Samuelson remembers: [snipped quote] Read the whole thing. |
CLINTON DISAPPOINTMENT: LEFT OFF FUNERAL SPEAKERS LIST Drudge Report — Permalink Former President Bill Clinton has privately expressed anger he has apparently been left off the speakers list of Friday's Reagan State Funeral, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. "President Clinton really held out all hope the funeral would be a nonpartisan event, like Nixon's was," a top Clinton source said on Tuesday morning. | |
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Mike Hendrix: Maxi-Me — Oh for the love of…. Oliver Willis: Classic Drudge — He floats a rumor (quite likely, as false as much of his "scoops" are) and the usual parties just eat it up (1, 2, 3 entries??!) Betsy Newmark: Drudge reports that Clinton is angry that he was left off the list of speakers at Reagan's funeral service. |
Tbogg: According to one of those phony Drudge reports where people who normally wouldn't be seen in the same state as Matt... Baldilocks: But if Former President William J. Clinton really is miffed that he isn't on the speakers' list to eulogize Former President Ronald Reagan, then all I can say is "wow!" Dale Franks: It's All About Him — Drudge is reporting that President Clinton is miffed at not being invited to speak at President Reagan's funeral. |
| Also: Kevin Raybould, Christopher Kanis, Ezra Klein, John Cole, H.D. Miller, Mathew Gross, Will Collier, Jonathan Gewirtz | |
Crowds Wait Hours to View Reagan Casket By / AP — Permalink SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) - Waiting good-naturedly for as much as half a day in traffic jams and a parking lot, tens of thousands of people filed past Ronald Reagan's flag-draped casket in an outpouring that forced organizers to extend the viewing period Tuesday by four hours. | |
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Baldilocks: There's the death of an American president, the outpouring of love, vitriol and pointless complaining (registration... James Joyner: Paying Their Respects to Reagan (California Edition) Considering how long it has been since Ronald Reagan was in the... |
The Big Trunk: The AP reports: "Crowds wait hours to view Reagan casket." |
Bush Didn't Order Any Breach of Torture Laws, Ashcroft Says By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, June 8 — Attorney General John Ashcroft, whose subordinates have written confidential legal memorandums seemingly approving of torture, told a Senate committee today that President Bush had "made no order that would require or direct the violation" of either the international treaties or domestic laws prohibiting torture. | |
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Howard Kurtz: "In non-Reagan news—yes, there's a little bit of that—it's Kennedy vs. Ashcroft: "Attorney General John Ashcroft,... |
Joe Drymala: Ashcroft Today — He appeared before a Senate committee today to defend the Bush administration against allegations of pro-torture advice from Bush's lawyers. |
U.N. Endorses Iraq Sovereignty Transfer By / AP — Permalink UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council gave resounding approval Tuesday to a resolution endorsing the transfer of sovereignty to Iraq 's new government by the end of June. President Bush said the measure will set the stage for democracy in Iraq and be a "catalyst for change" in the Middle East. | |
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John Hawkins: First off, their beloved UN has now endorsed our efforts in Iraq 15-0! Huzzah for us! Steven Taylor: Resolution Passes 15-0 — U.N. Endorses Iraq Sovereignty Transfer "The U.N. Security Council gave a resounding 15-0... |
C. D. Harris: Unilateral Cowboy — The UN Security Council unanimously endorsed the US-British resolution on transferring sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government today. |
New Torture Furor By / MSNBC — Permalink June 8 - A memo classified by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 2003 explores ways of conducting interrogations in the war on terror that would allow guards to evade future prosecutions for torture. | |
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Steve M.: (You can get to the torture memo via this Newsweek page or this NPR page.) |
Jeralyn Merritt: Secret Torture Memo Now Available — Newsweek has put the "secret torture memo" online here. |
U.N. resolution on Iraq passes unanimously CNN — Permalink UNITED NATIONS (CNN) — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a resolution on the June 30 transfer of power in Iraq. The U.S.- and British-backed resolution gives additional international support to the new interim Iraqi government and adds more international support for the U.S.-led coalition force. | |
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Captain Ed: Bush Wins At The UN — As I predicted yesterday, the Bush administration scored another foreign-policy victory in an... Kevin Drum: President Bush commented thusly: "There were some who said we'd never get one." Is this his new favorite phrase? |
Roger L. Simon: The UN passed the Iraq resolution unanimously , further legitimatizing the new democratic government so anathema to Al... |
The Jesus Landing Pad By / Village Voice — Permalink It was an e-mail we weren't meant to see. Not for our eyes were the notes that showed White House staffers taking two-hour meetings with Christian fundamentalists, where they passed off bogus social science on gay marriage as if it were holy writ and issued... | |
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The Poor Man: Madness — Pure madness: "It was an e-mail we weren't meant to see. |
Brad DeLong: See Perlstein's article in the Village Voice** . |
Iraqi Gratitude Opinion Journal — Permalink A myth has developed that Iraqis aren't grateful for their liberation from Saddam. So it's worth noting that the leaders of Iraq's new interim government have been explicit and gracious in their thanks, not that you've heard this from the U.S. media. | |
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Dale Franks: The Sound of One Hand Clapping — The editors of the Wall Street Journal are wondering why the press is essentially... McQ: Some are grateful — Lest we forget, Opinion Journal of the Wall Street Journal notes today that there are many... |
Roger L. Simon: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished... by the US Media ... at least the Wall Street Journal would have us believe it —and... Cori Dauber: But the media hasn't seemed all that interested. Now, actually, Allawi's comments did get wide broadcast pickup. |
Kerry Seeks Columns From Iowa Governor By / AP — Permalink DES MOINES, Iowa - Aides to presidential candidate John Kerry have asked for hundreds of newspaper columns written by Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, one of the Democrats whose backgrounds are being checked as Kerry ponders a running mate. | |
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Steven Taylor: Interesting: Kerry Seeks Columns From Iowa Governor "Aides to presidential candidate John Kerry have asked for hundreds... |
Brian Montopoli: Echo Chamber — AP Brings Out the Leftovers It's a slow political news day, which perhaps explains why the Associated... |
Tiny Symbol, Huge Fuss LAT — Permalink Until last week, who besides the ACLU's lawyers and a handful of bureaucrats even knew that Los Angeles County's seal incorporates an itsy-bitsy cross, along with a Spanish galleon, a tuna, the Hollywood Bowl, oil derricks, a Roman goddess of fruit and more? | |
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Baldilocks: Then the ACLU is at it again, with its, ahem, crusade against all things Christian that may appear near anything... |
Xrlq: L.A. Times Sides With the ACLU While Pretending Not to Side With the ACLU — My father recently alerted me to an... |
Four hostages freed in Iraq By / Reuters — Permalink BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Special forces from the U.S.-led coalition have raided a hideout south of Baghdad and freed three Italian hostages held for almost two months and a Pole abducted last week, coalition officials say. | |
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Emperor Darth Misha I: Good News From Iraq — Looks like one of the terrorists' kidnapping operations went down the drain, courtesy of the Red,... |
Stephen Green: Safe — Good news out of Baghdad: [snipped quote] Way to go, Special Forces. Next up, getting Iraqi Army units in on the action. |
Security Council Is Expected to Vote Unanimously on Iraq By / NYT — Permalink UNITED NATIONS, June 8 — The Security Council was expected to vote unanimously late today in favor of an American-British resolution to end the formal occupation of Iraq on June 30 and transfer "full sovereignty" to an Iraqi interim government. | |
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Gregory Djerejian: You know, another (likely to be unanimously passed) U.N. resolution on Iraq. Clauses 8-12 are the key ones (security, security, security). |
John Cole: Another Diplomatic Failure — Can't wait to hear howJuan Cole and Josh Marshall are going to dismiss this as a failure: [snipped quote] All together now: "QQQQQQQQQQuagmire. |
Iraq Claims Full Control of Oil Sector By / AP — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi officials declared Tuesday that the interim government has assumed full control of the country's oil industry ahead of the June 30 handover of sovereignty from the U.S.-led occupation administration. | |
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John Hawkins: There was also another development that should ease the minds of anti-war simpletons whose had trouble coming up with a... Charles Johnson: And in other news, the idiots who continue to insist we went to Iraq to take control of Iraqi oil may now serve... |
Cori Dauber: Given what Saddam was using the oil profits for, this is realistically the first time that the oil industry has been... Hindrocket: And Iraq's new government officially took charge of that country's oil industry today: [snipped quote] What I want to... |
The Simple Truth About Ronald Reagan By / Business Week — Permalink It was Christmas six years ago when Ronald Reagan, who died on Saturday at the age of 93, became an unexpected addition to our family, thanks to my son, who was then 11. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: REAGAN REMEMBERED — Roger Franklin: [snipped quote] Read it all. |
Tim Blair: REAGAN CONVERSIONS — US-based Australian journalist Roger Franklin keeps a small bronze bust of Ronald Reagan next to his keyboard. |
Monetary memorial? That's the $10 question By / USA Today — Permalink WASHINGTON — Former president Ronald Reagan's name has been enshrined on everything from an airport outside Washington to a turnpike in Florida to a mountain in New Hampshire. Now his most fervent fans have a new memorial in mind: the $10 bill. | |
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Tom Maguire: Keep The Change — Reagan on the $10 bill? My quick reaction is no, mainly because I am often a stuck in the mud conservative who doesn't readily embrace change. Jonathan Gewirtz: UPDATE2: Some people want to put Reagan's likeness on the ten-dollar bill. |
David Allan Pell: The Reagan enthusiasts are set to make a major push to get Alexander Hamilton removed from the ten dollar bill and replaced by the Gipper. |
Special forces free Iraq hostages BBC — Permalink Three Italians kidnapped in Iraq almost two months ago have been rescued in a mission by military special forces. A Polish man abducted a week ago was also released. All four men are said to be in good health. | |
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Jan Haugland: Special forces free hostages in Iraq — Three Italians kidnapped by Iraqi extremists almost two months ago were rescued by special forces. Kevin Raybould: Yeah! Special forces free Iraq hostages. Tim Blair: Forza Azzurri! The Italian hostages in Iraq have been rescued. (Via Sullivan) UPDATE. Joy of Knitting: "The three Italian hostages have been liberated. |
Betsy Newmark: Congratulations to our Special Ops guys who freed four hostages in Iraq. Well done! Andrew Sullivan: THE ITALIANS ARE RESCUED: A great event in Iraq. Kinda like this one. You can barely find them in the papers. |
Poll: Presidential race continues close as Bush's numbers remain low Detroit Free Press — Permalink LANSING, Mich. (AP) — President Bush and his Democratic rival, U.S. Sen. John Kerry, remain locked in a close race in Michigan, a new poll shows. Forty-seven percent of the 600 likely Michigan voters polled by Lansing-based EPIC/MRA said they'd vote for Kerry if the election was held today, while 45 percent backed Bush, with 8 percent undecided. | |
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Paleo: Michigan poll — Kerry 47% Bush 45% Kerry 45% Bush 43% Nader 3% EPIC/MRA poll. 600 likely voters. MOE 4%. |
Taegan Goddard: Race Remains Tight In Michigan — President Bush and Sen. John Kerry "remain locked in a close race in Michigan," according to a new EPIC/MRA poll. |
Reagan and Rights: Positive and Negative By / TCS — Permalink Ronald Reagan's passing has brought forth a host of commentary from both the left and right. One of the key questions being raised, of course, is how we should assess Reagan's legacy. Most observers would see a deep commitment to liberty as being a central theme of that legacy. | |
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John Holbo: Positive and negative liberty and rights — Much good discussion - from our own Henry and Chris, for example - in the... Eugene Volokh: Negative and positive rights: My friend and colleague Steve Bainbridge has a TechCentralStation essay that praises... Glenn Reynolds: STEPHEN BAINBRIDGE has thoughts on positive and negative rights. Meanwhile Megan McArdle has some related thoughts, in response to William Saletan. |
Clayton Cramer: Anarchism and Property Rights — Professor Bainbridge discusses negative vs. positive rights here. Steve Bainbridge: My TCS Column on Reagan — In this column, I discuss Reagan's legacy as a defender of negative rights, and critique... Jonah Goldberg: REAGAN VS LIBERTY — Bainbridge versus Saletan. |
THERE THEY GO AGAIN New York Post — Permalink WRITING on Ronald Reagan's achievements in Newsweek, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. notes, "Reagan's admirers contend that his costly re-armament program caused the Soviet collapse. Maybe so; but surely the thing that did in the Russians was that time had proved communism an economic, political and moral disaster." | |
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McQ: Dinesh D'souza is one of those writing in the NY Post: "Writing on Ronald Reagan's achievements in Newsweek, historian... Clayton Cramer: "Reagan Is An Idiot" (Part 2) Dinesh d'Souza has a marvelous collection of quotes from various American intellectuals... Tom Maguire: There They Go Again — Dinesh D'Souza reprises an article he wrote in 2000 on Reagan, his critics, and the "inevitable" collapse of the Soviets. |
Betsy Newmark: Dinesh D'Souza looks at how some historians are exercising a little selective memory. Eugene Volokh: (Thanks to Dinesh D'Souza for the quotes, to this site for more on the 1982 quote, and to Dan Gifford for passing along the pointer. Hugh Hewitt: Read Dinesh D'Souza's New York Post op-ed from this morning. |
| Also: Hindrocket | |
The Great Taxer By / NYT — Permalink Over the course of this week we'll be hearing a lot about Ronald Reagan, much of it false. A number of news sources have already proclaimed Mr. Reagan the most popular president of modern times. | |
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Howard Kurtz: Paul Krugman makes the opposite case, recalling that Reagan "followed his huge 1981 tax cut with two large tax increases. John Cole: That is why I am laughing every time I see a Liberal praising Reagan in order to attack George Bush- as in today's Krugman article, which I will save you the time of reading. David Allan Pell: And he abandoned ideology for silly facts when he rolled back tax cuts (which means he raised taxes). Reagan started out as a Democrat. |
Matthew Yglesias: Reagan's many tax hikes and other compromises seem to have been airbrushed out of the right's accounts of what happened. Libertarian: ROTTEN RONNIE I don't think Paul Krugman knows the first thing about economics, but his NYTimes column on "The Great... Chris Bowers: He caused the Soviet Union to collapse He was the most popular President since FDR He was a great tax-cutter He... |
| Also: Jon Henke, Tom Maguire, Josh Marshall, Jeralyn Merritt, Kos, Atrios | |
A Week That Could Bolster Bush By / LAT — Permalink WASHINGTON — Can Ronald Reagan's political magic work in one last election — this time for President Bush? Republican strategists acknowledged Monday that they hope the nation's week of mourning for Reagan, who died Saturday, will turn into a boost for Bush's reelection campaign. | |
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James Joyner: Doyle McManus sees several pluses for Bush: "Even before Reagan's death, Bush and his campaign deliberately borrowed... Zachary Roth: The first impulse of most major outlets has been to deal with this problem by looking at how Reagan's death will affect... Hugh Hewitt: Articles by Dan Balz in the Washington Post and Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times debate the impact of the ceremonies and commentary on President Reagan on the 2004 election. |
Kevin Drum: Of course, backlashes work in both directions, something that occurred to me as I read a story in the LA Times this... Billmon: Fantasyland — The GOP high command - assisted, as always, by such faithful servants as Doyle McManus of the LA Times... Howard Kurtz: Doyle McManus picks up the theme in the Los Angeles Times: "Can Ronald Reagan's political magic work in one last election — this time for President Bush? |
Memo Offered Justification for Use of Torture WaPo — Permalink In August 2002, the Justice Department advised the White House that torturing al Qaeda terrorists in captivity abroad "may be justified," and that international laws against torture "may be unconstitutional if applied to interrogations" conducted in President Bush's war on terrorism, according to a newly obtained memo. | |
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Jeanne D'Arc: The New York Times picked up the story today, and the Washington Post added an earlier memo, this one from the Justice Department, which appears to be the basis of the DoD memo. Kevin Drum: August 2002: A Justice Department memo about torture says that "necessity and self-defense could provide justifications that would eliminate any criminal liability." |
David Allan Pell: Justifying Torture — A Justice Dept memo from 2002 seems to give the greenlight to torturing prisoners in the war on terror (and this wasn't the first such memo). Jason Van Steenwyk: But the Washington Post has a good article on the memo for free. |
Lawyers Decided Bans on Torture Didn't Bind Bush NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, June 7 — A team of administration lawyers concluded in a March 2003 legal memorandum that President Bush was not bound by either an international treaty prohibiting torture or by a federal antitorture law because he had the authority as commander in chief to approve any technique needed to protect the nation's security. | |
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Tacitus: Given that the Pentagon is apparently resolved to engage in stonewalling on this document — "not a legal analysis,"... Tim Dunlop: So what do we now know about the Bush administration's approach to the treatment of prisoners? Kieran Healy: She led the legal team that wrote the recently leaked memo arguing that there were no legal considerations, domestic or... |
Tom Smith: Torture permitted against Iraq detainees? Interesting story in the Times. Steve M.: The Times link doesn't do the photo justice — it's huge, more than eight inches by six inches; it dwarfs the paper's... Gary Farber: "The Journal hasn't seen the full final report, but people familiar with it say there were few substantial changes in legal analysis between the draft and final versions." |
When was the last time a conservative talk show changed a mind? The Atlantic Online — Permalink L ast year, on a long car trip, I was listening to Rush Limbaugh shout. I usually agree with Rush Limbaugh; therefore I usually don't listen to him. I listen to NPR: "World to end—poor and minorities hardest hit." I like to argue with the radio. | |
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Dean Esmay: Well, dig this recent line from a P.J. O'Rourke piece in The Atlantic: [snipped quote] Compare this with the following,... Liz Cox Barrett: While Fallows spent hours screening debate videos, fellow Atlantic correspondent P.J. O'Rourke consumed as many conservative talk shows as he could stomach. |
Tim Blair: PARTY REPTILE RATES THE BIG-MOUTHS — P.J. O'Rourke on ... Rush Limbaugh: "I usually agree with Rush Limbaugh; therefore I usually don't listen to him." |
Kerry With Slight Lead in Presidential Race By / Gallup — Permalink PRINCETON, NJ — A new Gallup survey finds Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry enjoying a slight lead over President George W. Bush, while Bush's approval ratings remain relatively unchanged, but for the most part in negative territory. | |
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Billmon: And right now, he's still not doing too well at the box office. Shrub may yet win one for the Gipper. Atrios: Kerry 49-44 in Latest Gallup — Link. |
Steve Soto: A new Gallup Poll out yesterday showing a Kerry lead of 49%-44% over Bush among registered voters and 50%-44% among likely voters, after Kerry led by only 48%-46% late last month. Taegan Goddard: Gallup Has Kerry Ahead — A new Gallup poll finds Sen. John Kerry "enjoying a slight lead" over President Bush, "while... |
Love really is blind... Telegraph — Permalink Neuroscience can at last explain why we can't see faults in our partners or children. Raj Persaud reports Can science help us to understand love? Many argue that a Shakespearean Sonnet, Rachmaninov piano sonata or Jane Austen novel is much better at communicating insights into why we become irresistibly drawn to one person. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: A MANY SPLENDORED THING — The science of love is explained in fascinating detail in this article: "Scientists have a cold eyed view of the purpose of love. Jesse Walker: Loooooove ... Love Is Strange — Scientists take a look at love. Their conclusions: [snipped quote] [Via Lew Rockwell. ] |
Jeff Goldstein: Love, demystified: [snipped quote] Whatever. Just so long as I can have that funny feel from time to time. |
Foreign Hostages in Iraq Freed Fox News — Permalink ROME — Three Italian and one Polish hostages who have been held captive in Iraq were freed, officials or media in Italy and Poland reported Tuesday. Polish TVN24 television quoted Gen. Mieczyslaw Bieniek, the commander of Polish-led multinational forces, as saying that the four foreign hostages had been freed in a military action. | |
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Cori Dauber: No, MSNBC, not "released," but freed. (Reuters reporter in CENTCOM press briefing: do you have plans for any more operations of this kind? Susanna Cornett: And then there's this, from the first paragraph of an article on FoxNews: "Three Italian and one Polish hostages who... |
Jason Van Steenwyk: All of a sudden, a bunch of Americans bust into the room, subdue the terrorists and... Hey, wait a minute, is this a news story or a barstool joke? |