meme orandum
Fresh brewed news plus stewing views
Archive Edition for   Thursday, September 23, 2004Go to Current Page
Google
Web News


memeorandum presents an automated hourly synopsis of the latest online news and opinion, combining weblog commentary with traditional news reports.   (More)

Site Notices

Subscribe:   XML   (Help)
  •Add to My Yahoo!
  •Add to Bloglines


Recent archives:



Quoted in this edition:

Ace of Spades HQ
  Ace
Allah Is In The House
  Allah
Althouse
  Ann Althouse
American Spectator
American Thinker
Amygdala
  Gary Farber
www.AndrewSullivan.com
  Andrew Sullivan
Angry Bear
  Kash
Associated Press
  Nedra Pickler
  Jennifer Loven
  Charles E. Beggs
  Ron Fournier
  Liz Sidoti
The Australian
baldilocks
  Baldilocks
Balloon Juice
  John Cole
Begging to Differ
  Venkat @BeggingToDiffer
BeldarBlog
  William J. Dyer
THE BELGRAVIA DISPATCH
  Gregory Djerejian
Betsy's Page
  Betsy Newmark
BLACKFIVE
  Blackfive
The Blogging of the President
  Matt Stoller
  Stirling Newberry
Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal
  DeLong
BrothersJudd Blog
  Orrin Judd
The Buck Stops Here
  Stuart Buck
Burnt Orange Report
  Byron L
BuzzMachine
  Jeff Jarvis
Captain's Quarters
  Captain Ed
Chicago Boyz
  Shannon Love
Chicago Sun Times
  Roger Ebert
Chicago Tribune
Chrenkoff
  Arthur Chrenkoff
Chris C Mooney
  Chris Mooney
Chris Nolan
  Chris Nolan
CJR Campaign Desk Home
  Thomas Lang
  Zachary Roth
  Liz Cox Barrett
The Claremont Institute
  Bruce Sanborn
Clayton Cramer's BLOG
  Clayton Cramer
CNN
Cold Fury
  Mike Hendrix
The Corner
  KJL
  Tim Graham
  Cliff May
  John J. Miller
  Michael Graham
corrente
  Lambert @Corrente
Counterspin Central
  Hesiod
cut on the bias
  Susanna Cornett
Daily Kos
  Kos
  DHinMI
Dan Gillmor's eJournal
  Dan Gillmor
danieldrezner.com
  Daniel Drezner
Dean's World -
  Dean Esmay
Demagogue
  Eugene Oregon
  Frederick Maryland
Democratic National Committee
Detroit Free Press
  Patricia Montemurri
Dynamist Blog
  Virginia Postrel
EdCone.com
  Ed Cone
Electablog
  David Allan Pell
Eschaton
  Atrios
etc.
  Noam Scheiber
Forbes
The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
  Clifford D. May
Fox News
Gallup
  Mark Gillespie
Happy Furry Puppy Story Time with Norbizness
  Norbizness
Hit and Run
  Tim Cavanaugh
  Charles Paul Freund
Houston Chronicle
HughHewitt.com
  Hugh Hewitt
INDC Journal
  Bill @INDCJournal
Informed Comment
  Juan Cole
Instapundit.com
  Glenn Reynolds
joannejacobs.com
  Joanne Jacobs
JustOneMinute
  Tom Maguire
KEN LAYNE
  Ken Layne
Kesher Talk
  Judith Weiss
L.A. Observed
  Kevin Roderick
LA Weekly
  Doug Ireland
The Left Coaster
  Steve Soto
The Liquid List
  Oliver @LiquidList
  Tarek @LiquidList
Little Green Footballs
  Charles Johnson
Los Angeles Times
  Michael Finnegan
The Mahablog
  Barbara O'Brien
Marginal Revolution
  Alex Tabarrok
Mark A. R. Kleiman
  Mark Kleiman
Mathew Gross
  Mathew Gross
Matt Welch
  Matt Welch
Matthew Yglesias
  Matthew Yglesias
Media Notes Extra
  Howard Kurtz
MEMRI
Michael J. Totten
  Michael Totten
Michelle Malkin
  Michelle Malkin
The Moderate Voice
  Joe Gandelman
MyDD
  Chris Bowers
  Jerome Armstrong
The Nation
  David Cole
The National Debate
  Robert Cox
National Review
  Tim Graham
New York Magazine
  Naomi Wolf
New York Post
  Michael Starrdon Kaplan
  Ralph Peters
  Dick Morris
New York Times
  Peter Bergen
  Dexter Filkins
  Edmund L. Andrews
  Robert Pear
  Sam Lubell
  Fox Butterfield
  Katharine Q. Seelye
  David E. Sanger
  William Safire
  Nicholas D. Kristof
Newsday
  Ken Fireman
  Danny Schechter
Newsweek
No More Mister Nice Blog
  Steve M.
NY Daily News
  Richard Huff
Obsidian Wings
  Edward _
Off the Kuff
  Charles Kuffner
Oh, That Liberal Media
  Stefan Sharkansky
  Patterico
Oliver Willis
  Oliver Willis
Opinion Journal
  Julia Gorin
  Claudia Rosett
Outside The Beltway
  James Joyner
OxBlog
  Patrick Belton
Pacific Views
  Natasha @PacificViews
pandagon.net
  Ezra Klein
  Jesse Taylor
Pejmanesque
  Pejman Yousefzadeh
The People's Republic of Seabrook
  Jack Cluth
PoliPundit.com
  PoliPundit
  Lorie Byrd
Power Line
  Hindrocket
  The Big Trunk
PRESTOPUNDIT
  Greg Ransom
ProfessorBainbridge.com
  Steve Bainbridge
Questions and Observations Blog
  McQ
  Dale Franks
  Jon Henke
Rantingprofs
  Cori Dauber
Reuters
Right Wing News
  John Hawkins
the road to surfdom
  Tim Dunlop
Rocky Mountain News
  Jim Tankersley
Roger Ailes
  Roger Ailes
Roger L. Simon
  Roger L. Simon
Salon
  Sidney Blumenthal
San Francisco Chronicle
Secular Blasphemy
  Jan Haugland
Shark Blog
  Stefan Sharkansky
The Sideshow
  Avedon Carol
slacktivist
  Fred Clark
A Small Victory
  Michele Catalano
South Knox Bubba
  SK Bubba
Southern Appeal
  Rice Grad
  Paul @SouthernAppeal
  Michael DeBow
  QD @SouthernAppeal
The Spoons Experience
  Christopher Kanis
Stars & Stripes
Steve Clemons
  Steve Clemons
t a c i t u s
  Harley
  Trickster
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
  Taegan Goddard
Talking Points Memo
  Josh Marshall
TalkLeft
  Jeralyn Merritt
TAPPED
  Matthew Yglesias
  Nick Confessore
  Jeffrey Dubner
»«TBogg»«
  Tbogg
TheAgitator.com
  Radley Balko
This Modern World
  Tom Tomorrow
Tim Blair
  Tim Blair
Townhall.com
  Jonah Goldberg
Travelling Shoes
  H.D. Miller
Unfogged
  Fontana Labs
Vodkapundit
  Stephen Green
The Volokh Conspiracy -
  Eugene Volokh
War and Piece
  Laura Rozen
The Washington Monthly
  Kevin Drum
Washington Post
  Tina Brown
  John F. Harris
  Howard Kurtz
  Jonathan Weisman
  Keith B. Richburg
  Alan Cooperman
  Paul Farhi
  Anne Applebaum
Washington Times
  Bill Sammon
  George Archibald
Weekly Standard
  Hugh Hewitt
White House
Winds of Change.NET
  Joe Katzman
  Armed Liberal
  Colt



Kerry: Allawi's Take on Iraq Unrealistic
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Thursday that Iraq 's Ayad Allawi was sent before Congress to put the "best face" on a Bush administration policy that has gone wrong.
Arthur Chrenkoff: Never happy unless it's raining — Wasn't John Kerry's response to Iyad Allawi's Congress speech just pathetic?
Allah: When you're running on a platform that promises to make America "respected in the world," one thing you definitely want...
John Cole: Disgusting — While I am sure that Kerry's frontal assault on Bush and Ayad Allawi moistened the loins of the idiot...
Mike Hendrix: Doesn't even know what class is, all his blueblood pretensions and upper-crust elitism notwithstanding: "I think the...
Mark Kleiman: John Kerry was rude enough to share that truth — the truth understood by everyone in the world, with the possible...
Charles Johnson: John Kerry: A Disgrace — Shortly after Iraqi prime minister Allawi gave a stirring speech to Congress, John Kerry attacked him, implying that Allawi was lying.
Also: Roger L. Simon, Hugh Hewitt, Sir George, Glenn Reynolds, Kos, H.D. Miller, Edward _

Hope Amid the Rubble
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Based on what Americans have been seeing in the news media about Afghanistan lately, there may not be many who believed President Bush on Tuesday when he told the United Nations that the "Afghan people are on the path to democracy and freedom."
Jan Haugland: Afghanistan 'better than so-so' — Peter Bergen is positive about Afghanistan: Based on what Americans have been seeing...
Matthew Yglesias: Bergen on Afghanistan — I agree with Andrew Sullivan: Peter Bergen is very credible, so his upbeat report on Afghanistan is worth taking seriously.
Ed Cone: This good news op-ed from Afghanistan in today's Times got the Instapundit seal of approval.
James Joyner: Afghanistan: Hope Amid the Rubble — Peter Bergen, a Middle East scholar whom Andrew Sullivan understatedly describes as...
Daniel Drezner: Peter Bergen on Afghanistan — As a follow-up to my last post on Bush's commitment to democracy promotion, it's worth...
Andrew Sullivan: He's a soft-lefty, but very trust-worthy. His endorsement of what is happening in Afghanistan is good enough for me.
Also: Roger L. Simon, Pejman Yousefzadeh, Orrin Judd, Glenn Reynolds, Gregory Djerejian

Transcript: Bush, Allawi Speak
  Fox News   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — President Bush hosted interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi at the White House on Thursday. Following is a transcript of their news conference:
BUSH: Thank you all for coming.
I'm honored to stand with the prime minister of a free and sovereign Iraq.
Avedon Carol: What else to make of this? At Political Animal, Kevin drum says "the best thousand words I've read yet on the whole...
KJL: Telling, too, that W. basically has to tell the press to ask the Iraqi prime minister questions.
Kos: Bush at the top of his game — At today's press conference with Allawi, Bush gave us these following gems: "The first part of the question was how come we haven't found Zarqawi?
Atrios: More Guns, Less Voting — Ok, great, so today we also had Bush rambling on about the coming elections.
Matthew Yglesias: What else to make of this? [snipped quote] We can't find Abu al-Zarqawi because "he hides?"

Breaking the News, Then Becoming It
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Are the media having a nervous breakdown?
The Dan Rather affair looks like yet another giant freakout in the patient's collapse. For Rather and CBS, all the conflicting tensions that torture journalists and producers day and night came together.
Avedon Carol: At Political Animal, Kevin drum says "the best thousand words I've read yet on the whole affair" of the Killian memos and the media reaction is from Tina Brown in the WaPo.
Nick Confessore: Check it out here.
Jeff Jarvis: I won't call on my usual preists-and-cathedrals image; this more the has-been queen sniffing in her castle at all the riff-raff out in the streets, typing fast.
Ezra Klein: Recommending a piece by Tina Brown is dicey business, but her take on the CBS scandal is the pithiest, most important article you'll find on the whole thing.
Kevin Drum: TINA BROWN NAILS RATHERGATE....I hate to say this, but Tina Brown (yeah, yeah) gets it exactly right in her dissection of Rathergate today in the Washington Post.
Cori Dauber: It's like a car accident. You know, you know how wrong it is to gawk, but you just can't help yourself.
Also: Susanna Cornett

Bush: Terrorists May Plan More Attacks
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Standing beside Iraq 's interim leader, President Bush contended Thursday that insurgents could "plot and plan attacks elsewhere, in America and other free nations," if the United States pulled out. He said his top commander there has not asked for more troops but if he did, "I'd listen to him."
Lambert @Corrente: [quote]"And the reality's right here in the form of the prime minister." (via ABC) [end quote]
Matthew Yglesias: You can find coverage of Abizaid's remarks in newspapers and television networks throughout America. It's even in Canada.
Jesse Taylor: But hearing it come out of the president's mouth makes you realize just what a terribly morally bankrupt idea it is.
Tarek @LiquidList: Which is it? a) raise taxes b) admit that the entire Bush "economic strategy," if that's what you want to call it, has...
Jeralyn Merritt: Bush: More Attacks, More Troops to Iraq — George Bush, fearmonger.
Stefan Sharkansky: What would we do without Bush? Associated Press headline: "Bush: Terrorists May Plan More Attacks"

Senator Kerry's Remarks
  NYT   —   Permalink 
Following is a transript of remarks made by Senator John Kerry today in Columbus, Ohio.
I want victory. I want to win. And I have a better plan to win than George Bush does. The president says that things are getting better in Iraq and we must just stay the same course.
Venkat @BeggingToDiffer: CRYSTAL* Tapped links to Kerry's remarks on Allawi's and Bush's optimism.
Gregory Djerejian: Strong speech. Advantage Allawi (and Bush). Kerry looks, er, very small today. I mean, was this statement for real?
Matthew Yglesias: The nominee offered another sharp rebuke today to the president's failed Iraq policy and his dismal effort to cover it...
Orrin Judd: MORE: Senator Kerry's Remarks (September 23, 2004) "Following is a transript of remarks made by Senator John Kerry today in Columbus, Ohio.

Transcript: Allawi Thanks America
  Fox News   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi addressed a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday. Following is a transcript of his remarks:
ALLAWI: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, it's my distinct honor and great privilege to speak to you today on behalf of Iraq's interim government and its people.
John Hawkins: Allawi's Speech: Thank You, America — Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi addressed a Joint Session of Congress...
Glenn Reynolds: HERE'S A TRANSCRIPT OF IYAD ALLAWI'S SPEECH today. UPDATE: I agree that Kerry's response to Allawi's speech was ill-considered.
Roger L. Simon: When he warned of the media distortion of events there, I thought of Rather. When he told us that they could hold an election today if need be, I clenched my fist.
Andrew Sullivan: BUSH'S LATEST ARGUMENT: Allawi's address was moving, inspiring and almost persuasive.
Dean Esmay: What a great and glorious day. "* Update * The complete transcript of Prime Minster Allawi's remarks is right here."

President Bush and Prime Minister Allawi Press Conference
  White House   —   Permalink 
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all for coming. I'm honored to stand with the Prime Minister of a free and sovereign Iraq. Welcome, Mr. Prime Minister. I applaud your leadership and your courage. It's my honor to welcome a friend to the White House.
Josh Marshall: That's President Bush from his appearance today with Prime Minister Allawi of Iraq.
Norbizness: No words were changed, just a lot of them removed so that you can more clearly understand, once and for all, the true...
Orrin Judd: President Bush and Prime Minister Allawi Press Conference (The Rose Garden, 9/23/04) [snipped quote] Can you be any clearer and more direct than answering: "No"?
Oliver Willis: Reporter Avoids Bush Misdirection — From today's press conference: [snipped quote] (emphasis mine) Give that man a cookie!
Thomas Lang: Today, after reading a transcript of the President's press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi, we sense the same is happening.

Rove touts Bush headway in key areas
  By / Washington Times   —   Permalink 
President Bush expects to help Republicans gain up to four Senate seats and seven House seats in November and already is running Sen. John Kerry out of states that had been considered battlegrounds, White House political strategist Karl Rove said yesterday.
Betsy Newmark: Karl Rove waxes very optimistic about the race. I tend to think that such bragging is tempting the gods.
Stephen Green: Retreat — There's not much beyond some Republican cheerleading from Karl Rove in this Washington Times article.
Taegan Goddard: Rove Says Battleground is Shrinking — In an interview with editors of the Washington Times, Karl Rove said President...
Chris Mooney: A little bird directed my attention to this article from today's Washington Times, which contains the following...
H.D. Miller: The Jedi Master — At least someone knows how to play the debate-expectations game.
Howard Kurtz: At least to the Washington Times: "President Bush expects to help Republicans gain up to four Senate seats and seven...
Also: The Big Trunk

Despite Bush Flip-Flops, Kerry Gets Label
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
One of this year's candidates for president, to hear his opposition tell it, has a long history of policy reversals and rhetorical about-faces — a zigzag trail that proves his willingness to massage positions and even switch sides when politically convenient.
Avedon Carol: And I checked out Tapped, where Nick Confessore directs our attention to John F. Harris' article in The Washington Post...
Liz Cox Barrett: Whiskey at Captain's Quarters knocks the Post for today's analysis piece by John F. Harris.
Eugene Oregon: Posted Without Comment — From the Washington Post [snipped quote] Also posted without comment - the headline from this...
Nick Confessore: The Washington Post's John Harris, one of the best political reporters out there, has a decent piece out today on the question of flip-flopping.
Noam Scheiber: My colleague Jonathan Cohn e-mails the case for an imminent Kerry-is-surging storyline: [snipped quote] If today's John...
Oliver @LiquidList: Politics: I Just Gotta Do This...Bear With Me FLIP-FLOP! FLIP-FLOP! FLIP-FLOP! FLIP-FLOP! FLIP-FLOP! FLIP-FLOP!
Also: Chris Mooney, Whiskey, Betsy Newmark, John J. Miller, Orrin Judd

Liberal Journalists Are From Mars
  NRO   —   Permalink 
Clueless and intolerant.
One of the footnotes of Rathergate is the disconnect between liberals and anyone to the right of, well, them. Take the general media reaction to Charles Johnson, the Los Angeles web designer and former jazz musician who typed up...
Matt Welch: Geography as Political Destiny?
Armed Liberal: On Tolerance — Cathy Seipp has a new column up at National Review Online about Dan Rather, the cultural divide, and her personal experiences in bridging it.
Michelle Malkin: THE INSULARITY OF THE MSM — Catherine Seipp's piece today at NRO, "Liberal Journalists Are from Mars," is excellent.
Charles Johnson: Liberal Journalists Are From Mars — Cathy Seipp skewers the biased liberal media for their reaction to ... uh ... me: Liberal Journalists Are From Mars.
Glenn Reynolds: CATHY SEIPP has more thoughts on RatherGate and the cocoon. UPDATE: Another story in the CBS-affiliate-backlash category.

Presidential Attack Ads Move From Land to Water -- and Back
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
What began with a mocking image of John F. Kerry pursuing one of his favorite pastimes erupted yesterday into a bitter airwaves battle in which the Democratic presidential nominee tied President Bush to 1,000 U.S. deaths in Iraq and the beheading of two Americans this week.
Mark Kleiman: Atrios points out that George Bush (still, at last count, confused about our prospects for winning the war on terror) is...
Atrios: Voting for the War — Let's consider Bush's recent rhetoric. His latest ad says "Kerry voted for the Iraq war."
Fontana Labs: That's what this is all about. But his ads say different: "In which direction would John Kerry lead?" a narrator asks.
Steve M.: Is it really a terrible idea to respond to the Bush campaign's windsurfing ad by reminding voters that Kerry is a grown-up who doesn't live in Fantasyland?

Redstone Vows 'Appropriate' Consequences For CBS News
  Forbes   —   Permalink 
HONG KONG - Here's one breaking story that Dan Rather will be watching closely.
Reacting to the document scandal at CBS News, Sumner M. Redstone, chairman and chief executive of Viacom (nyse: VIAb - news - people ), CBS' parent, vowed that the results of a recently announced probe would be "appropriate—and the consequences will be appropriate."
Baldilocks: You knew that deep doo-doo was in your immediate future. Well, Daddy is home.
Roger L. Simon: Dept. of Uh-Oh — Sumner speaks. Rather cringes.
Steve Bainbridge: Right While it is widely assumed that CBS News anchor Dan Rather is biased in favor of Democrats, his boss purportedly...

2nd BCT soldier's plea to the world: 'Buy us beer'
  Stars & Stripes   —   Permalink 
CAMP HABBANIYAH, Iraq — To Sgt. Dale Rogers of Company C, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, the near beer that soldiers sometimes get in Kuwait and Iraq tastes like something drained through a wet sock.
Hugh Hewitt: Beer for the troops! It is the least we can do. (Hat tip to Blackfive.)
Michelle Malkin: BUY A SOLDIER A BEER — Stars and Stripes reports today on a new charity for thirsty American soldiers: [snipped quote] Do pitch in.
Blackfive: Tanker Schreiber sends this great idea on how to really support the troops: 2nd BCT soldier's plea to the world: 'Buy us...
Stephen Green: This Bud's for You — Here's the problem: [snipped quote] Here's the solution.

CBS Appoints 2-Man Panel to Investigate Guard Report
  NYT   —   Permalink 
CBS announced yesterday that Dick Thornburgh, a former attorney general, and Louis D. Boccardi, a former top executive of The Associated Press, would investigate the journalistic breakdowns that led to the broadcast of a flawed "60 Minutes" report about President Bush's National Guard service.
Allah: The New York Times says Rather isn't happy about that because, after all, how can we trust a political partisan to be fair and accurate in what he reports?
The Big Trunk: "He immediately agreed.''" [end quote] The Times story referred to by Mr. Cottingham is "CBS appoints 2-man panel to investigate Guard report."
Greg Ransom: DAN RATHER fingers CBS News chief Andrew Heyward as the one with hands-on responsibility in the forged documents story.
Orrin Judd: HEY, I WAS PROMISED A WHITEWASH...: CBS Appoints 2-Man Panel to Investigate Guard Report (JIM RUTENBERG and JACQUES...
Jeff Jarvis: Oh, Danny boy : Dan Rather is throwing his boss, CBS News President Andrew Heyward, to the wolves in today's New York Times: [snipped quote] Nope, Dan.

Bid to Save Tax Refunds for the Poor Is Blocked
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Congressional negotiators beat back efforts yesterday to expand and preserve tax refunds for poor families, even as they added $13 billion in corporate tax breaks to a package of middle-class tax cuts that could come to a vote in the Senate today.
Steve M.: Repeat after me, John Kerry — and all Democrats: This is a Republican tax increase.
Michael Graham: LIBERAL ECONOMIST WANTED...to explain the following from today's Washington Post: "The dust-up centers on an...
Hesiod: TAX WORKING FAMILIES: And give the money to rch corporations INSTEAD! That's what the Republicans just did.

Rumsfeld Raises Prospect of Limited Iraq Elections
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday raised the possibility that Iraq could conduct only limited elections in January, excluding places where violence was considered too severe for people to go to polls.
Andrew Sullivan: Is it better than not having an election? You bet," - Donald "Get a life" Rumsfeld, yesterday. Hey, why not a civil war, while we're at it?
Atrios: And, almost immediately after Big Don Rumsfeld starts backtracking: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald...

Transcript: Allawi Addresses U.S. Congress
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
Iraqi interim prime minister Ayad Allawi addressed a joint meeting of Congress Thursday morning. Here is a transcript of his speech.
ALLAWI: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, it's my distinct honor and great privilege to speak to you today on behalf of Iraq's interim government and its people.
Cori Dauber: That's a shame, because it was quite powerful. The opening is of particular note.
Rice Grad: Text of Interim Iraq Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's speech to Congress... is available here.
Orrin Judd: NO WONDER KERRY EDWARDS COULDN'T BRING HIMSELF TO ATTEND: Transcript: Allawi Thanks America (September 23, 2004)

Female Trouble
  By / New York Magazine   —   Permalink 
Should wives matter in a presidential campaign? Is it trivial to weigh Laura Bush's gentle, Xanax-like demeanor, her faultless librarian's poise and sincerity, against the imperious sexuality of Teresa Heinz Kerry?
Chris Nolan: Naomi Wolfe - who holds down the "hot but smart" feminist-but-a-wife, job in New York's Big Media circles has an...
Hindrocket: The Democrats Think About Women — This morning's Real Clear Politics links to a fascinating article by feminist writer and political consultant Naomi Wolf in New York magazine.
Orrin Judd: UNMANNING CABANA BOY: Female Trouble: While fretting about Karl Rove, the Democrats overlooked Karen Hughes.
PoliPundit: It's All Teresa's Fault — Says Naomi "earth tones" Wolf: [snipped quote] Or, as Mark Steyn puts it: "There is an attack dog on the Kerry team.

Kerry always pushed global cooperation, war as last resort
  San Francisco Chronicle   —   Permalink 
Washington — No argument is more central to the Republican attack on Sen. John Kerry than the assertion that the Democrat has flip-flopped on Iraq.
President Bush, seated beside Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, said Tuesday: "My opponent has taken so many different positions on Iraq that his statements are hardly credible at all.''
Josh Marshall: A journalist — Marc Sandalow, Washington Bureau Chief of the San Francisco Chronicle — decided to discuss charges that...
Stefan Sharkansky: Drinking the Kerry Kool-Aid at the S.F. Kronicle — Today's "News Analysis" piece from the San Francisco Chronicle:...
David Allan Pell: It turns out that when one looks at hundreds of statements about Iraq that Kerry has made over the past two years, there isn't really any record of flip flopping.

Iraqi Prime Minister's Speech to U.S. Congress
  NYT   —   Permalink 
The following is a transcript of remarks delivered by Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to a joint session of Congress.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, it's my distinct honor and great privilege to speak to you today on behalf of Iraq's interim government and its people.
Mike Hendrix: Stark contrast — Class, in spades: "There are no words that can express the debt of gratitude that future generations of Iraqis will owe to Americans.
Gregory Djerejian: Allawi's Speech — Wow. Strong speech. Advantage Allawi (and Bush). Kerry looks, er, very small today.

EYES OFF CBS
  By / New York Post   —   Permalink 
Ratings for Dan Rather's "CBS Evening News" have plummeted drastically in New York since the Bush-documents scandal broke wide open this week.
The perennially third-place 6:30 p.m. newscast averaged 135,000 viewers on WCBS/Channel 2 Monday — the day Rather issued an on-air apology for the mess.
Robert Cox: DAN RATHER...PRICELESS — Dan Rather's lost viewership...a million and climbing Dan Rather's credibility...zero Dan...
Orrin Judd: VOTING WITH THEIR CLICKERS: EYES OFF CBS (MICHAEL STARRDON KAPLAN, September 23, 2004, NY Post) [snipped quote] You'd...
Greg Ransom: DAN RATHER'S ratings are down by 1/3 to 1/2 in New York City over the last 10 days.
Charles Johnson: CBS Evening News: Down 49% Rather's ratings are circling the drain in New York. (Hat tip: lawhawk.)
Betsy Newmark: Here's more evidence that Mary Mapes is being set up to take the fall. [snipped quote] I hope she is following John Ellis' advice.
Bill @INDCJournal: Between this and Mary Mapes' previous disregard for federal regulations during her aggressive pursuit of another story,...

Blame It on Neo
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
Last week Pat Buchanan appeared on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," and liberal host Jon Stewart bonded with his paleoconservative guest over their mutual opposition to the liberation of Iraq. Mr. Stewart smiled and nodded while Mr. Buchanan derided "neoconservatives" four times in the course of the six-minute interview.
Paul @SouthernAppeal: Julia Gorin has a piece in today's Opinion Journal claiming that the use of the term "neoconservative" is just a mask for anti-Semitism.
Dean Esmay: Anyway, you can read the rest of Ms. Gorin's essay here in the selfish, scheming-Neocon dominated Wall Street Journal.
Allah: You know Sharon. He's the world's most famous "neocon".
Jesse Taylor: The Protocols Of The Elders Of PNAC — It helps when writing a laughably stupid polemic designed to convince Jewish...

Questions abound in the CBS mess
  Newsday   —   Permalink 
'With respect, answer the questions."
Those were Dan Rather's words to George W. Bush last week, as recorded in The New York Observer - back when Rather was still prosecuting the president on the basis of those Texas Air National Guard memos.
Bill @INDCJournal: One item I'll excerpt directly is the third installment in Pinkerton's "smack-down" series, where among other demands,...
Allah: And at Newsday, James Pinkerton tries to atone for that Danny Schechter log they dropped the other day by directing some pointed queries at the various powers that be.

Top Shiite Cleric Is Said to Fear Voting in Iraq May Be Delayed
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 22 - Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, the nation's most powerful Shiite leader, is growing increasingly concerned that nationwide elections could be delayed, his aides said, and has even threatened to withdraw his support for...
Kevin Drum: DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ....I'm glad to learn that I'm not the only one who was confused by today's New York Times article about election problems in Iraq.
Steve M.: Now, in Iraq the election rules are somewhat complicated, as today's New York Times reports: Under the electoral system,...
Juan Cole: Dexter Filkins of the New York Times reports that Sistani is increasingly worried about the form of the elections scheduled for January.
Matthew Yglesias: Dexter Filkins files a slightly confusing account of Ayatollah Ali Sistani's worries about the upcoming Iraqi elections...
Stirling Newberry: Even as Sistani warns on the election and the fatalities mount with 66 military dead in September, and an unknown number of mercenaries.
Captain Ed: The Ayatollah Is Not Pleased — The road to Iraqi elections may or may not have hit a snag this evening, as the New York...

Media Credibility Reaches Lowest Point in Three Decades
  By / Gallup   —   Permalink 
PRINCETON, NJ — As media analysts and journalists wring their hands over the fallout from CBS News' faulty reporting relative to President George W. Bush's Vietnam-era National Guard service, a new Gallup Poll finds the news media's credibility has declined significantly among the public.
Hugh Hewitt: The Information Reformation is accelerating because the big media meltdown is also accelerating.
Jeff Jarvis: Declining trust in media : A new Gallup survey says that trust in media has taken a dramatic decline.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds: Media dinosaurs, your game is up
  The Australian   —   Permalink 
DAN Rather - the biggest of big-foot news anchors at CBS, a television network regarded by many, until recently, as the premier TV news operation in the US - has had a rough couple of weeks.
Greg Ransom: GLENN REYNOLDS — [snipped quote] More here.
Glenn Reynolds: I HAVE A COLUMN ON RATHERGATE and what it means for the media, worldwide, in The Australian today.
Roger L. Simon: AND... file this one under "Endangered Species."

Safety First? Wars Can Only Be Won by Taking Risks
  By / The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies   —   Permalink 
Are we safe? Are we safer now than we were before September 11, 2001? Are we safer than we would have been had we not toppled Saddam Hussein?
Media types, candidates, partisans - all appear to believe these are meaningful questions. They are not.
Cliff May: You don't want to mess with me. By the way, thanks K-Lo, for linking to my grumpy Scripps Howard column earlier.
KJL: ARE WE SAFE? Cliff May deconstructs this constant, but not particularly helpful, question.
Betsy Newmark: Clifford May answers the question: Are we safe today? "Are we safe? Are we safer now than we were before September 11, 2001?

Channeling Howard Dean
  Chicago Tribune   —   Permalink 
Last December, when Howard Dean was riding high among Democrats for his denunciation of the war in Iraq, another candidate for his party's presidential nomination attacked Dean as weak on foreign policy.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: My hometown newspaper begs to differ, however: "Last December, when Howard Dean was riding high among Democrats for his...
Christopher Kanis: CHICAGO TRIB SLAMS KERRY OVER IRAQ — Ouch: [snipped quote] It gets nastier.
Glenn Reynolds: THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE CRITICIZES KERRY ON IRAQ, saying that he is "channelling Howard Dean:" [snipped quote] Ouch.

Kerry: Draft Likely to Return Under Bush
  AP   —   Permalink 
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Sept. 22, 2004 — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, citing the war in Iraq and other trouble spots in the world, raised the possibility Wednesday that a military draft could be reinstated if voters re-elect President Bush.
Jan Haugland: But since this is the Internet, we can always find the old version somewhere, like on ABC News which runs with headline "Kerry: Draft Likely to Return Under Bush."
Tom Maguire: From "Fake Boos" to Fake News — The AP headline shouts: "Kerry: Draft Likely to Return Under Bush "John Kerry Raises...
Joe Gandelman: Kerry's Comments On Bush And The Draft — There's a big fuss about John Kerry suggesting at a campaign event that if...
Jon Henke: Yesterday's headline—and, so far, it's still up today—was "Kerry: Draft Likely to Return Under Bush". Except....he didn't say that.
Baldilocks: Old Stuff — Glenn Reynolds links to an article in which John Kerry answers a question regarding a proposed new implementation of a Military Draft.
Jesse Taylor: Jebus Horace Christ — That wascawwy wibewal media!
Also: Christopher Kanis, Jeralyn Merritt, Orrin Judd, Betsy Newmark, Glenn Reynolds, Captain Ed, Roger L. Simon, Hindrocket, Taegan Goddard

Ghosting for Les
  By / Weekly Standard   —   Permalink 
ON TUESDAY, CBS president Les Moonves told the Los Angeles Times that it was "clear that something went seriously wrong with the process" that produced DanScam. That's like The Zepplin Company announcing that the Hindenburg had a little trouble landing in New Jersey.
Glenn Reynolds: RATHERGATE UPDATE: Here's the speech Les Moonves ought to give.
Hugh Hewitt: My WeeklyStandard.com column this morning is a ghosted speech for CBS President Les Moonves to deliver to CBS News assembled.
Lorie Byrd: A Speech You Won't Be Hearing From CBS — Hugh Hewitt has written a speech for CBS's Les Moonves.
Dale Franks: Les' Speech — Hugh Hewitt writes the speech that CBS President Les Moonves needs to give to the News Division
The Big Trunk: What CBS won't do — Our friend Hugh Hewitt draws on his experience as Richard Nixon's former ghost writer to present...

Ivan poised to strike again
  Houston Chronicle   —   Permalink 
What's left of Hurricane Ivan has swelled into a tropical storm that's expected to assault Texas' upper Gulf Coast today.
The storm, with sustained winds of 45 mph today, is most likely to hit around High Island tonight, according to meteorologist Mike Rehbein with the National Weather Service in League City.
Charles Kuffner: Ivan 2: The wrath of Khan — Criminy. Don't storms know when they're over any more?
Jack Cluth: Well, there goes my tee time... Regenerated Ivan threatens Louisiana, Texas Ivan poised to strike again: Tropical storm...

Deal in Congress to Keep Tax Cuts, Widening Deficit
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 - Putting aside efforts to control the federal deficit before the elections, Republican and Democratic leaders agreed Wednesday to extend $145 billion worth of tax cuts sought by President Bush without trying to pay for them.
KJL: [quote]Check out today's front page article by Edmund Andrews, titled "Deal in Congress to Keep Tax Cuts, Widening Deficit".[end quote]
Dan Gillmor: More Fiscal Recklessness from Washington — NY Times: Deal in Congress to Keep Tax Cuts, Widening Deficit.
Kash: Finally, note this nice detail from the NYTimes: [snipped quote] The NYTimes fails to note, however, that last month the...

NATO to Dispatch Additional Military Trainers to Iraq
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
PARIS, Sept. 22 — The North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed Wednesday to expand the training of Iraqi security force officers at a facility outside Baghdad in preparation for planned elections in January.
Captain Ed: Bush Gets NATO To Train Iraqis In Baghdad — In a coup that will act to deaden John Kerry's latest Iraq broadsides, like...
Hesiod: CUT OUT THE MIDDLE MAN: A few days after John Kerry said we needed to get our allies to contribute more resources to...
Patrick Belton: Moving right along... Nato has agreed to expand its involvement in Iraq, over resistance from Germany and France.

DEAD SOLDIERS
  By / New York Post   —   Permalink 
IMAGINE if, in the presiden tial election of 1944, the can didate opposing FDR had in sisted that we were losing the Second World War and that, if elected, he would begin to withdraw American troops from Europe and the Pacific.
We would have called it treason.
H.D. Miller: Tehran John — Ralph Peters puts a serious whupping on John Kerry's defeatist hide.
The Big Trunk: Two fine columns — Two of the best opinion columns I've read in the past few weeks are "Dead soldiers" by Ralph Peters...
Dale Franks: And I thought he hated Don Rumsfeld... Ralph Peters is unhappy with the Kerry Campaign's new direction on Iraq.

Arab Progressive: The Arabs are Still Slaves to a Medieval Mentality
  MEMRI   —   Permalink 
In a recent opinion piece, the progressive author and journalist Dr. Shaker Al-Nabulsi condemned the growing support for terrorism and extremism in the Arab world, and the rejection of moderation and reason. The following are excerpts from the article:
Matthew Yglesias: Huh — I'd be very interested to know that the rest of this article — the parts that MEMRI didn't see fit to translate — actually says.
Charles Paul Freund: "Islam's need [for reform] — or, to be precise, our need for Islam's reform — is not less than the need for reform in...

Text of Allawi address to Congress
  CNN   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Following is a transcript of interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's address to a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday.
ALLAWI: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, it's my distinct honor and great privilege to speak to you today on behalf of Iraq's interim government and its people.
Frederick Maryland: The Saddam Card Isn't Working [quote] "My friends, today we are better off, you are better off and the world is better off...[end quote]
Edward _: The Credibility Pitfalls of "Fake It 'Til You Make It" — Allawi gave a very good speech before Congress today.

In California, Voters Stay in Kerry's Corner
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
California voters remain strongly in favor of ousting President Bush and replacing him with Sen. John F. Kerry despite Bush's recent gains in popularity nationwide, a new Los Angeles Times poll has found.
Just 5% are undecided.
Chris Nolan: As a Liberal Democrat in a state that's so safe for Kerry he could (and probably does) wear it as a security blanket,...
Kevin Drum: CALIFORNIA TO BUSH: DROP DEAD....Polling models may be in trouble, but ARG and the LA Times agree on one thing: Kerry is going to kick George Bush's butt in California.
Patterico: The story's actual headline is In California, Voters Stay in Kerry's Corner: "California voters remain strongly in favor...
Taegan Goddard: Here are the latest state polls: Wisconsin: Bush 53, Kerry 43 (ABC News) Oregon: Bush 48, Kerry 47...

'70s Bush: The party man
  NY Daily News   —   Permalink 
Just what kind of guy was President Bush during his character-defining early adulthood?
An aimless, inconsiderate, womanizing drunkard - if you believe Rolling Stone's article detailing how the 26-year-old Bush allegedly used his family connections to...
Tbogg: George Bush: The Basement Tapes — One Whiskey, One Bourbon, One Beer: Just what kind of guy was President Bush during his character-defining early adulthood?
Roger L. Simon: File Under "Wish I'd Been There" — Lloyd Grove reports today: It was standing room only Tuesday night at the New School...

Iraq Leader Addresses Congress, Vowing Elections in January
  AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (AP) — Offering a simple, ''Thank you America,'' Iraqi interim prime minister Ayad Allawi declared Thursday that his country is moving successfully past the war that ousted Saddam Hussein and vowed that elections will take place next year as scheduled.
Captain Ed: Allawi: Iraq Is Ready For Democracy — Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi spoke to a joint session of Congress...
Orrin Judd: ZARQAWI'S AMERICAN MOUTHPIECE: Iraq Leader Addresses Congress, Vowing January Elections (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 9/23/04)...

Who knew?
  American Thinker   —   Permalink 
An examination of the timeline of publicly-reported events leading up to the Rathergate scandal raises some interesting questions about possible as-yet unrevealed collusion among Bill Burkett, members of the national press corps, and the Kerry campaign.
Betsy Newmark: Clarice Feldman at American Thinker has put together a timeline of all the mentions in the press and by Democrats of an approaching story about Bush and the National Guard.
Charles Johnson: Who Knew? At the American Thinker, Clarice Feldman points out more curious coincidences in the Rathergate scandal, and asks the important question: Who Knew?

Low-Income Nonapplicants to Get Medicare Drug Cards
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 - After struggling for months to get Medicare beneficiaries to sign up for drug discount cards, the Bush administration said Wednesday that it would simply send the cards to 1.8 million people with low incomes who are eligible but have not applied.
Gary Farber: Of course, the President already enacted his plan.
Orrin Judd: FORCE THE FIRST CHOICE: Low-Income Nonapplicants to Get Medicare Drug Cards: The Bush administration said that it would...

The Story That Didn't Run
  Newsweek   —   Permalink 
Sept. 22 - In its rush to air its now discredited story about President George W. Bush's National Guard service, CBS bumped another sensitive piece slated for the same "60 Minutes" broadcast: a half-hour segment about how the U.S. government was snookered by forged documents purporting to show Iraqi efforts to purchase uranium from Niger.
Radley Balko: News Judgment — There ain't much of it these days: [snipped quote] It is awfully odd that we've spent most of this election season sniping out stuff that happened thirty years ago.
Stefan Sharkansky: Another forged document hoax — Newsweek's Issikoff and Hosenball report: "In its rush to air its now discredited...
DeLong: (Isikoff and Hosenball Take Another Dive Edition) Joshua Micah Marshall observes Isikoff and Hosenball taking another...
Howard Kurtz: In the You Can't Make This Stuff Up department, Newsweek's Isikoff and Hosenball have a fascinating footnote to the CBS...
David Allan Pell: Forging the Wrong Path — Newsweek - "In its rush to air its now discredited story about President George W. Bush's...
Chris Bowers: Not Properly Verifying Forged Documents — It's like living in a Kafka novel: [snipped quote] While I'm still trying to...
Also: Ken Layne, Matthew Yglesias, Josh Marshall

The bubble boy
  By / Salon   —   Permalink 
The news is grim, but the president is "optimistic." The intelligence is sobering, but he tosses aside "pessimistic predictions." His opponent says he has "no credibility," but the president replies that it is his rival who is "twisting in the wind."
Tim Dunlop: Bubble-boy may yet burst.
Stirling Newberry: Lake Woebegone Treaty — Once again the dyslogical is the hallmark of the right wing: rise in attacks called proof that insurgents weakening.

No spot on Oregon ballot for Nader
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
The Oregon Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Ralph Nader will not appear on the Oregon presidential ballot, reversing a lower court.
The Supreme Court upheld a ruling by Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, who determined that flawed petition sheets left...
Tim Graham: PORTLAND'S PET PEEVE — I was booked for a Portland, Oregon radio interview last night, and while they tried to stick to...
Taegan Goddard: The Oregon Supreme Court ruled Nader will not appear on the Oregon presidential ballot, reversing a lower court.

Rove scoffs at charge he was CBS source
  Washington Times   —   Permalink 
White House political adviser Karl Rove yesterday scoffed at Democratic charges that he was somehow behind the release of faked documents to CBS that attacked President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.
Charles Johnson: Rove: Too Many Coincidences — Karl Rove gave an interview to the Washington Times yesterday and answered the DNC's...
The Big Trunk: The Times devotes one article to Rove's humble denial that he was able to induce Dan Rather into disgracing himself by...

The Outing
  By / LA Weekly   —   Permalink 
The powerful 12-term congressman — chairman of the House Rules Committee, chairman of the California Republican House delegation, co-chairman of Californians for Bush, chairman of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's transition team — is in the cross hairs of...
Tbogg: Unfortunately no one has been able to provide us with pictures of Republican Congressman David Dreier juggling any balls on his chin...but we're sure it just a matter of time.
Greg Ransom: Congressman David Dreier is the latest victim of a campaign by leftist gay activists to "out" gay Republicans.
James Joyner: David Dreier Latest Outing Target — David Dreier and his straight hypocrisy (LA Weekly) [snipped quote] These stories are the reverse of the Trent Lott and Dan Rather stories.
Kevin Roderick: The Weekly story by Doug Ireland indeed declares Dreier "outed," but presents no evidence that the congressman is homosexual or living a gay life.

THE ANTI-WAR TURN IS A LOSER
  By / New York Post   —   Permalink 
Kerry: New Iraq shift invites devastating attack.
STUNG by criticism that his campaign lacks di rection and focus, Sen. John Kerry has chosen to base his candidacy on an all-out assault on President Bush's record in Iraq — indeed, opted to move to the left decisively and attack the war head-on.
Orrin Judd: DIVIDE AND HOLD AT 40%: THE ANTI-WAR TURN IS A LOSER (DICK MORRIS, September 23, 2004, NY Post) [snipped quote] Let's...
Betsy Newmark: Dick Morris says that Kerry has made a big strategic error in attacking Bush on the war.

The Womb as Photo Studio
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
IT'S a rite of passage for many expectant parents: baby's first ultrasound. The fuzzy images of the fetus, produced during an examination in an obstetrician's office, are prized by couples, passed around proudly among friends and relatives.
Orrin Judd: A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND NARAL ADS: The Womb as Photo Studio (SAM LUBELL, 9/23/04, NY Times) [snipped quote] Hard to...
John J. Miller: A CHILD, NOT A CHOICE — How many women would forgo abortions if they were first required to look at high-rez ultrasounds, like the ones described in today's New York Times?

Kerry Pulls Campaign Ads From Four States
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Bowing to political realities, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has canceled plans to begin broadcasting television commercials in Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana and the perennial battleground of Missouri.
Taegan Goddard: Meanwhile, the AP notes Kerry is "bowing to political realities" by cancelling television ads "in Arizona, Arkansas,...
Betsy Newmark: Another poor sign for the Kerry campaign - they're pulling ads in Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana and Missouri. Color them red.
Captain Ed: Kerry Retreats — The AP reports this afternoon that the Kerry campaign has canceled planned ad buys in four states...
Hindrocket: Kerry Campaign Retrenches — The Associated Press reports that the Kerrry campaign has cancelled plans to advertise in...
Hugh Hewitt: Kerry gives up in four key states.
Orrin Judd: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING CANDIDACY: Kerry Pulls Campaign Ads From Four States (RON FOURNIER, 9/22/04, AP) "Bowing to...

2 Studies Find Laws on Felons Forbid Many Black Men to Vote
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
As many as one of every seven black men in Atlanta who have been convicted of a felony, and one of every four in Providence, R.I., cannot vote in this year's election, according to a pair of studies released yesterday.
Taegan Goddard: Laws on Felons Forbid Many Black Men to Vote — Two new studies found that "as many as one of every seven black men in...
Jeralyn Merritt: Studies: Felon Laws Deprive Black Men of Right to Vote — Two new studies show that felon disenfranchisement laws have...

CBS Producer Has Go-Between Past
  Fox News   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — CBS appointed the retired CEO of the Associated Press and a former Republican U.S. Attorney General to investigate the entire CBS memo scandal on Wednesday.
Susanna Cornett: Apparently Mapes can do anything she wants — FoxNews has a letter sent from the US Department of Prisons to CBS...
Allah: And CBS certainly was justified in trusting her, right? Right. [snipped quote] The date of the letter per Fox's PDF file is November 20, 2001.
Cori Dauber: Just tonight Fox revealed prior problems in Mary Mapes' procedures (an example, by the way, of a story I very much doubt any blogger could have broken.)

Bush Team Orchestrates Larger Ad Campaign
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - President Bush's political team is orchestrating a vastly larger advertising campaign than thought possible under federal law, taking control of millions in Republican Party funds simply by inserting the phrase "our leaders in Congress" in selected commercials.
Oliver @LiquidList: Politics: Str-ad-egy — Hewing to that old Republican idiom "Rules are meant to be bent," the Bush administration is...
Taegan Goddard: Bush Campaign Exploits Huge Loophole — "President Bush's political team is orchestrating a vastly larger advertising...
Orrin Judd: JOHN KERRY, NANCY PELOSI, TED KENNEDY AND YOUR CONGRESSMAN WANT TO...: Bush Team Orchestrates Larger Ad Campaign (LIZ...

Iraq War Leads Jewish Voters To Kerry, Poll Finds
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) is gaining support among Jewish voters as growing numbers disapprove of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, according to a poll commissioned by the American Jewish Committee.
Gary Farber: We won't really know until after the election, of course, but as I expected, most of those exaggerated predictions from...
Matthew Yglesias: You've especially got to wonder about that in something like the American Jewish Committee's poll of Jews (via Laura Rozen).
Judith Weiss: UPDATE: A new poll shows Kerry retaking some of the Jewish votes tentatively given to Bush earlier in the year.
Joe Gandelman: And, according to the Washington Post, it's because of President Bush's handling of the Iraq war: "If the election were...
Laura Rozen: Kerry gains among Jewish voters, the Post reports. [snipped quote] A state by state breakdown would be interesting.

Iran's legislators try to limit women's rights
  NYT   —   Permalink 
TEHRAN The hard-liners who won Iran's parliamentary elections in February have focused on women's rights in their efforts to reverse some of the liberalization carried out under the moderate president, Mohammad Khatami.
Colt: Iran is trying to limit women's rights and foreign investment. The Iraqi defence minister says Iran has scaled back its interference in Iraq.
Natasha @PacificViews: Ideally, he'd be in jail, but it isn't all that long since it was legal to beat up your spouse here in the U.S...

Electoral overhaul taking a big lead
  By / Rocky Mountain News   —   Permalink 
A proposal to change how Colorado allocates its presidential electoral votes is winning by double digits, according to a Rocky Mountain News/News4 poll - but a majority of voters don't feel strongly either way.
James Joyner: Radley Balko points to a just-released Public Opinion Strategies poll in Colorado showing a slight Bush lead and a...
Taegan Goddard: Colorado Electoral Reform Has Support — "A proposal to change how Colorado allocates its presidential electoral votes...
Jerome Armstrong: A Ciruli Associates poll shows the #36 passing by a 51-31 percent margin; and a POS poll shows it passing by a 47-35 percent margin.
Radley Balko: Latest polls show it passing by twelve points. At the same time, most polls show a small Bush lead (one shows a big Bush lead, one shows a small Kerry lead).
Mathew Gross: Colorado Amendment 36 — This sure throws a wrench in attempts to plot electoral vote outcomes in the weeks leading up...

Suicide bombing, fierce fighting rock Baghdad
  AP   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgent attacks and heavy fighting rocked the Iraqi capital on Wednesday, and fighting erupted in the town of Samarra in the evening, in the wake of a suicide bombing that killed at least six Iraqi civilians and wounded 54 others.
Kos: Good think his staff insulate him from reality.
Trickster: . . .) Baghdad, September 22, 2004. Editor's Note: This story has been edited, and then edited again, to change a link.

Kerry has a war record - Bush has ideas
  By / Townhall.com   —   Permalink 
John Kerry gave what his fans and his critics say was his best speech on Iraq and foreign policy so far. Basically, Kerry has decided that the Iraq war is a Vietnam-like mistake, that the "world," not America, should fix Iraq, and that America should get out, fast.
Lorie Byrd: Jonah Goldberg thinks Democrats would have been better off with Wesley Clark as their candidate.
Betsy Newmark: Jonah Goldberg says that the Democrats would have done better with Wesley Clark.

Civil war at '60 Minutes'
  By / NY Daily News   —   Permalink 
A war of words has erupted within the halls of "60 Minutes" following Dan Rather's admission that CBS News aired a report on President Bush using questionable documents.
On one side of the battle is Steve Kroft, a veteran correspondent on the Sunday edition of "60 Minutes."
Cori Dauber: Update: Really, no kidding — one hell of a Christmas party. (via Memeorandum.)
Allah: Compare Don Hewitt's comment about NBC's "Dateline" scandal as quoted near the end of this op-ed to what he told the New York Daily News yesterday about people criticizing Rather.
Joe Gandelman: It's Civil War Between Generations At CBS — It's the Journalistic Practice Defenders versus the Loyal Company Soldiers in a Civil War at CBS.
Michelle Malkin: "- Dale Channer, 34, florist, the Bronx, quoted in the New York Daily News"

Bush shrugs off his CIA skeptics
  By / Newsday   —   Permalink 
President George W. Bush yesterday brushed aside a bleak CIA assessment of Iraq's future, saying the agency was "just guessing" in forecasting that the country may descend into civil war.
Kos: Iraq still FUBAR — Bush still claims things were peachy, and that a dire CIA report to the contrary was bunk (the irony).
David Allan Pell: Well, according to W, the report isn't important because the analysts at the CIA are "just guessing."
Steve Soto: Clueless In New York — Bush said the CIA was "just guessing" about how Iraq will turn out when it released it's latest NIE, which Bush probably didn't read.

EYE ON THE MEDIA
  By / Newsday   —   Permalink 
CBS's most popular program "CSI" can now investigate a crime scene close to home.
The reputation of veteran news anchor Dan Rather is lying on the floor, bloodied by a mistake he has now admitted, flanked on the political right by "we told you so" finger-pointers led by GOP operatives demanding his head.
Stefan Sharkansky: Selected, not Elected — From Newsday, comes this fascinating opinion column by Danny Schechter [snipped quote] These...
Roger L. Simon: Well, not quite... but close enough according to the new Gallup poll quoted here. (via Glenn) I do enjoy the...
Allah: Via Michele, I love the smell of napalm in the morning.
Ace: And let's look at the scary-important observations of this undoubtedly fair-and-balanced independent-minded "I just vote...
Charles Johnson: Newsday Smears Bloggers with Lie — Here's an outrageous smear by Danny Schechter in Newsday that should be retracted: Eye on the Media.
Michele Catalano: From an article in today's Newsday, written by one Danny Schechter [editor of the Web site, Mediachannel.org.
Also: Bill @INDCJournal

Kerry in a Struggle for a Democratic Base: Women
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 - It was no accident that John Kerry appeared Tuesday on "Live With Regis and Kelly'' and recalled his days as a young prosecutor in a rape case. Or that he then flew from New York to Jacksonville, Fla., to promote his health care proposals.
Ann Althouse: The NYT has an article about Kerry's appeal to women, and I'm having trouble reading it because that picture there with the article is driving me nuts.
Michael Totten: He takes a licking and keeps on sinking. Not only do men prefer Bush to Kerry, women now prefer Bush to Kerry, too.
Shannon Love: The Gigolo Factor — Both Instapundit and Best of the Web reference this NY Times poll showing Kerry losing ground among women.
Tom Maguire: My guess - the AP is giving Kerry a boost with his attempt to win back America's sweethearts, as noted in the Times: In...
Liz Cox Barrett: Today, the New York Times gives "security moms" A-1 billing, citing its own poll from last week showing Bush edging...
Orrin Judd: Kerry in a Struggle for a Democratic Base: Women (KATHARINE Q. SEELYE, 9/22/04, NY Times) "It was no accident that...
Also: Steve M., KJL, Ace, Glenn Reynolds, William J. Dyer

2 Iraq Views, 2 Campaigns
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 21 - To hear President Bush and John Kerry argue bitterly in the past two days about the American mission in Iraq is to wonder if they are talking about the same war, or even the same country.
Fred Clark: Reality Matters, Part 2 — Another disappointing example of "he said/she said" journalism: In a New York Times analysis...
Zachary Roth: And in a front-page analysis, the Times' David Sanger writes: "Beyond the mutual accusations, something has changed in the last 48 hours.
DeLong: Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps?
Steve Soto: And with evidence that after initially crowing about Kerry making Iraq a campaign issue again, the NYT reports that...
Noam Scheiber: But the Times' David Sanger has an entire piece today about Kerry's dissent from Bush's rosy assessment of Iraq—and it's pegged to Bush's speech, not Kerry's.
Oliver @LiquidList: It's also why his campaign aides down in the basement act like this: [quote] "The (Bush) campaign leadership was shaken by...[end quote]
Also: Matthew Yglesias, Hugh Hewitt

First, Find the Forger
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Whoever, having devised any scheme or artifice to defraud transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.
Bill @INDCJournal: More importantly, William Safire tackles the Federal crime angle: Whoever, having devised any scheme or artifice to...
Roger Ailes: The Wire — So I was reading Bill Safliar, former paid mouthpiece for the criminal gang of Nixon and Agnew, and he...
Eugene Volokh: William Safire apparently errs about possible federal fraud prosecution: William Safire writes: [quote] "Whoever, having...[end quote]
Howard Kurtz: There's also lots of buzz about this column by Bill Safire, who seems to want the current attorney general to get...
Bruce Sanborn: Also important is this question, why does the DNC perpetuate a fraud? William Safire has a piece in the NY Times today.
Roger L. Simon: Until CBS retracts the story and apologizes directly to Bush, "it mitigates the potential beneficial effect of an...
Also: Charles Johnson

King of the funny skin flicks
  By / Chicago Sun Times   —   Permalink 
Russ Meyer is dead. The legendary independent director, who made exploitation films but was honored as an auteur, died Saturday at his home in the Hollywood Hills. He was 82, and had been suffering from dementia.
Greg Ransom: Roger Ebert reports. Quotable: "He made one film after another, all of them involving unlikely plots, incongruous settings and abundantly voluptuous actresses.
Michael DeBow: Kill!" died Saturday at the age of 82. Roger Ebert provides the following footnote to history: [snipped quote] (Hat tip to the Brothers Judd.)
Orrin Judd: King of the funny skin flicks (ROGER EBERT, September 22, 2004, Chicago Sun-Times) [snipped quote] More clinical isn't sexier.
Alex Tabarrok: Markets in Everything - Russ Meyer Edition — Today's edition of markets in everything is in honor of King Leer, the late, great Russ Meyer.
Tim Cavanaugh: This appreciation by sometime collaborator Roger Ebert is probably the fullest recognition of Meyer's genius you're likely to read.

The News Keeps Getting Worse for Embarrassed CBS
  LAT   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK — CBS television officials struggled Tuesday with revelations that the network's news programs not only failed to report thoroughly on memos involving President Bush's Vietnam-era military service, but then committed an apparent ethical lapse by helping a top advisor to Sen. John F. Kerry contact a source for that controversial report.
Joe Katzman: Meanwhile, guess where this quote comes from: "Several journalism analysts said CBS News producer Mary Mapes' phone call...
Tim Blair: More on this, from Elizabeth Jensen and James Rainey in the LA Times: "The network's missteps were compounded, in the...
Hugh Hewitt: The Los Angeles Times has a long piece on the collapse of CBS credibility, including, finally, a comment from Les...
Lambert @Corrente: CBS memos: New wave of tut-tuttery — Yeah yeah the SCLM suck. This is news?. The latest: [snipped quote] And what did Mapes do?
Greg Ransom: "SOMETHING WENT SERIOUSLY WRONG" — CBS Chairman Chairman Leslie Moonves, in the LA Times, "The News Keeps Getting Worse...
William J. Dyer: Update (Wed Sep 23 @ 8:05am): LAT gets its knives bloody again today too, as part of which (elipsis in original): "CBS...

Public schools no place for teachers' kids
  By / Washington Times   —   Permalink 
More than 25 percent of public school teachers in Washington and Baltimore send their children to private schools, a new study reports.
Nationwide, public school teachers are almost twice as likely as other parents to choose private schools for their own children, the study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute found.
John Hawkins: Keeping all of that in mind, read this article from the Washington Times... "More than 25 percent of public school...
Clayton Cramer: Oh yeah, public school teachers seem to know why homeschoolers are doing what they are doing: "More than 25 percent of...
Joanne Jacobs: Where teachers' kids go to school — Public school teachers are nearly twice as likely to choose private schools for...
QD @SouthernAppeal: Public Schoolteachers' Choices: According to this article, 12.2% of American families put their kids into private schools. 25% of public schoolteachers do.

Washing Away the Mud
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
What I found most dispiriting over the last month of politicking was the sight of two senior statesmen in the Republican Party - yes, I mean you, George H. W. Bush and Bob Dole - climbing on the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth bandwagon in its campaign to turn Mr. Kerry from war hero to craven braggart.
Matt Stoller: In a column about political smears, and on the eve of the Swift Boats largest ad buy ever, he struggles to construct a moral equivalency between Democrats and Republicans.
Tom Tomorrow: The Sensible Liberal — Kristof this morning: [snipped quote] He's a Sensible Liberal, and proud of it.
Tom Maguire: In his latest column, Kristof doubles down on the Swift Boat theme.
Captain Ed: Kristof Can't Be Serious — Nicholas Kristof comes back for Round 2 against the Swiftvets, this time disguised as a "stop the mud" plea to both sides in the election.

Citizens' Arrest
  American Spectator   —   Permalink 
SAN DIEGO — In 1998, retired Special Forces operators forced CNN to apologize for a story alleging that American troops had used nerve gas in Laos during a secret 1970 mission called Operation Tailwind.
Glenn Reynolds: FINAL UPDATE: This article on the contributions of blogs is worth reading, too.
Orrin Judd: IT AIN'T BRAGGIN' IF IT'S TRUE: Citizens' Arrest (Patrick O'Hannigan, 9/21/2004, The Spectator) [snipped quote] We've...

SWITCHING BATTLES: Anti-Bush group relocates to other states
  By / Detroit Free Press   —   Permalink 
Americans Coming Together (ACT), the political fund-raising group behind high-profile rock concerts meant to increase turnout for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, is closing all 10 of its offices in Michigan and reassigning most of its 100 staff members to other battleground states.
Byron L: In fact, ACT is pulling out of Michigan: "Americans Coming Together (ACT), the political fund-raising group behind...
Taegan Goddard: ACT Leaves Michigan — Americans Coming Together (ACT), "the political fund-raising group behind high-profile rock...
Jerome Armstrong: ACT is. Americans Coming Together is closing "all 10" of its offices in MI and reassigning most of its 100 staff members to other battleground states.
DHinMI: ACT Closing Shop, Moving Staff to Ohio and Florida ACT is pulling out of Michigan: [snipped quote] Even during the height...

Ad Says Kerry 'Secretly' Met With Enemy; But He Told Congress of It
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The veterans organization that sparked controversy last month when it questioned John F. Kerry's military service in Vietnam plans to launch a new commercial today that equates Kerry with Vietnam War protester Jane Fonda and accuses the Democratic presidential nominee of secretly meeting with "enemy leaders" during the conflict.
Tbogg: ANOTHER UPDATE: But it wasn't secret — well, it may have been when it happened, but not later. (my emphasis) From the article: The meeting, however, was not a secret.
John J. Miller: It just dawned on me now, as I was reading this Washington Post story mentioning Kerry's Throne—and because my wife and I have been watching Alias on DVD.
Glenn Reynolds: ANOTHER UPDATE: But it wasn't secret — well, it may have been when it happened, but not later.
Captain Ed: The Washington Post misses the story by deliberately eliminating the year between Kerry's meeting in Paris and his...

Partisan Dan
  By / NRO   —   Permalink 
Never shy about declaring his deep reverence for the notion of journalistic objectivity, Dan Rather has contended over the years that he is one journalist who has no "political agenda, inside, outside, downside, upside."
Christopher Kanis: THE GREATEST TRICK DAN RATHER EVER PULLED WAS CONVINCING THE WORLD THAT HE'D ADMITTED THE MEMOS WERE FAKES — Noemie...
Mike Hendrix: Well, once again I've been beaten to the punch.
Greg Ransom: DAN RATHER — PARTISAN HACK. But you already knew that, didn't you?
PoliPundit: Partisan Dan — Dan Rather: Democrat partisan.

What's 'Illegal'?
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
When U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan opined last week to the BBC that the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein had been "illegal," two words came instantly to my mind: baby food.
No, I'm not comparing Mr. Annan's thoughts to pabulum.
McQ: What isn't debatable and should be remembered is that Kofi Annan presided over something patently illegal, and has yet...
Glenn Reynolds: UNSCAM UPDATE: Claudi Rosett pulls no punches on Kofi Annan's involvement with the Oil-for-Food scandal.
Roger L. Simon: Thankfully, Claudia Rosett is here to remind us of The Real World.
Cori Dauber: And that's never good news for anyone associated with the UN.

Rather Irrelevant
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Try as I may, I am unable to conjure up a single shred of nostalgia for the once-fabled network evening news programs. Walter Cronkite is a name to me, not a symbol of reassurance or stability. Edward R. Murrow is a historical figure.
Virginia Postrel: Media Relics Martin Wooster emails to ask what I think of Anne Applebaum's WaPost column on the CBS scandal.
Radley Balko: Applebaum — The WaPo columnist on the Dan Rather imbroglio: [snipped quote] I couldn't agree more.
Glenn Reynolds: IT'S INTERESTING to read these thoughts on technological change from Terry Teachout in conjunction with this column by Anne Applebaum on RatherGate.
Cori Dauber: THE NATIONAL CAMPFIRE — Let me step out of character for a moment, and point you toward this really wonderful little piece in today's WaPo with a touch of nostalgia.

Bush Campaign Gets a Case of Camera Shyness
  DNC   —   Permalink 
Washington, DC— Facing questions about President Bush's Guard Service and its own possible involvement with the disputed National Guard documents, the Republican National Committee has postponed a call scheduled to discuss the issue this afternoon.
Jeffrey Dubner: Then the DNC took credit for a cancelled RNC conference call and trumpeted that the Bush-Cheney campaign was hiding from the charges.
Ezra Klein: Breaking Schoolyard Etiquette — Well this is interesting: [snipped quote] Dudes, there is nothing wussier than saying you'll show at the slide at 3 and then not being there.
Harley: When reached at his Florida home, he had 'no comment.' Within hours, Terry McAullife jumped headfirst into the fray,...
H.D. Miller: Punch Drunk — Oh yeah, that Terry McAuliffe is a political genius, just look at this super-duper, double-urgent press release from the Democratic National Committee.
Barbara O'Brien: From the DNC web site: "Bush Campaign Gets a Case of Camera Shyness Backs Away From Defending Bush Guard Service,...
Ken Layne: And another DNC release, from today: "Facing questions about President Bush's Guard Service and its own possible...
Also: Atrios

Taking Liberties
  By / The Nation   —   Permalink 
O n September 2 a federal judge in Detroit threw out the only jury conviction the Justice Department has obtained on a terrorism charge since 9/11. In October 2001, shortly after the men were initially arrested, Attorney General John Ashcroft heralded the case in a national press conference as evidence of the success of his anti-terror campaign.
Stuart Buck: Detainees — I'm not sure what to think about this story: "Until that reversal, the Detroit case had marked the only...
SK Bubba: Ashcroft 0 for 5000 in the War on Terror — Taking Liberties [snipped quote] Well, at least they caught that terrorist pop singer Cat Stevens.
Kevin Drum: This is what David Cole says in The Nation about Ashcroft's conviction record now that a federal judge has tossed out...

3 DeLay Workers Indicted In Texas
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
The indictments came less than 24 hours after the House ethics committee postponed a decision on a complaint against DeLay that includes allegations involving TRMPAC.
Steve Soto: The Net Closes On DeLay — In today's " no good deed goes unpunished" category, please take satisfaction in knowing that...
Charles Kuffner: Byron also has the NYT story and the WaPo story, which contains this interesting nugget: "The businesses indicted were...
Steve Clemons: THREE OF TOM DELAY'S AIDES HAVE BEEN INDICTED in the fundraising probe related to the mid-term redistricting in Texas.
Josh Marshall: The article in today's Post on the indictments of three top aides to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay mentions that one...
Roger Ailes: Grand Old Police Blotter: Justice DeLayed Edition — Three of the Bugman's bagmen have been indicted for violating Texas law.
Byron L: Aides Charged in Fundraising Probe [Washington Post] From the Blogs: Keep an eye on Austin Today [Taking on Tom DeLay]...