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Archive Edition for   Thursday, January 13, 2005Go to Current Page
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Quoted in this edition:

ABCNEWS
Ace of Spades HQ
  Ace
Agence France Presse
Althouse
  Ann Althouse
The American Street
  Kevin Hayden
  Jude Nagurney Camwell
www.AndrewSullivan.com
  Andrew Sullivan
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
  Emperor Darth Misha I
Associated Press
  Emma Ross
  Barry Schweid
  Gina Holland
  Jim Gomez
  Edith M. Lederer
  Lolita C. Baldor
Balkinization
  Marty Lederman
Balloon Juice
  John Cole
BBC
Begging to Differ
  Vance @BeggingToDiffer
THE BELGRAVIA DISPATCH
  Gregory Djerejian
Belmont Club
  Wretchard
Betsy's Page
  Betsy Newmark
Body and Soul
  Jeanne D'Arc
Boston Globe
  Jeff Jacoby
  Joan Vennochi
BrothersJudd Blog
  Peter Burnet
  Orrin Judd
  David Cohen
Burnt Orange Report
  Jim D
BuzzMachine
  Jeff Jarvis
Captain's Quarters
  Captain Ed
Centerfield
  Brian Keegan
Chrenkoff
  Arthur Chrenkoff
Chris C Mooney
  Chris Mooney
CJR Campaign Desk Home
  Susan Q. Stranahan
  Steve Lovelady
  Thomas Lang
CNN
Commentary
  Norman Podhoretz
The Corner
  KJL
  Jonah Goldberg
  Andrew Stuttaford
  Stanley Kurtz
  Tim Graham
  Kathryn Jean Lopez
  Rod Dreher
corrente
  Lambert @Corrente
Daily Kos
  Kos @DailyKos
Daimnation!
  Damian Penny
danieldrezner.com
  Daniel Drezner
Dean's World
  Dean Esmay
The Decembrist
  Mark Schmitt
Demagogue
  Frederick Maryland
  Eugene Oregon
  Noam Alaska
Denver Post
  David Harsanyi
Discourse.net
  Michael Froomkin
Dynamist Blog
  Virginia Postrel
EconoPundit
  Steve Antler
Ed Driscoll.com
  Ed Driscoll
EdCone.com
  Ed Cone
Electablog* U.S. Ambassador to Cyberspace
  David Allan Pell
Electrolite
  Nielsen Hayden
Eschaton
  Atrios
etc.
  Noam Scheiber
Fafblog!
  Giblets
Financial Times
  James Harding
Guardian
Gut Rumbles
  Acidman
Happy Furry Puppy Story Time with Norbizness
  Norbizness
Harry's Place
  Harry @HarrysPlace
The Hill
Hit and Run
  Matt Welch
  Nick Gillespie
HobbsOnline
  Bill Hobbs
HughHewitt.com
  Hugh Hewitt
The Indepundit
  Smash
Informed Comment
  Juan Cole
Instapundit.com
  Glenn Reynolds
Israel news and commentary from IsraPundit
  Joseph Alexander Norland
Jerusalem Post
  Margot Dudkevitch
Jewish World Review
  Michelle Malkin
JustOneMinute
  Tom Maguire
Knight Ridder
  Matt Stearns
  Tim Johnson
Kudlow's Money Politic$
  Larry Kudlow
L.A. Observed
  Kevin Roderick
Lean Left
  Kevin Raybould
The Left Coaster
  Steve Soto
  Mary @LeftCoaster
  Duckman GR
The Liquid List
  Oliver @LiquidList
Little Green Footballs
  Charles Johnson
Los Angeles Times
  Van Gordon Sauter
  Karen Kaplan
  Richard B. Schmitt
  Stephen Prothero
The Mahablog
  Barbara O'Brien
Mark A. R. Kleiman
  Mark Kleiman
Matthew Yglesias
  Matthew Yglesias
Media Notes Extra
  Howard Kurtz
mediabistro.com
  TVNewser
Michelle Malkin
  Michelle Malkin
The Moderate Voice
  Joe Gandelman
MSNBC
  Howard Fineman
Mudville Gazette
  Greyhawk
MyDD
  Jerome Armstrong
  Chris Bowers
Natalie Solent
  Natalie Solent
The National Debate
  RCox
National Review
The New Republic
  Ryan Lizza
New York Observer
  Joe Hagan
New York Post
  Ryan Sager
New York Times
  Katharine Q. Seelye
  Elisabeth Bumiller
  Adam Nagourney
  Thomas L. Friedman
  Frank Rich
  Maureen Dowd
  Terence Neilan
  Anna Bahney
  Linda Greenhouse
  Christine Hauser
  Marian Burros
  Claudio Gatti
  Andrew Sullivan
  Corey Kilgannon
NewDonkey.com
  New Donkey
Newsweek
  Howard Fineman
No More Mister Nice Blog
  Steve M.
NY Daily News
  Corky Siemaszko
Obsidian Wings
  Charles Bird
Oh, That Liberal Media
  Patterico
Oliver Willis
  Oliver Willis
One Hand Clapping
  Donald Sensing
Opinion Journal
  Peggy Noonan
Orcinus
  David Neiwert
Outside The Beltway
  James Joyner
OxBlog
  Josh Chafetz
Pacific Views
  Natasha @PacificViews
pandagon.net
  Jesse Taylor
Pejmanesque
  Pejman Yousefzadeh
The People's Republic of Seabrook
  Jack Cluth
PoliPundit.com
  Jayson @PoliPundit
  Lorie Byrd
  PoliPundit
The Poor Man
  The Poor Man
Power Line
  The Big Trunk
  Hindrocket
PRESTOPUNDIT
  Greg Ransom
ProfessorBainbridge.com
  Steve Bainbridge
protein wisdom
  Jeff Goldstein
Questions and Observations Blog
  Dale Franks
  McQ
  Jon Henke
Reuters
The Right Coast
  Tom Smith
Roger Ailes
  Roger Ailes
Roger L. Simon
  Roger L. Simon
San Francisco Chronicle
Scotsman
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  Robert L. Jamieson Jr.
Secular Blasphemy
  Jan Haugland
The Sideshow
  Avedon Carol
skippy the bush kangaroo
  Cookie Jill
slacktivist
  Fred Clark
Slate
  Bryan Curtis
Southern Appeal
  Nathan Hallford
  QD @SouthernAppeal
  Joel Foreman
The Spoons Experience
  Spoons
Stephen Pollard
  Stephen Pollard
Suburban Guerrilla
  Susan Madrak
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
  Taegan Goddard
Talking Points Memo
  Josh Marshall
TalkLeft
  Jeralyn Merritt
TAPPED
  Sam Rosenfeld
  Matthew Yglesias
  Mark Leon Goldberg
»«TBogg»«
  Tbogg
Tech Central Station
  Noel Sheppard
Tim Blair
  Tim Blair
Times of London
  Andrew Pierce
Unfogged
  Ogged @Unfogged
Vodkapundit
  Stephen Green
Wall Street Journal
War and Piece
  Laura Rozen
The Washington Monthly
  Kevin Drum
Washington Post
  Dana Priest
  Hank Stuever
  Tina Brown
  George F. Will
  Dafna Linzer
  Jonathan Weisman
  Anne Applebaum
  Michael A. Fletcher
Weekly Standard
  Hugh Hewitt
White House
Winds of Change.NET
  Colt
Wired News
  Adam L. Penenberg
Wizbang
  Kevin Aylward
  Paul @Wizbang
World O'Crap
  SLZoll
WorldNetDaily
  Ron Strom



Hardball 101
  By / TNR   —   Permalink 
It is getting increasingly difficult to find any Democrat who backs President Bush's plan for partially privatizing Social Security. Private accounts are now officially out of favor even among New Democrats, the most obvious source of potential administration support.
Sam Rosenfeld: As Ryan Lizza puts it in his latest New Republic piece on the Democratic strategy, the fall of Hillarycare offers...
Mark Schmitt: The Byrd Rule and Social Security — Ryan Lizza's New Republic Online article about Democrats and Social Security is...
Nielsen Hayden: The New Republic's Ryan Lizza discusses Congressional Republican strategy in the early years of the Clinton administration.
Joe Gandelman: Social Security: Another Failure In Coalition Building — The Democrats are digging in their heels on Social Security,...
Taegan Goddard: How to Kill Bush's Social Security Plan — In a must-read article on what will be the biggest story in the nation's...
Josh Marshall: In Lizza's new piece about the Dems' get-tough stance on opposing President Bush's Social Security phase-out bill, he...
Also: Oliver @LiquidList, Matthew Yglesias

Dean Campaign Made Payments To Two Bloggers
  WSJ   —   Permalink 
Howard Dean's presidential campaign hired two Internet political "bloggers" as consultants so that they would say positive things about the former governor's campaign in their online journals, according to a former high-profile Dean aide.
Jerome Armstrong: Zephyr Teachout: Donkey Splat — Zephyr Teachout went public in her annonymous (she signed onto it later when outed)...
Jeff Jarvis: Listen to what she's really saying there, for it is an open and honest object lesson to any blogger: The campaign used these guys.
Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal has picked up on the Teachout/Kos story. It's a free link.
Taegan Goddard: Dean Bloggers Under Fire — Howard Dean's presidential campaign "hired two Internet political 'bloggers' as consultants...
The Big Trunk: Today's news tomorrow — Tomorrow's Wall Street Journal reports the news that has been roiling the blogosphere today: "Dean campaign made payments to two bloggers."

Dominant Strategist for Democrats Ends Consulting Career
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 - Bob Shrum, one of the dominant Democratic political strategists and speechwriters of the last three decades, said Wednesday that he was ending his formal consulting career and moving to New York, where he would write and teach at New York University as a senior fellow.
Avedon Carol: Here's some good news - Bob Shrum is quitting the business of sabotaging Democratic presidential campaigns.
Joe Gandelman: BIG POLITICAL NEWS: Democrats can start winning again: Bob Shrum is retiring: [snipped quote] You're right: we don't believe it.
Michelle Malkin: FROM THE "THOSE WHO CAN, DO; THOSE WHO CAN'T, TEACH" FILE — Democratic loser Bob Shrum hangs up his consulting hat to...
James Joyner: Bob Shrum Ends Consulting Career — Dominant Strategist for Democrats Ends Consulting Career (NYT) "Bob Shrum, one of...
Taegan Goddard: Shrum Retires — Robert Shrum, "one of the dominant Democratic political strategists and speechwriters of the last three...
Chris Bowers: Shrum Retires — Can't say he will be missed: [snipped quote] A mixed record indeed. Democrats :: Thu Jan 13th, 2005 at 03:18:31 PM EST :: 11 Comments
Also: Jesse Taylor, Eugene Oregon, PoliPundit

What's Ailing CBS News? Let's Make a Not-So-Little List
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
The division's ex-boss decries a lefty bias and lost credibility.
What's the big problem at CBS News?
Well, for one thing, it has no credibility. And no audience, no morale, no long-term emblematic anchorperson and no cohesive management structure.
Captain Ed: Van Gordon Sauter, the onetime chief of the Tiffany Network's news division, writes in today's Los Angeles Times that an...
Roger L. Simon: UPDATE: Van Gordon Sauter, a blast from CBS' past, blasts the present. (HT: Mark Moore)
KJL: He's got a piece in the LATimes today.
Betsy Newmark: Former CBS president, Van Gordon Sauter, admits up front that CBS News has become unwatchably liberal.
Kevin Roderick: On today's LAT op-ed page, he lists what he thinks is wrong at Rather's network: [snipped quote] He praises CBS boss Les...
Greg Ransom: FORMER CBS News President Van Gordon Sauter: [snipped quote] Or better yet, just fake it. It's worked before.

Soros in new pledge to leftwing causes
  By / Financial Times   —   Permalink 
A group of billionaire philanthropists are to donate tens of millions more dollars to develop progressive political ideas in the US in an effort to counter the conservative ascendancy.
Jeanne D'Arc: Yesterday I said I thought there was plenty of attention paid — and rightfully so, I think — to how to create (and pay...
McQ: Soros to the rescue — After all, he was so successful the last time: "George Soros, who made his fortune in the hedge...
The Poor Man: Charity Case — Frankly, this is pathetic: [snipped quote] It's great that the nice left-wing billionaires gave us all...

Report Says Iraq Is New Terrorist Training Ground
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
In a major new study, the CIA's National Intelligence Council says Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of "professionalized" terrorists, officials at the CIA director's intelligence think-tank said today.
Hugh Hewitt: The Washington Post reports that the CIA's National Intelligence Council says Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of terrorists.
Oliver Willis: The Invasion of Iraq Has Made The World Less Safe — Iraq Report Says Iraq Is New Terrorist Training Ground [snipped quote] George W. Bush: Terrorist Enabler.
The Poor Man: Why Does Everybody Who Isn't A Paid Flack For The Bush Campaign Hate America — Stop me if you've heard this one:...

Moore is in the line of Clint's ire
  NY Daily News   —   Permalink 
Clint Eastwood squinted like Dirty Harry Tuesday night as he took aim at Michael Moore.
"Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common - we both appreciate living in a country where there's free expression," Eastwood told the star-dotted crowd...
Paul @Wizbang: Have I ever mentioned I like Clint Eastwood?
Acidman: quote of the week — Quote of the week comes from Clint Eastwood: [snipped quote] (Shamelessly stolen, in its entirety, from here.)
Smash: Gotta Love Clint — "Go ahead... Make my day" LLOYD GROVE reports from the National Board of Review awards dinner at...
Tim Blair: FAIR WARNING — Quote of the week comes from Clint Eastwood: [quote] "Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common - we...[end quote]
Jan Haugland: Clint Eastwood just made my day — I've always been a big fan of Clint Eastwood, and this salvo doesn't change that:...
KJL: DIRTY HARRY — I'm ignoring Clint Eastwood's warning to Michael Moore right now and focusing on the breaking news: [snipped quote] There is free expression for movie folks?
Also: Roger L. Simon

Kerry to meet with French president
  Boston Globe   —   Permalink 
PARIS — Sen. John Kerry will meet Friday with French President Jacques Chirac, U.S. and French officials said.
The Massachusetts Democrat who lost the November election to incumbent President Bush has relatives in France and speaks French.
Roger L. Simon: Mais Ou Sont Les Candidats d'Antan? Ici.
KJL: FROG ALERT — John Kerry is meeting with Chirac tomorrow.
Stephen Pollard: Ha! Ha! Ha! I have just experienced a wave of sheer joy when I saw this story: "Kerry to meet with French president."

Text: Sen. Kennedy on the Future of the Democratic Party
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
Following is the full text of Sen. Edward Kennedy's (D-Mass.) speech at the National Press Club on the future of the Democratic party.
KENNEDY: Thank you, Sheila Cherry, for that gracious introduction and thank you to the Press Club for inviting me here today.
Dale Franks: If you're the National Press Club, the answer to that question is, "Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA)".
Steve Bainbridge: Ted — After reading Ted Kennedy's speech about the future of the Democrat Party, I would really like an opportunity to...
Greg Ransom: TED "OPEN BORDERS" KENNEDY on how to protect American workers from wage competition from the tidewave of foreign immigration: [snipped quote] Blah, blah, blah.

For President and Close Friend, Forget the Politics
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
When people ask Roland Betts how a New York Democrat can be such a good friend of President Bush, he whips out a ready answer. "Which would you prefer: my being close to him, or some right-wing zealot being close to him?" Mr. Betts said in a recent interview.
Taegan Goddard: First Friend — The New York Times profiles Roland Betts, a New York Democrat and one of President Bush's closest friends.
Josh Chafetz: BFF! The NYT has a puff piece about President Bush and Roland Betts.

Kennedy Warns Democrats Not to Be Republican Clones
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 - Senator Edward M. Kennedy warned Democrats on Wednesday not to become "Republican clones" in response to the party's setbacks in November, declaring that President Bush's victory was narrow and did not provide him with the mandate the White House has claimed.
New Donkey: Get Back To You Later On That, Teddy — Noam Scheiber at The New Republic's &c blog posted a less-than-friendly comment...
Tom Maguire: Adam Nagourney covers Ted Kennedy's speech to the National Press Club, and floats a trial balloon: "The senator offered...
Noam Scheiber: I think there's little question that having Ted Kennedy make an impassioned speech about how [snipped quote] comes at a real cost to Democrats' anti-privatization efforts.

Ballots and Boycotts
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
In trying to think through whether we should press ahead with elections in Iraq or not, I have found it useful to go back and dig out my basic rules for Middle East reporting, which I have developed and adapted over 25 years of writing from that region.
Steve Soto: In other words, if Friedman is correct, (which I am not saying he is) somehow after years of not working with each other...
Damian Penny: The case against postponing the elections — Tom Friedman says the Iraqi elections should go ahead, as scheduled, on...
Ann Althouse: Today's Thomas Friedman column is one of the best-written and best argued pieces I've ever read: [snipped quote] Definitely, a must-read.
John Cole: Friedman's Rules — These make sense: Rule 1-Never lead your story out of Lebanon, Gaza or Iraq with a cease-fire; it...
Mark Leon Goldberg: His 8 "rules for Middle East reporting" explain: [snipped quote] On the basis of these universal truths about Middle...
James Joyner: Ballots and Boycotts — Tom Friedman has an interesting piece today called "Ballots and Boycotts." [snipped quote] Sounds about right.

16 Dems urge Bush to start pullout from Iraq
  San Francisco Chronicle   —   Permalink 
Washington — Sixteen House Democrats led by Rep. Lynn Woolsey of Petaluma called on President Bush on Wednesday to begin the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, just as some administration supporters are starting to question the wisdom of staying the course in the war.
Hugh Hewitt: The need to read Norman Podhoretz's "The War Against World War IV" is even more obvious against the backdrop of reports...
Jayson @PoliPundit: 3.67 Percent — Sixteen U.S. House Democrats want to cut and run from Iraq. I see.

Expert: Malaria Could Kill 100K in Asia
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - Malaria could kill up to 100,000 people in coming months across Indian Ocean communities devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami if authorities do not quickly move to kill mosquitoes, a health expert warned Thursday.
McQ: UPDATE: Of course, when this happens, Indonesia will expect us to come back and "fix it".
Greg Ransom: THE NEXT tsunami death threat — malaria. The legacy of Rachel Carson strikes again.
Donald Sensing: Details.

Baker advises administration to consider a phased withdrawal of troops
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
(01-13) 13:23 PST WASHINGTON (AP) —
Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, an architect of the U.S. war with Iraq in 1991, is advising the Bush administration to consider a phased withdrawal of some of the 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
Kevin Drum: BAKER JOINS WITHDRAWL FACTION...Bush family major domo James Baker appears to be joining the "declare victory and get...
David Allan Pell: Should We Stay or Should We Go? Take a look at this article on a recent speech given by James Baker.

5 Israelis killed in attack at Karni crossing
  By / Jerusalem Post   —   Permalink 
A double suicide bomb attack late Thursday night at the Karni commercial crossing in northern Gaza left at least five dead and at least four wounded, three of whom were in critical condition.
According to security officials at least 3 suicide bombers were involved.
Colt: The Middle East A sophisticated attack on the Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel has killed five Israelis.
Joseph Alexander Norland: The latest terrorist attack: The time for Jabotinsky's Iron Wall is now — From JPost: At least 5 Israelis killed in bomb attack at Karni crossing

All the President's Newsmen
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
ONE day after the co-host Tucker Carlson made his farewell appearance and two days after the new president of CNN made the admirable announcement that he would soon kill the program altogether, a television news miracle occurred: even as it staggered through...
Sam Rosenfeld: Frank Rich has a very shrill column touching on Armstrong Williams, the White House's propaganda operations, and the...
Oliver @LiquidList: Frank Rich's piece on Armstrong "State-Run" Williams, tax-payer paid shill for many a Bush policy, is a must-read.
Steve Soto: Frank Rich today does a bang-up job of spelling out how some of the Beltway media seems to still treat Armstrong...

Welcome to the media, bloggers
  By / Denver Post   —   Permalink 
Here's some advice on bribery: If you're out to corrupt a journalist, bribe one who doesn't already agree with your position. It's just sinful to squander tax dollars on paying off a supporter. Good press should be free.
The Big Trunk: Harsanyi's thoughtful column is "Welcome to the media, bloggers."
Glenn Reynolds: DAVID HARSANYI: [snipped quote] Indeed. He has some thoughts on RatherGate and blogs, too.
Bill Hobbs: Bloggy Mountain High 2 — Denver Post columnist David Harsanyi likes bloggers.

NOTHING TO FEAR FROM WAL-MART
  By / New York Post   —   Permalink 
WHILE members of the New York City Council stump endlessly for "affordable housing" and "affordable health care," they're apparently less keen on affordable clothing, toys, electronics, furniture and groceries.
Nick Gillespie: Whole story here. I reported on anti-Wal-Mart activism almost a decade ago and wrote about it for Reason here.
KJL: MORE DEFENDING WAL-MART — An effort to open one in Queens is a hot political issue here. Ryan Sager defends Wal-Mart here.
Jesse Taylor: Would those defending it as some sort of commercial savior of the working class still feel the same way if its prices...

Judge: Evolution stickers unconstitutional
  CNN   —   Permalink 
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — A federal judge in Atlanta, Georgia, has ruled that a suburban county school district's textbook stickers referring to evolution as "a theory not a fact" are unconstitutional.
Natasha @PacificViews: Georgia Ousts 'Theory' Stickers — In a victory for science and common sense: [snipped quote] The only conflict, of...
Oliver Willis: Dear American Taliban: Stop Screwing With Our Constitution — Right-Wing Stupidity Judge: Evolution stickers...
Oliver @LiquidList: Politics: Good News On Apes — A judge has barred the Cobb County, GA school board from putting stickers in science text...

Men Just Want Mommy
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
A few years ago at a White House Correspondents' dinner, I met a very beautiful actress. Within moments, she blurted out: "I can't believe I'm 46 and not married. Men only want to marry their personal assistants or P.R. women."
Matthew Yglesias: Meanwhile, like Mark Kleiman I'm puzzled by Maureen Dowd's assertion that successful men get dates and successful women...
Kevin Aylward: The 10 Spot - Express Yourself Edition — Ten stories floating around the interweb, several of which are speech...
Ogged @Unfogged: Et Tu, Leia? Maureen "how'd she get this job?" Dowd's latest is another "men prefer submissive women" column.
Mark Kleiman: SWM seeks high-achieving woman — Maureen Dowd complains about the cinematic trend toward "famous and powerful men"...
David Cohen: POOR EVOLUTION — Men Just Want Mommy (Maureen Dowd, NY Times, 1/13/05) [snipped quote] Taking as a given that a Maureen...
KJL: THE DEVOLUTION OF MEN — MoDo has got some Thelma and Louise rant going today: [snipped quote] As usual: If you haven't read it though, you might just want to spare yourself.
Also: Ann Althouse

Kennedy: Democrats Need Progressive Agenda
  ABCNEWS   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON Jan 12, 2005 — Sen. Edward Kennedy offered a mild dig at fellow Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign Wednesday, saying Democrats should have done a better job talking about values.
John Cole: The Democrats New Rising Star — Meet the Democrat's new rising star, the junior Senator from Illinois: obama.jpg Osama bin ... Osama ... Obama What a maroon!
KJL: YOU MIGHT WANT TO WORK ON THAT ONE, SENATOR KENNEDY AP: "Kennedy also mangled the name of the Democrats' new star,...

A bigger, more democratic Congress
  By / Boston Globe   —   Permalink 
IRAQIS GO to the polls on Jan. 30 to choose the first truly democratic government in their nation's history. If all goes well, the election will result in a new National Assembly of 275 members, drawn from different political parties roughly in proportion to the share of the vote each party receives.
Kos @DailyKos: The Boston Glove's Jeff Jacoby started the ball rolling: "Divide Iraq's 25 million people by the number of members in...
Jonah Goldberg: JACOBY JOINS THE BANDWAGON — Our friend Jeff Jacoby has seen the light and signed on to the idea which launched my career and got George Will to call me an idiot.
Brian Keegan: Here's an idea worth mulling over: [snipped quote] I'm sure there are some cons to this, including cost, and increased bureaucracy.

US school in eye of creationist storm
  Guardian   —   Permalink 
The battle over attempts to introduce a version of creationism into the curriculum of American schools has become focused on a small town in Pennsylvania.
Biology teachers at a high school in Dover have rejected the instructions of local officials to read a statement in class today questioning the theory of evolution.
Barbara O'Brien: This is from today's Guardian, in a story about teaching "intelligent design" in biology classes: "The battle over...
Jesse Taylor: Teachers in Dover, PA, defy orders to read "theories aren't facts" warnings before science classes.

Heartaches of Journalist Bloggers
  By / Wired News   —   Permalink 
After Chris Allbritton returned to New York from Iraqi Kurdistan, he raised $15,000 and headed back to Iraq in 2003 as the first independent journalist-blogger sponsored by his readers. There he risked life and limb covering the war and its messy aftermath, detailing his experiences on his blog, Back-to-Iraq 3.0.
Captain Ed: Wired runs a provocative article today which argues that journalists find it increasingly difficult to maintain blogs along with their reporting.
Ed Cone: Adam Penenberg's column in Wired News is about the tensions facing journalists with weblogs.

Celebrity Artifact
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Felipe Rose, the Indian dude from the singing group the Village People, presented the National Museum of the American Indian with a framed, gold 45-rpm single of the disco group's 1978 megahit "Y.M.C.A." on Wednesday afternoon.
Virginia Postrel: Hank Stuever's WaPost account starts out funny—the story sounds ridiculous, after all—but includes enough detail to subtly convey a serious point.
KJL: THE WHOLE WORLD WAS SO JIVE — "Y.M.C.A." is American Indian history.
James Joyner: Indian Museum Gets YMCA Record — Celebrity Artifact (WaPo) [snipped quote] This strikes me as funnier than it probably is.

U.S. Lowers Expectations On Iraq Vote
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
With just over two weeks until the Iraqi elections, the United States is lowering its expectations for both the turnout and the results of the vote, increasingly emphasizing other steps over the next year as more important to Iraq's political transformation, according to U.S. officials.
Norbizness: Paragraphs 44-51 of the fetid pile of a diarrheal elephant's anal discharge that some people call a Howard Kurtz column:...
Nick Gillespie: Whole story here.
Matthew Yglesias: Robin Wright and Jim Vandehei report on administration efforts to lower expectations about turnout in the upcoming Iraqi elections.

Going El Salvador
  NRO   —   Permalink 
Central America, revisited.
When I was a wee think-tank gnome at the American Enterprise Institute, a scholar there told me a story. An expert on South America, during the 1980s he was often asked to appear on television to defend the Reagan administration's policies in Central America.
Giblets: Giblets stuck by death squads when they were hot and now he's sticking by them now that they're not, just like his buddies at the National Review.
Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: Here's more from Jonah Goldberg: [snipped quote] He continues in the same vein, which makes me wonder if making...
Ed Driscoll: La Opción De El Salvador — Jonah Goldberg has some thoughts on "the El Savador option": [snipped quote] Read the rest; watch out for the giant spear in the middle of it.

Sleepy Medical Interns Called a Road Hazard
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
After staying up all night to care for ailing patients, medical interns who drive home from the hospital at the end of a marathon shift become a threat to themselves and to the commuting public, according to a study published in today's New England Journal of Medicine.
James Joyner: Research just published in the New England Journal of Medicine corroborates my armchair analysis: Sleepy Medical Interns...
Kevin Drum: BLOCKBUSTER MEDICAL NEWS...This isn't the biggest issue in the world, but the New England Journal of Medicine has...

New FBI Software May Be Unusable
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — A new FBI computer program designed to help agents share information to ward off terrorist attacks may have to be scrapped, the agency has concluded, forcing a further delay in a four-year, half-billion-dollar overhaul of its antiquated computer system.
Matthew Yglesias: FBI Trouble — I must say that I find everything about the FBI's ongoing computer problems puzzling.
Laura Rozen: The FBI's extraordinary computer problems. [snipped quote] the LA Times reports: [snipped quote] SAIC is not expected to get its contract renewed, come March.

White House Fought New Curbs on Interrogations, Officials Say
  NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 - At the urging of the White House, Congressional leaders scrapped a legislative measure last month that would have imposed new restrictions on the use of extreme interrogation measures by American intelligence officers, Congressional officials say.
Jeanne D'Arc: Dancing with Mr. D — Last month, the Senate voted 96-2 to prohibit American intelligence agents from torturing anyone.
Avedon Carol: And yet they have done everything they can to scuttle any restraints on torture, despite the fact that its principle effects can only hurt the US.
Andrew Sullivan: THEY SUPPORT CIA TORTURE: It's hard to find clearer evidence that Condi Rice wants to keep torturing detainees than the...
Norbizness: (46) Alberto Gonzales told us the administration was really, really against torture, but now comes this New York Times...
Steve Soto: Even after Abu Ghraib blew up, as late as October our new Secretary of State-designee was arguing that a pending piece...
Barbara O'Brien: [quote]"Whether they voted for you or not, there's a lot of values in this country, for which I'm real proud ... [end quote] This is in...
Also: Eugene Oregon, Howard Kurtz, Michael Froomkin, Marty Lederman, Orin Kerr

MSM Requiem
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
The Rathergate Report is a watershed event in American journalism not because it changes things on its own but because it makes unavoidably clear a change that has already occurred. And that is that the mainstream media's monopoly on information is over.
Stanley Kurtz: Now Peggy Noonan has also predicted more, and more open, media bias, not less.
McQ: Peggy Noonan: "The Rathergate Report is a watershed event in American journalism not because it changes things on its...
Betsy Newmark: Peggy Noonan takes on Howard Fineman. I think she's a lot closer to analyzing what the change is in how people are processing the "news."
Dean Esmay: Monopoly Ending — Peggy Noonan may be a partisan, but I can hardly disagree with her latest column when she writes of...
SLZoll: Deep Thoughts, by Peggy Noonan In today's column, Peggy tells us about how the Memogate Report proves that the media is biased because it doesn't say that the media is biased.
Steve Antler: Der Mensch ist was er isst — Everything Peggy Noonan says here is correct, but she's missing the important substructure of the issue.
Also: Will Collier, TVNewser, Cori Dauber

Aide to Top Shiite Cleric, and 5 Others, Are Killed in Iraq
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Gunmen shot and killed an assistant to Iraq's most powerful Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, together with the aide's son and four bodyguards, an official in the ayatollah's office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf said today.
Matthew Yglesias: There may or may not be deadly attacks on polling places come election day, but when you're at a point where important...
Tom Maguire: UPDATE: Civil war is upon you, whether you seek it or not: Aide to Top Shiite Cleric, and 5 Others, Killed in Najaf Attack

Hi, Why Did You Drop My Paper?
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Journalists at The Philadelphia Inquirer began the new year in proper fashion, by working the phones. But some senior editors were not calling sources. They were calling readers.
Steve Lovelady: What brought this to mind is the news that the editors and editorial writers of the Philadelphia Inquirer are busy these...
PoliPundit: The Philadelphia Inquirer lost circulation during the election and now they're figuring out why: "The Inquirer's...

Big-Money Contributors Line Up for Inauguration
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
President Bush wants to lower barriers to building nuclear power plants, and the lobby that promotes nuclear energy could not be happier. To show its thanks, the group has given $100,000 to help pay for his inauguration.
Barbara O'Brien: Now let's to go the Washington Post: "President Bush wants to lower barriers to building nuclear power plants, and the lobby that promotes nuclear energy could not be happier.
Jesse Taylor: Donate Here — If we're going to be raising donation limits to inaugural funds 150 percent every four years, let's just...

Supreme Court Transforms Use of Sentence Guidelines
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 - The Supreme Court on Wednesday transformed federal criminal sentencing by restoring to judges much of the discretion that Congress took away 21 years ago when it put sentencing guidelines in place and told judges to follow them.
James Joyner: Supreme Court Transforms Use of Sentence Guidelines — Supreme Court Transforms Use of Sentence Guidelines (Linda...
Ann Althouse: Linda Greenhouse writes: [snipped quote] Oh, how I hate when that happens!

Tell a lawyer joke, go to jail?
  AP   —   Permalink 
MEPSTEAD, N.Y. - Did you hear the one about the two guys arrested for telling lawyer jokes?
It happened this week to the founders of a group called Americans for Legal Reform, who were waiting in line to get into a Long Island courthouse.
Joe Gandelman: MORE PC GARBAGE: Being Arrested For Telling Lawyer Jokes — Believe or not someone got into legal trouble for telling a...
Peter Burnet: AND SPEAKING OF BLASPHEMY... Tell a lawyer joke, go to jail? (MSNBC, January 12th, 2005) [snipped quote] It's in the Bible somewhere.
Joel Foreman: I think (most) lawyer jokes are funny, but then maybe I just have thicker skin than some people.

Pain used to uncover brain secret
  BBC   —   Permalink 
Volunteers are to be 'burnt' by scientists to see if faith eases pain.
Oxford University scientists will carry out experiments on hundreds of people in a bid to understand how the brain works during states of consciousness.
Tom Smith: Those darn scientists — Oxford scientists will torture volunteers to see how the brain reacts to pain.
Glenn Reynolds: NOBODY EXPECTS the Oxford Inquisition. (Original story here.)

Court Sets Up Fight Over Federal Sentences
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (AP) - Disposing of a constitutional challenge to the federal sentencing system, the Supreme Court has set up an anticipated fight in Congress over how judges punish convicted criminals.
Dale Franks: Dogs and Cats Sleeping Together — In an odd coalition majority, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Federal Sentencing...
Jeralyn Merritt: As NACDL President Barry Scheck said: [snipped quote] Will they heed it?

9.0 on ungrateful scale
  By / NY Daily News   —   Permalink 
The Indonesian government yesterday showed its appreciation to U.S. soldiers who have been risking their lives helping tsunami victims by ordering them to get out of the country by the end of March.
"Three months are enough," Vice President Jusuf Kalla told the official Antara news agency.
James Joyner: Instead, the Marines — some 2,000 of whom were diverted to tsunami relief from duty in Iraq — will keep a "minimal...
Betsy Newmark: And they're showing their deep gratitude to all we've done in helping the tsunami victimes by asking us to leave. "Ingrates!
Charles Bird: The New York Daily News calls it a "9.0 on the ungrateful scale", but I think the better attitude is to not expect thanks and to provide aid where they allow it without complaint.

Under Fire, Election Workers in Iraq Are Scared but Resolute
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 12 - There are mysterious knocks on his door at night. His friends ask him not to visit. He declines to allow even his first name to be published.
This shadowy figure, a young Sunni Muslim from Baghdad, is neither spy nor criminal.
Captain Ed: Christine Hauser paints a portrait of a group literally under fire for trying to bring their dream of self-government to...
Juan Cole: Even as the NYT's Christine Hauser praised the courage of Iraqi electoral workers, the newspaper's editors published an...
Damian Penny: Also in today's NY Times: a report on Iraqi election workers, whose courage cannot be praised highly enough.
Tom Maguire: For God, Country, And Money — The NY Times writes about the real Iraqi heroes - the men and women who are risking their...

Dave Barry
  By / Slate   —   Permalink 
Dave Barry, who quit his syndicated humor column last week, has been playing dumb for 22 years. Whenever someone suggests that Barry is our noblest social commentator, that he regularly makes the lions of the New York Times editorial page look like bozos,...
Avedon Carol: Slate provides the best reason in the world why Dave Barry should replace William Safire: "Readers are sometimes...
Daniel Drezner: Over at Slate, Bryan Curtis has a subversive proposal regarding Dave Barry and the Grey Lady: [snipped quote] The big...
Stephen Green: In an article about a completely-unrelated subject, Slate's Bryan Curtis might just have the answer: [snipped quote] Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please.
James Joyner: Dave Barry for Safire's Job — In "Dave Barry - Elegy for the humorist," Slate's Bryan Curtis explains why the humor...
QD @SouthernAppeal: A Brilliant Idea: Make Dave Barry the replacement for the NYT's William Safire: "Why settle for another graying libertarian when you can have a libertarian who makes booger jokes?"

Almighty Anchor
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Alot of people at CBS News are mad that Dan Rather didn't get more blame in the independent panel's 224-page chronicle of decision disasters in the notorious "60 Minutes Wednesday" report on President Bush's Air National Guard service.
Avedon Carol: The wingers are confused by a WaPo article from Tina Brown in which she explains that Dan Rather was jut a news anchor, not a producer or investigative reporter.
Tim Graham: GET OUT OF TOWN, TINA BROWN — In today's WashPost, columnist Tina Brown bites on the Dan Rather spin that he was just...
Betsy Newmark: Tina Brown says that a lot of people at CBS are angry that Rather didn't get fired over over the Rathergate story.
Ed Driscoll: Quote of the Day — OK, I know a few people have linked to it already, but this is another unintentional classic from...
TVNewser: Dan Rather's "Gritty Journalism Chops..." I'm not sure what Tina Brown is trying to say in her Washington Post column about television anchormen.

Black tie, big spenders and bunting come to Washington
  By / Knight Ridder   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Suppose you're a high-rolling Texas Republican who wants to celebrate President Bush's $40 million second inauguration next week in high style.
Where will you bunk?
The Ritz-Carlton Washington offers a $150,000 package that includes formalwear from Saks Fifth Avenue and a set of luggage.
Barbara O'Brien: More on the inauguration, from Knight Ridder: "The Ritz-Carlton Washington offers a $150,000 package that includes formalwear from Saks Fifth Avenue and a set of luggage.
Kevin Hayden: United we stand; dirty they towel — Will a union throw a kink in the inaugural plans?

Toll of missing, dead in Indonesia estimated near 210,000
  By / Knight Ridder   —   Permalink 
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - An official document posted here says that nearly 210,000 people in Indonesia are dead or missing from the Dec. 26 tsunami, a toll that appears to be far higher than officials have reported publicly. Rescue workers think even that number may be low.
Barbara O'Brien: Knight Ridder also tells us that the toll of missing and dead in Indonesia is estimated to be near 210,000.
Kevin Hayden: Tsunami: The Death Toll Multiplies 165,000? No, let's try 272,000 dead. What horror.

U.S. Diet Guide Puts Emphasis on Weight Loss
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON Jan. 12 - The federal government issued new dietary guidelines for Americans on Wednesday, and for the first time since the recommendations were introduced in 1980, they emphasize weight loss as well as healthy eating and cardiovascular health.
Chris Mooney: Big Sugar, in Denial — The U.S government has issued its new dietary guidelines, and they're tougher than expected on sugar (though they don't recommend explicit intake limits).
Ann Althouse: Here's Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson telling you what to do: [quote] "Tonight eat only half the dessert," Mr. Thompson said.[end quote]

US ignored warning on Iraqi oil smuggling, UN says
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
For months, the US Congress has been investigating activities that violated the United Nations oil-for-food programme and helped Saddam Hussein build secret funds to acquire arms and buy influence.
Glenn Reynolds: UNSCAM UPDATE: Greg Djerejian points to this Financial Times story saying that the U.S. was aware of oil-for-food fraud in early 2003 but did nothing.
Kevin Hayden: Bush knew about the biggest Food-for-Oil Fraud — [snipped quote] It doesn't take a genius to figure out the next step.
Susan Madrak: IT'S ONLY A SHOCK IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN PAYING ATTENTION — Now, deep down, didn't you just know this?
Gregory Djerejian: The Plot Thickens — And now cometh from the august pages of the FT: [snipped quote] You know, the U.N. has problems.
Eugene Oregon: Corruption In the National Interest — From the Financial Times "For months, the US Congress has been investigating...

Blurred messages from Democrats
  By / Boston Globe   —   Permalink 
HERE'S THE new Democratic Party slogan: We stand for nothing but victory.
Or, as Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the new chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told The New York Times: "Some people argue about old Democrats and new Democrats.
Jude Nagurney Camwell: Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi is clearly not a proponent of Roemer's campaign for DNC chair.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: THE KERRY CAMPAIGN THAT WAS — Summed up by [Joan Vennochi] : [snipped quote] Sounds like it to me.

Atrocities in Plain Sight
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
The Official Report of the Independent Panel and Pentagon on the Shocking Prisoner Abuse in Iraq.
Edited by Steven Strasser.
Illustrated. 175 pp. PublicAffairs. Paper, $14.
Matt Welch: Abu Ghraib, Second Thoughts About War, and Nick Berg — Over at The New York Times, Andrew Sullivan disgorges his long-simmering disgust at American torture.
Jon Henke: In case we're unclear... I'm so sick of hearing about panty-hoses, human pyramids, Eminem appreciations amidst the...
Marty Lederman: A Must-Read Review by Andrew Sullivan on Torture — Marty Lederman This new, extended book review by Andrew Sullivan in...
Avedon Carol: The wingers are in such denial that they just keep pretending that people didn't have to go outside the process to bring these evils to light.
Gregory Djerejian: Sullivan Reviews Danner — Andrew has an excellent piece up on the torture/abuse scandals in the New York Times book review.
Michael Froomkin: Stay Tuned For Hell To Freeze Over — Words I never thought I would write dept: Andrew Sullivan's Sunday NYT book review...
Also: Andrew Sullivan, Orrin Judd

No Ad Left Behind
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
In communist East Berlin, one sign of the government's swollen self-regard was the cluttering of public spaces with propaganda banners by which the government praised itself for providing socialism. In Washington today, the Education Department building is an advertisement for its occupants.
Sam Rosenfeld: Meanwhile, George Will has penned a column on the subject that's worth a read.
Stephen Green: Today's column explains why: [snipped quote] Read the whole thing.
Betsy Newmark: George Will bemoans how the Republicans have done as much to expand the role of the federal government as Democrats did.

Indonesia Sets Deadline for Foreign Troops
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Indonesia announced that U.S. and other foreign troops providing tsunami disaster relief must leave the country by the end of March and ordered aid workers Wednesday to declare their travel plans or face expulsion from devastated Aceh province on Sumatra island.
Colt: Asia and Australasia Indonesia is grateful, and everything - but get the hell out, ASAP, Yanks.
Charles Johnson: Now Beat It. Indonesia tells foreign (read: American) troops providing tsunami relief to get out by the end of March.
McQ: I imagine this comes as no real surprise but still: "Indonesia announced that U.S. and other foreign troops providing...
KJL: YOU'RE WELCOME AP: "BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - Indonesia announced that U.S. and other foreign troops providing tsunami...

A Cover-Up Is a Cover-Up
  By / Weekly Standard   —   Permalink 
LARGE AND POWERFUL INSTITUTIONS do not react well to internal scandal, especially when that scandal threatens to erode a central pillar of the institution's authority.
Steve M.: Well, The Weekly Standard has just published an article on the CBS story by Hugh Hewitt, and Hewitt is plugging the...
Hugh Hewitt: Posted at Midnight, EST — My WeeklyStandard.com column, "A Cover-Up Is a Cover-Up," asks what's the difference between Bernard Francis Cardinal Law and Dan Rather?
Glenn Reynolds: MORE ON RATHERGATE: From Hugh Hewitt, in The Weekly Standard.
Greg Ransom: HUGH HEWITT — The Rathergate cover-up. Hugh hits one into the benches: "[CBS] apologists are citing the Thornburgh-...

Indonesia's tsunami death toll nears 210,000, according to document
  By / Knight Ridder   —   Permalink 
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia - An official document posted here says that nearly 210,000 people in Indonesia are dead or missing from the Dec. 26 tsunami, a death toll that appears to be far higher than officials have reported publicly. Rescue workers think even that number may be low.
Kevin Aylward: It turns out that the Indonesian government is not exactly welcoming those coming to help, even as the death toll in...
Tim Blair: "An official report out of Indonesia puts the dead at 210,000 ... which ups the overall number to 272,000."

I'm sorry for wearing Nazi swastika, says Prince Harry
  By / Times of London   —   Permalink 
PRINCE HARRY apologised last night to the Prince of Wales after attending a fancy dress party wearing a red Nazi swastika.
Prince William was with his brother at the party, which was held by Richard Meade, the triple Olympic gold medallist, who is a close friend of the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles.
Natalie Solent: Nazi IRA man's statue beheaded. All that headline lacks to achieve perfection is mention of royalty.
Gregory Djerejian: Dirty Harry — I don't like to pick on a young guy forced into the Royal follies. But this is really, really dumb.

Harry says sorry for Nazi costume
  BBC   —   Permalink 
Prince Harry has apologised for wearing a swastika armband to a friend's fancy dress party.
Clarence House issued a statement in response to a photograph published on the front page of the Sun newspaper under the headline, "Harry the Nazi".
Arthur Chrenkoff: Prince Harry and the double standard — Harry Himmler holding a Goblet of Fire Britain's prince Harry is in trouble and...
Jan Haugland: What you don't wear to a costume party — Sun: Harry the nazi Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, chose...
Andrew Stuttaford: PRINCE HAL — Oh dear. Prince Harry's dumb, dumb choice of fancy dress is causing a fuss over in the UK.
Jack Cluth: Another DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener — Harry says sorry for Nazi costume: Prince Harry has apologised for wearing a swastika armband to a friend's fancy dress party.
Ed Driscoll: Spring Fascism Preview — In England, the BBC writes that "Prince Harry has apologised for wearing a swastika armband to a friend's fancy dress party".
Tom Maguire: I'd Have Believed a "Photoshop" Defense — Prince Harry wearing a swastika armband? Is anyone that stupid? Well, I guess so.
Also: Charles Johnson

This column is not for sale
  By / Jewish World Review   —   Permalink 
No. Never. Not one penny.
In the wake of reports last week that the Bush Education Department paid Republican pundit Armstrong Williams $241,000 to flack for its "diversity"-friendly policies while Williams posed as an independent commentator, readers have begun sending e-mails asking whether I am also on the GOP take.
Smash: AFTER READING this post by Michelle Malkin, I have to wonder why nobody has ever responded quite so viscerally to my writing.
McQ: A short sample of emails she recently received after her article about the hidden impact that the Armstrong...
Glenn Reynolds: YOU KNOW, THIS is actually worse than my hatemail. That's no small accomplishment.
Joe Gandelman: Michele Malkin: There Are NO EXCUSES For Armstrong Williams — Bravo to Michele Malkin for taking a firm, unbending,...
Spoons: MALKIN — You know, I'm fortunate enough to have been able to express my admiration in person, but considering what she...
Captain Ed: Now that Armstrong Williams has been exposed as a sell-out, she expects to see even more of this coming her way: "As a...
Also: Michelle Malkin, James Joyner

The War Against World War IV
  By / Commentary   —   Permalink 
A Second-Term Retreat?
Will George W. Bush spend the next few years backing down from the ambitious strategy he outlined in the Bush Doctrine for fighting and winning World War IV?
Jesse Taylor: Everything That's Our Fault In One Convenient Package — Is it just me, or is this Norm Podhoretz commentary simply a...
Wretchard: Update Norman Podhoretz has a long essay called The War Against World War IV (hat tip: Roger Simon) which can be read as an eerie companion piece to this post.
Stephen Green: Required Reading — The indispensable Roger L Simon gets a tip of the hat for finding Norman Podhoretz's "The War Against World War IV" in the new issue of Commentary.
Donald Sensing: Thanks to Norman — Power Line and some other folks are linking to Norman Podhoretz's latest piece in Commentary, "The War Against World War IV."
Roger L. Simon: Not Just John's Father — Commentary's Davi Bernstein emailed to alert me (and therefore you) to Norman Podhoretz's new...
Charles Johnson: The War Against World War IV — At Commentary, Norman Podhoretz has a followup to his monumental essay World War IV, a...
Also: The Big Trunk, Jonah Goldberg

Indonesia wants foreign troops out, defends restrictions on tsunami aid
  AFP   —   Permalink 
Indonesia told foreign troops helping tsunami victims to get out of the country soon and defended tough new restrictions on aid workers, while rich nations prepared to freeze Jakarta's debt repayments.
Michelle Malkin: The Indonesian government and the Euro-ingrates may not appreciate the efforts of our troops and those of our Australian counterparts, but no good deed goes completely unnoticed.
Emperor Darth Misha I: Link thanks to LC Joe Dromedary: "Indonesia told foreign troops helping tsunami victims to get out of the country soon...
Dean Esmay: Indonesian Foolishness — Joe Gandelman, who almost never becomes angry, is very angry with the Indonesian government.
Joe Gandelman: Government Of Indonesia Orders Troops Out: Politics Trumps Tsunami Suffering — Here's an example of a government's...
Ace: Indonesia: Foreign Troops Go Home — And so it goes: [snipped quote] How's "tomorrow" sound to you, feller?

Search for Banned Arms In Iraq Ended Last Month
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The hunt for biological, chemical and nuclear weapons in Iraq has come to an end nearly two years after President Bush ordered U.S. troops to disarm Saddam Hussein. The top CIA weapons hunter is home, and analysts are back at Langley.
Susan Q. Stranahan: Like the news that the hunt for weapons of mass destruction has ended in a whimper and not a bang. Well, both are on the blog burners today.
Matthew Yglesias: You may have heard that the Great Iraq WMD Hunt has been officially abandoned. But what can one really say about this?
Tbogg: But when we didn't find any it wasn't really the reason we went into Iraq.
Jesse Taylor: Chalabi/Burkett II — Yglesias wrote the post I'd been working on, so I'm just going to link to him.
Frederick Maryland: Thomas Jefferson's P.S. As for the news that the Bush administration has officially ended its search for WMDs in Iraq, let me add one final post-script.
Ed Cone: The truth about WMD. No, not that truth — the one about them not being there. The one about not everyone thinking they were there in first place.
Also: Pejman Yousefzadeh, The Poor Man, Joe Gandelman, Mary @PacificViews, Giblets, Tarek @LiquidList, Steve Verdon, Roger Ailes, David Allan Pell, Eugene Oregon, Tim Dunlop, Steve Soto, Taegan Goddard, Tom Tomorrow, Kevin Drum, Oliver Willis, Atrios, Laura Rozen

The 'Media Party' is over
  By / MSNBC   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - A political party is dying before our eyes — and I don't mean the Democrats. I'm talking about the "mainstream media," which is being destroyed by the opposition (or worse, the casual disdain) of George Bush's Republican Party; by competition...
Norbizness: It was about firmly entrenched members of the mainstream media being convinced that the mainstream media is about to die (Hooray!
TVNewser: "The 'Media Party' Is Over" Hits A Nerve — Howard Fineman's online column about the "American Mainstream Media Party"...
Ace: Meanwhile, Howard Finemann, who's liberal (of course) but fairly non-objectionable, notes the age of "mainstream" (i.e.,...
Howard Kurtz: So says Howard Fineman. Who, last time I checked, was a charter member of the media elite, holding forth for Newsweek and as an MSNBC talking head.
Avedon Carol: James Wolcott is my choice for best take-down of Howard Fineman's stupid piece about the death of mainstream media in the wake of Rathergate.
Duckman GR: When you read garbage like this from Howard Fineman, (see the company he keeps?) you have to wonder how many people in the media are on the take with the bush White House.
Also: Jay Rosen, Ed Driscoll, Giblets, Brian Montopoli, Joe Gandelman, Nathan Nance, Tbogg, Betsy Newmark, Glenn Reynolds, Andrew Sullivan, Taegan Goddard, Bill @INDCJournal, Jeff Jarvis, Lorie Byrd, Orrin Judd, Mitch Berg, PoliPundit, Greg Ransom

More Depressions Like This, Please
  By / TCS   —   Permalink 
Remember all that talk during the just concluded presidential campaign about this being the worst economy since the Great Depression? Or that President Bush's jobs performance is the poorest since Herbert Hoover was in office?
Pejman Yousefzadeh: "MORE DEPRESSIONS LIKE THIS, PLEASE" — So for all of the doomsaying over the past year, 2004 was actually quite good for the pocketbook.
Ed Driscoll: "More Depressions Like This, Please" — Noel Sheppard of Tech Central Station examines the economy's robust performance in 2004.
Greg Ransom: More on the health of the U.S. economy during the Bush years here — if the news catches you by surprise, you've...
Glenn Reynolds: NOEL SHEPPARD WRITES that if the past few years have been a depression, as some have claimed, he'd like another, please.

No Kid Rock at Bush concert
  By / WorldNetDaily   —   Permalink 
Kid Rock, the vulgar rock-rapper who initially had been lined up to headline the youth concert next week as part of the inauguration festivities for President Bush, will not be apppearing after all.
"He's not performing," a spokesman for the Presidential Inauguration Committee confirmed for WND.
Steve M.: So the White House has apparently concluded that it would be inappropriate to let Kid Rock perform at an event commemorating the inaugural of a "traditional values" president.
Tbogg: You know you want to... Posted by Hello Kid Rock gets kicked to the curb and Republican organizers scramble for a...
Jeff Goldstein: From WorldNetDaily: "No Kid Rock at Bush concert: Committee backs off plan to feature rapper after pro-family Americans express outrage."
Michelle Malkin: "He's not performing," a spokesman for the Presidential Inauguration Committee confirmed for WorldNetDaily.com.
KJL: (Though, yes, kudos to Kid Rock for USO touring.) P.S. Looks like he's not performing next week.

White House Briefing
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
President Bush told the Washington Times yesterday he doesn't "see how you can be president without a relationship with the Lord."
"I fully understand that the job of the president is and must always be protecting the great right of people to worship or not worship as they see fit," Bush said.
Mary @LeftCoaster: According to Bush: [snipped quote] So one way that our Social Security system can be saved is if we can pay out less benefits than currently estimated.
Avedon Carol: Social Security stuff — Via Lambert, I see that Dan Froomkin is back, and catch this quote from Little George: "The problem is, is that times have changed since 1935.
Atrios: From Froomkin, who catches Yet Another Presidential Lie: In addition to making deceptive claims about the system going...
Lambert @Corrente: Looting Social Security: Fact checking His narrow ass — Thank God Froomkin's back: [snipped quote] The amazing thing to...

Bush's Budget Expected to Be Aggressive
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The Bush administration is preparing a budget request that would freeze most spending on agriculture, veterans and science, slash or eliminate dozens of federal programs, and force more costs, from Medicaid to housing, onto state and local governments, according to congressional aides and lawmakers.
Larry Kudlow: According to this morning's Washington Post, the first really tough Bush budget planned for FY 2006 (due out next month)...
Sam Rosenfeld: All reports indicate that George W. Bush is set to submit an extremely austere budget next month that will "freeze most...
Steve Soto: Maintaining His Tax Cuts, Bush Begins Assault On Domestic Discretionary Spending — In a move that was predicted by the...
Orrin Judd: LET'S SEE THEM PUT NO MONEY WHERE THEIR MOUTHS ARE: Bush's Budget Expected to Be Aggressive: Program Cuts and Spending...

The Torture Myth
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Just for a moment, let's pretend that there is no moral, legal or constitutional problem with torture. Let's also imagine a clear-cut case: a terrorist who knows where bombs are about to explode in Iraq. To stop him, it seems that a wide range of Americans would be prepared to endorse "cruel and unusual" methods.
Avedon Carol: It certainly can't be in order to gain intelligence, because it doesn't work.
Greyhawk: Man, Myth, and Magic — "The Torture Myth" - that's the headline over Anne Applebaum's Washington Post piece, and I confess to a moment of unguarded optimism on seeing it.
Dale Franks: And yet another thing to consider — Anne Applebaum writes in the Washington Post this morning that many experienced...
Ogged @Unfogged: Pent Up — A good op-ed by Anne Applebaum on the ineffectiveness of torture.
Noam Alaska: UPDATE: Demagogue reader Bill points us to a piece by Anne Applebaum in today's Washington Post addressing the myth of torture's effectiveness.
John Cole: The Torture Myth — Anne Applebaum discusses what should be the most salient issue regarding theuse of torture,...

Kerry weighs in on DNC pick, putting down marker for '08
  The Hill   —   Permalink 
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is vetting the leading candidates to be the next Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman, and asking them to remain neutral in the presidential selection process in 2008.
Jeralyn Merritt: John Kerry Makes Outreach to DNC Chair Hopefuls — The Hill reports that John Kerry is reaching out to candidates for...
Kos @DailyKos: Chairman's race provides hints for 2008 — Fun.
Taegan Goddard: Kerry Weighs in on DNC Pick — Sen. John Kerry "is vetting the leading candidates to be the next Democratic National...
Kevin Hayden: And among potential 2008 candidates, who's been contacting the delegates?
Orrin Judd: HE'D WIN NH AGAIN: Kerry weighs in on DNC pick, putting down marker for '08 (Hans Nichols, 1/12/05, The Hill)...
KJL: KERRY '08? From The Hill: [snipped quote] I don't believe it, by the way. He's not running. But teasing will keep people interested.

A Nation of Faith and Religious Illiterates
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
The sociologist Peter Berger once remarked that if India is the most religious country in the world and Sweden the least, then the United States is a nation of Indians ruled by Swedes. Not anymore.
Things are different in Europe, and not just in Sweden.
New Donkey: The Real Secularists — There's a brief but pungent op-ed by Boston University's Stephen Prothero in today's LA Times...
Kevin Drum: JOAN OF ARK...From an LA Times op-ed about religious ignorance in America: [snipped quote] It took me a minute to get...
Jim D: Ye shall (not) know the Truth — Jesus wept: [snipped quote] Via Kevin Drum. This isn't necessarily surprising.

Galloway plans coffee-table Castro book
  Scotsman   —   Permalink 
MAVERICK MP George Galloway will use a long-established friendship with Fidel Castro to write an intimate portrayal of the Cuban leader this summer.
The MP for Glasgow Kelvin, expelled by the Labour party last year for his outspoken views on the war in...
Harry @HarrysPlace: Talking of people who are well used to getting around 100 percent of the vote, Galloway is planning to write a book...
Stephen Pollard: Welcome to each other — Harry says that [snipped quote] 'That one' is this: [snipped quote] I guess since one vile...

Le Pen irks French government with Nazi remarks
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
PARIS, Jan 12 (Reuters) - France threatened on Wednesday to take legal action against far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen for saying the Nazi occupation of France during World War Two had not been "particularly inhumane."
Arthur Chrenkoff: The truths of the Second World War — Jean-Marie Le Pen, the man everyone likes to hate (he makes it so easy), is in...
Ed Driscoll: And Reuters reports that French "far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen [said] the Nazi occupation of France during World War Two had not been 'particularly inhumane'."
Damian Penny: Defending the Nazis - again — Jean-Marie Le Pen, who got 19% of the vote in the last French Presidential election, says...

The Plame Game: Was This a Crime?
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
Why have so many people rushed to assume that a crime was committed when someone "in the administration" gave columnist Robert D. Novak the name of CIA "operative" Valerie Plame?
Roger Ailes: Meet Your Liberal Media: Asses-R-Us Edition — Meanwhile, the so-called liberal Washington Post engages in character...
Avedon Carol: Mainstream media tries to give criminals an out on Plame affair, suggesting that no crime was committed. It's OK If You Are Republican.
Orrin Judd: KEEP INVESTIGATING, CHANGE THE FOCUS: The Plame Game: Was This a Crime?
Tom Maguire: Now Its The WaPo's Turn — "The Plame Game: Was This a Crime?" wonders the WaPo, in a guest op-ed contributed by Bruce Sanford and Victoria Toensig.
Lambert @Corrente: First trial ballon to deep-six The Plame Affair — Following hard on the oh-so-convenient prosecutorial conduct that...
Betsy Newmark: Victoria Toensing and David Sanford explain why no one broke the law by leaking Valerie Plame's name.
Also: John Cole, Kathryn Jean Lopez

President Participates in Conversation on Social Security Reform
  White House   —   Permalink 
Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium
Washington, D.C.
THE PRESIDENT: Listen, thanks for coming today. As you can see, I am joined by some fellow citizens here on the stage who have come to talk about one of the great causes of our generation, and that is how to strengthen and save Social Security for generations to come.
Eugene Oregon: Nonetheless, Bush is pushing ahead and participated in a "conversation" on Social Security.
Vance @BeggingToDiffer: The latest comes from yesterday's "Conversation on Social Security Reform".
Kevin Raybould: Bush Tells a Lie — Shocking, I know [snipped quote] The truth: [snipped quote] What will we tell the children?
Tom Maguire: Bush On Social Security — George Bush took his campaign to reform Social Security to "the people" [transcript], and the NY Times was there.
Fred Clark: The quote here is cut and pasted from www.whitehouse.gov: "As a matter of fact, by the time today's workers who are in their mid-20s begin to retire, the system will be bankrupt.
Mary @LeftCoaster: Open Thread — Liberal Oasis observes today that Bush's scripted townhall had some d'oh moments.

The 'Media Party' Is Over
  By / Newsweek   —   Permalink 
Jan. 11 - A political party is dying before our eyes—and I don't mean the Democrats. I'm talking about the "mainstream media," which is being destroyed by the opposition (or worse, the casual disdain) of George Bush's Republican Party; by competition from...
McQ: Howard Fineman (with a twist): "A political party is dying before our eyes—and I don't mean the Democrats.
TVNewser: "The 'Media Party' Is Over" — That's the headline on this must-read piece by Newsweek's Howard Fineman: "A political...
RCox: Howard Fineman Gets It — Fineman's article, The 'Media Party' Is Over, is getting a fair amount of attention in the...
KJL: Howard Fineman has a brutally honest webpiece up on the way it is re: Rathergate and the MSM: "A political party is dying before our eyes—and I don't mean the Democrats.

CNN's Midlife Midwife
  By / New York Observer   —   Permalink 
On Monday, Jan. 10, CNN's new president, Jonathan Klein, was sitting in his fourth-floor office in the Time Warner Center recalling an adage a former boss gave him about journalistic principles in TV news.
"Jon," he recalled him saying, "we're not going to do just anything to win."
Gregory Djerejian: CNN's new President, Jonathan Klein, moving the network towards the brave new world of "emo-anchors" and news-readers...
Betsy Newmark: Joe Hagen profiles Joe Klein, the new head of CNN. He's very proud of himself for getting rid of Crossfire and Capital Gang.
TVNewser: But Klein told Joe Hagan that he doesn't like that term. Instead: "It's almost like what you'd see on the History Channel five years from now.

'The Shark' uses his blog to take bite out of local politics
  By / Seattle Post-Intelligencer   —   Permalink 
One Seattle man will loathe the sight today of Christine Gregoire taking the oath of office. He vows to keep fighting the controversial and contested gubernatorial election, one Web log blast at a time.
Hindrocket: Today the Seattle Post-Intelligencer had a pretty good article on Stefan Sharkansky, principal proprietor of Sound Politics.
Ace: Sharks Need Petting Too Update: And Stefan "Shark" Sharkansky gets a little nose-rub from the Seatle Post-Intelligencer.
Greg Ransom: Here's a taste: [snipped quote] UPDATE: Stefan Sharkansky gets profiled in the P.I.!!
David Neiwert: Reading Robert Jamieson's admiring column this morning, it's easy to come away with the impression of Stefan Sharkansky...
Glenn Reynolds: Some people have noticed: [snipped quote] More evidence, if it were needed, that Fineman is right.

The Fault Does Lie in Our Stars
  LAT   —   Permalink 
Any news organization can trip up. And any news organization that comments on the CBS News investigation without thinking, "There but for the grace of God ... " should probably be in another business.
Patterico: So I find it interesting that the L.A. Times says in this morning's editorial on the scandal: "[A]ny news organization...
KJL: THERE'S THAT HASTE ARGUMENT AGAIN — The lessons the LA Times takes from Rathergate: [snipped quote] There's something...
The Poor Man: YesYes Use of highly questionable supporting documents? YesYes Central claims disproven? NoYes Media spread questionable information?

Mass. Republicans launch pre-emptive Web strike
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
Massachusetts Republicans have launched a pre-emptive strike against Democratic Attorney General Tom Reilly by snapping up online Internet addresses that would have been obvious picks for him if he decides to run for governor in 2006.
Cookie Jill: republicans actually discover the internets and sit their big fat behinds on some domains.
Taegan Goddard: Massachusetts Republicans Launch Web Strike — [snipped quote] Reuters reports.

Beating of Queens Satanist Prompts Hate Crime Charges
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Ever since he was 12, Daniel Romano has cut a noticeable figure around Middle Village, a working class part of Queens. Mr. Romano, 20, who calls himself a Satanist, stands out, with his blue-tinted bouffant hairdo, his black clothing and fingernails, and the prominent crucifix, worn upside down.
McQ: "Hate" crimes — If you're not familiar with the most recent case in which the characterization of "hate crime" has been applied, go here and read about it.
Rod Dreher: MOTHER OF THE YEAR — In New York City, two outer borough toughs have been charged with a hate crime for beating up a teenage Satanist.
RCox: A New Hate Crime? Can a Devil-worshipper be a victim of a hate-crime?

Crisis Mode
  NRO   —   Permalink 
Judicial nominations will be one of the most important issues facing the Senate in the 109th Congress and the question is whether we will return to the tradition of giving nominations reaching the Senate floor an up or down vote.
Kevin Drum: Here's his recollection of how he behaved back when Bill Clinton was president: [snipped quote] That's mighty righteous of him, isn't it?
Eugene Oregon: And it works - which is probably why Orrin Hatch penned a lengthy piece for the National Review in which he defended the...
PoliPundit: Filibusters — Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) makes clear that Democrat filibusters of judicial nominees are truly...
Nathan Hallford: Hatch On Judicial Nominations: Senator Orrin Hatch has a must read essay, at NRO, on judicial nominations and what he calls a "constitutional crisis" in the Senate.

Bush Presses His Argument for Social Security Change
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 - President Bush stepped up his campaign on Tuesday to sell Americans and a skeptical Congress on the need to overhaul Social Security by painting a dire picture of a bankrupt future for millions of young workers.
Thomas Lang: Go to comments — January 12, 2005 Fact Check Lion Eats Daniel Straying from her regular beat — always a dangerous...
Jesse Taylor: Oh, So That's What They Mean — It's strange - in an article entitled "Bush Presses His Argument for Social Security...

Stolen Election?
  Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
Democrat Christine Gregoire will be sworn in as Washington's Governor today, possibly thanks to voters such as Mary Coffey, James Courneya and Rosalie Simpson. Why do we mention them in particular?
Lorie Byrd: Washington Update — This is a shame, but it may bode well for the Republicans' prospects in the next election, assuming there is no revote.
Steve Bainbridge: I've blogged a fair bit about the Washington gubernatorial race. At this point, I'm inclined to agree with the WSJ.

New AIDS campaign uses animated characters
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
UNITED NATIONS — A new global campaign to stop the spread of AIDS uses three animated characters dressed as condoms who deliver a serious message in humorous public service spots in 41 languages: If you're going to have sex, use a condom.
Orrin Judd: WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROADRUNNER (via Tom Morin): New AIDS campaign uses animated characters (Edith M. Lederer,...
KJL: THIS HAS GOT TO BE A JOKE (IT'S NOT) [quote] UNITED NATIONS—"The Three Amigos" — as the cartoon condoms named Shaft,...[end quote]

Bush Promotes Plan For Social Security
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
President Bush yesterday stepped up his campaign to partially privatize Social Security, hosting a talk-show-style conversation with supporters of a plan to allow participants to funnel a portion of their payroll taxes into private investment accounts.
Tom Maguire: The WaPo also covered the event, and took a tougher line on the "flat bust" claim: "But some critics say Bush is...
Frederick Maryland: Bush's Imagined "Campaign Pledge" — Yesterday, President Bush promoted his Social Security reform plan with these...

Kennedy: Democrats Need Progressive Agenda
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Democrats should have talked more directly about fundamental values and ideals in last year's presidential campaign, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) said Wednesday, outlining a progressive agenda aimed at moving the party and the nation forward.
Captain Ed: However, longtime Senator Ted Kennedy — from that incubator of political moderation known as Massachusetts — urged...
Jeralyn Merritt: Edward Kennedy Speaks Out on Democrats' Future — Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) today called for Democrats to go progressive.