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Let My People Go By / NYT — Permalink KIEV, Ukraine — Here's a suggestion for President Bush from the protesters behind the democratic "orange revolution" here: Wear an orange tie. "If he wore an orange tie, people here would be crying," said Yuri Maluta, a protester from Lviv. | |
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Glenn Reynolds: UKRAINE UPDATE: Nick Kristof has some advice to President Bush — wear orange: [snipped quote] I have a suggestion of my own as to what President Bush might wear. |
Jeff Jarvis: Celebrating democracy : What a wonderful column from Nick Kristof today, celebrating the democratic victory in the Ukraine. |
Stoned to death... why Europe is starting to lose its faith in Islam By / Times of London — Permalink DAYS before she was due to be married, Ghofrane Haddaoui, 23, refused the advances of a teenage boy and paid with her life. Lured to waste ground near her home in Marseilles, the Tunisian-born Frenchwoman was stoned to death, her skull smashed by rocks hurled by at least two young men, according to police. | |
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Ace: "We Have Awoken a Sleeping Wussy" — And that wussy's name is Europe, which seems to finally be twigging on to the fact... Orrin Judd: LYING IN A MADE BED (via Mike Daley): Stoned to death... why Europe is starting to lose its faith in Islam: Islamic... Ted Belman: Europe is waking up — Times of London reports on the growing Islamic problem in Europe and the steps being taken to address it. |
Charles Johnson: Why Europe is Losing Faith in Islam — The Times of London says Europe is starting to awaken from its multiculturalist... Joe Gandelman: Europeans Realize They Have A Big Problem... ...and it involves a certain religion that literally clashes with its very civilization. Greg Ransom: EUROPE'S IMMIGRATION PROBLEM. Call it a clash of civilizations. |
Ukraine Candidate's Illness Stumps Doctors By / NYT — Permalink VIENNA, Dec. 2 - When the once-robust, telegenic man was wheeled in through the sliding glass doors of the plush Rudolfinerhaus hospital in early September, he was severely ill, conscious but groggy and complaining of terrible abdominal pain. | |
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Tom Maguire: Now We Are Writing Spy Thrillers — Viktor A. Yushchenko, opposition leader in the Ukraine, has contracted an utterly mysterious illness. Gregory Djerejian: Elisabeth Rosenthal (non-blogger!) is on the case: [snipped quote] Any M.D.s out there with thoughts? |
Betsy Newmark: The story of Viktor Yushchenko's mysterious disease is very strange. |
Voters to have their say today By / New Orleans Times-Picayune — Permalink South Louisiana voters will replace their two representatives in the U.S. House today during elections in the 3rd and 7th congressional districts, ending rancorous campaigns that drew national attention and millions of dollars from special interest groups and the Republican and Democratic parties. | |
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DavidNYC: That makes today the day for two Congressional run-off elections, in LA's 3rd and 7th districts. Orrin Judd: FOR A 30 SEAT MARGIN: Voters to have their say today (Matthew Brown, December 04, 2004, New Orleans Times-Picayune) |
PoliPundit: Louisiana — LA run-offs for two House seats today. If you live there, get out and win those seats for the GOP! |
Lift a Pint for Coalitions By / NYT — Permalink I spent much of last week talking with Republicans about Social Security reform, but I didn't expect to find myself salivating over the phone. I was in a hotel room in St. Paul when I connected with Senator Lindsey Graham. As he spoke, I could hear Irish music in the background. | |
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Matthew Yglesias: Compromise — David Brooks goes on about the new to close the Social Security financing gap and the need for bipartisanship to do it. |
Tom Maguire: David Brooks On Social Security — David Brooks is quite astute on Scoial Security reform when he passes along the wisdom of Sen. Lindsay Graham: [snipped quote] Fair enough. |
MERYL MAGGIE New York Post — Permalink December 4, 2004 — OLIVER Stone plans to explore the possibility of an affair between former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan in his next movie. | |
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JD @SouthernAppeal: Fresh off his "Alexander" success: Evidently, Oliver Stone is convinced that the five people who saw "Alexander" will also be willing to buy tickets to this cinematic gem. |
Ann Althouse: Page Six has this: [snipped quote] I think it would be great fun to see Streep play Thatcher. |
The Truth Lies in the Numbers By / WaPo — Permalink Now we know how much of Barry Bonds was real and how much was fake. Half was a fraud. Bonds's reputation has lived by his statistics. Now, let it die by them. Forever. Before Bonds hooked up with his old friend and alleged steroid merchant Greg Anderson in '98, he had 411 homers in 6,621 at-bats, one per 16.1 at-bats. | |
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J. Henley: Back at the Post, Thomas Boswell expresses the outrage of the baseball purist, whom he calls "we"; Michael Wilbon is... |
Orrin Judd: JUNKIE BONDS: The Truth Lies in the Numbers (Thomas Boswell, December 4, 2004, Washington Post) "Now we know how much of Barry Bonds was real and how much was fake. |
Bush picks for Cabinet have shared trait: Grit By / Chicago Tribune — Permalink WASHINGTON — If there is a pattern in President Bush's choices for key posts in his second term, it's that the people he has selected often have extraordinary personal stories of having succeeded after overcoming great obstacles. | |
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Betsy Newmark: Frank James in the Chicago Tribune makes the point that what unites Bush's nominees is .... "grit." He is so right. |
Christopher Kanis: BUSH'S CABINET — Check out this amazingly sneer-free analysis of Bush's new cabinet picks from the Chicago Tribune. |
Rumsfeld To Remain At Pentagon By / WaPo — Permalink President Bush will keep Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary for a second term, administration aides said yesterday, hours after Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson resigned with a dire warning about the nation's vulnerability to a flu pandemic or a terrorist attack on the food supply. | |
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Avedon Carol: "It's not really a surprise that after everyone called for Rumsfeld to be given the axe, Bush fired everyone else instead." Barbara O'Brien: "Rumsfeld to Reman at Pentagon." Also, Kos lists the members of the "coalition" and how many troops each "coalition" member sent. |
Cori Dauber: Today everyone's in a tizz because he's shooting his mouth off on the way out the door about the vulnerability of the food supply. |
27 Civilians Die in New Attacks by Iraq Rebels NYT — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 3 - Heavily armed insurgents launched attacks here and in the northern city of Mosul on Friday morning, striking at police stations, military bases and a Shiite mosque. At least 27 Iraqi civilians and policemen and dozens of insurgents were killed. | |
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Dan Gillmor: I've tuned out the baseball/olympics/etc drug scandals. There's lots of vastly more important news out there. |
Cori Dauber: SKEWING PERCEPTIONS — The headline of this New York Times article is the same for the online and paper editions: "27... |
P.C.'s Second Wave By / Front Page Magazine — Permalink The past year has seen an explosion of political documentaries. But the single most interesting one has yet to find a commercial distributor. Evan Coyne Maloney's "Brainwashing 101" employs the techniques which made such films as Supersize Me effective: cheeky... | |
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Ace: And speaking of that mentality, check out this review of Brainwashing 101, a documentary about our tenured radical acadamians. |
Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: Reader James Foster sends this link to a very positive review of Evan's new documentary, Brainwashing 101. |
Editorial: Going after Annan/A sordid move by Coleman Minneapolis Star Tribune — Permalink Good old Norm; it appears there's nothing he won't do for a headline, or for his GOP masters. Minnesota's junior senator made quite a splash this week with his call for the resignation of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, a splendid public servant whom the... | |
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Hugh Hewitt: The New Right-Wing Talk Radio and Blogger Constellations and Stars Registry — The Minneapolis Star Tribune's editors'... Captain Ed: The Minneapolis Star-Tribune unleashes its venom on Senator Norm Coleman, who had the audacity (in the Strib's view) to... |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: CHARACTER ASSASSINATION — As Monty Python might say, this isn't an editorial, it is abuse. Hindrocket: The Strib, Around the Bend Again — Tomorrow's Minneapolis Star Tribune includes an editorial that is wacky, even by the Strib's standards. |
McCain Threatens Baseball Over Drugs WaPo — Permalink As Major League Baseball's steroid scandal widened to include the sport's most prolific active home run hitter, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said yesterday that he will introduce legislation imposing drug-testing standards on... | |
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Avedon Carol: "John McCain has found something really important to agree with Bush about - steroids. In baseball." Giblets: Gibbleg: Steroids — John McCain's jumped into the Major League Baseball Steroid Scandal by threatening to impose anti-steroid regulations on the league. |
James Joyner: McCain Threatens Baseball Over Drugs — McCain Threatens Baseball Over Drugs (WaPo A01) [snipped quote] As regular... Jeralyn Merritt: McCain to Baseball: Shape Up or I'll Do it For You — John McCain is threatening baseball with new legislation for... |
U.S. Health Chief, Stepping Down, Issues Warning By / NYT — Permalink WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 - Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, announced Friday that he was resigning, and he expressed grave concern about the threat of a global flu epidemic and the possibility of a terrorist attack on the nation's food supply. | |
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Steve Soto: Yesterday, it was outgoing HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson's turn for an out-of-body experience wherein he acted like he... Julia @AmStreet: but it only really hurts our farmers, people who want to support our farmers and anyone who eats food — Mr. Thompson,... Jeralyn Merritt: Update: Thompson included these warnings in his departure announcement: [snipped quote] Thanks, Mr. Thompson, for letting them know. |
Cori Dauber: In fact, the Times is so eager to follow this logic through that they literally rewrite history for the man. Tom Tomorrow: Just in case they hadn't already thought of it... "Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services,... |
Time to let people kill burglars in their homes, says Met chief By / Telegraph — Permalink Householders should be able to use whatever force is necessary to defend their homes against criminals, even if it involves killing the intruder, the country's most senior police officer said yesterday. | |
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Johnathan Pearce: This senior British police officer tells the Daily Telegraph that householders should be able to use force, lethal force if necessary, to beat off burglars. |
Antoine Clarke: The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, interviewed in the Daily Telegraph (free subscription needed),... |
BBC Falls Prey to Hoax on Anniversary of Bhopal Disaster By / NYT — Permalink The hoax, contradicting Dow Chemical's rejection of any responsibility, came on the 20th anniversary of the catastrophe, when waves of lethal gas escaped from a chemical plant in Bhopal, in central India, killing more than 3,500 people and injuring thousands more. | |
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Larre @LeftCoaster: To his credit, Alan Cowell of the New York Times goes against the grain while producing a superbly balanced, informative, and complete account of the episode. |
Jan Haugland: BBC falls for Bhopal hoax — BBC World broadcast an interview with Jude Finisterra, who they believed to be a spokesman... |
Settlement in Priest Abuse Case to Set Profound Standard LAT — Permalink The agreement by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange to pay $100 million to settle 87 sex-abuse claims against priests probably will set a standard that profoundly will affect hundreds of cases in California and nationwide, lawyers familiar with the litigation said Friday. | |
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Hugh Hewitt: The Los Angeles Times reports that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, covering Orange County, California, has shaken... |
Greg Ransom: ORANGE COUNTY CATHOLICS pay sex victims $100 million in a landmark settlement. |
Our Ukraine By / Opinion Journal — Permalink KIEV—For months, Ukraine's democratic forces warned officials in Kiev and other European capitals that our autumn presidential election would be neither free nor fair. Two of the main reasons for this conclusion were the incumbent government's unprecedented interference in the pre-election campaign and its censorship of the mass media. | |
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Jan Haugland: Ukraine's EU membership application — The very likely future Ukrianians president Viktor Yushchenko voices his... N. Todd Pritsky: Our Ukraine — Oppo candidate Victor Yushchenko speaks (WSJ, subscription only): [snipped quote] So, do we in the US... |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: UPDATE: See also this editorial by Yushchenko. |
Bush taps Kerik to head homeland security By / NY Daily News — Permalink WASHINGTON — President Bush picked former police commissioner Bernard Kerik, the steady ex-military man who helped New York get back on its feet after Sept. 11, to head the federal agency charged with making sure it never happens again. | |
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Jeralyn Merritt: Guliani Cashes in Chit on Kerik — The New York Daily News puts Bernie Kerik's appointment as Homeland Security Chief in perspective: Rudy called in a chit. |
Josh Marshall: Bazinet and Kennedy nail the Kerik story in the Daily News ... [snipped quote] Rudy's chit. |
Rumsfeld to remain in Cabinet CNN — Permalink WASHINGTON (CNN) — At the urging of President Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has agreed to remain in his Cabinet post, a senior administration official said Friday. | |
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Josh Marshall: And that leaves Don Rumsfeld who, according to this report tonight on CNN, is not only still standing, but will keep... Lambert @Corrente: How big? (Via CNN) |
Talking Dog: Amidst the announcements of the resignations of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and U.N. Ambassador... |
All Homeland Security Is Local By / Slate — Permalink In picking former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik as the next secretary of Homeland Security, President Bush immediately prompted criticism that he had chosen a poor manager who lacked the political savvy to succeed in Washington, as well as yet another lackey who'll be too subservient to be an effective Cabinet secretary. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: JUDGING BERNARD KERIK — Phil Carter writes that Bernard Kerik is a good pick for the Department of Homeland Security... Phillip Carter: Slate just published my article on Bernie Kerik, nominated this morning to succeed Tom Ridge as Secretary of Homeland Security. James Joyner: Phil Carter explains why in an excellent piece in Slate, "All Homeland Security Is Local - Which is why Bernard Kerik is the right choice to lead the department. " |
Matthew Yglesias: Another Take On Kerik — James Joyner and Phil Carter team up to make the case for Bernard Kerik. Glenn Reynolds: PHIL CARTER writes in Slate that Kerik was a good choice: "Most of all, Kerik knows that the most likely person to stop... Armed Liberal: Phil Carter Talks Sense on Homeland Security — Phil Carter (unlike me, not a Bush toady) writes approvingly of Bush's selection of ex-cop Bernard Kerik as head of the DHS. |
Questions for Kerik By / Slate — Permalink When Bernard Kerik, President Bush's choice to be the new homeland security secretary, testifies at his Senate confirmation hearings next month, someone should ask him the following questions: | |
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Matthew Yglesias: Their argument hinges on a point I'd totally overlooked until I found it popping up as the "to be sure" graf in Fred Kaplan's otherwise very negative Slate piece. Roger Ailes: So instead I'll link to this Fred Kaplan piece on Cut And Run Kerik. (p.s. |
Phillip Carter: For a dissenting opinion, see Fred Kaplan's article "Questions for Kerik" in Slate today as well. |
The battle over Ukraine By / Townhall.com — Permalink WASHINGTON — There has been general back-patting in the West about renewed European-American comity during the Ukrainian crisis. Both the United States and Europe have been doing exactly the right thing: rejecting a fraudulent election run by a corrupt oligarchy and insisting upon a new vote. | |
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Alisa @SilentRunning: I have the greatest respect for Charles Krauthammer. But I also have two things that bother me in this article. |
Charles Johnson: The Battle Over Ukraine — A hard-headed appraisal of the Ukraine situation by Charles Krauthammer: The battle over Ukraine. |
Weblog: The Story Behind the TV Networks' UCC Ad 'Ban' Christianity Today — Permalink Newspapers today are aflutter over decisions from CBS and NBC nine months ago to reject advertising from the United Church of Christ. It is a significant story, but what's particularly remarkable about the press coverage is how many papers filed original reports instead of picking up a wire service version. | |
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QD @SouthernAppeal: UCC Ad (again): Since Feddie can't seem to get many people interested in that UCC ad, here's another perspective, from Ted Olsen over at CT. |
Ramesh Ponnuru: Ted Olsen gives some very helpful context. |
AP: Navy Probes New Iraq Prisoner Photos By / AP — Permalink CORONADO, Calif. - The U.S. military has launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show Navy SEALs in Iraq sitting on hooded and handcuffed detainees, and photos of what appear to be bloodied prisoners, one with a gun to his head. | |
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Karl-T: Navy SEALS — The Navy SEALs have launched a criminal investigation into photographs that appear to show commandos in... Jeralyn Merritt: Navy Investigating New Iraqi Prisoner Abuse Photos — The "few bad apples" theory loses more credibility as new photos... Tom Tomorrow: No comment — Speaks for itself: "CORONADO, Calif. (AP) - The U.S. military has launched a criminal investigation into... |
Jason Van Steenwyk: Navy SEALs implicated in prisoner abuse... The U.S. military has launched a criminal investigation into photographs... Andrew Sullivan: A CULTURE OF ABUSE: More evidence that abuse and dehumanization of prisoners has been widespread in the U.S. military. |
America's one-party state Economist — Permalink TOM WOLFE'S new novel about a young student, "I am Charlotte Simmons", is a depressing read for any parent. Four years at an Ivy League university costs as much as a house in parts of the heartland—about $120,000 for tuition alone. But what do you get for your money? | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: THE IDEOLOGISTS' CLUB AT THE FACULTY LOUNGE — That well-known right-wing broadsheet The Economist has published an editorial about diversity in academia. Robert Prather: A quote: [snipped quote] The more indeterminate the discipline, the more it tilts left. Michael DeBow: "America's one-party state" That's how The Economist's "Lexington" views American colleges and universities. |
Steve Bainbridge: (The Economist)" The ACTA survey was conducted this fall by the Center for Survey Research & Analysis at the University... Ed Driscoll: Meanwhile, The Economist uses Charlotte as a launching point to discuss the one punch Wolfe could be argued of pulling:... Glenn Reynolds: THE ECONOMIST has more on American academia's serious diversity problems. [snipped quote] (Via Carl Frank). |
| Also: Greg Ransom | |
NBC Makes Unprecedented Downward Correction in Latino Support for Bush PRNewsWire — Permalink WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ — In a stunning admission, an elections manager for NBC News said national news organizations overestimated President George W. Bush's support among Latino voters, downwardly revising its estimated support for President Bush to... | |
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Avedon Carol: NBC turnabout — Memeorandum has a link up for a confusing story headlined NBC Makes Unprecedented Downward Correction in Latino Support for Bush. Michelle Malkin: BUSH'S HISPANIC VOTES — According to a press release issued by the William C. Velasquez Institute, NBC News has... Plutonium Page: Check this out: Makes Unprecedented Downward Correction in Latino Support for Bush [snipped quote] Love that SCLM. |
Joe Gandelman: NBC is admitting it has salsa on its face: "In a stunning admission, an elections manager for NBC News said national... Karl-T: Latino Exit Polling Wrong, Corrected towards Kerry — NBC goes oops. |
A Chill in the Classroom Opinion Journal — Permalink Most Journal readers over a certain age can remember going all the way through college without politics intruding in the classroom. Until the Vietnam War, for instance, few students knew their professors' views, and even then most politicking took place on parts of the campus where participation was voluntary. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: "(Opinion Journal)" The great secret is out: liberals dominate campuses. Chris Lawrence: Back to the academic bias well — Greg Ransom and Glenn Reynolds are among those linking to Jeff Jacoby's Boston Globe... Michael DeBow: In the same vein, Opinion Journal's "Taste" page reports on a new study of college students' perceptions of political... |
Joanne Jacobs: Politicking professors make many students uneasy, writes Opinion Journal, citing a survey by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. Ed Driscoll: Gee, wonder what gave them that idea? Update: Memeorandum has a nice Blogosphere round-up on the Economist piece. KJL: I like it. You conservative kid might get harrassed by his profs, too. (Many of us have those stories...of course, they often wind up helpful in the long run.) |
| Also: Glenn Reynolds, Greg Ransom | |
Don't Expect the Government to Be a V-Chip By / NYT — Permalink Washington — TIME to take a deep breath. The high pitch at which many are discussing the enforcement of rules against indecency on television and radio is enough to pop an eardrum. It is no surprise that those who make a handsome living by selling saucy fare rant the loudest - it drives up the ratings. | |
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Jeff Jarvis: Fisking our National Nanny : Michael Powell, our censor-in-chief, writes an op-ed in today's New York Times defending... Dan Gillmor: Michael Powell Doesn't Fool Jeff Jarvis — Jeff has posted a solid deconstruction of FCC Chairman (and national nanny) Michael Powell's insulting and scary op-ed in today's Times. Ed Cone: Jeff Jarvis to FCC chairman Michael Powell: "Utter crap, sir." Plus another 2,257 words of commentary on Powell's NYT op-ed. |
Avedon Carol: "For material to be indecent in the legal sense it must be of a sexual or excretory nature and it must be patently... Matt Welch: Powell's "Delicate First Amendment Balance" — If you're going to read Michael Powell's crappy and condescending New... |
Russia's Putin Calls U.S. Policy 'Dictatorial' By / Reuters — Permalink NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Friday of pursuing a dictatorial foreign policy and said mounting violence could derail progress toward bringing peace and democracy to Iraq . | |
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Avedon Carol: Reuters: Russia's Putin Calls U.S. Policy 'Dictatorial': "Even if dictatorship is packaged in beautiful... Orrin Judd: AND? : Russia's Putin Calls U.S. Policy 'Dictatorial' (Douglas Busvine, 12/03/04, Reuters) [snipped quote] Accused? |
Oliver Willis: Cold War II — There goes our "ally", Pooty-Poot. Russia's Putin Calls U.S. Policy 'Dictatorial' (and he would know!) Matt Welch: It's All Over But the Banging of the Shoe — Christmas may be coming early for Cold War nostalgiacs. |
U.N. worker accused of genocide in Rwanda MSNBC — Permalink There's outrage at the United Nations. A U.N. worker was accused of genocide and yet was allowed to stay on the U.N. payroll. The carnage was horrific. Some 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered in 1994 by rampaging Hutus in Rwanda. | |
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Pejman Yousefzadeh: UPDATE: I presume that "the right-wing constellation of blogs" should raise nary a stink about this: [snipped quote] Some... KJL: U.N. WORKER accused of genocide in Rwanda. |
Glenn Reynolds: MORE TROUBLE FOR KOFI: "U.N. worker accused of genocide in Rwanda." |
Rumsfeld to stay on as defense secretary AP — Permalink WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, whose future has been in doubt amid spreading violence and U.S. deaths in Iraq, was asked by President Bush on Friday to remain at the Pentagon in the administration's second term, a senior official said. | |
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James Joyner: Don Rumsfeld Staying on as Defense Secretary — Rumsfeld to stay on as defense secretary (Newsday - AP) TChris: Rumsfeld Stays — It's official. |
Lorie Byrd: Rumsfeld — For those who need to be reminded of the reasons President Bush would ask Donald Rumsfeld to stay on as... |
Bob in Paradise By / Washington Monthly — Permalink Robert Novak was in high dudgeon. He and his colleagues on CNN's "The Capital Gang" were squabbling over whether CBS should have run a story on President George W. Bush's National Guard service, a story which relied on documents whose authenticity had come into question. | |
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Avedon Carol: Amy Sullivan has a profile of Bob Novak that I guess explains why they let him keep his job but not why Bob Schrum still gets hired for Democratic campaigns. Orrin Judd: VALERIE PALME & BILL BURKETT ARE THE MORE APT COMPARISON: Bob in Paradise: How Novak created his own ethics-free zone. Oliver @LiquidList: It's called "Bob In Paradise." It should be titled "Bob and His Bitches". A taste: "Bob Novak is, he tells me, writing his memoirs. |
Sam Rosenfeld: MR. IMMUNITY. My friend Amy Sullivan has written a first-rate cover story for The Washington Monthly on Bob Novak. Josh Marshall: Now, before I get myself too tangled up in verbal gymnastics about how being Bob Novak means never having to say you're... |
Fast Internet Service for The People By / WaPo — Permalink For the millions of people who cannot afford high-speed Internet access, some local officials think they've hit on the answer: Build government-owned networks to provide service at rates below what big telecommunications companies charge. | |
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Gene @HarrysPlace: Private companies don't think so. Ezra Klein: Which is why I'm so sickened to see Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (a Democrat, I might add) barring the government... |
Matthew Yglesias: Those of us hoping to see the Democrats become a real party of reform would seem to have just been dealt a blow (via... |
3 Arrested in Suspected Plot to Attack Iraqi Prime Minister By / NYT — Permalink BERLIN, Dec. 3 - German police today arrested three Iraqis who the chief federal prosecutor said appeared to have been planning an attack on Prime Minister Ayad Allawi of Iraq, here for talks with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. | |
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Chad Evans: Germany Arrests Three in Plot to Assassinate Allawi - New York Times (via Outside the Beltway) [snipped quote] As I... |
James Joyner: Germans Foil Allawi Assassination Plot 3 Arrested in Suspected Plot to Attack Iraqi Prime Minister [RSS] (NYT) [snipped quote] Obviously, excellent news and a great catch. |
Mr. President, will you answer the question? By / Salon — Permalink George W. Bush has held far fewer solo news conferences than any president in the modern era. And when he does meet with the press, he avoids direct answers so brazenly that there is scant little value in it anyway. It's time the White House press corps did something about it. | |
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Avedon Carol: Putting him on the spot — Dan Froomkin in Salon asks, Mr. President, will you answer the question? Lambert @Corrente: Questions for Inerrant Boy — The Amazing Froomkin in Salon: [snipped quote] Not that Bush will answer, of course. |
Michael Froomkin: How to Question Bush Better — If you are willing to endure the annoying ad required for a 'Day Pass', you can read my... DeLong: (White House Press Corps Worse Than Pitiful Department) Dan Froomkin plays Louis Gossett, Jr., to the White House press... |
Mervyn's reverses ban on kettles By / San Francisco Chronicle — Permalink Bells will be ringing at Mervyn's department stores this holiday season after all, store officials announced Thursday in a sudden reversal of a ban on Salvation Army collection kettles. | |
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Hugh Hewitt: Mervyn's reverses Salvation Army ban —invites kettles to return. Mervyn's management: Smart, flexible, responsive to customers. Greg Ransom: RED KETTLES return to Mervyn's. |
KJL: RED KETTLES are back at Mervyn's department stores. Kudos to Hugh Hewitt who has been leading this effort to encourage stores to lift the kettle bans. |
Whiplash at the White House By / WaPo — Permalink The comings and goings this week at the White House are enough to make your head spin. Mike Allen and John Mintz write in The Washington Post: "President Bush settled yesterday on Bernard B. Kerik, the New York police commissioner during the terrorist... | |
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Atrios: However, it is still the case that X does not in fact equal 2. DeLong: Presidential Medal of Incompetence — Dan Froomkin quotes Al Kamen: "washingtonpost.com: Whiplash at the White House:... |
Orrin Judd: AL GORE MAY HAVE INVENTED IT, BUT W PERFECTED IT: Exodus.gov (Dan Froomkin, December 3, 2004, Washington Post)... |
Why Only in Ukraine? By / WaPo — Permalink There has been general back-patting in the West about renewed European-American comity during the Ukrainian crisis. Both the United States and Europe have been doing exactly the right thing: rejecting a fraudulent election run by a corrupt oligarchy and insisting on a new vote. | |
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James Joyner: Why Only in Ukraine? Charles Krauthammer asks the title question, "Why Only in Ukraine?" in his WaPo column today. Kevin T. Keith: Krauthammer's Washington Post column, "Why Only in the Ukraine?", is an attack on European nations for favoring the... Jesse Taylor: Well, it has to. Otherwise, why would Charles Krauthammer write this column? |
Ken Masugi: Krauthammer Misses the Point — In his justifiable eagerness to bash the Europeans over their opposition to our Iraq policy, Charles Krauthammer concludes on a sour note. Jan Haugland: Charles Krauthammer is happy that Europe and the US has united over Ukraine, but points out that Europeans are pretty ambivalent towards democracy elsewhere. Orrin Judd: REALISM, RACISM FOR INTELLECTUALS: Why Only in Ukraine? |
| Also: Greg Ransom, Betsy Newmark, Cori Dauber | |
Thompson resigns as HHS secretary MSNBC — Permalink WASHINGTON - Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson resigned Friday, the latest departure in a major reshuffling of President Bush's second-term Cabinet, a U.S. official told NBC News. | |
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Kevin Drum: CABINET RESHUFFLE UPDATE....Tommy Thompson has resigned as secretary of the Health and Human Services Department. Matt Welch: Is Eight Enough? Tommy Thompson becomes the eighth Cabinet member to resign. |
Josh Marshall: And there it is, Thompson resigns. |
Man Is Wolfe to Man NRO — Permalink Sigh. If only Charlotte Simmons were all fiction. How does this conservative look forward to a new Tom Wolfe novel? Let me count the ways. The political incorrectness. Well, not exactly that. Tom Wolfe takes no point of view, has no bill of goods to sell. | |
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Roger Ailes: Derbyshire::::Pencilneck: :::Twat:::: John Derbyshire is the latest wingnut to spontaneously orgasm at the clever... Vox Day: Down with Wolfe — John Derbyshire quotes Wolfe: [snipped quote] I told you I was cool... although the only Foucault about which I was enthusiastic is the fictional Pendulum. |
Ed Driscoll: The Wolfe And The Sheepskin — John Derbyshire has a review of Tom Wolfe's I Am Charlotte Simmons. |
Soiled Rotten NRO — Permalink Forget ideology. The new divide is between the corrupt and the clean. I should have been an interior decorator because I just adore patterns. Check out these sweet accents: In France, a French court let stand the conviction of Alain Juppé, Jacques Chirac's loyal sideman, for fraud. | |
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Ted Belman: Europe's embrace of corruption — In an interesting article in NRO entitled Soiled Rotten a laundry list of the corruption is set out. Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: Related thoughts here: "Forget ideology. The new divide is between the corrupt and the clean." |
Roger L. Simon: There's only anti-Americanism, scandal, and corruption. Denis Boyles on the European and American scene. Read on. |
Aide Takes Blame for Tax Return Provision By / WaPo — Permalink A mid-level House aide said yesterday that he was the one who, during last month's drafting of a huge spending bill, added a provision that could give staffers on the House and Senate appropriations committees broad access to Americans' tax returns. | |
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Garance Franke-Ruta: That's why this explanation by Richard Efford about how the ombinus spending bill came to include highly controversial... Josh Marshall: The Post has an interview with Efford and the details of his story. |
Eugene Oregon: That, in turn led to this [snipped quote] And while Istook was stripping provisions from the bill, some mid-level House... |
Israeli officer: I was right to shoot 13-year-old child Guardian — Permalink An Israeli army officer who repeatedly shot a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza dismissed a warning from another soldier that she was a child by saying he would have killed her even if she was three years old. | |
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Andrew Sullivan: A GAZA KILLING: This atrocity seems unspinnable to me. AN APNEA STORY: A first-hand account of a severe diagnosis. |
Jason Van Steenwyk: This Israeli officer appears to have become a monster. And yet the Israelis are only charging the guy with "illegal use of his weapon." |
Merchant of Venice distributor demands pound of flesh By / Financial Times — Permalink US distributors of the film Merchant of Venice, which premiered in London this week, have asked the director to cut out a background fresco by a Venetian old master so it is fit for American television viewers. | |
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Digby: Meanwhile, there is always the daily atrocity of the morals police: The Moderate Voice kindly alerted me to this:... Chris Bertram: Family values — Via Lance Knobel , this astonishing story from the Financial Times: US distributors of the film... Susan Madrak: NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION — And to think we used to make fun of countries that did things like this -... |
Joe Gandelman: Just think if THIS had been allowed to get through: [snipped quote] It was wise that they reshot those scenes, which... Andrew Stuttaford: JANET JACKSON'S LEGACY — Via the Financial Times: "US distributors of the film Merchant of Venice, which premiered in... |
Series of explosions rock Madrid BBC — Permalink A series of blasts has rocked the Spanish capital, Madrid, following a bomb warning from armed Basque separatist group Eta. Five explosions occurred at petrol stations on the outskirts of the city as many people were leaving for a bank holiday weekend. | |
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Jan Haugland: But Eta wasn't dead — Five smaller bomb explosions hit petrol stations in and around Madrid during the afternoon rushhour today. |
KJL: BOMBINGS IN MADRID come after terrorist warning |
Torture Can Be Used to Detain U.S. Enemies ABCNEWS — Permalink WASHINGTON Dec 2, 2004 — U.S. military panels reviewing the detention of foreigners as enemy combatants are allowed to use evidence gained by torture in deciding whether to keep them imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the government conceded in court Thursday. | |
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Medium Lobster: Your agony is admissible in court, where it, too, can be extracted, and converted into Justice. |
Andrew Sullivan: TORTURE IS NOW LEGIT: Evidence procured by torture is now sufficient to detain "enemy combatants" at Gitmo. |
Thompson Resigns From Bush's Cabinet By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson resigned Friday, broadening an exodus that has emptied more than half of President Bush 's Cabinet before he starts his second term. | |
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Steve Soto: Tommy Thompson announced this morning that he is leaving HHS, likely to be replaced with another member of the Bush... |
James Joyner: Tommy Thompson's Tips for Terrorists AP: [snipped quote] The lead-in makes this sound like a huge gaffe. |
Abstinence Education Under Fire; Interview With Jesse Jackson By / CNN — Permalink THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening and welcome. Thanks so much for being with us tonight. | |
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Captain Ed: Ed Rendell Puts The Anal In Analysis — Jim Geraghty at the Kerry Spot points out an example of Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell's brilliance on the Paula Zahn show last night. |
Paul Jaminet: ACCEPTANCE: PAULA ZAHN NOW (Transcript of Paula Zahn Show, CNN, aired Dec 2, 2004; via Captain's Quarters) "RENDELL: Now, look, I'm not going to wring my hands over this election. |