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Archive Edition for   Monday, June 6, 2005Go to Current Page
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Quoted in this edition:

Ace of Spades HQ
  Ace
Agence France Presse
AMERICAN DIGEST Essays
  Vanderleun
The Anchoress
  TheAnchoress
www.AndrewSullivan.com
  Andrew Sullivan
Associated Press
  Gina Holland
  Rebecca Cook
  Jesse J. Holland
  Rachel Zoll
  Sameer N. Yacoub
  Gary Tanner
  Hussein Dakroub
  Siobhan McDonough
baldilocks
  Baldilocks
Balloon Juice
  John Cole
Barcepundit
  FrancoAlemán
BBC
Begging to Differ
  Nick @BeggingToDiffer
Betsy's Page
  Betsy Newmark
Billmon
  Billmon
BLACKFIVE
  Blackfive
Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal
  Brad DeLong
Brendan Nyhan
  Brendan Nyhan
BrothersJudd Blog
  Orrin Judd
  Dcohen
BuzzMachine
  Jeff Jarvis
Captain's Quarters
  Captain Ed
CBS News
Centerfield
  Mathew @Centerfield
  Todd Pearson
  Abel Rabinowitz
Chicago Sun Times
  Laura Washington
Chris C Mooney
  Chris Mooney
Clayton Cramer's BLOG
  Clayton Cramer
CNN
  Bill Mears
The Corner
  K. J. Lopez
  Tim Graham
  Jonathan H. Adler
  Stanley Kurtz
  John J. Miller
corrente
  Lambert @Corrente
The Counterterrorism Blog
  Andrew Cochran
Cox & Forkum Editorial Cartoons
  Forkum
Daly Thoughts
  Gerry @DalyThoughts
Dean's World
  Mary Madigan
Discourse.net
  Michael Froomkin
DonkeyRising
  Edm Staff
EdCone.com
  Ed Cone
Eschaton
  Atrios
etc.
  Keelin McDonell
Ezra Klein
  Ezra Klein
Fox News
Guardian
Harry's Place
  Harry @HarrysPlace
Hit and Run
  Nick Gillespie
  Ronald Bailey
Houston Chronicle
  Mary Flood
The Huffington Post
  Arianna Huffington
  Richard Bradley
HughHewitt.com
  Hugh Hewitt
Hullabaloo
  Digby
INDC Journal
  Bill @INDCJournal
Informed Comment
  Juan Cole
Instapundit.com
  Glenn Reynolds
INTEL DUMP
  Phillip Carter
Israel news and commentary from IsraPundit
  Omri Ceren
Jackson's Junction
  Dirty Harry
joannejacobs.com
  Joanne Jacobs
JustOneMinute
  Tom Maguire
kausfiles
  Mickey Kaus
L.A. Observed
  Kevin Roderick
La Shawn Barber’s Corner
  La Shawn Barber
The Left Coaster
  Steve Soto
  Matt Davis
Left in the West
  Matt Singer
The Light Of Reason
  Arthur Silber
The Liquid List
  Shawn @LiquidList
Little Green Footballs
  Charles Johnson
Los Angeles Times
  Robert Salladay
  Catherine Seipp
  Karin Klein
The Mahablog
  Barbara O'Brien
Mark A. R. Kleiman
  Mark Kleiman
Michelle Malkin
  Michelle Malkin
The Moderate Voice
  Joe Gandelman
MSNBC
MyDD
  Concerned Democrat
  Chris Bowers
  Crazy Vaclav
National Review
New York Sun
  Josh Gerstein
New York Times
  Patrick D. Healy
  Bob Herbert
  David D. Kirkpatrick
  Philip Shenon
  David Carr
  David Cay Johnston
  Nicholas D. Kristof
  Carl Hulse
  John F. Burns
New Yorker
Newsday
  Martin Schram
NewsHog
  Cernig
NewsMax.com
Newsweek
  Evan Thomas
  Rod Nordland
normblog
  Norm Geras
Off the Kuff
  Charles Kuffner
Oh, That Liberal Media
  Jim Miller
Oliver Willis
  Oliver Willis
Opinion Journal
  Arthur Chrenkoff
  Terry Teachout
  Glenn Harlan Reynolds
Outside The Beltway
  James Joyner
Pacific Views
  Magpie @PacificViews
  Natasha @PacificViews
pandagon.net
  Jesse Taylor
Patterico's Pontifications
  Angry Clam
  Dafydd
Pejmanesque
  Pejman Yousefzadeh
PoliBlog
  Dr. Steven Taylor
PoliPundit.com
  Alexander K. McClure
  Jayson @PoliPundit
  DJ Drummond
  PoliPundit
The Poor Man
  The Poorman
Power Line
  Scott @PowerLine
  John @PowerLine
  Paul @PowerLine
PressThink
  Jay Rosen
ProfessorBainbridge.com
  Steve Bainbridge
Publius Pundit
  A.M. Mora y Leon
The QandO Blog
  Jon Henke
  McQ
Rantingprofs
  Cori Dauber
Reuters
  Philip Pullella
  Lori Santos
Right Wing News
  John Hawkins
Rising Hegemon
  Attaturk
Roger L. Simon
  Roger L. Simon
Romenesko
  Jim Romenesko
Sadly, No!
  Sadly, No!
San Diego Union-Tribune
  Jerry Kammer
Scared Monkeys
  Red @ScaredMonkeys
  Tom @ScaredMonkeys
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  Gregory Roberts
Seattle Times
  David Postman
Secular Blasphemy
  Jan Haugland
Shot In The Dark
  Mitch Berg
The Sideshow
  Avedon Carol
Signifying Nothing
  Chris Lawrence
Sirotablog
  David Sirota
skippy the hussein kangaroo
  Skippy
  Cookie Jill
Slant Point
  Scott Sala
Southern Appeal
  Michael DeBow
  Patrick Carver
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
  Taegan Goddard
Talking Points Memo
  Josh Marshall
TalkLeft
  Jeralyn Merritt
TAPPED
  Sam Rosenfeld
  Matthew Yglesias
»«TBogg»«
  Tbogg
Telegraph
  Tom Coghlan
TheAgitator.com
  Radley Balko
Think Progress
  Judd @ThinkProgress
  David @ThinkProgress
  Faiz @ThinkProgress
Unqualified Offerings
  Jim Henley
USA Today
USS Neverdock
  Marc @USSNeverdock
The Volokh Conspiracy
  Todd Zywicki
War and Piece
  Laura Rozen
The Washington Monthly
  Kevin Drum
Washington Post
  Fred Barbash
  Mike Allen
  Jonathan Finer
  Howard Kurtz
  Rick Weiss
  Hussein Dakroub
  Claire Berlinski
  Dana Milbank
Washington Times
  Jennifer Harper
Weekly Standard
  John Hinderaker
Winds of Change.NET
  Bill Roggio
  Arthur Chrenkoff
  WoW Team Monday
  Andrew Olmsted
Wizbang
  Kevin Aylward



Court Rules Against Pot for Sick People
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Federal authorities may prosecute sick people whose doctors prescribe marijuana to ease pain, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, concluding that state laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug.
Avedon Carol: News, views, and chews — Court Rules Against Pot for Sick People. I'm kind of speechless about this.
Digby: A Land Called Honalee — Those liberal activist judges are at it again. They really are.
Jan Haugland: Supreme Court upholds medical marijuana ban — The US Supreme Court has ruled that the federal authorities can prosecute sick people who receive marijuana prescriptions.
Bill @INDCJournal: Supreme Court: Harshing the National Mellow — I eagerly await conservative cries of "where is the strict constructionism?" after this nifty ruling.
Cookie Jill: ap and usatoady and wapo" o'connor - the court was overreaching to endorse "making it a federal crime to grow small...
James Joyner: One has to love the AP's headline for this, "Court Rules Against Pot for Sick People."
Also: Tom @ScaredMonkeys, Radley Balko, Glenn Reynolds, Julian Sanchez, Oliver Willis

Senator Clinton Assails Bush and G.O.P. at Campaign Fund-Raiser
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Senator Hillary Clinton castigated President Bush and Washington Republicans today as mad with power and bent on marginalizing Democrats during a speech to 1,000 supporters at her first major re-election fund-raiser, which netted about $250,000.
Scott Sala: Hillary Clinton is showing some very un-New York spinelessness by claiming "mad" George Bush is not playing fair!
Lambert @Corrente: [quote]"Let's get some spine." (via Times) [end quote] Start showing some spine by using the active voice!
Ezra Klein: Hillary Gone Wild — Hillary busted out of the gate this morning with one of those take-no-prisoners addresses that does...
Arianna Huffington: Arianna Huffington: Hillary Attacks the GOP and the Media... But Fails to Look in the Mirror — After months of...
David @ThinkProgress: Check out Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D) courageous comments in the New York Times today.
Taegan Goddard: Bonus Quote of the Day — [snipped quote] — Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), quoted by the New York Times, on the Bush administration.
Also: K. J. Lopez

Election trial dispatches
  By / Seattle Times   —   Permalink 
"An election such as this should not be overturned because one judge picks a number and applies a proportional deduction analysis," Bridges said. "To do so within the context of the facts of this case would constitute the ultimate act of judicial egotism and judicial activism."
Avedon Carol: From the notebook — Governor Christine Gregoire. Finally. Unsurprisingly, Rossi had nothing to make his case.
Michelle Malkin: Court adjourned. Next stop: The Washington state supreme court. Seattle Times liveblogged the court ruling as well.
Oliver Willis: Voters, Dems win in Washington Gubernatorial Case — Judge upholds Gregoire's election "An election such as this should...
Crazy Vaclav: For more in-depth coverage, here's David Postman at the Seattle Times, and here's Horse's Ass, who've both done great work on this case.
Taegan Goddard: Rick Hasen and the Seattle Times "trial dispatches" column has more.
K. J. Lopez: "THERE IS NO EVIDENCE IN THIS RECORD THAT MS. GREGOIRE RECEIVED ANY ILLEGAL VOTES," HE SAID. From the ruling.

Pope condemns gay marriages as 'anarchy'
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in his first clear pronouncement on gay marriages since his election, on Monday condemned same-sex unions as fake and expressions of "anarchic freedom" that threatened the future of the family.
Andrew Sullivan: THE POPE ON MARRIAGE: I'm waiting to read the full context of the Pope's remarks decrying the possibility of a gay couple committing to each other as "anarchy."
Ezra Klein: Speaking of take-no-prisoner addresses, Pope Nosferatu Benedict spent the morning offering one of his own: [snipped quote] Huh.
Patrick Carver: I'm sure Mr. Sullivan won't be happy with this. (LvDR)
TheAnchoress: And while some would say that a celibate person has nothing to say to the rest of human sexuality, it seems pretty clear...
Sadly, No!: Pope "Johnny Rotten" Benedict — Pope Benedict lets out his inner Sex Pistol: [snipped quote] Awesome.

The Mobility Myth
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
The war that nobody talks about - the overwhelmingly one-sided class war - is being waged all across America. Guess who's winning.
A recent front-page article in The Los Angeles Times showed that teenagers are faring poorly in a tight job market because...
Cernig: First, a report from the New York Times which examines the "overwhelmingly one-sided class war" in America.
Ezra Klein: When Class Has Assigned Seating — Bob Herbert's column today on class mobility is excellent.
Paul @PowerLine: We discussed the situation in Guantanamo Bay, Howard Dean, and a piece by Bob Herbert which contends that income...
Steve Soto: And Bob Herbert of the Times this morning writes on the declining ability of the lower and middle classes to move up in...
David Sirota: "Under the Bush tax cuts, the 400 taxpayers with the highest incomes - a minimum of $87 million in 2000, the last year...
Jesse Taylor: Immobile And Loving It — I have to disagree with this Bob Herbert column.
Also: Peter Burnet, Attaturk

Judge upholds Gregoire's election
  By / Seattle Post-Intelligencer   —   Permalink 
WENATCHEE - Gov. Christine Gregoire's narrow 2004 election victory was upheld this morning by a judge who said Republicans failed to show that voting problems in King County and elsewhere were the reason Gregoire won by 129 votes.
Captain Ed: Washington Court Upholds Democratic Victory Despite Irregularities — A judge has denied a challenge to the election of...
Kevin Aylward: Washington State Governor Election Upheld — The last major election from 2004 that was still, marginally, in play moved...
Ace: Shock: Judge Upholds Gregoire "Selection" In Wash State Governor's Race — They protect their own: [snipped quote] Wow.
Mathew @Centerfield: Time to Throw in the Towel, Gregoire Wins — From the Seattle Post Intelligencer: "Gov. Christine Gregoire's narrow...
Magpie @PacificViews: A Republican attempt to overturn the results of November's gubernatorial election in Washington state has failed, as a...

Wash. Judge Upholds Gubernatorial Vote
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
The election — decided by an amazingly close 129 votes out of 2.9 million cast — included 1,678 illegally cast ballots, Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges found. But he said Republicans failed to prove that GOP candidate Dino Rossi would have won if those votes had been disregarded.
Michelle Malkin: MSM coverage from CNN, AP, USA Today Instant blogger reax... Andy McDonald at Sound Politics: "As voters, we have all...
Orrin Judd: POLITICAL, NOT LEGAL (via ph): Wash. Judge Upholds Gubernatorial Vote: Wash. Judge Upholds 2004 Gubernatorial Election,...
Alexander K. McClure: 2006 Washington Senate Race — Unfortunately, it now seems that Governor Christine (Hillary-lite) Gregoire is in office for another three years.

Supreme Court allows prosecution of medical marijuana
  By / CNN   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The U.S. Supreme Court Monday ruled doctors can be blocked from prescribing marijuana for patients suffering from pain caused by cancer or other serious illnesses.
Steve Bainbridge: The Medical Marijuana Case — Supreme Court holds "that federal anti-drug laws trump state laws that allow the use of medical marijuana."
Tom @ScaredMonkeys: Here is the round up: AP Washington Post USA TODAY CNN For text excerpts from these articles, please click the "Read...
James Joyner: Supreme Court allows prosecution of medical marijuana (CNN) [snipped quote] While I disagree with the public policy of...
Chris Lawrence: The Supreme Court creates more work for me — I'd personally like to thank the Supreme Court for announcing its decision...

Justices deal blow to medical marijuana
  AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors' orders, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, concluding that state medical marijuana laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug.
Tbogg: Round up all the chemotherapy criminals — Digby cuts to the chase on todays medical marijuana ruling which has just...
Matt Davis: Medical marijuana is against the law again.
Jayson @PoliPundit: The Federal Supremacy Clause — On display.
Captain Ed: SCOTUS Harshes Everyone's Mellow — The Supreme Court dealt a body blow to medical marijuana advocates this morning by...
Attaturk: No Pot for you. The Supreme Court rules against marijuana as medicine. I am shocked and appalled, but unfortunately not stoned.

Clerics strip fugitive Taliban leader of power
  By / Telegraph   —   Permalink 
A crowd of 600 Afghan clerics gathered in front of an historic mosque yesterday to strip the fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar of his claim to religious authority, in a ceremony that provided a significant boost to the presidency of Hamid Karzai.
Captain Ed: That's exactly what has happened in Afghanistan, where 600 Muslim clerics announced that Mullah Omar has been stripped...
Arthur Chrenkoff: Take this story, for example: "A crowd of 600 Afghan clerics gathered in front of an historic mosque yesterday to strip...
Dr. Steven Taylor: Clerics Strip Mullah Omar of Religious Authority — Via the Telegraph: Clerics strip fugitive Taliban leader of power
Jan Haugland: Afghan clerics strip Mullah Omar of authority — This is definately good news from Afghanistan: A crowd of 600 Afghan...
James Joyner: Clerics strip fugitive Taliban leader of power (London Telegraph) [snipped quote] As big a breathrough as stripping Omar...
McQ: A very interesting development in Afghanistan: [snipped quote] What has been removed from the radical Taliban faction...
Also: FrancoAlemán, Pejman Yousefzadeh, Marc @USSNeverdock

Senate to Try to Confirm Bush Nominees
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - After months of arguing, the Senate will try to confirm as many as four of President Bush's nominations to the U.S. Appeals Court in the next week or so, including California judge Janice Rogers Brown and former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor.
Hugh Hewitt: This AP account of the judges "deal" is troubling: "Frist and Reid also said they had agreed to move forward on Griffin...
Michael DeBow: Senate's timetable for judicial nominees, according to an AP story filed this afternoon: "After months of arguing, the...
Jayson @PoliPundit: Moving Forward — On the re-alignment of the federal judiciary, that is. And then we'll eventually get to Henry Saad and William Myers.

Court rules medical marijuana laws don't shield users
  USA Today   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes, even in states that have legalized the practice, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.
Diane Monson, one of the chronically ill Californians who brought the case, smokes marijuana at her home last November.
Gerry @DalyThoughts: Court rules medical marijuana laws don't shield users — USAToday: "Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who...
Kevin Aylward: Supreme Court Rules Medical Marijuana Is Still A Banned Drug — Buzzkill.WASHINGTON - Federal authorities may prosecute...

Amnesty USA backs off Gitmo as 'gulag'
  Chicago Sun Times   —   Permalink 
Amnesty International, which set off a storm by calling the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay "the gulag of our times," backed away from the label Sunday.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had ripped as "reprehensible" the description, made last month when the human rights group's secretary general, Irene Khan, issued its annual report.
Mary Madigan: Not an exact or literal analogy... by Mary Madigan Via the Chicago Sun Times:* [quote] On "Fox News Sunday," host Chris...[end quote]
Joe Gandelman: Another report adds these details: [quote] On "Fox News Sunday," host Chris Wallace asked William Schulz, director of Amnesty...[end quote]
Red @ScaredMonkeys: (Full Transcript from Fox News Sunday can be seen here) Chicago Sun Times adds, "Amnesty International, which set off...
Blackfive: While Amnesty International backs off it's claim that Gitmo is a "gulag" (and admits that it was done to get attention...
Hugh Hewitt: Lilek's has launched Screedblog, a fine addition to the morning reads. Did we say "gulag?" Sorry about that.

Federal Authorities May Prosecute Medical Use of Marijuana
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The Supreme Court ruled today that the federal government has the power to prosecute the use of marijuana for medical purposes even in states that have enacted their own laws permitting it.
Barbara O'Brien: Win Some, Lose Some — SCOTUS nixies medicinal marijuana (6-3, O'Connor, Rehnquist and Thomas dissenting on states'...
Kevin Drum: The Supreme Court ruled today that the constitution's interstate commerce clause gives the federal government the right to regulate medical marijuana use.
Michael Froomkin: Wickard Lives! Federal Authorities May Prosecute Medical Use of Marijuana.

Causing a Commotion
  NRO   —   Permalink 
"Downing Street Memo" is old news.
It is July 2002. A British report notes that Prime Minister Tony Blair had "decided Britain must back any US assault and had ordered defence planners to begin the preparations for a new war in the Gulf."
Kevin Aylward: Downing Street Memo Dissected — James S. Robbins, senior fellow in national-security affairs at the American Foreign...
Mitch Berg: UPDATE: Folsom James Phillips of the Monkeys notes that James Robbins has the dirt on the "memo" in question.
Jesse Taylor: Write an article arguing that everything they're complaining about was already out there before the major document proving the same thing was released.
Michelle Malkin: DISSECTING THE DOWNING STREET MEMO — NRO's James S. Robbins takes apart the so-called "smoking gun" war memo that has the Left in a tizzy.

Two Democrats Disavow Dean's Jab at GOP
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) and former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) distanced themselves over the weekend from remarks by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who is facing criticism for the pace of the party's fundraising.
Red @ScaredMonkeys: Distancing yourself from the spokesperson of your party? Where is that unity that Democrats were talking about?
Abel Rabinowitz: With Joe Biden declaring that Howard Dean does not speak for him, and John Edwards insisting that "[t]he chairman of the...
Billmon: But, as witless as Dean's crack was, his immediate repudiation by the mushy moderates — in this case, John "Opie" Edwards and Joe "Badger" Biden — was in some ways worse.
K. J. Lopez: My translation of John Edwards in Nashville saying: [quote] "The chairman of the DNC is not the spokesman for the party," Edwards said, according to the Associated Press.[end quote]

Ivory tower effort won't make media more diverse
  By / Chicago Sun Times   —   Permalink 
When the journalism profession looks in the mirror, it doesn't like what it sees.
It sees a public turned off by the news — news of a never-ending succession of our journalistic crimes from plagiarism to fabrication; squabbles over anonymous sources; half-hearted mea culpas, and just-plain-old screw-ups.
Jeff Jarvis: MORE: Laura Washington writes in the Sun-Times that journalism's mirror is cracked: [snipped quote] Whoa about there.
Jay Rosen: Deep Throat, J-School and Newsroom Religion — Watergate is the great redemptive story believers learn to tell about the press and what it can do for the American people.
Jim Romenesko: Plan to improve journalism education is "wrongheaded" — Chicago Sun-Times | PressThink That's what Laura Washington says.

Pope condemns gay marriages as fake and anarchic
  By / Reuters   —   Permalink 
ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in his first clear pronouncement on gay marriages since his election, on Monday condemned same-sex unions as fake and expressions of "anarchic freedom" that threatened the future of the family.
James Joyner: Pope Benedict: Gay Marriage is Anarchy — Pope condemns gay marriages as fake and anarchic (Reuters) [snipped quote] Once...
Jayson @PoliPundit: Strict Constructionist — Pope Benedict. Sorry, Dowd-Sullivan, but it's a religion, not a democracy.

Stripping Mullah Omar
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
Over the last few weeks, Afghanistan has been in the news again—unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons. The media pack has made a brief reappearance in Afghanistan to report on carefully staged "spontaneous" riots, which briefly erupted around the country,...
John @PowerLine: Today's edition is on Afghanistan, and it is absolutely unbelievable. It seems just about book-length, and covers improvements in every phase of Afghan life.
Arthur Chrenkoff: Good news from Afghanistan, 6 June 2005 — Note: Also available from "The Opinion Journal" and Chrenkoff.
FrancoAlemán: NEW ROUNDUP by Arthur Chrenkoff of the good news coming from Afghanistan.
Jan Haugland: Arthur Chrenkoff leads with this story in his 13th installment of Good news from Afghanistan.
James Joyner: Arthur Chrenkoff notes in today's OpinionJournal that there have been numerous other positive developments in Afghanistan of late.
Glenn Reynolds: CHESTER is correcting John F. Burns' analysis. Meanwhile, Arthur Chrenkoff writes: [snipped quote] I had missed the story about Mullah Omar being stripped.
Also: Marc @USSNeverdock

Transcript for June 5
  MSNBC   —   Permalink 
PLEASE CREDIT ANY QUOTES OR EXCERPTS FROM THIS NBC TELEVISION PROGRAM TO "NBC NEWS' MEET THE PRESS."
This is a rush transcript provided for the information and convenience of the press. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Red @ScaredMonkeys: Hear what a normal interview sounds like from a class act. Here is the full transcript from Meet The Press.
Ezra Klein: Ken Mehlman, on last Sunday's Meet the Press: "MR. RUSSERT: But, Mr. Mehlman, it's gone from $218 billion surplus when George Bush took office to a $427 billion deficit.
Avedon Carol: The transcript is now up for that disgusting performance of Mehlman on Meet the Press.
Faiz @ThinkProgress: In a preview of the talking points we might expect from Bush once he's asked the question, Ken Mehlman this weekend told...
Judd @ThinkProgress: That information was released at 7:15 PM on Friday night, after the evening newscasts, the best time to bury a story.
Chris Mooney: Mehlman's Mendacity — Talking to Tim Russert on Meet the Press on Sunday, Republican National Committee chair Ken...
Also: Arianna Huffington, Taegan Goddard

High Court Allows Prosecution of Medical Marijuana Users
  AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Federal authorities may prosecute sick people whose doctors prescribe marijuana to ease pain, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, concluding that state laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug.
Shawn @LiquidList: Take today's ruling on medical marijuana, for example.
John Cole: Thank You, Justice Department — Thank goodness for the Justice Department. Now we can send cancer patients to jail for smoking pot under Doctor's orders.
Matt Singer: Update - The more complete AP story has Rehnquist and Thomas joining in the dissent. That's an interesting divide.

Jackson Jury Resumes Deliberations, Asks Judge Question
  Fox News   —   Permalink 
SOLVANG, Calif. — As the jury deciding his guilt or innocence deliberated for its first full day and sent out a question to the judge, pop music icon Michael Jackson (search) was in and out of the hospital again, this time for another back problem.
Jeralyn Merritt: The jury had a question today, but the Judge has decided those will be addressed in private.
Forkum: From FoxNews: Jacko Jury Finishes First Day of Deliberations.

WATERGATE DAYS
  New Yorker   —   Permalink 
It was late in the evening on May 16, 1973, and I was in the Washington bureau of the Times, immersed in yet another story about Watergate. The paper had been overwhelmed by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's reporting for the Washington Post the previous year, and I was trying to catch up.
Billmon: Update 6:20 PM: Sy Hersh has a richly textured Watergate memoir out in the New Yorker, which, among other things,...
Jim Romenesko: Getler: So much has been written about Deep Throat, but... Washington Post Post ombudsman Michael Getler has a few...

How a Fire Broke Out
  By / Newsweek   —   Permalink 
May 23 issue - By the end of the week, the rioting had spread from Afghanistan throughout much of the Muslim world, from Gaza to Indonesia. Mobs shouting "Protect our Holy Book!" burned down government buildings and ransacked the offices of relief organizations in several Afghan provinces.
Mickey Kaus: The Arabic Newsweek did apparently run an Evan Thomas article that described the Koran story as erroneous—and...
Billmon: I mean, this reaction to the orginal Newsweek report might give a reasonably intelligent person some insight into why...

Nixon's henchmen lecture us on ethics
  By / Newsday   —   Permalink 
History's latest con happened right before our eyes Tuesday night. We thought we'd settled in to watch the nonstop cable news when suddenly our television screen was transformed into Alice's looking glass.
All reality was backward.
Avedon Carol: Who can resist an article called Nixon's henchmen lecture us on ethics by Martin Schram in Newsday? Not me.
Cookie Jill: commit crime = moral, "tattle the truth" = immoral shocking to see who's "morally indignant" these days
Taegan Goddard: One More Con — Today's must-read piece is by Martin Schram on how President Richard Nixon's "former henchmen" are now lecturing us on ethics.
Josh Marshall: Martin Shram has an Oped in Newsday today ("Nixon's Henchman Lecture Us on Ethics"), which pulls together in one nice...

Clinton to Chirac: Don't give up
  AP   —   Permalink 
PARIS, France (AP) — Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has urged French President Jacques Chirac not to be discouraged by France's rejection of the European Union constitution, counseling him to listen to voters' concerns and "go back to work."
Keelin McDonell: Poor Chirac. At least Bill Clinton still likes him.
Michael DeBow: I find this very amusing, and I hope you do, too. If you don't, well, then, you don't. [snipped quote] Hat tip: Best of the Web.

GOP Worries Ethics Issue May Hurt Party in '06
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
ZANESVILLE, Ohio — After enlarging their majority in the past two elections, House Republicans have begun to fear that public attention to members' travel and relations with lobbyists will make ethics a potent issue that could cost the party seats in next year's midterm races.
Steve Soto: The Post runs a piece this morning that reports the GOP itself is concerned about what kind of beating they will take...
Abel Rabinowitz: The Washington Post's Mike Allen is forcasting the shrinkage of the House's Republican Majority in the 2006 elections.
Tim Graham: CRYSTAL-BALL "NEWS" — While major media outlets like the Washington Post love seeing GOP disaster in front-page crystal...
Billmon: What's supremely frustrating about Dean's gaffe is that it completely obscured what was otherwise a muscular, on-target...
Richard Bradley: Richard Bradley: 2006: 1994 All Over Again — So House Republicans are worried about the impact of ethics controversies on their reelection chances in 2006?
Edm Staff: In his article, "GOP Worries Ethics Issue May Hurt Party in '06," Allen cites four GOP House members, whose deepening...
Also: Cernig, Oliver Willis, Taegan Goddard

Supreme Court: Medical Marijuana Use Criminal
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The Supreme Court ruled today that states may not enact their own laws allowing medical use of marijuana.
In a 6-3 decision, the court agreed with the Bush administration that the regulation of controlled substances, including marijuana, is the exclusive province of Congress.
Clayton Cramer: U.S. Supreme Court Rules on Medical Marijuana — The decision isn't up on the Supreme Court's web site yet (now it is:...
Radley Balko: Just in case...you're curious about the libertine, drug-legalizing "camel's noses" who brought this case: "[Angel]...
Angry Clam: Answer after the jump. It was Justice Stevens, refusing to strike down marijuana regulations in Raich v. Ashcroft.

A Teary-Eyed Rebel Defies Party Leaders
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
CLEVELAND, June 4 - Senator George V. Voinovich, the only Republican to speak out on the Senate floor against the president's nomination of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, brought an unusual show of emotion to his case. Mr. Voinovich choked up.
Brendan Nyhan: In a New York Times story today about George Voinovich, the Ohio Republican who helped cut a deal on judicial nominees,...
K. J. Lopez: TEARS OF A CLOWN — David Kirkpatrick on Voinovich vs. Bolton.
Matthew Yglesias: In a move unlikely to re-ingratiate him with his conservative base, Ohio Senator George Voinovich apparently started...

The Center Abandoned
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
NOBODY IS saying that the proposed free-trade deal with Central America and the Dominican Republic will work miracles. Yes, regional free-trade deals boost prosperity much less than global ones. Yes, free trade by itself is not a wonder cure for Central America's poverty.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: And to understand that, they would do well to read this: [snipped quote] (Via Todd Zywicki.)
Todd Pearson: Now, 12 years later, the Washington Post editorial board comments on the fact that CAFTA is getting far less support from Democrats.
Todd Zywicki: The Center Abandoned: Terrific editorial in the Washington Post today beautifully summarizes the case for CAFTA.

Lea Fastow leaves prison
  By / Houston Chronicle   —   Permalink 
Hand-in-hand with her soon-to-be-imprisoned husband, Lea Fastow walked out of a downtown Houston prison before dawn today, then took a short ride to the downtown halfway house where she'll serve out the last five weeks of her one-year sentence for lying on her taxes about income from an Enron venture.
Charles Kuffner: Lea Fastow gets out of jail — Lea Fastow has Left the pokey, but she still has five weeks in a halfway house to go.
Jeralyn Merritt: Lea Fastow Leves Prison for Halfway House — Lea Fastow, wife of Enron former CFO Andrew Fastow, left the downtown...

Shock and Awe Are Forecast in Terror Case
  By / New York Sun   —   Permalink 
TAMPA, Fla. - The most significant terrorism trial since the September 11, 2001, attacks is set to open this morning in federal court here as a jury begins hearing the case of four men accused of running the American wing of a deadly terror group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Michelle Malkin: SAMI AL-ARIAN ON TRIAL...AND A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE GOP — Opening arguments begin today in the long-awaited terrorism...
Andrew Cochran: Sami Al-Arian's Defense Targets Contributing Expert Matthew Levitt (UPDATED with defense motion) The defense in the...

A Study in Abuse
  By / Weekly Standard   —   Permalink 
WHEN NEWSWEEK REPORTED that a Guantanamo Bay guard had flushed a detainee's Koran down a toilet, the Muslim world erupted in protests, some of which turned violent. Newsweek later retracted the story. More significantly, so did the detainee who made the original allegation—a fact that went largely unreported.
Blackfive: Probably not. What do you think? John Hinderaker at the Weekly Standard has a take on it, too.
John @PowerLine: It's titled "A Study In Abuse."

Press in Iraq Gains Rights But No Refuge
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD — Israa Shakir scrawled out the first edition of the Iraq Today newspaper on a few sheets of lined paper 10 days after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Three months later, she said, a man followed her home from work and put a gun to her head.
Bill @INDCJournal: The Muslim Iraqi journalists, trying to stay alive? The Muslim children murdered by suicide bombers?
Cori Dauber: But it sounds as if somebody is targeting journalists in Iraq for sure — and it's not the American military.

The Source of Whose Troubles?
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Was Watergate bad for journalism?
On its face, the question seems absurd. The drama of two young metro reporters for The Washington Post helping to topple a corrupt president cast a golden glow over the news business in the mid-1970s.
Captain Ed: Howard Kurtz has an excellent, introspective look at the lessons the Exempt Media should learn from the exposure of Mark...
Jim Romenesko: Media's reputation has sunk like a stone since Watergate — Washington Post One reason, according to Howard Kurtz, is...
Tim Graham: SORTING OUT THE ACCUSERS — Howard Kurtz mentions today that the Bushies have sometimes (I'd say it's rare) been rough...
Kevin Roderick: Add Brownstein — At the end of his Monday column about Deep Throat and Watergate, Washington Post media reporter Howard...

Supreme Court allows prosecution of medical marijuana
  AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors' orders, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, concluding that state medical marijuana laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug.
Captain Ed: She also argued that the law overreaches in its authority to keep people from growing their own marijuana in their own...
Matt Singer: Unfortunately, the AP tells us little more, including where the other 7 justices fell.

Members of Sept. 11 Panel Press for Information on Terror Risk
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, June 5 - Members of the Sept. 11 commission, fearing that the Bush administration and Congress will never act on some of their recommendations, are joining together almost a year after completing their final report to press the White House for...
Steve Soto: The former members of the 9/11 Commission, frustrated at the lagging commitment of the White House and the GOP...
Michelle Malkin: The 9/11 Commission is back for another round of self-aggrandizement, armchair general-ing, and Bush-bashing.
Cori Dauber: While it receives no noticeable attention from the Post (as best as can be judged from their web site) the lead article...
TheAnchoress: UPDATE: Co-incidently, the 9/11 panel, which supposedly disbanded after issuing its report is now acting as a private group, and wanting back into the issue.

Poll: Religious Devotion High in U.S.
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
Religious devotion sets the United States apart from some of its closest allies. Americans profess unquestioning belief in God and are far more willing to mix faith and politics than people in other countries, AP-Ipsos polling found.
Gerry @DalyThoughts: Poll: Religious Devotion High in U.S. The Washington Post reports: "Religious devotion sets the United States apart from some of its closest allies.
K. J. Lopez: AMERICANS pray.

When Drama Becomes Propaganda
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
You see a lot of plays when you're a drama critic, and you don't always get to pick them. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. Most of us have a way of sinking deeper into the velvet-lined ruts of our own well-established tastes when left exclusively to our own devices.
Vanderleun: TERRY TEACHOUT EXAMINES the recent shape of the "political play" on and off Broadway and concludes: "Instead of seeking...
Scott @PowerLine: Politics and the theater — OpinionJournal posts Terry Teachout's magazine-length essay: "When drama becomes propaganda."

Young democracy guerrillas join forces
  Guardian   —   Permalink 
Razi Nurullayev was seized by the Azerbaijani police three weeks ago near his home in Baku, dragged away and jailed for five days for being a democratic nuisance. A week earlier, on a main street in Minsk, Yauhen Afnagel and 100 other young Belarus democracy guerrillas staged a political stunt.
Harry @HarrysPlace: The New Wave — Tremendous report by the Guardian's Ian Traynor from an international meeting of revolutionary...
Norm Geras: Democracy international — Read about 'a transnational network of young democracy fighters - a student international aimed at toppling dictators'.

Stem Cell Advances May Make Moral Issue Moot
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
If only human embryonic stem cells could sprout anew from something other than a human embryo. Researchers could harvest them and perhaps harness their great biomedical potential without destroying what some consider to be a budding human life.
Nick Gillespie: But two recent stories—one in the June ish of Wired and one in today's Wash Post hold forth the promise of basically...
Ronald Bailey: Stem Cell Work Arounds — The ability to transform adult cells into stem cells and thus eventually into perfect...
John J. Miller: Here's the key line from an important story in today's Washington Post: "The gathering consensus among biologists is...
Jesse Taylor: NASA Busy Finding Ways To Get To The 7-11 Through Sub-Orbital Flight — What's disturbing about this article is that the...
Glenn Reynolds: STEM CELL UPDATE: "In recent months, a number of researchers have begun to assemble intriguing evidence that it is...
Ed Cone: His science was off, and blaming the media was way off...but Rick Weiss in the Washington Post reports that "researchers...
Also: Pejman Yousefzadeh, Orrin Judd, James Joyner, Bill @INDCJournal

Hezbollah Wins Easy Victory In Elections in Southern Lebanon
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
BINT JUBAYL, Lebanon, June 6 — Hezbollah, the armed Shiite Muslim movement, and its allies claimed a massive victory in southern Lebanon in the second stage of national elections Sunday, a vote the group says it hopes will prove its strength and send a message of defiance to the United States.
Jan Haugland: Hezbollah sweeps up southern Lebanon — While not unexpected, this is not-so-good news from Lebanon: Hezbollah, the...
Juan Cole: Hizbullah Wins Big in South Lebanon — Hizbullah and Amal, along with some representatives of Saad al-Hariri's "Future" movement swept the elections in South Lebanon.
Natasha @PacificViews: Spreading Democracy Thither and Yon — The Washington Post headline: Hezbollah Wins Easy Victory In Elections in...

Is Shriver Still Working for 'Today'?
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
AS the first lady of California, Maria Shriver serves as a busy unpaid adviser to her husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger. And in between writing her fifth book, raising four children and making public appearances, she is apparently serving NBC in a similar capacity.
Kevin Roderick: Maria's influence at NBC — MariaLaurence Leamer, author of Fantastic: The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger, lost a shot at...
Atrios: We're out of control: "AS the first lady of California, Maria Shriver serves as a busy unpaid adviser to her husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Saddam's Aides: Singing 'Like a Canary'
  Newsweek   —   Permalink 
June 13 issue - Some of Saddam Hussein's most notorious former lieutenants have been dishing dirt. Senate investigators looking into prewar U.N. Oil-for-Food deals have named Saddam's former personal secretary and security chief, Abid Hamid Mahmoud al-Tikriti,...
Betsy Newmark: Newsweek says that Saddam's aides in prison are "singing like canaries." Actually it sounds more like Senate staffers are the ones singing.
Marc @USSNeverdock: Iraq - Saddam's Aides Talking — Newsweek reports "Some of Saddam Hussein's most notorious former lieutenants have been dishing dirt."

Rights group leader says U.S. has secret jails
  CNN   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The chief of Amnesty International USA alleged Sunday that the Guantanamo Bay detention camp is part of a worldwide network of U.S. jails, some of them secret, where prisoners are mistreated and even killed.
Roger L. Simon: The Amnesty Archipelago — Those "cards" at Amnesty International are it at it again with their Solzhenitsyn jokes.
Jeralyn Merritt: Amnesty: U.S. Has 'Archipelago of Jails' — Far from backing down from its criticism of Guantanamo last week as "the...
Attaturk: So, as Susie tells us, the use of the term by Amnesty International is done with a purpose: [snipped quote] I know that...

We the Media
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
The news business is in trouble. Readership and viewership are declining, public trust is plummeting, and advertisers are beginning to wonder whether they're getting their money's worth.
Jesse Taylor: I've Got It — Pajama Media's new slogan: We ignore actual stories so that you get a sense of our self-worth.
Glenn Reynolds: NEWS WITHOUT NEWSPAPERS: My WSJ piece from last week is now available for free over at OpinionJournal.com.
TheAnchoress: Glenn Reynolds on paperless press Not that he needs any links from my little corner of the world, but Instapundit,...

US pushes democracy at OAS summit
  BBC   —   Permalink 
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called for greater intervention by the Organisation of American States in promoting democracy in Latin America.
Opening an OAS summit in Florida, she highlighted concerns over political crises in Bolivia, Ecuador and Haiti.
Arthur Silber: UPDATE: And perhaps Negroponte can get in some work in the part of the world he knows so well: "US Secretary of State...
Orrin Judd: WHY NOT DISAPPEAR HIM: Rice demands Latin America reform (BBC, 6/06/05) "US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has...

It's History That's Tearing the E.U. Apart
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Move from austere Paris to this anarchic city as I have done this summer, and it's hard to escape the conclusion that the idea of integrating Turkey into the European Union is and always has been ludicrous. Turkey is not Europe, and it is certainly not France.
Paul @PowerLine: Claire Berlinski in the Washington Post provides a more general and, I think, useful perspective on what the vote was...
Stanley Kurtz: "IT'S HISTORY THAT'S TEARING THE E.U. APART" — "To hell with Europe?" What a great article by Claire Berlinski. >

Dems Blast Dean For GOP Remarks
  CBS News   —   Permalink 
(AP) Democrats Joseph Biden and John Edwards are criticizing party chairman Howard Dean, saying his rhetorical attacks on Republicans have gone too far.
Dean has said Republicans never made an honest living in their lives and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence.
Oliver Willis: "Not A Member of An Organized Party" — It's days like this when I thank God only political junkies pay attention to...
Jeralyn Merritt: Joe Biden today: [quote] Dean "doesn't speak for me with that kind of rhetoric and I don't think he speaks for the majority of Democrats." [end quote]

Iraq Admits Targeting Sunnis in Crackdown
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq Jun 5, 2005 — The Shiite-led Iraqi government acknowledged Sunday that its forces may have targeted innocent Sunni Muslims in a drive to crush the insurgency in southwestern Baghdad and its suburbs.
Juan Cole: The office of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari admitted Sunday that over-zealous Iraqi soldiers engaged in "Operation...
Andrew Olmsted: The Iraqi government admits it is may have targeted innocent Sunnis in its latest bid to restore some measure of security to Iraq.

Democrats Criticize Dean Attacks on GOP
  AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Democrats Joseph Biden and John Edwards are criticizing party chairman Howard Dean, saying his rhetorical attacks on Republicans have gone too far.
Dean has said Republicans never made an honest living in their lives and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay ought to go back to Houston where he can serve his jail sentence.
Concerned Democrat: The person who really needs to be ashamed is the AP reporter who characterized Edwards' comments as "criticism" in the headline of the orignal piece.
Tom Maguire: Say Anything — Howard Dean, DNC Chairman, has been dismissed as not speaking for "the majority of Democrats" by Joe...
David Sirota: But that's really no excuse for high-profile Democrats to publicly attack him in the press as they have recently.
Avedon Carol: He likes to get on TV, so he says things he really shouldn't say: Dean "doesn't speak for me with that kind of rhetoric...
Digby: Or perhaps they are just running toward their nannies, the liberal punditocrisy who get ever so upset at the harsh...
Ezra Klein: Denouncing Dean — Edwards and Biden, frankly, are right to denounce Dean.
Also: Joe Gandelman, C. D. Harris, McQ, Taegan Goddard, Baldilocks, Patrick Carver, Pejman Yousefzadeh

'Don't know for sure' about Guantanamo: Amnesty USA
  By / Reuters   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite highly publicized charges of U.S. mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo, the head of the Amnesty International USA said on Sunday the group doesn't "know for sure" that the military is running a "gulag."
Joe Gandelman: Amnesty USA Says "Never Mind" On Gitmo As "Gulag" — The head of Amnesty International USA on Sunday started to notably...
Scott Sala: Now, Executive Director of Amnesty International William Schulz is explaining the absurdness, saying the group really only meant Guantanamo might be like a Gulag.
Jim Miller: Never Mind: Executive Director of Amnesty International USA William Schulz now says he doesn't know whether the charges are true.
Jan Haugland: Amnesty 'doesn't know' — Amnesty International keeps blowing it: Despite highly publicized charges of U.S. mistreatment...
Red @ScaredMonkeys: Amnesty International further embarrassed itself today by appearing to back track on much of their inflammatory remarked...
Captain Ed: No Wonder The Exempt Media Loves Amnesty International — The Exempt Media's love affair with Amnesty International...
Also: Charles Johnson, Glenn Reynolds, Marc @USSNeverdock, Jonathan H. Adler, Jayson @PoliPundit

Richest Are Leaving Even the Rich Far Behind
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
When F. Scott Fitzgerald pronounced that the very rich "are different from you and me," Ernest Hemingway's famously dismissive response was: "Yes, they have more money." Today he might well add: much, much, much more money.
This series explores how class influences destiny in America.
Mickey Kaus: David Cay Johnston's Sunday front-page NYT story on the very rich shows (a) they've gotten richer and (b) they've gotten big tax cuts.
Kevin Aylward: Krugman-style "shaping, slicing and selectively citing numbers" isn't just reserved for the op-ed page as the current...
Chris Bowers: The New York Times has a very interesting article today that, in addition to offering up a wealth of statistics on...
Kevin Drum: REWARDING THE FORTUNATE....Mickey Kaus comments today on David Cay Johnston's New York Times story about low tax rates on the rich, but I think he misses the point.
Vanderleun: THE ALWAYS SLIPPERY NEW YORK TIMES IN Richest Are Leaving Even the Rich Far Behind says that: [snipped quote] Oh, shoot, New York Times.
Oliver Willis: It's so ridiculous, mostly because what they are saying is actually supported by the factual data, and because this...
Also: DavidNYC @DailyKos, Warren Bell

Amnesty Chief: 'Gulag' Not the Best Analogy
  Fox News   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — The American head of Amnesty International admits his group did not pick the best analogy when it compared detainee conditions at Guantanamo Bay (search) to the Soviet-era "gulag" forced-labor system.
McQ: The Amnesty Backpeddle — After reading this, what is the first question you'd ask?
Tom Maguire: And William Schulz of Amnesty International has backpedaled from his earlier description of the US detention facility in Guantanomo as "the gulag of our times".
Jonathan H. Adler: AMNESTY BACKTRACKS, SORTA — Amnesty's executive director now says his group doesn't "know for sure" whether Guantanamo is a "gulag," and admits it wasn't the best analogy.
Red @ScaredMonkeys: The fascinating aspect of this interview is that Amnesty International released a report about human rights violations...
Baldilocks: UPDATE: AI USA Executive Director William Schulz (stop sniggering at that last name): "'Gulag' not the best analogy."

'FOX News Sunday' Transcript: Amnesty Int'l USA Chief William Schulz
  Fox News   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" HOST CHRIS WALLACE: And good morning again from FOX News in Washington. Let's begin, as always with a quick check of the latest headlines.
Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is likely to go on trial within the next two months.
Tom Maguire: But Mr. Schulz at least has a media theory, and was kind enough to articulate it on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace: [snipped quote] He may be right.
Jonathan H. Adler: The full transcript of the Fox News interview is here.
Marc @USSNeverdock: The Reuters report leaves out a lot more of Schulz's backtracking. But you can read the transcript at Fox.

Monkey Business
  NYT   —   Permalink 
Adam Smith, the founder of classical economics, was certain that humankind's knack for monetary exchange belonged to humankind alone. ''Nobody ever saw a dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of one bone for another with another dog,'' he wrote.
Nick Gillespie: In other words, they behaved a good bit like...Homo sapiens." Whole thing here. Mind you, these are Yale monkeys, which may explain their need to pay for sex.
Jon Henke: Monkeynomics — Fascinating article by the authors of "Freakonomics" in the NYTimes yesterday.
Tom Maguire: More Freakonomics — Yale researchers teach monkeys to use money for food. Ahh, but in a plot twist, the world's oldest profession emerges.
Dcohen: THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS CAPITALISM — Freakonomics: Monkey Businesss (Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, NY Times,...
Lambert @Corrente: From the NY Times new column, Freakonmics (and read the whole thing, it's fascinating: "In a clean and spacious...
Nick @BeggingToDiffer: Read the article to find out or, if you're really curious, skip ahead to the extended entry.
Also: Barry L. Ritholtz, Pejman Yousefzadeh, Orrin Judd

A Policy of Rape
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
All countries have rapes, of course. But here in the refugee shantytowns of Darfur, the horrific stories that young women whisper are not of random criminality but of a systematic campaign of rape to terrorize civilians and drive them from "Arab lands" - a policy of rape.
Matthew Yglesias: Spent the weekend sitting out with a bruised rib? Here's what you missed: The Columnists Nicholas Kristof.
Glenn Reynolds: DARFUR UPDATE: Nicholas Kristof writes: "All countries have rapes, of course.
Charles Johnson: A Policy of Rape — Nicholas Kristof underlines the craven hypocrisy of groups like Amnesty International, who make...

Edwards Undecided About Running in 2008
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards said Saturday that he has not decided whether he will run for president in 2008.
The former U.S. senator from North Carolina said his family is focused on the recovery of his wife, who was diagnosed with breast cancer the day after the 2004 general election.
Dirty Harry: The AP is also reporting that John Edwards had this to say: "The chairman of the DNC is not the spokesman for the party," Edwards said.
Dafydd: Listen to former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) at "an annual state Democratic fundraising dinner," talking about Howard Dean:...
PoliPundit: Quotes of the Day — John Edwards, on Howard Dean: "The chairman of the DNC is not the spokesman for the party. He's a voice.
Taegan Goddard: Edwards Still Undecided About 2008 — Despite appearances to the contrary, former vice presidential candidate John...
Alexander K. McClure: Howard Dean yesterday: ''I would make the argument that America is safer when Democrats are in the White House, than...
Tom @ScaredMonkeys: He's a voice. I don't agree with it. "John Edwards in Nashville, Tennessee

Frist Says He Will Prevail in the Long Run
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, June 4 - With lawmakers returning from the Memorial Day recess, the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, faces a crucial test of whether he can re-establish his authority after a rapid sequence of events that many say diminished his standing and exposed a lack of experience in Congressional intrigue.
Sam Rosenfeld: It's not as if the president can sit back and let a parliamentary master in the Senate make sure everything works out —...
Captain Ed: Frist: Vindication Will Be Mine ... Someday — Bill Frist gets a close look from the New York Times, complete with...
Orrin Judd: LONG HAUL: Frist Says He Will Prevail in the Long Run (CARL HULSE, 6/05/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] The 24 hour news cycle doesn't mean that a day matters.
Hugh Hewitt: Senator Frist commented in the New York Times yesterday about the "deal" and his role in not being able to prevent it...
Taegan Goddard: A New York Times piece on the topic concurs with the insiders, though in an interview Frist says he beleives [snipped quote] Link | Related News

Hezbollah Claims Win in Southern Lebanon
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
BINT JBEIL, Lebanon - Hezbollah and its Shiite allies claimed victory in southern Lebanon in Sunday's second stage of national elections, a vote the militant group hopes will prove its strength and send a message of defiance to the United States.
The Poorman: Democracy on the march! Dominos falling in Lebanon: [snipped quote] Well, that sounds lovely.
James Joyner: Hezbollah Likely to Win Lebanon Elections — The short-term outcome of the revolution which brought political...
Omri Ceren: Lebanese Election Shocker! Hezbollah has enormous public support in all of the areas that they militarily occupy!

Loophole to America
  By / San Diego Union-Tribune   —   Permalink 
McALLEN, Texas - In the silvery-blue light of dusk, 20 Brazilians glided across the Rio Grande in rubber rafts propelled by Mexican smugglers who leaned forward and breast-stroked through the gentle current.
John Hawkins: There is a new story out on this surreal practice from The San Diego Union-Tribune with details in it that will absolutely blow your mind.
McQ: Once you get across, what's the first thing you do? You look for a US Border Patrol agent and surrender yourself.
WoW Team Monday: A legal loophole is causing great numbers of non-Mexicans to illegally cross the Mexican border, with the Border Patrol unable to do much about it.

Iraq's Ho Chi Minh Trail
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Some American officers call him "Z." In the military's classified signal traffic, he is "AMZ." By any name, American forces in Iraq have found in Abu Musab al-Zarqawi a mesmerizing target.
Bill Roggio: Ratlines in Iraq vs the Ho Chi Minh Trail — Iraq RatlinesThis weekend, John Burns of the New York Times again makes the...
Cori Dauber: This time it's an important article, with terrific in-depth analysis (as you would expect from John Burns) of the...
Tom Maguire: Iraq Is Not Vietnam, But... John Burns of the Times writes on "Iraq's Ho Chi Minh Trail".
DJ Drummond: In an article titled "Iraq's Ho Chi Minh Trail", Burns attempts once again to connect the War in Iraq to the conflict in Vietnam.
Phillip Carter: John Burns' latest dispatch in the New York Times titled "Iraq's Ho Chi Minh Trail" is a must-read for anyone interested...

Bush's Optimism On Iraq Debated
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
President Bush's portrayal of a wilting insurgency in Iraq at a time of escalating violence and insecurity throughout the country is reviving the debate over the administration's Iraq strategy and the accuracy of its upbeat claims.
Tim Graham: And it's looking like a trend when the Post's big predictive Sunday headline was "Bush's Optimism On Iraq Debated: Rosy View in Time Of Rising Violence Revives Criticism."
Andrew Olmsted: THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE President Bush's outlook on the Iraq War is being challenged (link requires registration) even...
Atrios: The importance of this Washington Post article cannot be overstated, though it will probably large overlooked.
Jayson @PoliPundit: But, shhhh, don't tell our national partisan-liberal media. They're still living in the past.
Hugh Hewitt: From this morning's Washington Post: "After dialing down criticism of Bush's policy following the successful January...
Tbogg: Posted by Hello The Bush War President Bush's portrayal of a wilting insurgency in Iraq at a time of escalating violence...
Also: Praktike, Oliver Willis, Jack Cluth, Andrew Sullivan, Armando @DailyKos

Candid Talk on the Party Line
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
SACRAMENTO — When wealthy contributors write checks to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, they often get a few canapes and a drink — and a secret telephone number that grants them access to his closest advisors and even the governor himself.
Ezra Klein: You have to donate a pretty solid sum of money to get on, but that's a small price to pay when you get insider campaign...
Taegan Goddard: Schwarzenegger's Secret Party Line — Big contributors to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) get "a secret...
Cookie Jill: "- latte times" that's right. it's all those firemen, policeman, nurses and teachers who we should be angry at.
Lambert @Corrente: The Arnis: What next, a secret decoder ring? And to think I thought that Schwarzenegger wasn't a typical Republican.

An Administration's Amnesty Amnesia
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The folks at Amnesty International are practically begging for a one-way ticket to Gitmo. After the human rights group issued a report late last month calling the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "the gulag of our times," top officials raced to condemn Amnesty.
Red @ScaredMonkeys: By the looks of these numbers and reaction of the left, I guess it is. "But Schulz isn't protesting too much.
Betsy Newmark: Get a load of the opening sentence of this Dana Milbank nothing of a story on Amnesty International.
Barbara O'Brien: "— Dana Milbank, WaPo" — "If we can shake up management, we're going to be more productive in this country.
Chris Bowers: For example, Amnesty International has been the clear winner in its clash with the Bush administration (emphasis mine): ...
Laura Rozen: More from the NYT and Dana Milbank.

A healthy Constitution
  Telegraph   —   Permalink 
WHEREAS the Peoples of France and the Netherlands have voted "No" to further European integration; WHEREAS their Governments argued, throughout the referendum campaigns, that a "No" vote would amount to a rejection of the entire European project; and WHEREAS...
Joe Gandelman: Prediction: the drive to come up with a workable EU constitution isn't over by a longshot — as this shorter (perhaps more sellable) version pitched by the Daily Telegraph shows.
Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: Plan B: The Telegraph offers an alternative — and a much shorter one — to the European Constitution.
Jan Haugland: A commonwealth, not a union — The Telegraph proposes a healthy constitution for Europe. I think I'd vote for that one.
FrancoAlemán: I see Glenn linking to that article too, and he also points out to a very interesting thing: the Telegraph's proposal for the European constitution.
PoliPundit: EU Constitution — The UK's Daily Telegraph proposes an European Constitution that I could whole-heartedly support.

Good Intentions Gone Bad
  By / Newsweek   —   Permalink 
June 13 issue - Two years ago I went to Iraq as an unabashed believer in toppling Saddam Hussein. I knew his regime well from previous visits; WMDs or no, ridding the world of Saddam would surely be for the best, and America's good intentions would carry the day.
Jim Henley: THAT Didn't Go So Well — There's actually some Good News in the much-noted mea culpa by Newsweek's repentant war...
Juan Cole: Rod Nordland of Newsweek draws the curtain back about how bad the living situation is in Iraq and what widespread and...
Jeralyn Merritt: Some of his parting thoughts from Good Intentions Gone Bad : [snipped quote] [link via Atrios, who has his own thoughts on Iraq here.
Brad DeLong: Good Intentions Gone Bad - Newsweek World News - MSNBC.com: NEWSWEEK's Baghdad bureau chief, departing after two years...
Attaturk: But noooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooo!
Skippy: quote of the day from newsweek: the abuse of prisoners at abu ghraib alienated a broad swath of the iraqi public.
Also: Kos @DailyKos, Atrios

A year on, many still mourn for Reagan
  By / Washington Times   —   Permalink 
A year has passed since former President Ronald Reagan died, leaving America to ponder both the man and his legacy. But Mr. Reagan has not faded into the historical shadows, and the nation's heart is still with him.
La Shawn Barber: Media: Washington Times: "[I]n the meantime, Michael Reagan fondly remembers his dad. He credits his father with helping him renew his Christian faith."
A.M. Mora y Leon: United States — WE REMEMBER REAGAN The Liberator of East Central Europe, the leader who made the U.S. believe in itself...
Red @ScaredMonkeys: One Year Later and Ronald Reagan Is Still In Our Hearts and Minds — It hardly seems that a year has passed since the passing of one a the greatest Presidents of the 20th Century.

Leading anti-Syrian journalist assassinated in Beirut blast
  AFP   —   Permalink 
Prominent anti-Syrian journalist Samir Kassir was assassinated when his parked car blew up in a residential sector of mostly Christian east Beirut, an AFP correspondent said.
Dafydd: There was probably more anti-Syrian sentiment in the Sunni, Druze, and Christian neighborhoods… but after the...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: ALL YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ELECTIONS IN SOUTH LEBANON . . . Can be found in this post.

Elitist Parents and Their Sappy Class Delusions
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
A rich TV writer yelled at me on a political talk show recently. He'd been arguing that Arnold Schwarzenegger's popularity is sinking because parents, himself included, were angry that the governor wasn't being sufficiently deferential to California's public school teachers.
Betsy Newmark: Catherine Siepp takes on Lawrence O'Donnell for screaming at her on Dennis Miller's show a couple of months ago.
Joanne Jacobs: Rich and strange — In LA, it's a status symbol to say your child attends a "diverse" school, writes Cathy Seipp.
Kevin Drum: Catherine Seipp: LA parents are idiots, especially well-off liberal ones.
Glenn Reynolds: CATHY SEIPP writes on elitist parents and their sappy class delusions.

Biden: U.S. Needs to Close Cuba Prison
  AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — A leading Senate Democrat said Sunday the United States needs to move toward shutting down the military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"This has become the greatest propaganda tool that exists for recruiting of terrorists around the world.
Laura Rozen: Close Guantanamo, argues Biden, and dang if that doesn't seem like the best move USG Inc. could make at this point, with PR and security benefits.
Jeralyn Merritt: Biden Calls for Closure of Guantanamo — Senator Joe Biden this morning said the U.S. should close Guantanamo.
Marc @USSNeverdock: Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. says of Guantanamo ''This has become the greatest propaganda tool that exists for recruiting of terrorists around the world.

Missing Texas Student Found After 7 Years
  AP   —   Permalink 
BRYAN, Texas - A Texas A&M University student who had been feared murdered after disappearing nearly seven years ago has been found alive and working in Kentucky, according to authorities.
Brandi Stahr went missing in October 1998, and police spent hours searching for her body in wooded areas.
James Joyner: Missing Texas Student Found After 7 Years (AP) "A Texas A&M University student who had been feared murdered after...
Red @ScaredMonkeys: Looks like there was a little trouble in paradise. "Dickenson and Stahr haven't reunited yet, but have talked on the phone.

Biden: Dean Doesn't Speak for Dems
  NewsMax.com   —   Permalink 
Democratic Sen. Joe Biden blasted the head of his own party on Sunday for his over-the-top outbursts, saying that Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean doesn't speak for him as well as most other Democrats he knows.
Glenn Reynolds: BIDEN BLASTS DEAN on This Week: [snipped quote] — Er, so what's he doing as party Chair, then? (Via USS Neverdock).
Marc @USSNeverdock: America - Dean Doesn't Speak for Dems — That's according to Democratic Sen. Joe Biden . [snipped quote] Are Dean's days numbered?

'Combat Linguists' Battle on Two Fronts
  LAT   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD — Tarik, a newly minted U.S. Army private first class, recalls his first challenge in Iraq: convincing fellow GIs he wasn't a terrorist.
The 24-year-old Morocco native was among the first graduates of a U.S. military program to provide...
Phillip Carter: John M. Glionna and Ashraf Khalil report on an extremely important new Army program which is designed to recruit...
Mark Kleiman: Crusade — "We're going to go to Iraq and kill those guys who worship Allah." Yes, Mr. President, that's what "crusade" means.

Biden: Bolton Likely to Win Confirmation
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - The Democrats aren't likely to have enough votes to continue delaying confirmation of John R. Bolton as U.N. ambassador, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Sunday.

The Senate put off a final vote on Bolton late last month.
Jayson @PoliPundit: Bolton Update — Joe ("Copycat") Biden says John Bolton likely will be confirmed in due course.
Orrin Judd: WHAT'S A WEEK AMONG FRIENDS: Biden: Bolton Likely to Win Confirmation (SIOBHAN McDONOUGH, June 5, 2005, AP) — [snipped quote] Because it is?

Scary Preschool Utopia
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
More is fine, but just who is setting the agenda for what all 4-year-olds should learn?
Did you know, the earnest lady asked, that one-quarter of even the affluent children in this country start kindergarten without full knowledge of the alphabet?
Joanne Jacobs: Perils of universal preschool — Universal tax-paid preschool will be a costly one-size-fits-all system, argues Karin Klein in the LA Times.
Kevin Drum: Here's what I learned: Karin Klein: Universal preschool is a stupid idea.