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Durbin slanders his own country By / Chicago Sun Times — Permalink Throughout the last campaign season, senior Democrats had a standard line in their speeches, usually delivered with righteous anger, about how "nobody has a right to question my patriotism!" Given that nobody was questioning their patriotism, it seemed an odd thing to harp on about. | |
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Tom Smith: Steyn on Gitmo — He has it about right. It seems as though the Democrats are determined to demonstrate they are the party not to be trusted with the national defense. Smash: He never once mentioned his experience in the Hanoi Hilton. MARK STEYN questions Durbin's sanity. GARY VARVEL checks the poll numbers. Pejman Yousefzadeh: FOR THE BENEFIT OF DICK DURBIN — My senior Senator really should read Steyn: "Just for the record, some 15 million to... |
Jo Fish: Mark Steyn writing in the Chicago Sun-Times seems to have forgotten something when he wrote this: "This isn't a... Charles Johnson: Durbin Slanders His Own Country — Mark Steyn: Durbin slanders his own country. The senator from Illinois' comparisons are as tired as they're grotesque. Glenn Reynolds: MARK STEYN: [snipped quote] Read the whole thing. UPDATE: Roger Simon wonders if the Democrats are "breeding a new generation of Father Coughlins." |
| Also: Ed Driscoll, Hugh Hewitt, Betsy, Vanderleun, Baldilocks, Gerry @DalyThoughts, Orrin Judd, Scott @PowerLine, PoliPundit, Marc @USSNeverdock | |
Iraqis Found in Torture House Tell of Brutality of Insurgents By / NYT — Permalink KARABILA, Iraq, Sunday, June 19 - Marines on an operation to eliminate insurgents that began Friday broke through the outside wall of a building in this small rural village to find a torture center equipped with electric wires, a noose, handcuffs, a 574-page jihad manual - and four beaten and shackled Iraqis. | |
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Charles Johnson: Despite the incredible cheapening and trivialization of the word by the likes of Amnesty International and Dick Durbin,... Steve M.: Am I wrong to think it's awfully convenient that just as we're having a serious discussion of prisoner abuse at... Cori Dauber: ("Iraqis Found in Torture House Tell of Brutality of Insurgents.") Other than the word "insurgents" (and I've about given up on that one) it's hard to complain about that. |
Stephen Burt: If we lock people up without trials, then torture or kill them, we may not become just like the people we're fighting, but we won't be different enough. Betsy: How inconvenient for the whole template of "Americans are torturers" storyline that we have uncovered a true torture chamber in Iraq. Dr. Steven Taylor: Insurgent Torture Chamber Found in Iraq — Via the NYT: Iraqis Found in Torture House Tell of Brutality of Insurgents. |
| Also: Pejman Yousefzadeh, Bill @INDCJournal, Alexander K. McClure, Gerry @DalyThoughts, John @PowerLine, McQ, Captain Ed, Cliff May, Jason Van Steenwyk, Armando @DailyKos, TheAnchoress, Stirling Newberry, Norm Geras, Marc @USSNeverdock, Andrew Stuttaford, Ann Althouse | |
What Makes Bill Frist Run? By / NYT — Permalink Bill Frist was his high school's class president. He was a quarterback on the football team and a member of the honor society, and lived amid the upper crust of Nashville society. He dated the head cheerleader, and while he was in med school they were engaged to be married. | |
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Ezra @EzraKlein: The Personal Isn't Political — David Brooks' paean to the pre-Senate Bill Frist is a puzzling piece of work. Amanda Marcotte: Like in today's op-ed column on Bill Frist, Brooks says this about Frist: "He is, like a lot of people, both highly... Betsy: David Brooks thinks that Bill Frist is fakin' it and Brooks wishes that the real Bill Frist would show up. |
Joe Gandelman: Bill Frist might use today not just for prayerful reflection, but political self-analysis because New York Times... Lambert @Corrente: "Furthermore here was a Bill Frist who knew his own heart. (via NY Times)" Except, apparently, when he didn't. Brendan Nyhan: David Brooks notices that Bill Frist screwed up — I'm not the only one to notice that Bill Frist is squandering his... |
| Also: Attaturk, Roger Ailes | |
Transcript for June 19 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. | |
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Andrew Cochran: And Tim Russert of "Meet the Press" hit Sen. John McCain today with the standard Gitmo questions, but didn't even mention the NYT story. Ann Althouse: Would McCain run as an independent? On "Meet the Press" today: [snipped quote] Seems a bit inconsistent, doesn't it? |
Arianna Huffington: Arianna Huffington: This week on "Russert Watch" — It may be a premature declaration of victory (they are all the rage... |
Soldier Sues Over Guantanamo Beating By / LAT — Permalink Spc. Sean Baker, who was medically retired after a drill went awry, asks for $15 million. A U.S. military policeman who was beaten by fellow MPs during a botched training drill at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison for detainees has sued the Pentagon for $15 million, alleging that the incident violated his constitutional rights. | |
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Billmon: Slander — It's just amazing how far some traitors will go to smear our Guantanamo heros: [snipped quote] Conservative... Kiva @DailyKos: MPs beat the hell out of a US soldier during a training exercise. The MPs thought the US soldier a regular detainee. |
Jo Fish: Beaten and booted out — During training in GITMO for the MP's who "guard" the detainees apparently a drill was run using a soldier the MP "rapid reaction force" did not know. Roger Ailes: Here's a suspected terrorist who will never harm another American: [snipped quote] America, F**k Yeah!!!!! |
Anti-Syrian bloc wins landslide in N.Lebanon Reuters — Permalink TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - An anti-Syrian Lebanese opposition alliance won the final phase of a parliamentary election in a landslide on Sunday, giving it a clear mandate to steer Lebanon out of Syria's shadow. | |
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Joe Gandelman: Reuters also notes: "The victory means the 128-seat assembly has an anti-Syrian majority for the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war. Orrin Judd: MORE: Anti-Syrian bloc wins landslide in N.Lebanon (Lin Noueihed and Alaa Shahine Sun Jun 19, 2005, Reuters) "An... |
Smash: Hariri Wins in Lebanon — THE ANTI-SYRIAN BLOC has declared victory in Lebanon's national elections. |
Live 8 Time — Permalink In 1985 Bob Geldof gave birth to live aid, the groundbreaking rock- concert series that raised $200 million for African famine relief. Bono of U2 and Richard Curtis (screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill) were there. | |
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Scott Sala: Quiet Conservatism — Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof: "America doesn't have a lack of empathy; they just don't know the issues as well. Jonathan H. Adler: GELDOF ON BUSH — Live 8 (and Live Aid) organizer Bob Geldof in a Time magazine interview: "America doesn't have a lack of empathy; they just don't know the issues as well. |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: BOB GELDOF ON "LIVE AID, THE SEQUEL" — He will be roundly condemned for saying the following—despite how true it is:... Marc @USSNeverdock: Britain - Geldof: Bush Has Done The Most — Time's interview with Geldof yields this little nugget. |
Choose: More Troops in Iraq Will (Help) (Hurt) By / NYT — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq — IF, in time, the attempt to implant a pro-Western, democratic political system in Iraq ends up buried in the desert sands, historians will have no shortage of things that went wrong. | |
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Randall Parker: Iraq Withdrawal Debate Reaches Mainstream — John Burns of the New York Times reports senior US officers see rising pressures for withdrawal from Iraq. Praktike: Logic problem — I've noticed that during the time I was in Alexandria, anti Iraq war sentiment seems to have grown on... |
Phillip Carter: Ace foreign correspondent John F. Burns hits the story with a much tighter shot group in the Week in Review section. Cori Dauber: Retreat with Honor — At the end of a John Burns piece on the issue of troop strength in Iraq, this: But whether there... |
War Rooms (and Chests) Ready for a Supreme Court Vacancy By / NYT — Permalink Like hostile nations on the edge of apocalypse, Washington's political right and left are on code red over a Supreme Court vacancy that does not yet exist. | |
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Alexander K. McClure: Supreme Court Appointment — With Chief Justice William Rehnquist expected to announce his retirement next week,... |
Orrin Judd: DEATH WATCH: War Rooms (and Chests) Ready for a Supreme Court Vacancy (ELISABETH BUMILLER, 6/20/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] The real fun comes if a Stevens or a Souter retires. |
Citadel select Air Force Academy's Rosa as new president AP — Permalink CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Citadel has chosen the U.S. Air Force Academy's superintendent as its new president, the military school's board said Sunday. Air Force Lt. Gen. John Rosa Jr. has run the academy since 2003. | |
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James Joyner: Citadel Hires Air Force Academy's Rosa as New President — Citadel select Air Force Academy's Rosa as new president (AP)... |
Jeff Quinton: USAFA superintendent hired as Citadel President AP "The Citadel has chosen the U.S. Air Force Academy's superintendent as its new president. |
War and Weakness By / NYT — Permalink In Washington, people in government often communicate with one another and with the public in guarded, even coded statements. The mass media seldom detect, note or explain these messages. Lately one of those messages has been coming from senior American military officials, both on and off the record. | |
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Suzanne Nossel: Phil Carter and Richard Clarke talk about the permanent damage to our military if we stay in, but there's also harm in... |
Phillip Carter: In the magazine, former White House counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke writes America faces a choice between... |
GELDOF ORDERS NO BUSH BASHING AT 'LIVE 8': IRAQ WAR, GLOBAL WARMING RANTING OFF LIMITS Drudge Report — Permalink LIVE 8 founder Bob Geldof is determined to see his international concerts stay focused on the plight of Africa's poor — and not fall into cliched Bush bashing and global warming rhetoric! | |
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Judith Weiss: And: [quote] Geldof has ordered show organizers and producers to redouble all efforts to keep LIVE 8 performers "on message" during the July 2 event.[end quote] |
Dirty Harry: And you kicked butt in The Wall; the best Midnight Movie ever. Via: Drudge |
Palestinian boy caught with pipe bombs at Hawara Jerusalem Post — Permalink A 15-year-old Palestinian boy was arrested at the Hawara checkpoint near Nablus Sunday. Soldiers suspected the boy, who was carrying a large box. The checkpoint was closed, Palestinian civilians were distanced and Border Police sappers were called in. | |
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Stephen: I understand that the Palestinians have a lot of explosives. |
Joseph Alexander Norland: In related news, "IDF removes West Bank roadblocks", even though "Palestinian boy caught with pipe bombs at Hawara". |
AP: Terror Expertise Not Priority at FBI By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - In sworn testimony that contrasts with their promises to the public, the FBI managers who crafted the post-Sept. 11 fight against terrorism say expertise about the Mideast or terrorism was not important in choosing the agents they promoted to top jobs. | |
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Jan Haugland: Expertise unnecessary to work in FBI anti-terrorism — In a lawsuit against his employer, FBI agent Bassem Youssef has... Mary Madigan: Does the FBI know the difference between Wahhabis and Wasabi? by Mary Madigan Via Yahoo: [snipped quote] Not technically? |
Captain Ed: AP: FBI Doesn't Require Terror Expertise For Counterterrorism — The AP reports this morning on testimony in a civil... |
US 'losing in Iraq' - Republican Senator Hagel AFP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican Senator Chuck Hagel slammed the George W. Bush administration's Iraq policy as "disconnected from reality" in some of the harshest comments to date about the war from a member of the president's own party. | |
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Chris Bowers: Hagel is the latest entry in the "OMG! Can you believe he said that!" wars: [snipped quote] Hagel can probably forget about the nomination after such comments. |
Armando @DailyKos: Hagel: "We are Losing in Iraq" — Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb): "Republican Senator Chuck Hagel slammed the George W... |
Biden says he intends to run for president AP — Permalink WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said Sunday he intends to run for president in 2008. But Biden, who also sought the nomination in 1988, said he would give himself until the end of this year to determine if he really can raise enough money and attract enough support. | |
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Taegan Goddard: Biden Intends to Run in 2008 — Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) said "he intends to run for president in 2008," the AP reports. |
Kos @DailyKos: The credit card companies' favorite senator intends to run for president in 2008. [snipped quote] He's got the inside track to president of MBNA. |
Arrogant Australia humbled in 'the biggest upset in the game's history' Observer — Permalink At the start of the day we wondered whether the Aussie juggernaut was spluttering. By the end, it seemed to be missing several wheels. Australia's five-wicket defeat to Bangladesh is as stunning a result in a cricket match as any I can recall. | |
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Brian Micklethwait: And now they have lost these two games. As you can imagine, the British media are having a fine old wallow. Read more. Orrin Judd: GOBSMACKED BY MINNOWS: Arrogant Australia humbled in 'the biggest upset in the game's history': Bangladesh 250 for five... |
James Joyner: Bangladesh Beats Australia in Biggest Upset in Cricket History — Cricket: Arrogant Australia humbled in 'the biggest... |
Troops press offensive as Baghdad restaurant bombed By / Reuters — Permalink KARABILA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. troops, backed by Iraqi forces and U.S. and British aircraft, pushed on Sunday into the northern section of a town near the Syrian border which they say has become a stronghold for foreign fighters. | |
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Jim Henley: Comments () » Thunderbolt Watch The closest thing to hard data on the success of Operation Thunderbolt, about... |
Atrios: Last Throe — So, who should we believe? |
Hard-Line Figure In Iran Runoff By / WaPo — Permalink TEHRAN, June 18 — The hard-line, working-class mayor of Tehran will face former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a millionaire cleric, in a runoff election for Iran's presidency next week, according to first-round results announced Saturday. | |
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Laura Rozen: "Disappointed," "shocked," "shocked by the shock" at ultra-conservative hardliner Tehran mayor Mahmud Ahmadinejad's... Praktike: This other dude, Ahmadinejad, seems like bad news: TEHRAN, June 18 — The hard-line, working-class mayor of Tehran will... |
Smash: IRAN is also holding elections, but they don't really mean anything. |
Iraq Announces Arrest of Terror Suspect AP — Permalink BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The Iraqi government announced Sunday it had arrested a suspected member of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq, a man it claimed was responsible for building car bombs and carrying out more than 60 bombings around the capital. | |
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Andrew Olmsted: Iraq announced the arrest of another member of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Musaab Kasser Abdul Rahman Hassan. |
Marc @USSNeverdock: Iraq - Zarqawi Henchman Arrested — The Guardian reports. |
British bombing raids were illegal, says Foreign Office By / Times of London — Permalink A SHARP increase in British and American bombing raids on Iraq in the run-up to war "to put pressure on the regime" was illegal under international law, according to leaked Foreign Office legal advice. The advice was first provided to senior ministers in March 2002. | |
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Cernig: The latest document released by Michael Smith in the Sunday Times shows that the British Foreign Office clearly... Attaturk: The Times of London, continues finding new documents from the 2002-2003 period and discusses them today, and discusses... Juan Cole: US & UK Bombing raids on Iraq in summer 2002 were illegal — Michael Smith of the London Sunday Times continues his... |
Jay Rosen: After Matter: Notes, reactions & links... Michael Smith of the Times of London, who broke the original story, continues... Marc @USSNeverdock: UPDATE Since the memos cannot be authenticated and an un-named sources best guess is they "appeared authentic", all... Steve Soto: New Leaked Memo - Blair Was Warned That Pre-Invasion Bombing By US And Britain Was Illegal — Another leaked memo is appearing in London's Sunday Times tomorrow. |
Summit Fight Shakes Europe By / NYT — Permalink BRUSSELS, June 18 - Something shattered in Europe on Friday night. The leaders of the 25 European Union nations went home after a failed two-day summit meeting in anger and in shame, as domestic politics and national interests defeated lofty notions of sacrifice and solidarity for the benefit of all. | |
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Andrew Stuttaford: QUOTING LORD P — There's a useful editorial in the Sunday Telegraph on the current fracas in the EU (don't bother... |
Roger Kimball: PostedThe New York Times reports the shocking news: "Failed Summit Talks Expose Union Abyss". "Something shattered in Europe on Friday night. |
'Doonesbury' at War By / NYT — Permalink I have always found it odd and a little frustrating that the largest, most concentrated cohort of Garry Trudeau's core constituency — that is, we readers of this newspaper on newsprint — must go elsewhere to read ''Doonesbury.'' And so as a New Yorker who... | |
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Steve M.: Kurt Andersen reviews the collection in today's New York Times — and writes the most politically naive sentence I've... |
Ed Cone: Front page Doonesbury — The only thing missing from Kurt Andersen's front-page review of Garry Trudeau's new... |
Arraf: Marines rescue tortured hostages as battle rages CNN — Permalink KARABILA, Iraq (CNN) — The joint U.S. -Iraqi Operation Spear continued Saturday as Marines, sailors and Iraqi security forces fought insurgents in Karabila, near the Syrian border. The most intense fighting was concentrated in the center of town, where enemy fighters were holed up in a bunker complex. | |
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Charles Johnson: But don't expect these Bush-hating cretins to even notice things like this: Arraf: Marines rescue tortured hostages as battle rages. |
Jason Van Steenwyk: Why we fight — CNN's Jane Arraf reports from Karabilah [snipped quote] No word yet from Senator Durbin comparing the... |
Memos Show British Concern Over Iraq Plans By / AP — Permalink LONDON - When Prime Minister Tony Blair's chief foreign policy adviser dined with Condoleezza Rice six months after Sept. 11, the then-U.S. national security adviser didn't want to discuss Osama bin Laden or al-Qaida. | |
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Avedon Carol: The British government has conceded the authenticity of The Downing Street minutes and other supporting documents. Jay Rosen: (See this weekend's AP story.) That's called winning on appeal. Marc @USSNeverdock: Britain - Downing Street Memos Fake — The AP reports that the Sunday Times reporter, Michael Smith, now admits he typed... |
Cernig: All this distortion and spin is purely because the Downing Street Memo and it's associated documents are a true and... Gerry @DalyThoughts: The Associated Press reports, [quote] The eight memos — all labeled "secret" or "confidential" — were first obtained by...[end quote] TheAnchoress: Now, well, let LGF tell it, via the AP. |
| Also: Captain Ed | |
A Senator's Shame By / WaPo — Permalink In the early 1940s, a politically ambitious butcher from West Virginia named Bob Byrd recruited 150 of his friends and associates to form a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. | |
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Dr. Steven Taylor: Byrd and the KKK — Eric Pianin, in today's WaPo, has a write-up on Robert Byrd's new book, and specifically his history with the KKK: A Senator's Shame. Betsy: The Washington Post has a page-one story about Robert Byrd and his history in the KKK. This is tied to his book that is coming out tomorrow. John Cole: The 'Exalted Cyclops,' aka the Conscience of the Senate — One of my favorite targets is the senior Senator from West... |
Gerry @DalyThoughts: However, Byrd cannot be pleased by seeing, on page one of the Sunday Washington Post, this article which refuses to go... Avedon Carol: Robert Byrd's autobiography got a front-page review, apparently because in the book the Senator "confronts" his history... Glenn Reynolds: OUCH: [snipped quote] Well, no. As David Gelernter says, we are our history; don't forget it. |
| Also: Michelle Malkin, Cori Dauber, Tom Maguire | |
Two Top Guns Shoot Blanks By / NYT — Permalink TO understand how the Bush administration has lost the public opinion war on Iraq it may be helpful to travel in H. G. Wells's time machine back to Oct. 30, 1938. That was the Sunday night that Orson Welles staged the mother of all fake news events: his legendary radio adaptation of another Wells fantasy, "The War of the Worlds." | |
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Steve Antler: And the news comes just in time for this elegant, dense, rich (pun intended) and tortured (again) comparison: Such is... S.Z.: Frank Rich links this skepticism with the Orson Welles' "The War of the Worlds" Martian invasion radio broadcast, those... |
Cori Dauber: Frank Rich — Notice that he always includes at least one paragraph composed of a rapid fire list of facts and statements that are just off by a tick. Al Rodgers: [quote] The McLaughlin Group: Issue #1)Bush's Viet Nam; #2)Outlining a Iran-US Deal 60 Minutes: Does "Grand Theft Auto" cause...[end quote] |
Living With Social Security: Small Dreams and Safety Nets NYT — Permalink GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Barbara Amberg used her Social Security checks to fly to New York and see Christo's "Gates" in Central Park. Shirley Malone lives on hers in subsidized public housing, sometimes washing her clothes in dish detergent to save money. | |
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Ezra Klein: Really? Why? Powerful article in the Times today about the real-world impacts, effects, and uses of Social Security. Mark Thoma: "Living With Social Security: Small Dreams and Safety Nets NY Times Dems: Private Accounts Would Hurt Farmers AP... |
Brendan Nyhan: John Leland and Jodi Wilgoren botch Social Security coverage — Today's long, anecdotal article on Social Security in... |
Facing facts in Iraq By / Boston Globe — Permalink THERE ARE four ever widening gaps that are threatening a successful outcome of George W. Bush's war in Iraq. The first is between what Sunnis, Shi'ites, and Kurds want for Iraq's future, especially in the all-important matter of Sunni inclusion. | |
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Atrios: Iran — This seems like a good topic for Monday's gaggle: "A former Pentagon official, journalist, and president of the... |
Steve Soto: His assessment, aside from thinking that things are worse on the ground than the Bush Administration wants admitted, is... |
Possible Court Nominees Pose a Quandary for Bush By / WaPo — Permalink President Bush's advisers are focusing their search for a new Supreme Court justice on a trio of candidates who could present the president with a choice that would help shape his legacy — pick a reliable conservative to anchor the court for decades or go for history by naming the first Hispanic chief justice at the risk of alienating his base. | |
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Avedon Carol: White House sources allege that Bush is still considering Alberto "Torture-boy" Gonzales to replace William Rehnquist on... Patterico: The Washington Post reports that "outside advisers to the White House believe the main candidates [for the Supreme... Lambert @Corrente: Alberto "Torture Memo" Gonzales for Chief Justice? Surely not! But Bush just floated a trial balloon: [snipped quote] Great work, Dems who voted for Gonzales! |
James Joyner: Possible Court Nominees Pose a Quandary for Bush — President Bush has narrowed down his candidates for replacing Chief... Joe Gandelman: Bush Faces Dilemma On Possible Supreme Court Nomination — The Washington Post reports that President George Bush's... Ann Althouse: The WaPo seems to know that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is one of three frontrunners for the next Supreme Court... |
| Also: Orrin Judd, Orin Kerr | |
A Free Woman By / NYT — Permalink After the Pakistani government tired of kidnapping Mukhtaran Bibi, holding her hostage and lying about it, I finally got a call through to her. Pakistani officials had just freed Ms. Mukhtaran and returned her to her village. | |
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Tom Watson: Nicholas Kristoff today celebrates the return from government detention to her home of Mukhtaran Bibi, the international hero and human rights symbol from rural Pakistani. |
Laura Rozen: Nick Kristof follows up on the case of Mukhtaran Bibi and the evolving efforts of Pakistani President Musharraf to... |
Hit by friendly fire By / US News — Permalink Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is angry. He's upset about the more than 1,700 U.S. soldiers killed and nearly 13,000 wounded in Iraq. He's also aggravated by the continued string of sunny assessments from the Bush administration, such as Vice President Dick Cheney's recent remark that the insurgency is in its "last throes." | |
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Randall Parker: One Republican Senator thinks "the White House is completely disconnected from reality." "Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is angry. Billmon: U.S. News & World Report Hit by friendly fire June 18, 2005 "Senior Bush counselor Dan Bartlett, acknowledging that... |
Arianna Huffington: And after that shouldn't he have asked him if he agreed with his good friend and colleague Chuck Hagel, who is quoted in... Atrios: Completely Disconnected From Reality — Hagel: [snipped quote] Silly Chuck. The Bush administration CREATES reality. |
Failed Summit Talks Expose Union Abyss By / NYT — Permalink BRUSSELS, June 18 - Something shattered in Europe on Friday night. The leaders of the 25 European Union nations went home after a failed two-day summit meeting in anger and in shame, as domestic politics and national interests defeated lofty notions of sacrifice and solidarity for the benefit of all. | |
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Steve Bainbridge: I'm not yet sure whether the failure of the summit should be deemed another Waterloo. Stephen: NYT: Caustic Turn Jolts Europe I cannot recall ever reading such a blunt take-down on a story of international... |
Orrin Judd: CAN'T PIN IT ON THE PLUMBERS: Failed Summit Talks Expose Union Abyss (ELAINE SCIOLINO, 7/18/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] Aren't they past the point where they can be humiliated? |
The Thinking Behind a Close Look at a C.I.A. Operation By / NYT — Permalink A STRIKING number of readers have denounced The New York Times for describing the Central Intelligence Agency's covert air operations for transporting suspected terrorists in a Page 1 article on May 31. | |
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Cori Dauber: The Public Editor Has a Go — For his first substantive column, the new Public Editor takes on the controversy over the... |
Stirling Newberry: In this recent piece it's really clear what his job is. Namely to pet the freep. Note his last paragraph which about says it all |
Lawmakers Trying Again to Divide Ninth Circuit By / NYT — Permalink LOS ANGELES, June 18 - Congressional Republicans are hoping yet again to split the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which covers nine Western states and has issued some rulings to the dismay of conservatives, saying a breakup is the best way to reduce the caseload of the circuit's federal judges. | |
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TChris: Splitting the Ninth — There's no doubt that the sprawling Ninth Circuit has a huge caseload, but that isn't the... |
Stirling Newberry: 9th Circuit Split — For those of us who knew that the filibuster deal was stupid, this comes as no surprise. |
Memos: Postwar Iraq a Concern in Britain AP — Permalink LONDON - Long before the Iraq war began, Prime Minister Tony Blair and his top advisers concluded that the Bush administration and the U.S. military weren't adequately prepared for rebuilding Iraq once Saddam Hussein was driven from power. | |
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Neil the Ethical Werewolf: As the realization that we're in a quagmire develops outside the Democratic Party, we reach the moment when criticisms... |
Skippy: shake's sis also includes a series of asspress reports about the dsm: us war plans much-discussed in memos, and 2002... |
No American 'Gulag' By / WaPo — Permalink Several days ago I received a telephone call from an old friend who is a longtime Amnesty International staffer. He asked me whether I, as a former Soviet "prisoner of conscience" adopted by Amnesty, would support the statement by Amnesty's executive director, Irene Khan, that the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba is the "gulag of our time." | |
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Norm Geras: Attention - Amnesty (updated) 'Read the rest' and 'Read the whole thing' have become repetitive tropes of the... Dean Esmay: You can read the rest by clicking here. Gerry @DalyThoughts: No American 'Gulag' — Pavel Litvinov in The Washington Post [snipped quote] Dick Durbin undoubtably agrees. |
Andrew Stuttaford: LIARS — From an article in the Washington Post by Pavel Litvinov, a Gulag survivor: "Several days ago I received a... Joe Gandelman: The human rights organization Amnesty International has suffered a blow to its credibility due to a piece in the... James Joyner: Iran's Sham Democracy — The New York Times editorial board takes a strong stand on the Iranian election: Iran's sham democracy (NYT/IHT) [snipped quote] Quite right on all counts. |
| Also: Charles Johnson, Juan Non-Volokh, Pejman Yousefzadeh, Jan Haugland, Paul @PowerLine, Cori Dauber, Tom Maguire, Jason Van Steenwyk, Steve Bainbridge, Glenn Reynolds | |
Iran Moderate Says Hard-Liners Rigged Election By / NYT — Permalink TEHRAN, June 18 - The race for the presidency in Iran was thrown into turmoil on Saturday when one of the top vote getters accused conservative hard-liners of rigging the election and threatened to continue to press his case publicly unless the country's... | |
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Charles Johnson: Dog Bites Man: Iranian Elections Rigged — The only surprising thing about this New York Times report on the Iranian... Praktike: Karroubi is now calling for an independent investigation of the vote totals, and who knows where that could lead. Dr. Steven Taylor: Charges of Fraud in Iranian Elections — Via the NYT: Iran Moderate Says Hard-Liners Rigged Election "The accusation of... |
Dan Darling: But then again, the outcome of this election was decided long before anyone set foot in a polling booth, as it seems one of the "approved" candidates is just figuring out. Jan Haugland: Reformist and moderate (or what passes for that) third-place candidate Mehdi Karroubi is now openly charging fraud from the hardliners. Hooman Majd: Iran's election results were announced on Saturday afternoon by the Interior Ministry, confirming the predicted lack of... |
| Also: Orrin Judd, Pejman Yousefzadeh, Glenn Reynolds, James Joyner | |
Dean Condemns 'Anti-Semitic Literature' AP — Permalink WASHINGTON — A handful of people at Democratic National Headquarters distributed material critical of Israel during a public forum questioning the Bush administration's Iraq policy, drawing an angry response and charges of anti-Semitism from party chairman Howard Dean on Friday. | |
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Marc @USSNeverdock: Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, organizes a fake impeachment of... Charles Johnson: Not Quite a Flying Pig — Dean Condemns 'Anti-Semitic Literature'. John Cole: Anti-Semitism Flare-Up — Speaking of John Conyers, it appears his pathetic little display in the basement of the... |
Tom Maguire: Howard Dean has now apologized, although John Conyers would prefer to shoot the messenger. Steve Antler: This issue will not go away for him, and it is good for the US if the McGovern position is finally brought out in the open and fought out within the Democratic Party. Pejman Yousefzadeh: It's nice and noteworthy to see that Howard Dean is denouncing the dip into anti-Semitism taken in connection with yesterday's faux hearings on Capitol Hill. |
| Also: Roger L. Simon, Jeff Goldstein, Orrin Judd, McQ, Ezra Klein, Glenn Reynolds, Jason Van Steenwyk | |
Javanomics 101: Today's Coffee Is Tomorrow's Debt By / WaPo — Permalink SEATTLE — At a Starbucks across the street from Seattle University School of Law, Kirsten Daniels crams for the bar exam. She's armed with color-coded pens, a don't-mess-with-me crease in her brow and what she calls "my comfort latte." | |
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Bill @INDCJournal: Caffeine Fisk — I'd planned to eviscerate the WaPo's ridiculously patronizing "exposé" on the evil economics of a Starbucks habit, but David Adesnik beat me to it. See Dubya: More precisely, it's about a nanny-state impulse at the University of Seattle, hectoring people about a harmless pastime: drinking coffee. David: (A FISKING): This front pager from the WaPo is the most enterainingly absured bit of muckraking I have read in a very long time. |
Captain Ed: Now, in a bit of irony, the very success that Starbucks created for its home city of Seattle may wind up sinking the... Ann Althouse: The Washington Post weighs the question and points to a website that does the calculation: "a five-day-a-week $3 latte... Daniel Drezner: I ask this question because a personal debt is the only possible explanation for why Harden landed a front-page story in... |
The Doofus Dad By / NYT — Permalink One evening, after watching Homer Simpson wreck the family car at a monster-truck rally and plunge on a skateboard into Springfield Gorge, my 6-year-old son asked me, "Why are dads on TV so dumb?" | |
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Greg Piper: Cross posted at The Smoking Room Sitcom dads in the past 20 years have progressively gotten dumber, while mothers have become the smart ones in the virtual family. James Joyner: The Doofus Dad - Why Are Sitcom Dads so Lame? John Tierney wonders why Homer Simpson has managed to replace Ward Cleaver... Glenn Reynolds: JOHN TIERNEY: [snipped quote] Ed Cone, on the other hand, thinks dads are getting off easy. |
Ezra Klein: Misunderestimated on Every Channel — Tiereny's column on TV's "doofus dad" is suprisingly perceptive today. Ed Cone: English major reads NYT TV Dads get no respect, writes John Tierney for Father's Day. Ah, for the days of the benign white patriarch. |
Bush: Pulling Out of Iraq Not an Option By / AP — Permalink WASHINGTON - President Bush said Saturday that pulling out of Iraq now is not an option, rejecting calls by some lawmakers and many people asked in polls to start bringing U.S. troops home. "The terrorists and insurgents are trying to get us to retreat. | |
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Randall Parker: Bush claims "the world's terrorists have now made Iraq a central front in the war on terror". James Joyner: Bush: Pulling Out of Iraq Not an Option — In his weekly radio address, President Bush signaled his resolve to continue the course in Iraq. |
Steve Bainbridge: James Joyner asks some darn good questions about Bush's latest pronouncement on Iraq: [quote] If "victory" is the...[end quote] Armando @DailyKos: Bush: I May Have Screwed Up, But Now We're Stuck — This is the sum of the Bush Strategy: "But it is the president's Iraq policy that has taken the biggest slide in the polls. |
'Scaremongering' Lancet accused of causing harm to health and wasting millions By / Times of London — Permalink BRITAIN'S premier medical journal is endangering public health by publishing unfounded scare stories, 30 of the country's leading scientists say today. Poor editorial judgment at The Lancet has fuelled panic over issues such as the measles, mumps and... | |
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Judith Weiss: More lies, damn lies, and statistics. Natalie: Lancing a boil. A bunch of eminent scientific johnnies have slagged off the Lancet for "desperate headline-seeking". Pejman Yousefzadeh: Their research is ... oh, how shall I phrase it? ... suspect: "BRITAIN'S premier medical journal is endangering... |
Andrew Stuttaford: The London Times has more: "BRITAIN'S premier medical journal is endangering public health by publishing unfounded scare stories, 30 of the country's leading scientists say today. Jason Van Steenwyk: Lancet Discredited — Boy, all you knuckleheads who hang your hat on the Lancet study estimating 100,000 Iraqi civilians dead must be feeling pretty stupid right about now. |
Official Had Aide Send Data to White House By / NYT — Permalink Mr. Tomlinson said in an interview three months ago that he did not think he had instructed a subordinate to send material on the ombudsman project to Mary C. Andrews at her White House office in her final days as director of global communications, a political appointment. | |
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Lambert @Corrente: Mr. Tomlinson said in an interview three months ago that he did not think he had instructed a subordinate to send... Pudentilla: awol's ministry of propaganda expansion plans continue — [snipped quote] in awol's world, chuck hagel is a liberal... |
Laura Rozen: Corporation for Public Broadcasting chairman Ken Tomlinson seems to be in some trouble . . . Stirling Newberry: The K Street Memo — Tomlinson planned propaganda campaign with White House at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. |
Bush's Missing WMD 'Joke': Is the Media Still Laughing? By / Editor and Publisher — Permalink Dana Milbank of The Washington Post, in an article Friday, suggested that the congressional forum the previous day on the Downing Street memos was something of a joke. | |
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Jay Rosen: I don't think the press has learned how to deal yet with "power shapes truth," or the extreme contempt for reason-giving... Atrios: Hilarious — Greg Mitchell reminds us of what tickles the collective funny bone of the Washington press. ...watch in all its glory here. |
David Sirota: It is as if the war is one big punchline to many reporters. |
Strayhorn announces candidacy for governor By / Houston Chronicle — Permalink AUSTIN — With the Capitol as a backdrop and a scorching sun beating down, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn turned the political heat up on Gov. Rick Perry today, formally announcing as a challenger to his re-election. | |
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Charles Kuffner: My take on the Perry-Strayhorn matchup — Now that Carole Keeton Strayhorn has confirmed what we thought we knew when we... |
Orrin Judd: TOUGH CALL FOR W: Strayhorn announces candidacy for governor (R.G. RATCLIFFE, 6/17/05 Houston Chronicle) "With the... |
GOP Senators to Propose New Tack On Social Security By / WaPo — Permalink Key Republican lawmakers, scrambling to keep President Bush's Social Security proposals afloat, plan next week to embrace an idea that many have avoided thus far: funding personal retirement accounts with surplus revenue that now pays for other government programs. | |
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Mark Thoma: Here's the latest gem of desperation: "GOP Senators to Propose New Tack On Social Security, Washington Post: Key... Steve Soto: By convincing voters that the trust fund surpluses that Bush is currently squandering to pay for his upper income tax... Jesse Taylor: What is almost certainly one of the most awful political ideas in history just got a little bit worse. |
Brendan Nyhan: As the Washington Post points out, "The strategy is controversial because it would create new budget problems. PGL: DeMint's Recycled Free Lunch — Rick Santorum and Lindsey Graham plan to join James DeMint to propose that we place the Social Security surpluses into personal retirement accounts. |
Thursday, June 16 By / Chicago Tribune — Permalink Have U.S. interrogators been too mean in questioning suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay? I don't think so. They didn't go far enough. For example, they foolishly used the recorded voice of pop star Christina Aguilera as an implement of torture. | |
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Neil the Ethical Werewolf: John Kass, the problem isn't that we sometimes played Christina Aguilera in prisoners' cells instead of, say, Sleater-Kinney. Steve Bainbridge: Kass' Idea — John Kass: [snipped quote] The point is well taken. |
Scott @PowerLine: The column followed up on Kass's Thursday column: "Guantanomo is no place for a pop princess." |
Woman Soldier Receives Silver Star for Valor in Iraq By / DefenseLINK — Permalink WASHINGTON, June 16, 2005 - For the first time since World War II, a woman soldier was awarded the Silver Star Medal today in Iraq. Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester of the 617th Military Police Company, a National Guard unit out of Richmond, Ky., received the Silver... | |
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Jan Haugland: A National Guard Sergeant has become the first woman since World War II to receive the Silver Star Medal. |
Dale Amon: With great pleasure I now report a follow up to the story: three members of this fine bunch, Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester,... |
Gov. Bush Seeks Another Inquiry in Schiavo Case By / NYT — Permalink MIAMI, June 17 - Gov. Jeb Bush asked a state prosecutor on Friday to investigate the circumstances of Terri Schiavo's collapse, saying a new autopsy report revealed a possible gap between when Ms. Schiavo fell unconscious and when her husband called paramedics. | |
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DeDurkheim: Gov. Jeb Bush asked a state prosecutor on Friday to investigate the circumstances of Terri Schiavo's collapse, saying a... Tom Maguire: Enough, Already — Who is the audience for this? |
Attaturk: Terry Schiavo is not your "chew toy" Jeb. [snipped quote] Okay, Jebby tell you what, want to play that game, then let's do this... 1. |
What Europe Really Needs By / Opinion Journal — Permalink That Europe as an entity is sick and the European Union as an institution is in disorder cannot be denied. But no remedies currently being discussed can possibly remedy matters. | |
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FrancoAlemán: A COUPLE OF DAYS LATE, but this article by Paul Johnson, What Europe Really Needs, is so spot-on that I couldn't pass without recommending it. James Joyner: Why "Europe" is Failing — The eminent British historian Paul Johnson hits the nail on the head with his OpinionJournal... Roger Ailes: What Europe Really Needs Is A Good Spanking — So says Paul Johnson in the Wall Street Journal online edition. |
Michael DeBow: Paul Johnson has a lot to say about Europe and the EU, but I especially admire this pithy diagnosis: "The EU's economic... Pejman Yousefzadeh: Is Europe itself, as Paul Johnson points out so well: "That Europe as an entity is sick and the European Union as an institution is in disorder cannot be denied. |
Hackers Tap 40 Million Credit Cards By / LAT — Permalink The network is breached at a firm that handles merchant transactions. Nearly 70,000 bogus charges are seen. Credit scores may be at risk. In the largest reported security breach of personal financial information, hackers infiltrated the computers at a... | |
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Pudentilla: priceless — [snipped quote] we bet if there were a law that required credit card companies to charge no more than "prime... |
Jeralyn Merritt: Master Card Security Breach is Enormous — It is now estimated that hackers have gained access to 40 million Master Card... |
U.S. and Iraqi Forces Launch Another Offensive AP — Permalink KARABILAH, Iraq (AP) — U.S. Marines and Iraqi forces battled insurgents on two fronts Saturday in a restive western province, killing about 50 militants in a dusty frontier town in the military's latest campaign to stop foreign fighters infiltrating from neighboring Syria. | |
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Cori Dauber: Compare this Times piece to the AP article, however, and the operation is contextualized completely differently: About... |
Armando @DailyKos: Reading the AP Iraq news roundup this morning, it struck me how many insurgents were reported killed and captured in the last two days. |
Mind Over Mullahs By / Front Page Magazine — Permalink Driving down through the desert, from Tehran to the holy city of Qom, I am following the path of so many who have made the pilgrimage before me. They either were seeking an audience with, or a glimpse of, Ayatollah Khomeini or, if they were journalistic pilgrims, were trying to test the temperature of Iran's clerical capital. | |
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Marc @USSNeverdock: Iran - Hitchens Meets Khomeini — Frontpage Magazine reports on Hitchens' trip to Iran and his meeting with Khomeini's grandson. Jan Haugland: Where they really hate Mullahs — Today's most highly recommended reading: Christopher Hitchens reports from his visit to Iran. |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: Is ironically embodied in a man named Khomeini: [snipped quote] There will be change in Iran. It is only a matter of time. Norm Geras: State of dual power? The Dude in Iran: [snipped quote] (Via Mick Hartley - and see also here.) |
Iran's sham democracy NYT — Permalink Friday's presidential election in Iran was an affront to true democracy, just as the past record of Ali Akhbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, all along the leading candidate, is an affront to true moderation. | |
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Gateway Pundit: Robert also posted a list of the polling locations here. Robert has much more on the Sham Elections held today in Iran. |
Hooman Majd: On Friday, election day, the Times' lead editorial labeled the Iranian elections a sham. |
Iran's Presidential Race Appears Headed for Run-Off By / LAT — Permalink TEHRAN, Iran — As polls closed four hours late Friday on Iran's most closely fought presidential election in the 26 years since the Islamic revolution, it appeared that none of the seven candidates would win a majority, resulting in an unprecedented run-off... | |
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Gateway Pundit: The news from Iran tonight is that the election is heading to a runoff. Orrin Judd: MOIN SWEEPER: Iran's Presidential Race Appears Headed for Run-Off (John Daniszewski, June 17, 2005, LA Times)... |
Pejman Yousefzadeh: I SMELL A RAT — Unless reformist voters stayed away in droves, I smell a big, fat, stinking rat: [snipped quote] Perhaps... |
Uzbek Ministries in Crackdown Received U.S. Aid NYT — Permalink MOSCOW, June 17 - Uzbek law enforcement and security ministries implicated by witnesses in the deadly crackdown in the city of Andijon last month have for years received training and equipment from counterterrorism programs run by the United States, according to American officials and Congressional records. | |
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Pudentilla: democracy promotion - republican style — [snipped quote] if it quacks like republican "democracy" promotion in central... Atrios: Peeance and Freeance — Link: "MOSCOW, June 17 - Uzbek law enforcement and security ministries implicated by witnesses... |
Laura Rozen: "Uzbek Ministries In Crackdown Received US Aid" and training, the NY Times reports. |
EU Talks on Its Future Budget Collapse By / AP — Permalink BRUSSELS, Belgium - Talks on the European Union's budget collapsed in acrimony Friday, abruptly ending a summit that diplomats had hoped would pull the EU out of its constitutional dilemma. Top European leaders blamed each other for the breakdown but agreed the bloc was "in a deep crisis." | |
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Joe Gandelman: Massive EU Crisis As Britain Rejects Budget Deal — Never has the long-idealized concept of a European Union looked as... Jayson @PoliPundit: United — Or not. Do those "librules" out there still want the U.S. to be "more like EUrope?" Sacre bleu. |
Orrin Judd: TAKE IT TO THE FARM WHERE IT WILL HAVE PLENTY OF ROOM TO RUN AROUND: EU Talks on Its Future Budget Collapse (BETH... |
Iowa Governor Will Give Felons the Right to Vote By / NYT — Permalink Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa announced yesterday that he would restore voting rights for all felons who have completed their sentences, ending what advocates for voting rights had called one of the most restrictive disenfranchisement laws in the country. | |
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Edm Staff: As Kate Zernicke explains in her article in today's New York Times: [snipped quote] This number represents about 13... |
Jeralyn Merritt: Iowa to Restore Felon's Right to Vote — Major kudos to Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack who is restoring the right to vote to felons who have completed serving their sentences. |
Administration Excised Scientists' Warnings in Grazing Report By / LAT — Permalink The Bush administration altered critical portions of a scientific analysis of the environmental impact of cattle grazing on public lands before announcing Thursday that it would relax regulations limiting grazing on those lands, according to scientists involved in the study. | |
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Joe Gandelman: Another Accusation That Bush Administration Changed Environmental Data — Here's yet ANOTHER charge that the Bush... Kevin Drum: This one is about grazing rules on public land: [snipped quote] I really wish "scientists" would quit their incessant... |
Jo Fish: But an administration that lies about the need to send troops into combat to invade a sovereign country, rewrites... |