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Archive Edition for   Sunday, November 14, 2004Go to Current Page
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Quoted in this edition:

Ace of Spades HQ
  Ace
Althouse
  Ann Althouse
The American Street
  Melanie @AmStreet
www.AndrewSullivan.com
  Andrew Sullivan
The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler
  Sir George
Associated Press
  Deb Riechmann
  Jennifer Loven
  Jim Krane
Backcountry Conservative
  Jeff Quinton
Barcepundit
  FrancoAlemán
Beautiful Atrocities
  Jeff @BeautifulAtrocities
Boston Globe
Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal
  DeLong
Broadcasting & Cable
BrothersJudd Blog
  Orrin Judd
  David Cohen
The Buck Stops Here
  Stuart Buck
BuzzMachine
  Jeff Jarvis
Captain's Quarters
  Captain Ed
CBS News
Centerfield
  The Jaded JD
  Rickheller @Centerfield
  Marc Schulman
Chicago Boyz
  Lexington Green
Chrenkoff
  Arthur Chrenkoff
CJR Campaign Desk Home
  Steve Lovelady
The Claremont Institute
  Ken Masugi
CNN
The Corner
  KJL
  Cliff May
corrente
  Xan @Corrente
  Tom @Corrente
  The Farmer
Daily Kos
  Meteor Blades
  DemFromCT
Daimnation!
  Damian Penny
Dean's World
  Joe Gandelman
Discourse.net
  Michael Froomkin
Ed Driscoll.com
  Ed Driscoll
Editor and Publisher
  Greg Mitchell
Eschaton
  Atrios
Gut Rumbles
  Acidman
Happy Furry Puppy Story Time with Norbizness
  Norbizness
Houston Chronicle
  Charles Krauthammer
Instapundit.com
  Glenn Reynolds
INTEL DUMP
  Phillip Carter
Jerusalem Post
JustOneMinute
  Tom Maguire
Kesher Talk
  Judith Weiss
The Left Coaster
  Pessimist @LeftCoaster
  Yuval Rubinstein
  Steve Soto
LibertarianJackass.com
  Libertarian
Little Green Footballs
  Charles Johnson
Los Angeles Times
  Esther Schrader
  Mark Mazzetti
The Mahablog
  Barbara O'Brien
Mark A. R. Kleiman
  Mark Kleiman
Matthew Yglesias
  Matthew Yglesias
MSNBC
MyDD
  Jerome Armstrong
New York Times
  Robert Kagan
  Robert D. Kaplan
  Maureen Dowd
  Daniel Okrent
  Douglas Jehl
  Thomas J. Lueck
  Edward Wong
  Pam Belluck
  Bruce Bawer
  David Brooks
  Constance L. Hays
  Michael Janofsky
  Camille Paglia
  Frank Rich
  Jeffrey Rosen
Newsday
  Knut Royce
Observer
Oliver Willis
  Oliver Willis
One Hand Clapping
  Donald Sensing
Outside The Beltway
  Rodney Dill
OxBlog
  David Adesnik
Pacific Views
  Magpie @PacificViews
pandagon.net
  Jesse Taylor
Pejmanesque
  Pejman Yousefzadeh
The Peking Duck
  Richard TPD
The People's Republic of Seabrook
  Jack Cluth
PoliPundit.com
  Lorie Byrd
Power Line
  Hindrocket
  The Big Trunk
  Deacon
PRESTOPUNDIT
  Greg Ransom
protein wisdom
  Jeff Goldstein
Questions and Observations Blog
  McQ
Rantingprofs
  Cori Dauber
Reason
  Tim Cavanaugh
Reuters
  Randall Mikkelsen
  Steve Gorman
The Rittenhouse Review
  James Martin Capozzola
Roger Ailes
  Roger Ailes
RuminateThis
  Jack K.
Sadly, No!
  Sadly @SadlyNo
Salon
  Joe Conason
San Francisco Chronicle
Scott Rosenberg's Links & Comment
  Scott Rosenberg
Secular Blasphemy
  Jan Haugland
Shrillblog
  Christopher @ShrillBlog
The Sideshow
  Avedon Carol
St. Petersburg Times
  Howard Troxler
Steve Clemons
  Steve Clemons
Steve Gilliard's News Blog
  Steve Gilliard
t a c i t u s
  Bird Dog
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
  Taegan Goddard
TalkLeft
  Jeralyn Merritt
This Modern World
  Tom Tomorrow
Tim Blair
  Tim Blair
Time
  Adam Zagorin
Townhall.com
Unfogged
  Ogged @Unfogged
Unqualified Offerings
  Jim Henley
The Volokh Conspiracy
  Jim Lindgren
Wampum
  MB Williams
War and Piece
  Laura Rozen
Washington Post
  Rob Pegoraro
  Michael Kinsley
  Craig Whitlock
  Jackie Spinner
  Mike Allen
  Craig Timberg
Washington Times
  Rowan Scarborough



CIA plans to purge its agency
  By / Newsday   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — The White House has ordered the new CIA director, Porter Goss, to purge the agency of officers believed to have been disloyal to President George W. Bush or of leaking damaging information to the media about the conduct of the Iraq war and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, according to knowledgeable sources.
Norbizness: The most immediate example, apart from the post-election, pre-announced destruction of Fallujah (while violence and...
Barbara O'Brien: Update — Updating yesterday's blog on the CIA, be sure to read this New York Newsday story.
Oliver Willis: In America, its worse. [snipped quote] Sometimes, you have to do what is right for the greater good, even if it's not popular.
Sir George: Time For a Purge — Let the worthless leftist paranoids tremble in fear, because Drudge and Newsday are reporting that the purges have begun.
Hindrocket: So this Newsday report is very welcome: [snipped quote] Newsday, of course, bases its story on anti-administration...
Meteor Blades: The direct source is here and another main page thread on CIA politicization by DemFromCT is here.
Also: Mathew Gross, Steve Soto, Steve Gilliard, Joe Gandelman, Susan Madrak, Laura Rozen, Atrios, Tom @Corrente, DemFromCT, Melanie @AmStreet

On the trail of Kerry's failed dream
  Boston Globe   —   Permalink 
Written and reported by Nina J. Easton, Michael Kranish, Patrick Healy, Glen Johnson, Anne E. Kornblut, and Brian Mooney of the Globe staff.
On the afternoon of Aug. 9, John F. Kerry stood on the lip of the Grand Canyon, about to make one of the biggest mistakes of his three-year quest for the presidency.
Tom Maguire: The Questions Were Blowing In The Wind — The Boston Globe walks us through the Kerry Presidential campaign.
David Cohen: EVERYTHING HE SAID THAT I LIKE WAS A MISTAKE — On the trail of Kerry's failed dream: Pair of wars dominated strategy...
Lorie Byrd: Somewhat Interesting Despite The Spin — I had the same reaction as The Big Trunk at Power Line when I read the Boston Globe story that Polipundit linked to earlier today.
Yuval Rubinstein: The Globe Brings the Goods — Via Political Wire, here's an article in today's Boston Globe offering an exhaustive...
Ann Althouse: With that in mind I was struck by this passage from the today's Boston Globe article, "On the Trail of Kerry's Failed...
The Big Trunk: A mighty wind — The Boston Globe's recap of the campaign — "On the trail of Kerry's failed dream" — reads like a...
Also: PoliPundit, Taegan Goddard

New Democratic Leader in Senate Is Atypical Choice
  NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 - He is a teetotaling Mormon, a former Capitol Hill police officer who opposes abortion and was a cosponsor of the constitutional amendment banning flag-burning. He is a little-known senator from a red state whose considerable skills do not include being a compelling presence on television or behind a lectern.
Oliver Willis: DC Dems & The Quest for Irrelevance — What traits were the Senate Dems looking for in picking their new leader?
Jesse Taylor: Kittenesque — Note to self: when a leader starts claiming a falsely broad mandate and then begins purging apolitical...
Taegan Goddard: Meanwhile, the New York Times profiles the new Demcratic leader, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), "a teetotaling Mormon, a former...
Avedon Carol: Sunday, 14 November 2004 "Stupid, stupid, stupid In case you needed proof that none of today's big shots in the...
Matthew Yglesias: Someone has to tell Ben Nelson that it's time to start paying some attention to what's going on: [snipped quote] This...

French consider naming streets after Arafat
  Jerusalem Post   —   Permalink 
Several French municipalities governed by communist and left-wing majorities are considering naming a street or a square after Yasser Arafat.
The French police intelligence service, Renseignements Generaux, reportedly warned the Ministry of Interior that...
Judith Weiss: Our friends the French are considering naming streets after Arafat. UPDATE: Another veteran Jewish blogger gloats.
Charles Johnson: It's Hard Not to Hate the French... ...when they do things like this: French consider naming streets after Arafat.

'What We Owe Iraq': We Broke It, We Bought It
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
IN the spring of 2003 the Bush administration sent Noah Feldman to Iraq to advise American occupation authorities and the Iraqis on constitution making. The choice was remarkably apt, for Feldman possessed a rare blend of talents.
Charles Johnson: What We Owe Iraq — At the New York Times, Robert Kagan reviews a new book by Noah Feldman, the NYU professor of...
Laura Rozen: One suspects, many of the uniformed US military. Update: Noah Feldman has almost the opposite take.
Andrew Sullivan: 'Had there been half a million U.S. troops on the ground,' he insists, 'it is highly likely that there would have been...

Goss Reportedly Rebuffed Senior Officials at CIA
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
Within the past month, four former deputy directors of operations have tried to offer CIA Director Porter J. Goss advice about changing the clandestine service without setting off a rebellion, but Goss has declined to speak to any of them, said former CIA officials aware of the communications.
Tom Maguire: Here is a Sunday follow-up by the same reporters: "Goss Reportedly Rebuffed Senior Officials at CIA Within the past...
DemFromCT: More Politicization of The CIA — While few tears will be shed for the CIA as an institution, let's assume for the...
Bird Dog: This isn't the time or place to hear of internal office politics, especially from an agency that's supposed to operate...
Ken Masugi: CIA Skullduggery (Updated) Our conservative brethren bloggers have commented extensively on this story, using David Brooks' column as a starting point.

Why Ask Wi?
  By / Reason   —   Permalink 
When cellular carriers attempted to outfit the city of San Francisco with new antennas to improve poor cell reception, the local government nixed the proposal out of hysterical concerns that cellphone towers would give brain cancer to children.
Ed Driscoll: Tim Cavanaugh of Reason looks at the (many) downsides of cities doing the job themselves, rather than private enterprise.
Glenn Reynolds: ANOTHER UPDATE: Tim Cavanaugh is skeptical of municipally operated wifi networks.

The Gonzales question
  By / Salon   —   Permalink 
To his appointment as the first Hispanic attorney general of the United States, Alberto Gonzales brings an inspiring personal story and a blemished public record. His rise from immigrant poverty to the heady heights of power testifies to enduring American opportunity.
Jeralyn Merritt: Update: Joe Conasen has this analysis of Gonzales at Salon. Chris Brauchli adds his thoughts in Re-writing the Geneva Convention.
Scott Rosenberg: But some critics (including Salon's Joe Conason) have latched onto a single word that his memo uses to describe aspects of the Geneva Convention: "quaint."

Assault on Fallujah 'Ahead of Schedule'
  AP   —   Permalink 
A deserted street in the western part of Fallujah, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 13, 2004. About 80 percent of the city was said to be under U.S. control, with insurgents pushed into a narrow corner. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
Ann Althouse: Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski, who designed the ground attack on Fallujah, describes the brilliant,...
Damian Penny: Fallujah seized — There are still some pockets of resistance, but the city is now almost entirely under American...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: One hopes so, and this report seems encouraging: [snipped quote] Apparently, there remain some pockets of resistance that need to be cleared out.

Firefox Leaves No Reason to Endure Internet Explorer
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Internet Explorer, you're fired.
That should have been said a long time ago. After Microsoft cemented a monopoly of the Web-browser market, it let Internet Explorer go stale, parceling out ho-hum updates that neglected vulnerabilities routinely exploited by hostile Web sites.
Richard TPD: If you haven't switched yet, read the article and see what you're missing. Tabbed browsing changed my life.
Joe Gandelman: The Washington Post: Fire IE; Hire Firefox — The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro has a column on a subject dear to Dean...

Pro-Choice Senator Must Back Bush -Senate Leader
  By / Reuters   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican senator who has questioned whether an abortion opponent could win approval to the U.S. Supreme Court must agree to back President Bush's nominees if he is to head the committee acting on those nominations, the Senate's Republican leader said.
Norbizness: I mean, these bastards are making me feel sorry for Arlen Specter, fer Chrissakes!
Captain Ed: Frist Takes Hard Line On Specter — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist declined to actively support Arlen Specter,...

These Unseen Wounds Cut Deep
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Matt LaBranche got the tattoos at a seedy place down the street from the Army hospital here where he was a patient in the psychiatric ward.
The pain of the needle felt good to the 40-year-old former Army sergeant, whose memories of his nine months as a machine-gunner in Iraq had left him, he said, "feeling dead inside."
Xan @Corrente: To failing to plan to win the peace to failing to plan for a type of casualty as old as warfare, the Bushco Brain Trust...
Phillip Carter: The psychiatric cost of war — Esther Schrader has a great piece on the front page of Sunday's L.A. Times on the...

The Right's Kind of Activism
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
What does President Bush mean, if anything, when he says that his kind of judge "knows the difference between personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the law"? Taken literally, this simply means he wants judges who agree with him.
The Jaded JD: More on Judicial Activism — Michael Kinsey has a well-written article on the use of "judicial activism" by conservatives in today's Washington Post.
Barbara O'Brien: Zero Sum — Michael Kinsley writes in WaPo today that Republican complaints about "judicial activism" are "a habit left over from powerlessness."

Barren Ground for Democracy
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Whether one views the war in Iraq as a noble effort in democratization or a brutal exercise in imperialism, there can be little doubt that it has proved the proverbial "bridge too far" for those who planned and, like myself, supported it.
Donald Sensing: Robert Kaplan has a cautionary piece in the NY Times today in which he calls for pragmatism is American policy regarding democracy in Iraq.
Matthew Yglesias: Cash, Culture, and Violence — Robert Kaplan is, I think, far to vague in offering up "culture" as an account of why it's hard to build a "western-style" democracy in Iraq.
Orrin Judd: NORTHERN IRELAND DOES NOT MAKE IRELAND A FAILED EXPERIMENT: Barren Ground for Democracy (ROBERT D. KAPLAN, 11/14/04, NY...
Steve Clemons: Today, Robert Kaplan admits that pretense out ran capability in America's new Middle East war in an important New York Times article.
Laura Rozen: Now he's telling the neocons about the greater folly of their ways: [snipped quote] Who thinks like Kaplan?
David Adesnik: Ex-idealist Robert Kaplan indignantly announces that the culture and history of Iraq don't favor American efforts to democratize it.

CIA veterans clash with new chief
  MSNBC   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Within the past month, four former deputy directors of operations have tried to offer CIA Director Porter J. Goss advice about changing the clandestine service without setting off a rebellion, but Goss has declined to speak to any of them, said former CIA officials aware of the communications.
Jack K.: More dire nay-sayers predicted that Goss would gallop into town swinging such a divisive meat axe against what he sees...
Tom @Corrente: More on Goss the Incompetent — [snipped quote] Oh, but as our trolls around here assure us, I'm sure this is actually...

Slapping the Other Cheek
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
You'd think the one good thing about merging church and state would be that politics would be suffused with glistening Christian sentiments like "love thy neighbor," "turn the other cheek," "good will toward men," "blessed be the peacemakers" and "judge not lest you be judged."
KJL: "VENGEFUL MOB" — MoDo, "a nice Catholic columnist" says your humble Corner is part of an intolerance "mob family" re: Specter.
Tom Tomorrow: ...Maureen Dowd has some related thoughts: "You'd think the one good thing about merging church and state would be that...

Bordering On Nukes?
  By / Time   —   Permalink 
A key al-Qaeda operative seized in Pakistan recently offered an alarming account of the group's potential plans to target the U.S. with weapons of mass destruction, senior U.S. security officials tell TIME.
Captain Ed: Time Magazine reports that al-Qaeda has worked on plans to smuggle nuclear weapons out of Europe and into the US through...
Charles Johnson: Nuke Warning for Mexican Border — Two very troubling pieces of information from a new report in TIME Magazine: Bordering On Nukes?

Impending war over high court nominees
  San Francisco Chronicle   —   Permalink 
Washington — President Bush was direct when asked after his election victory about his intentions for the Supreme Court.
"If people are interested in knowing the kind of judges I'll pick," Bush said, "look at the record."
Barbara O'Brien: "[Link]" And the righties will take no prisoners. They're trying to keep Republican Arlen Spector from chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee because he isn't ideologically pure.
Jeralyn Merritt: Jeffrey Rosen in the New York Times and Carolyn Lochhead in the San Francisco Chronicle provide some illumination.

It's Good to Be Objective. It's Even Better to Be Right.
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
IN my Oct. 31 column, I took a crude hatchet to The Times's wimpy reliance on "experts," "analysts" and other commentators whose words may decorate a given article but often provide neither coherence nor much more than the illusion of balance.
Tom Maguire: Still The Bane Of The Left — I hate to interrupt a fellow who is deriding Daniel Okrent of the NY Times, so I will keep it short.
DeLong: Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps? (Danny Okrent Self-Parody Edition) Danny Okrent writes: [snipped quote] I know some "social loners."
Atrios: According to Danny Boy Okrent, Jodi Wilgoren was justified in calling Kerry a "social loner" because... yes, wait for...
Steve Lovelady: Daniel Okrent, public editor of New York Times, starts his biweekly column off with a bang today with this heretical (to the Times) headline: "It's Good to Be Objective.
Ogged @Unfogged: Friends and Loners — This week's Public Editor column in the Times is quite good—echoing the calls of blogdom that...
Jeff Jarvis: Dan Okrent explores another price of 'objectivity' in his Sunday column: By trying so hard to act objective and relying...

New Chief Sets Off Turmoil Within the C.I.A.
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 - Deep, unresolved tensions between new leaders and senior career officers at the Central Intelligence Agency threaten to set off a rebellion within the agency's clandestine service, according to current and former intelligence officials.
Joe Gandelman: True, various news reports from various sources suggest that it is not business as usual — but at worst crackdown...
Orrin Judd: NO MORE SECOND CHANCES: New Chief Sets Off Turmoil Within the C.I.A.

A Radical Who Remained Just Out of Reach
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
SAARBRUECKEN, Germany — Shortly after departing this southwestern German city on a Paris-bound train, a mysterious foreigner was pulled aside by police at the French border. The passenger claimed to be Palestinian, but carried no identification.
Stuart Buck: The Madrid Bombing Suspect — This story presents the same problem that I've identified before: [snipped quote] Notice...
Cori Dauber: It's as if they set this system up to make it easier for the terrorists than for the cops.

In Fallujah, Marines Feel Shock of War
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 13 — On his first night in the city, Sgt. Aristotel Barbosa slept uneasily on the floor near the door of a vacant house that his Marine unit had taken over.
MB Williams: This morning's WaPo feature didn't help this frame of mind: [snipped quote] Since most of my memories of the Vietnam...
David Adesnik: NOT WHAT I WOULD SAY IF I HAD A FACE FULL OF SHRAPNEL: Again from the WaPo: [snipped quote] Really not what I would say if I had a face full of shrapnel.
Cori Dauber: The Post this morning has a descriptive narrative of the fighting in Fallujah, told through the experience of two...

O.D.B., Controversial Rap Artist, Dies at 35
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Russell T. Jones, the rap artist known as O.D.B., collapsed and died yesterday at a recording studio in Manhattan, the police said. Mr. Jones, a 35-year-old native of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, was a founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan and made a large imprint on rap music in the 1990's.
Libertarian: In other rap news, Old Dirty Bastard is dead. Reminding us — once again — that crack kills.
David Adesnik: AND ONE FOR MY DEAD HOMIES: Farwell to ODB. Wu-Tang forever.

CIA Agent Details Terror Threat
  CBS News   —   Permalink 
(CBS) Osama bin Laden now has religious approval to use a nuclear device against Americans, says the former head of the CIA unit charged with tracking down the Saudi terrorist.
Rickheller @Centerfield: Nuclear Deterrence Needed — According to the formerly anonymous author of Imperial Hubris, former CIA analyst Michael...
Jeralyn Merritt: He says Osama received permission from a sheik to use a nuclear weapon against the U.S. [snipped quote] On why we haven't...
Melanie @AmStreet: Given the current political chaos in the CIA noted in the post below, this is something less than wonderful news: (CBS)...

About Those Election Results
  NYT   —   Permalink 
There have been a flood of reports, rumors and theories over the last 12 days about problems with the presidential election. The blogosphere, in particular, has been full of questions: Why did electronic voting machines in Ohio add nearly 4,000 phantom votes for President Bush, and why did machines in Florida mysteriously start to count backward?
Pejman Yousefzadeh: ARTICLES THE NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL BOARD DOES NOT APPEAR TO READ — The New York Times editorial board does not appear to have read the articles featured here or here.
DemFromCT: On Voting Irregularities And Election Integrity — America's newspaper of record takes an editorial stand: "There have...
Tom Tomorrow: Voting wackiness — The New York Times has an editorial this morning about voting irregularities.

For Iraqi Leader, Political Risks of Attack on Falluja Grow
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 13 - As Ayad Allawi, Iraq's interim prime minister, starts to position his party for the coming national elections, rising public denunciation of the invasion of Falluja by prominent Iraqi groups has put his political support at risk when he needs it most.
Mark Kleiman: Iraqi democracy and its practical implications — The New York Times reports that the seige of Fallujah seems to be...
Steve Gilliard: Allawi's problems — Vidkun Quisling Norwegians destroying poster of Nazi puppet Vidkun Quisling in 1945 ELECTIONS For...

Troops Battle for Last Parts Of Fallujah
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 13 — As senior Iraqi officials declared Fallujah liberated, U.S. forces on Saturday continued intense combat operations aimed at securing the last section of the city from an insurgent force fighting with surprising discipline, organization and the trappings of a professional army, American commanders said.
Damian Penny: Not that you'd know it from reading The Washington Post, whose story focuses on the "militants" having better equipment than the Americans expected.
David Adesnik: INDICATIVE: From the WaPo: [quote] In areas controlled by U.S. forces, loudspeakers mounted on Humvees urged that "all...[end quote]

Ads to Back Schwarzenegger for President
  AP   —   Permalink 
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Californians will soon see advertisements urging them to help give Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other foreign-born citizens the chance to run for president.
Pessimist @LeftCoaster: Ads to Back Schwarzenegger for President (AP) Nov 13, 7:40 PM (ET) "SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Californians will soon see...
Greg Ransom: ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER FOR PRESIDENT — THE WEB SITE. And the AP news story.

Boris Johnson sacked by Tories over private life
  Observer   —   Permalink 
Tory MP Boris Johnson was sacked from his party's front bench last night over lurid claims about his love life.
His fate was sealed by the mother of his alleged mistress, Petronella Wyatt, who said her daughter had become pregnant by him and had an abortion last month.
Laura Rozen: The Economist's John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge argue in the LA Times that the Democrats can make themselves...
Orrin Judd: SPECTATOR SPORT: Boris Johnson sacked by Tories over private life (Gaby Hinsliff, November 14, 2004, The Observer)...
Tim Blair: BAD NEWS FOR BOJO — Spectator editor and Conservative MP Boris Johnson is in a spot of bother: [snipped quote] Johnson...

To Avoid Divorce, Move to Massachusetts
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
BOSTON — If blue states care less about moral values, why are divorce rates so low in the bluest of the blue states? It's a question that intrigues conservatives, as much as it emboldens liberals.
The Farmer: Hypocrisy rates soar in the total immersion belt — Congratulations on your recent divorce rate Red State "morality"...
Oliver Willis: Fancy that. "The lowest divorce rates are largely in the blue states: the Northeast and the upper Midwest.

Tolerant Dutch Wrestle With Tolerating Intolerance
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
AMSTERDAM — Dropping into one of Amsterdam's trademark brown cafes, I found myself lulled for a moment by the illusion that things were as they always had been.
Greg Ransom: THE PC DUTCH GET A WAKEUP CALL FROM THE ISLAMIC JIHAD.
Marc Schulman: The New York Times says that the Netherlands has been "the world's most tolerant, open-minded society, with full sexual...
Jeff Jarvis: In Sunday's New York Times, Bruce Bawer reports from Amsterdam, where he once lived: "During my time there, I quickly...

The C.I.A. Versus Bush
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Now that he's been returned to office, President Bush is going to have to differentiate between his opponents and his enemies. His opponents are found in the Democratic Party. His enemies are in certain offices of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Norbizness: The problem isn't continued f**k-ups or politicization of intelligence, the problem is discovering that such f**k-ups...
Scott Rosenberg: At the end of the most recent column by David Brooks came this timid confession: "Not that it will do him much good at this point, but I owe John Kerry an apology.
Sadly @SadlyNo: Some apology — Thanks to Atrios, we caught this David Brooks "correction:" "Not that it will do him much good at this point, but I owe John Kerry an apology.
Tom Maguire: David Brooks provides a helpful starting point - he casts this as an attempt by the Bush Administration to take control of an overly independent CIA.
Joe Gandelman: Plus, there seem to be other dynamics at play here as well: Some such as David Brooks have called for a crackdown on the...
Avedon Carol: Bush politicized the intelligence-gathering process, and now David Brooks is complaining that the CIA is being political when they object to this waste of their efforts.
Also: Ken Masugi, Tom Tomorrow, Atrios, Oliver @LiquidList, Laura Rozen, Rickheller @Centerfield, Hindrocket, Roger L. Simon, Orrin Judd, Betsy Newmark

What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
HURRICANE FRANCES was on its way, barreling across the Caribbean, threatening a direct hit on Florida's Atlantic coast. Residents made for higher ground, but far away, in Bentonville, Ark., executives at Wal-Mart Stores decided that the situation offered a...
Jan Haugland: Of course, when you wait for a hurricane, you stock up on beer.
Orrin Judd: What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits (CONSTANCE L. HAYS, 11/14/04, NY Times) [snipped quote] There's never a bad time to stock up on beer and Pop-Tarts.
Greg Ransom: STRAWBERRY POP-TARTS & BEER — what Wal-Mart knows and other retailers don't.

Rights Lawyers See Possibility of a War Crime
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Nov. 12 - Human rights experts said Friday that American soldiers might have committed a war crime on Thursday when they sent fleeing Iraqi civilians back into Falluja.
Jeralyn Merritt: Human rights groups charge that the U.S. soldiers may have committed a war crime this past Thursday by forcing fleeing...
Charles Johnson: Human rights experts are muttering "war crimes," and the New York Times is all over it: Rights Lawyers See Possibility of a War Crime.
Orrin Judd: ONLY ONE SOVEREIGN (via Pat H): Rights Lawyers See Possibility of a War Crime (MICHAEL JANOFSKY, 11/13/04, NY Times)...

Cheney, Short of Breath, Heads to Hospital
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney , who has a history of heart trouble, was having tests at a hospital Saturday after experiencing some shortness of breath, a White House spokesman said.
Joe Gandelman: There was a flurry of concerned activity yesterday when the man who is a "heartbeat away from the Presidency" suffered a...
Captain Ed: VP Sent To Hospital — Vice President Dick Cheney experienced "shortness of breath" and was taken to a hospital this...
Orrin Judd: PAGING DR. RICE: Cheney Undergoes Tests at Hospital (DEB RIECHMANN, 11/13/04, Associated Press) "Vice President Dick...
Ace: Cheney Hospitalized For Shortness of Breath; Undergoing Cardiac Tests — On FoxNews now. A Yahoo print report.

'Zappa': Freak Out!
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
FRANK ZAPPA is one of the most unclassifiable figures in American popular music. A passionate devotee of rhythm and blues, he fused rock with jazz and atonal music. His persona was half angry Beat hipster and half loopy Mad magazine satirist.
Jeff @BeautifulAtrocities: CAMILLE PAGLIA on new bio of iconoclast Frank Zappa: "Addicted to black coffee & cigarettes (he was fiercely antidrugs), Zappa slept during the day & saw little of his family.
Ann Althouse: Paglia on Zappa. Camille Paglia reviews a new book about Frank Zappa in the NYT Book Review.

Cheney Goes to the Hospital
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Vice President Cheney, who has had four heart attacks, was undergoing a battery of tests at George Washington University Hospital this afternoon after experiencing shortness of breath at his official residence this morning, aides said.
Roger Ailes: The Washington Post reports: "If Cheney were to die in office or become incapacitated, Bush would have the right to...
Jeralyn Merritt: Vice President Dick Cheney has checked himself into a hospital after experiencing shortness of breath.
KJL: FOLLOWING UP ON JONAH'S POST — Cheney's ok.

Vice President Cheney taken to hospital
  CNN   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Vice President Dick Cheney is undergoing tests at George Washington University Hospital after experiencing shortness of breath, the White House said Saturday.
It is unknown whether Cheney, who has a history of heart problems, will be admitted.
Jeff Goldstein: Cheney Hospitalized — From CNN: "Vice President Dick Cheney is undergoing tests at George Washington University...
James Martin Capozzola: Disappearing Breath [*] Vice President Dick Cheney has been taken to the George Washington University Hospital, complaining of "shortness of breath."
Jeralyn Merritt: Dick Cheney Hospitalized....What If? Update: Cheney has left the hospital. He feels great, says his wife Lynn.

CBS Axes Producer for Arafat Cut-In
  Broadcasting & Cable   —   Permalink 
CBS News has axed a news producer who cut into prime-time programming Wednesday night to report the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The staffer, a female senior producer for CBS's overnight newscast Up to the Minute, broke in to CSI: N.Y. shortly before 11 p.m. with the report, outraging viewers who missed the end of the crime drama.
Magpie @PacificViews: CBS News has fired a news producer who cut into CSI: NY to announce the death of Yasir Arafat. The network apologized on-air for the interruption.
Steve Lovelady: That would go to the anonymous CBS executive who axed the producer who had the temerity to cut into Wednesday night's...
FrancoAlemán: CBS FIRES a producer over the Arafat cut-in, and Dan Rather and Mary Maples stay after the fake memos fiasco? Amazing.

Plus ca change?
  Townhall.com   —   Permalink 
Suha Arafat's rant against leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat's heirs apparent earlier in the week was revealing in many ways. On a basic level, it showed much about the nature of the PA and the PLO which Arafat has built and led.
Deacon: Why the PLO must go the way of Arafat — For a "reality-based" assessment of the post-Arafat landscape, there's no one I would rather read than Carolyn Glick of the Jerusalem Post.
Charles Johnson: Glick: Plus Ca Change — Caroline B. Glick has a good analysis of what it will take for things to change for the better in the Palestinian Authority: Plus ca change?

Police: Couple planned to 'sacrifice' children
  AP   —   Permalink 
ROCHESTER, New Hampshire (AP) — A woman and her boyfriend are accused of plotting to sacrifice the woman's three children on a church altar.
Nicole Mancini, 29, and John Thurber, 35, were arrested at St. Mary's Church on Wednesday after workers said they heard the woman say she wanted to sacrifice the boys.
Jack Cluth: Another DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener — Police: Couple planned to 'sacrifice' children DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener #163: Nicole...
Jan Haugland: Church child sacrifice — New Hampshire police suspects a couple planned to sacrifice their three children at the altar of the church.

Angry White Male is now Bigoted Christian Redneck
  By / Houston Chronicle   —   Permalink 
In 1994, when the Gingrich revolution swept Republicans into power, ending 40 years of Democratic hegemony, the mainstream press needed to account for this inversion of the Perfect Order of Things. A myth was born.
Jack Cluth: To the victor goes the right to whine about and condemn those who disagree — Angry White Male is now Bigoted Christian...
Jerome Armstrong: Krauthammer, the "Pulitzer Prize-winning" mythical vote counter — Doesn't anyone fact check before they post this tool in the Houston Chronicle?

Deputy chief resigns from CIA
  MSNBC   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - The deputy director of the CIA resigned yesterday after a series of confrontations over the past week between senior operations officials and CIA Director Porter J. Goss's new chief of staff that have left the agency in turmoil, according to several current and former CIA officials.
Tom @Corrente: Goss the incompetent — I see that W and the boys have been screwing it up, as usual.
Laura Rozen: Two top officials resign from the CIA, the Post reports. The problem?

No Embeds at Landstuhl
  By / Editor and Publisher   —   Permalink 
Dozens of embedded reporters re-enlisted this week, and hundreds of newspapers breathlessly recounted the invasion of the insurgent stronghold (which turned out to be not quite as strong as expected), as if it was the turning point in the war.
DemFromCT: Or both? Update (by Kos): Over 400 wounded US soldiers have been airlifted to Germany for medical treatment.
Atrios: No Embeds at Landstuhl — Greg Mitchell informs us that there are no reporters embedded at Landstuhl. 400+ wounded have been taken there this week.

On 'Moral Values,' It's Blue in a Landslide
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
FAREWELL to Swift boats and "Shove it!," to Osama's tape and Saddam's missing weapons, to "security moms" and outsourced dads. They've all been sent to history's dustbin faster than Ralph Nader memorabilia was dumped on eBay.
Tom Tomorrow: Which may be why Frank Rich chooses to emphasize the difference in red and blue culture: "The blue ascendancy is nearly as strong among Republicans as it is among Democrats.
DemFromCT: In either case, Michael Crowley at Slate has a profile that's worth a read: "Although the notion that the religious...

Let them eat cake
  Observer   —   Permalink 
Bofinger, in the rue de la Bastille, is the oldest brasserie in Paris, the haunt of presidents and ministers, Chiracs and chevaliers. It is also my favourite place to dine in the whole world.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: It has instead to do with this article, which explains why French women are able to have their cake, eat it, and not...
Lexington Green: Why is this? This interesting and well written article offers a lengthy explanation.

Flames engulf mosque in Netherlands
  AP   —   Permalink 
THE HAGUE Netherlands — Flames engulfed a mosque in southeastern Netherlands early Saturday, the latest in a string of fires at Muslim institutions since the killing of a Dutch filmmaker who was critical of Islam.
McQ: But it appears, in the wake of this murder, that the tolerance may only be skin deep.
Captain Ed: Unfortunately for the Netherlands, at least a few of its citizens have decided that the Dutch government has lost the...
Orrin Judd: Flames engulf mosque in Netherlands (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 11/13/04) "Flames engulfed a mosque in southeastern...
Arthur Chrenkoff: The wrong way to fight terror — Comes the reaction: [snipped quote] This is not on.

Ivory Coast Violence Breaks French Connection
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Nov. 12 — Chanting, "We want the French!" a crowd of armed and angry young men swept past La Planta, a club owned by an Ivorian. They started to attack the nearby Byblos restaurant, then stopped when the owner pleaded, "No, no! I'm Lebanese!"
David Adesnik: WINNING HEARTS & MINDS, A LA FRANCAISE: Dateline Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire — [snipped quote] If the French get chased out...
Cliff May: The result: Angry mobs attacking anybody and everything French. Are these really the people we would want to help us in Iraq?

Can Bush Deliver a Conservative Supreme Court?
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — At a press conference two days after his re-election, President Bush was asked about what sort of Supreme Court justice he might nominate if and when the ailing Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist retires.
Orrin Judd: THEY CAN READ THE RETURNS: Can Bush Deliver a Conservative Supreme Court?
Glenn Reynolds: UPDATE: Jeff Rosen: "In the last 36 years, four Republican presidents have appointed all but two of the current nine justices.

Bush Paints Rosy Picture of Iraq Situation
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - President Bush painted a rosy picture of the situation in Iraq , claiming significant progress Saturday in the U.S. military's battle in an insurgent stronghold.
In his weekly radio address, Bush praised the assault on Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
James Martin Capozzola: Disappearing Allies "Significant progress" is a far cry from "mission accomplished," don't you think?
Atrios: Progress — Bush radio address today: [snipped quote] Bush radio address every other goddamn week.

Shelling Continues in Fallujah as Official Says 1,000 Insurgents Killed; U.S., Iraqi Reinforcements Sent to Mosul
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - Backed by tanks and artillery fire, U.S. troops launched a major attack Saturday against insurgent holdouts in southern Fallujah, hoping to finish off resistance in what had been the major guerrilla bastion of central Iraq.
Jeff Goldstein: Overheard inside a Fallujah bunker, Saturday, November 13 — First militant: [snipped quote] Second militant
Rodney Dill: Fighting in Fallujah and Elsewhere — Official claims 1000 insurgents killed.

Rumsfeld Meets With Central America Allies
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — During a one-day stop in a country to which the United States once shipped many millions of dollars' worth of weaponry, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld offered a message of disarmament.
James Martin Capozzola: Just Disappear He may protest that his intentions are noble, but really, shouldn't we keep Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld out of Central America?
Orrin Judd: CONTRADICTION: Rumsfeld Meets With Central America Allies (Mark Mazzetti, November 13, 2004, LA Times)

Deputy Chief Resigns From CIA
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
The deputy director of the CIA resigned yesterday after a series of confrontations over the past week between senior operations officials and CIA Director Porter J. Goss's new chief of staff that have left the agency in turmoil, according to several current and former CIA officials.
Tom Maguire: That said, these seem to be the key stories: [Memeorandum] WaPo, "Deputy Chief Resigns From CIA", Nov 13, 2004, Dana...
Christopher @ShrillBlog: CIA begins meltdown procedures as directors resign including the chief all overseas anti-terror efforts
Steve Soto: Porter Goss Begins Destroying The CIA — George W. Bush's politicization of the CIA through his installation of the...
Bird Dog: So with a new CIA director, a newly minted second presidential term and the possibility of a new national intelligence director, what are we hearing from the Washington Post?
Michael Froomkin: CIA Under Goss: Train Wreck in the Making — In Deputy Chief Resigns From CIA, the Washington Post gives us a peek at the train wreck in the making at the CIA.
James Martin Capozzola: The Washington Post today reports ("Deputy Chief Resigns From CIA," by Dana Priest): "The deputy director of the CIA...
Also: Dave Johnson, Rickheller @Centerfield, Barbara O'Brien, Roger L. Simon, Orrin Judd, Kash, Betsy Newmark, Susan Madrak

U.S. suspects many insurgents have fled
  By / Washington Times   —   Permalink 
The U.S. military thinks many insurgents fled Fallujah, blending in with the waves of Iraqi civilians who were given weeks to leave before the coalition invaded and disappointing war planners who were hoping to kill a huge number of enemy guerrillas there, military officials said yesterday.
Jim Henley: Meanwhile, Ryan Scarborough in the Washington Times quotes US officials who suspect that there may have been fewer than 1,000 rebels in the city at the time the attack began.
Arthur Chrenkoff: As the Coalition forces are now in control of some four fifths of Fallujah, battling against an undetermined, but now...

Internet post-election rumors missing one little thing: evidence
  By / St. Petersburg Times   —   Permalink 
Claims are lighting up the Internet that last week's presidential election was rigged and stolen. Some of this also has crept into the cable TV networks and conspiracy peddlers on radio.
Ordinarily I would ignore this as background noise.
Jim Lindgren: Here is a nice summary by Howard Troxler (tip Instapundit) of some of the most common internet rumors about the...
Ace: We Won, You Lost, Get Over It — Good point-by-insipid-point debunking of the "stolen election" ravings of the frothy left.
Glenn Reynolds: MORE DEBUNKING of election-fraud theories.

CBS News Fires Producer Over Arafat Special Report
  By / Reuters   —   Permalink 
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - CBS News has fired the producer responsible for interrupting the last five minutes of a hit crime drama with a special report on the death of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, a network source said on Friday.
Laura Rozen: CBS has gone stark raving mad. Update: Readers don't seem to agree with me that it was unreasonable of CBS to fire the...
Jeff Quinton: The Jawa Report linked with No Blood for Ivory Update—Ivory Coast to Sue France in Hague — CBS Fires Producer Reuters...
Acidman: They'll fire your ass for that kind of mistake. After all, CBS News has high standards.