meme orandum
A newfangled news tangle
Archive Edition for   Thursday, March 3, 2005Go to Current Page
Google
Web News


memeorandum presents an automated hourly synopsis of the latest online news and opinion, combining weblog commentary with traditional news reports.   (More)

Site Notices

Subscribe:   XML   (Help)
  •Add to My Yahoo!
  •Add to Bloglines


Recent archives:



Quoted in this edition:

Ace of Spades HQ
  Ace
Althouse
  Ann Althouse
AMERICAN DIGEST Essays
  Vanderleun
Amygdala
  Gary Farber
Angry Bear
  PGL
ARMAVIRUMQUE
  Stefan Beck
Associated Press
  Salah Nasrawi
  Laura Meckler
  Ryan Pearson
  Todd Pitman
  Alan Fram
  Nedra Pickler
  Genaro C. Armas
  David Espo
  Hope Yen
THE BELGRAVIA DISPATCH
  Gregory Djerejian
Betsy's Page
  Betsy Newmark
Billmon
  Billmon
Brad DeLong's Website
  DeLong
BrothersJudd Blog
  Orrin Judd
  David Cohen
Burnt Orange Report
  Jim Dallas
BuzzMachine
  Jeff Jarvis
Captain's Quarters
  Captain Ed
Centerfield
  Ufrh4 @Centerfield
Chicago Sun Times
  Robert Novak
  Shamus Toomey
Chris C Mooney
  Chris Mooney
The Claremont Institute
  Ken Masugi
  Richard Reeb
Clayton Cramer's BLOG
  Clayton Cramer
CNET.com
  Declan McCullagh
CNN
The Corner
  Ramesh Ponnuru
  K. J. Lopez
  John Derbyshire
  Jonah Goldberg
  Rich Lowry
corrente
  Lambert @Corrente
COUNTERCOLUMN
  Jason Van Steenwyk
Crescat Sententia
  Will Baude
Daily Kos
  DavidNYC @DailyKos
  Armando @DailyKos
Daimnation!
  Damian Penny
Dan Gillmor on Grassroots Journalism, Etc.
  Dan Gillmor
Democratic Veteran
  Jo Fish
DER SPIEGEL
  Jody K. Biehl
Discourse.net
  Michael Froomkin
Dr. Frank's What's-it
  Dr. Frank
Drudge Report
EdCone.com
  Ed Cone
Electablog* U.S. Ambassador to Cyberspace
  David Allan Pell
Eschaton
  Atrios
etc.
  Noam Scheiber
Ezra Klein
  Ezra Klein
FactCheck.org
Fafblog!
  Medium Lobster
  Fafnir
Financial Times
  Roula Khalaf
Fraters Libertas
  Atomizer l link
Guardian
  Jonathan Freedland
Happy Furry Puppy Story Time with Norbizness
  Norbizness
Harry's Place
  Harry @HarrysPlace
  Marcus @HarrysPlace
Harvard Crimson
  Anna M. Friedman
Hit and Run
  Michael Young
  Tim Cavanaugh
  Matt Welch
The Indepundit
  Smash
Indianapolis Star
  Maureen Groppe
Informed Comment
  Juan Cole
Instapundit.com
  Glenn Reynolds
Ipse Dixit
  C. D. Harris
Israel news and commentary from IsraPundit
  Ted Belman
JustOneMinute
  Tom Maguire
Las Vegas Sun
  Dan Kulin
Lebanon Daily Star
  Nada Raad
The Left Coaster
  Yuval Rubinstein
The Liquid List
  Oliver @LiquidList
  Tarek @LiquidList
Little Green Footballs
  Charles Johnson
Los Angeles Times
  Barbara Demick
  Max Boot
  Doug Bandow
The Mahablog
  Barbara O'Brien
Mathew Gross
  Mathew Gross
  Richard Schwartz
Matthew Yglesias
  Matthew Yglesias
MaxSpeak, You Listen!
  Max B. Sawicky
Media Notes Extra
  Howard Kurtz
  Brian Stelter
Michelle Malkin
  Michelle Malkin
The Moderate Voice
  Greg Piper
  Jack Grant
  Joe Gandelman
MSNBC
MyDD
  Chris Bowers
  Bob Brigham
  Buckfush
NathanNewman.org
  Nathan Newman
The National Debate
  RCox
National Review
The New Republic
  Will Baude
New York Observer
  Sheelah Kolhatkar
New York Times
  Robert D. Kaplan
  Richard W. Stevenson
  Linda Greenhouse
  Edmund L. Andrews
  Thomas L. Friedman
  Flynt Leverett
  Neil Macfarquhar
Obsidian Wings
  Charles Bird
Off the Kuff
  Charles Kuffner
Oliver Kamm
  Oliver Kamm
Oliver Willis
  Oliver Willis
Opinion Journal
  Quin Hillyer
  Peggy Noonan
Opinions You Should Have
  Tom Burka
Orcinus
  David Neiwert
Outside The Beltway
  James Joyner
pandagon.net
  Lindsay Beyerstein
  Amanda Marcotte
ParaPundit
  Randall Parker
Patrick Ruffini '05
  Patrick Ruffini
Pejmanesque
  Pejman Yousefzadeh
The People's Republic of Seabrook
  Jack Cluth
Philip Greenspun's Weblog
  Philip Greenspun
PoliBlog
  Steven Taylor
PoliPundit.com
  Lorie Byrd
Power Line
  Hindrocket
  The Big Trunk
  Deacon
PRESTOPUNDIT
  Greg Ransom
ProfessorBainbridge.com
  Steve Bainbridge
protein wisdom
  Jeff Goldstein
The QandO Blog
  McQ
  Jon Henke
  Dale Franks
Rantingprofs
  Cori Dauber
Reuters
  Inal Ersan
  Thomas Ferraro
rexblog.com
  Rex Hammock
The Right Coast
  Tom Smith
Roger L. Simon
  Roger L. Simon
Rolling Stone
  Tim Dickinson
Salon
  Eric Boehlert
Samizdata.net
  Brian Micklethwait
Scott Rosenberg's Links & Comment
  Scott Rosenberg
Secular Blasphemy
  Jan Haugland
Seeing The Forest
  Dave Johnson
Shot In The Dark
  Mitch Berg
The Sideshow
  Avedon Carol
Silflay Hraka
  Kehaar
  Bigwig
skippy the bush kangaroo
  Skippy
slacktivist
  Fred Clark
Slant Point
  Scott Sala
Slate
  Dahlia Lithwick
  William Saletan
a small victory
  Michele Catalano
Southern Appeal
  JD @SouthernAppeal
soxblog
  James Frederick Dwight
Steve Clemons
  Steve Clemons
Suburban Guerrilla
  Susan Madrak
The Sun
  Trevor Kavanagh
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
  Taegan Goddard
The Talent Show
  Greg @TheTalentShow
Talking Points Memo
  Josh Marshall
TalkLeft
  Jeralyn Merritt
TAPPED
  Jeffrey Dubner
  Matthew Yglesias
»«TBogg»«
  Tbogg
Tech Central Station
  James H. Joyner Jr.
Telegraph
  David Blair
  Neil Tweedie
Think Progress
  Judd @ThinkProgress
Times of London
  Gerard Baker
Townhall.com
  Robert Novak
Travelling Shoes
  H.D. Miller
Unfogged
  Alameida @Unfogged
Unqualified Offerings
  Jim Henley
Vodkapundit
  Will Collier
  Stephen Green
The Volokh Conspiracy
  Eugene Volokh
  Orin Kerr
The Washington Monthly
  Kevin Drum
Washington Post
  Christopher Lee
  George F. Will
  Richard Leiby
  Dana Priest
  Mike Allen
Washington Times
  Audrey Hudson
  Rhonda Roumani
White House
Winds of Change.NET
  Armed Liberal
  Colt
  Robin Burk
Wizbang
  Kevin Aylward
  Paul @Wizbang



The coming crackdown on blogging
  By / CNET.com   —   Permalink 
Bradley Smith says that the freewheeling days of political blogging and online punditry are over.
In just a few months, he warns, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site.
Jeff Jarvis: FEC follies : There's a considerable dustup today over an interview with Federal Election Commission Bradley Smith...
Rex Hammock: Here's a challenge to CNET - Prove there is a "coming crackdown on blogging": Somebody at CNET has decided to put this...
Charles Johnson: Here's an article by Declan McCullagh about an issue that all bloggers need to be aware of, as Democratic commissioners...
Medium Lobster: There's Been Far Too Much Free Speech Around Here Lately — Campaign finance reform is coming to the internet, and the Medium Lobster must say it's long overdue.
Amanda Marcotte: Seems like the FEC has decided that "bloggers" (mostly Daily Kos) are getting too much money to candidates.
Captain Ed: Now Federal Election Commissioner Bradley Smith explains exactly how MFA could mean the end of political blogging, as we...
Also: Bill Hobbs, Ace, Joe Gandelman, Kriston @BeggingToDiffer, Dale Franks, McQ, Radley Balko, Scott Sala, Susanna Cornett, Steve Bainbridge, Michelle Malkin, Jerome Armstrong, Mimus Pauly, Paul @Wizbang, PoliPundit, Jeff Goldstein, Nathan Newman, Susan Madrak, Armando @DailyKos, James Joyner, Pejman Yousefzadeh, Charles Kuffner, Orrin Judd, Josh Marshall, Taegan Goddard, Glenn Reynolds, Atrios, Jesse Walker, Smash, JD @SouthernAppeal, Ed Cone, Stirling Newberry, K. J. Lopez

N. Korea, Without the Rancor
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
BEIJING — He arrived at the entrance to a North Korean government-owned restaurant and karaoke club here in the Chinese capital with a handshake and a request. "Call me Mr. Anonymous," he said in English.
Hindrocket: It is about North Korea—an apology for North Korea, actually—and is bizarrely titled "North Korea, Without the Rancor".
Will Collier: Propaganda on the Front Page — Hugh Hewitt is off on a show-long rant over today's risible LA Times front-pager about North Korea.
Roger L. Simon: Which Side Are You On - Part 1000+ Hugh Hewitt has a post about an article in the LAT today about North Korea ("North Korea, Without the Rancor").
Jason Van Steenwyk: This girl's the journalistic equivalent of a cum-guzzling camp follower. I'm talking about this.
Vanderleun: [TODAY'S FUROR OVER THE AWFUL LA TIMES LOVE TYRST WITH NORTH KOREA — N. Korea, Without the Rancor — is neither surprising nor unexpected.
Armed Liberal: On the front page of the L.A. Times today: "N. Korea, Without the Rancor - A businessman speaks his mind about the U.S., the 'nuclear club' and human rights issues."
Also: Hugh Hewitt, Pejman Yousefzadeh, Orrin Judd

False Attacks Over "Windfalls" to Wall Street
  FactCheck.org   —   Permalink 
New information turned up by FactCheck.org shows that the type of private Social Security accounts being proposed by President Bush would yield very little profit to the securities industry, contrary to persistent claims of a potentially huge "windfall" to Wall Street.
Judd @ThinkProgress: FackCheck.org Blows It — Today, FactCheck.org - a website run by UPenn's Annenberg Public Policy Center - lambastes...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: IS SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM A "WINDFALL FOR WALL STREET"? No.
Susan Madrak: FACTCHECK THEIR ASSES — I got this email from Factcheck.org and I knew it was screwy, because I wrote about this before...
Ramesh Ponnuru: WINDFALLS FOR WALL STREET? Not according to factcheck.org.

Saudis to Syria: Withdraw From Lebanon
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
CAIRO, Egypt — Saudi officials told Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday that he must soon begin fully withdrawing troops from Lebanon or face strains in Saudi-Syrian ties, an official said. Assad promised only to study the idea of a partial withdrawal by later this month.
Captain Ed: The Egyptians earlier today alluded to Saudi expectations for a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, and now the Saudis have...
Stephen Green: UPDATE: Looks like Assad didn't get much of a shoulder to cry on from the Crown Prince: [snipped quote] Question is, will...
Smash: Saudi to Syria: Leave Lebanon — BASHAR ASSAD went to Riyahd looking for friends, but got the old cold shoulder.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: THE PRESSURE BUILDS — Now, even the Saudis have jumped on the "Free Lebanon" bandwagon: [snipped quote] I predict that...
Orrin Judd: ABANDONED BABY: Saudis to Syria: Withdraw From Lebanon (SALAH NASRAWI, March 3, 2005, AP) [snipped quote] How much more isolated can he get?
Glenn Reynolds: MORE BAD NEWS FOR ASSAD: Saudis Tell Syria to Withdraw From Lebanon.

GOP catches heat on Bush plan
  By / Chicago Sun Times   —   Permalink 
George W. Bush, who is not prone to confessing mistakes, has confided to close associates that he committed a whopper on Social Security. He admitted error in pushing for new personal accounts while not stressing the repair of the safety net for seniors.
Ann Althouse: Robert Novak writes (via Memeorandum): "George W. Bush, who is not prone to confessing mistakes, has confided to close associates that he committed a whopper on Social Security.
Dale Franks: Robert Novak writes that GOP lawmakers got an earful about changing Social Security, and not much of it was supportive.
Jack Grant: Robert Novak appears to believe that the changes in Social Security being pushed by President Bush will not survive passage through Congress without major changes.
Noam Scheiber: And here's the first paragraph of Bob Novak's column today: "George W. Bush, who is not prone to confessing mistakes,...
Barbara O'Brien: Rightie blogger Orrin Judd quotes a Bob the Lizard column in which the Reptile points to a proposal from Senator Lindsey...
Rich Lowry: NOVAK SAYS THINGS ARE SWINGING... ...Lindsey Graham's way on Social Security.

Pryor Impressions
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
MOBILE, Ala.—If judicial nominations represent the spear-point of all of the partisan battles in Washington, former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor is the poison on the spear.
Oliver @LiquidList: Politics: Hacking Up A Nut — Mobile Register columnist Quin Hillyer's WSJ op-ed defending Bush judicial nominee Bill...
James Joyner: Fillibustering Bill Pryor — Mobile Register columnist Quin Hillyer has a piece in today's WSJ explaining Alabamian's...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: IN SUPPORT OF BILL PRYOR — Quin Hillyer has a comprehensive editorial supporting Bill Pryor's appointment to the 11th...
Jeffrey Dubner: Look around at the established conservative coverage and you'll see that everybody wants to skip right past Myers'...
Deacon: Why they filibuster — Quin Hillyer of the Mobile (Ala.) Register says that Alabamans want to know why Bill Pryor is being filibustered in the Senate.
Orrin Judd: LANCE ALOT LINK: Pryor Impressions: Alabamans want to know why Bill Pryor is being filibustered in the Senate.
Also: Betsy Newmark, Steve Dillard, K. J. Lopez

New Poll Finds Bush Priorities Are Out of Step With Americans
  NYT   —   Permalink 
Americans say President Bush does not share the priorities of most of the country on either domestic or foreign issues, are increasingly resistant to his proposal to revamp Social Security and say they are uneasy with Mr. Bush's ability to make the right decisions about the retirement program, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Jon Henke: The Do Something Style of American Politics — Matt Yglesias stalks the elusive North American Clue... "Which is all by...
Ezra Klein: Loads O' Polling — To say Bush's priorities aren't polling well would be to understate the remarkable reverse-Midas touch he's been demonstrating.
James Frederick Dwight: But the New York Times' chronic misrepresentations of its own poll results has become so habitual and has been repeated...
Kevin Drum: POLL RESULTS....The New York Times reports today that "New Poll Finds Bush Priorities Are Out of Step With Americans."
Matthew Yglesias: The "what liberal media?" argument is not exactly being bolstered by The New York Times' decision to use the headline...
Barbara O'Brien: "[Minneapolis Star Tribune]" Adam Nagourney and Janet Elder write in today's New York Times that "Americans say...
Also: Noam Scheiber, Jeff Jarvis, Taegan Goddard, Gregory Djerejian, Armando @DailyKos, Zoe Kentucky, Frederick Maryland, Shawn @LiquidList, Josh Marshall

What have the Americans ever done for us? Liberated 50 million people...
  By / Times of London   —   Permalink 
ONE OF MY favourite cinematic moments is the scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian when Reg, aka John Cleese, the leader of the People's Front of Judea, is trying to whip up anti-Roman sentiment among his team of slightly hesitant commandos.
Betsy Newmark: Here's what Monty Python might say about the United States.
Lorie Byrd: Gerard Baker makes an incredibly funny and appropriate comparison of the current attitude of Europe to the US to a...
McQ: "What has the US done for us lately" ala Monty Python — I'm a sucker for anything Python ... Monty that is, so when...

Low Opinion
  By / TNR   —   Permalink 
On Tuesday the Supreme Court ruled in Roper v. Simmons that it is unconstitutional to execute people for crimes they committed before turning 18. As in Atkins v. Virginia, which outlawed the death penalty for the mentally retarded in 2003, the Court cited...
Deacon: For a closely reasoned New Republic piece by a Yale law student that focuses, quaintly, on the legal merit of Kennedy's...
Orin Kerr: Baude on Roper on Foreign Law: Will Baude offers thoughts on the use and misuse of foreign law in Roper v. Simmons at The New Republic Online.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: MORE ON ROPER — Will Baude directs us to his latest New Republic article—this one on the Supreme Court's opinion in Roper v. Simmons.
Will Baude: Still More Roper — I have a piece up at TNR Online criticizing the Supreme Court's use of international law in Roper v. Simmons.

Bush Proposal Differs Greatly From Model
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The federal Thrift Savings Plan is to individual Social Security accounts what fashion runway attire is to personal wardrobe: an attractive model, but in the wider world things just don't fit quite the same way.
Max B. Sawicky: TSP THE MODEL (NOT) Why is this personal savings account different from all other personal savings accounts.
Judd @ThinkProgress: I guess they missed this article in today's Washington Post: "Bush's proposed accounts differ substantially from the 19-year-old TSP [Thrift Savings Plan].

A Pisher's Privilege
  By / New York Observer   —   Permalink 
On the brink of the publication of his first book, a memoir-cum-sociology-tract called Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class, Ross Gregory Douthat was looking earnest and somber in tan cords and a navy V-necked sweater, lunching on a B.L.T....
Matthew Yglesias: Troubling Questions — I don't really have anything to say about The New York Observer's look at Ross Douthat, "the...
K. J. Lopez: I KNEW HIM WHEN... Former NR intern Ross Douthat gets a nice profile in the NY Observer this week, to coincide with the release of his new book.
Orin Kerr: When I First Read this profile in the New York Observer, I wondered if it was just a parody poking fun at the pretentiousness of Harvard graduates.

Stewart to be released early Friday
  MSNBC   —   Permalink 
America's most famous white-collar inmate, Martha Stewart, is expected to be released from prison early Friday after serving a five-month term for insider trading, NBC News has learned.
Stewart, 63, is expected to walk out of the Alderson federal prison camp in West Virginia shortly after midnight and into a media frenzy.
Brian Stelter: Martha's Midnight Media Moment — Martha Stewart "is expected to walk out of the Alderson federal prison camp in West...
Jeralyn Merritt: Martha Stewart Released Tonight — At 12:01 am ET Friday morning, or tonight for those of us in the CST, MST and PST...

Neocons May Get the Last Laugh
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
In 2003, more than a month before the invasion of Iraq, I wrote in the Weekly Standard that the forthcoming fall of Baghdad "may turn out to be one of those hinge moments in history — events like the storming of the Bastille or the fall of the Berlin Wall — after which everything is different.
Medium Lobster: But one would be wrong - oh, so terribly wrong.
Betsy Newmark: Max Boot enages in a bit of well-deserved gloating. "It would be the height of hubris to claim that all these developments are due to U.S. action alone.
Glenn Reynolds: ALTHOUGH I UNDERSTAND THE TEMPTATION, it's still a bit early for this much gloating. Isn't it?
Matt Welch: Doesn't mean that they'll get there, or that the policy debate is over, or that you have to suddenly accept the Max Boot version of history.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: MORE GLOATING — Max Boot gloats: [snipped quote] Note that I am a libertarian-conservative, and not a neoconservative.

And That's the Way It Was
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
Let's think more about how America gets the news.
The network news organizations and their old flagship shows, the evening news, are in flux: falling ratings, an aging demographic, competition from cable, a general loss of prestige, Rathergate.
Richard Reeb: Peggy Noonan Thinks So The major news networks have taken some pretty big hits in recent months, notably Rathergate, but...
Vanderleun: 5-Minute Arguments — Put Down That Newspaper and Step Away from the Anchordesk THERE'S SO MUCH GOOD SENSE in Peggy...
Brian Stelter: How To Get A Cronkite — Peggy Noonan dissects the "myth of Cronkiteism" in an op-ed this morning.
Cori Dauber: This morning she's writing about how network news (particularly CBS) can save itself (which means, implicitly, about how...
Glenn Reynolds: HOWARD KURTZ: [snipped quote] Nope. But it might be more comforting to blame him than to look at root causes.
Betsy Newmark: Peggy Noonan has some good advice for the network news. FIrst of all, stop wasting so much money on trying to have some megastar anchor.

THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
  Drudge Report   —   Permalink 
Here SHE is.
The President of the United States.
Coming soon, if ABC's drama pilot "Commander in Chief" gets picked up.
Scott Sala: Matt Drudge is intimating the selection of Geena Davis to play the President of the United States in an upcoming ABC series Commander in Chief is a plot to help Hillary.
Roger L. Simon: Casting Error at ABC — No offense to Geena Davis, but the way things are going these days, ABC should have chosen an African-American actress for the lead in their new series.
Ace: And yet, hoping to cash in on The Left Wing's plunging ratings, ABC figures it's a good idea to explore a premise that...

Cut Buster Loose
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
In 1967 Lyndon Johnson added yet another piece to the jigsaw puzzle of national perfection: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was born. Public television was a dubious idea even when concocted as a filigree on the Great Society.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: Is long overdue, as George Will points out: [snipped quote] For those who object to Will's advocacy—and my advocacy of...
Michelle Malkin: CUT BASEBALL LOOSE — Great op-ed by George Will calling for an end to government subsidies of public television.
James Joyner: Taking Public Funding Out of Public Broadcasting — George Will argues, persuasively, for ending taxpayer financing for...
Betsy Newmark: George Will is absolutely smack-on in saying that we should stop funding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

BGLTSA calls comments "heteronormative," pledges to work with Foundation
  By / Harvard Crimson   —   Permalink 
After some students were offended by Jada Pinkett Smith's comments at Saturday's Cultural Rhythms show, the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance (BGLTSA) and the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations have begun working together to increase sensitivity toward issues of sexuality at Harvard.
Philip Greenspun: Maybe women wouldn't want to get married if they knew how time-consuming it was — A 40ish friend he told me about life...
Clayton Cramer: The Right To Not Be Uncomfortable — I confess that I am so old that I have no idea who this person is that is the...
McQ: The sin of being "heteronormative" — It's being reported by the Harvard Crimson that Jada Pinkett Smith apparently made...
JD @SouthernAppeal: Jada Pinkett Smith was, and she's caused some Harvardians to get their presumably non-heteronormative knickers in a twist.

In Lobbyists' Quarrel Over Ad,Is It Too Late to Kiss & Make Up?
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
What do gay marriage, combat in Iraq and Social Security reform have in common? If you said "uh — nothing," then you clearly haven't seen the incendiary ad cooked up by USA Next, a conservative group that has declared war on seniors lobby AARP.
Lindsay Beyerstein: AARP agenda.jpg How classy and family-friendly: Americablog reports that Art Linkletter's USANext has been stealing...
Bob Brigham: Now that Jarvis is getting his ass sued, he's blaming the bloggers? "Buzz off, responds Charlie Jarvis, the group's CEO.

Senators Portray Bankruptcy Bill As Unfair
  AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stung by two days of defeat for their bids to revise a bill overhauling the bankruptcy laws, Senate Democrats are portraying the measure as making it harder for low-income, elderly and sick people to dissolve their debts while allowing the wealthy to shelter assets.
Chris Bowers: It looks almost certain that the horrible bankruptcy bill, possibly the worst piece of legislation since the Medicare bill, is going to pass.
DavidNYC @DailyKos: Unfortunately, nothing seems to be working: [snipped quote] I'd really love to know which Democratic Senators voted...

Frist Rejects Social Security Concerns
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Thursday that Congress must confront Social Security's problems this year, dialing back comments earlier in the week that action might have to wait.
''We need to do it this year.
Barbara O'Brien: Frist Retracts — Hey Hey Hey Hey tell me what'd I say ... [snipped quote] I only wonder why Frist took two days to retract.
Oliver Willis: Social Security: Still On — The GOP says they're still going to privatize and desstroy social security.

A Force for Good
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
AS the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln returned home to San Diego this week from its relief mission in Indonesia, the main lesson of the United States military's remarkable tsunami relief effort has yet to be acknowledged: that the global war on terrorism,...
Steve Clemons: Robert D. Kaplan, a former colleague of mine at the New America Foundation and a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly,...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: THE NAVY OF TODAY — Robert Kaplan has an interesting editorial worth reading and remembering during fights about...
Cori Dauber: Doing Good by Doing Well — Three critical take aways from Robert Kaplan's piece on the lessons to be drawn from...
Stephen Green: First In Help's Way — One of my favorite writers, Robert D Kaplan, argues in today's New York Times that the Terror War...

White land grab policy has failed, Mugabe confesses
  By / Telegraph   —   Permalink 
President Robert Mugabe confessed yesterday that millions of acres of prime land seized from Zimbabwe's white farmers are now lying empty and idle.
After years spent trumpeting the "success" of the land grab, Mr Mugabe, 81, admitted that most of the farms transferred to black owners have never been used.
Brian Micklethwait: Yet the Telegraph now offers this report, about how Mugabe has admitted to making a mistake!
John Derbyshire: POOR BUT PROUD — Robert Mugabe admits that most of the land "liberated" from white farmers by his gangs of activists has returned to the bush, and is now unproductive.
Damian Penny: Great job, Bob — Robert Mugabe now admits his "land redistribution" scheme has been a disastrous failure - a failure he will cure with even more land seizures.

CIA Avoids Scrutiny of Detainee Treatment
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
In November 2002, a newly minted CIA case officer in charge of a secret prison just north of Kabul allegedly ordered guards to strip naked an uncooperative young Afghan detainee, chain him to the concrete floor and leave him there overnight without blankets, according to four U.S. government officials aware of the case.
Michael Froomkin: YATA (Froze to Death in Detention) Yet Another Torture Allegation: Dana Priest, CIA Avoids Scrutiny of Detainee Treatment.
Armando @DailyKos: Secrets: CIA Detainee Abuses Still Unscrutinized — The excellent Dana Priest reports that the CIA is still not being forthcoming regarding its treatment of detainees.
Billmon: "Washington Post CIA Avoids Scrutiny of Detainee Treatment March 3, 2005 The floor of the cell is permanently wet."
Alameida @Unfogged: From the Washington Post: In November 2002, a newly minted CIA case officer in charge of a secret prison just north of...
Ezra Klein: Sick — What the f**k has happened to our country?

Naughtie pro-Labour gaffe
  By / The Sun   —   Permalink 
THE BBC's reputation for fair and balanced reporting was at risk last night after top broadcaster James Naughtie blurted out his pro-Labour sympathies.
In a live chat with ex-Treasury chief Ed Balls — weeks before the May 5 election — he asked: "If WE win the election, does Gordon Brown remain Chancellor?"
Damian Penny: A Freudian slip from BBC anchor James Naughtie: THE BBC's reputation for fair and balanced reporting was at risk last...
Michelle Malkin: BIAS BLUNDER AT THE BBC — A purportedly neutral BBC anchor slipped up yesterday and showed his true colors in an...
JD @SouthernAppeal: Naughty, naughty, Naughtie: Don't you hate it when your liberal slip shows?

Saudis Tell Syria to Withdraw From Lebanon
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
CAIRO, Egypt Mar 3, 2005 — Saudi officials told Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday that he must fully withdraw troops from Lebanon and begin soon or face strains in Saudi-Syrian ties. Assad promised only to study the idea of a partial withdrawal by later this month.
Jeff Goldstein: Creating new terrorists: Chimpy McHitlerBurton's smirky rodeo ride through history continues, #7 — From the AP: [snipped quote] THE ARAB WORLD IS UNITING AGAINST YOU, MR BUSH!
K. J. Lopez: SAUDIS tell Syria to get out of Lebanon.

White House May Accept Benefits Shift
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, March 2 - Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said Wednesday that the Bush administration would not rule out consideration of a very different approach to private investment accounts for Social Security from the one advocated so far by the White House.
Randall Parker: Bush Administration Treasury Secretary John Snow says that the Administration is willing to consider private retirement...
Tom Maguire: Sound Bite Management — Treasury Secretary John Snow signals the Administration's new desperation flexibility on Social Security, as reported by Richard Stevenson of the NY Times.

Russia, Germany Demand Syria Quit Lebanon
  By / Reuters   —   Permalink 
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Russia and Germany joined an international chorus of demands for Syria to leave Lebanon, and President Bashar al-Assad was expected to travel to Saudi Arabia on Thursday for talks diplomats said would focus on a pullout.
Glenn Reynolds: STILL MORE: The bandwagon continues to roll, with TigerHawk noting this report: "Russia and Germany joined an...
Jan Haugland: Russia wants Syria out of Lebanon — Even Russia joins in on demanding that Syria withdraws from Lebanon

Shut the Window, It's Getting Drafty
  By / TCS   —   Permalink 
Phil Carter and Paul Glastris make "The Case for the Draft" in the current Washington Monthly.
"America's all-volunteer military simply cannot deploy and sustain enough troops to succeed in places like Iraq while still deterring threats elsewhere in the world.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: James Joyner responds with the myriad problems a draft would bring and counters Carter's and Glastris's argument that conscription is necessary.
James Joyner: More when the piece gets published. Update (3-3): It's published. COL Austin Bay has some extensive thoughts on the issue as well.
Glenn Reynolds: THE "RESTORE THE DRAFT" PROPOSAL seems to be getting a chilly reception from quite a few people.

Take Two Tablets
  By / Slate   —   Permalink 
Listen to this story on NPR's Day to Day.
Imagine a bunch of elderly, black-robed medieval clerics absorbed in a scholarly dialogue on the number of angels (better make that "secular" angels—candy stripers or maybe Hell's Angels) able to dance on the head of a pin.
Greg @TheTalentShow: As embarrassing as it is for the college-bound "true love waits" crowd to be unfamiliar with the teachings that...
Norbizness: Of course, oral argument took place yesterday, and the true colors of the f**ked-up theocrats like Judge Scalia on the...

Justices Consider Religious Displays
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, March 2 - The justices of the Supreme Court appeared to wrestle with contradictory impulses on Wednesday as they heard arguments in two cases challenging government displays of the Ten Commandments.
Tom Burka: God Denies Scalia's Authority Derives From Him — [snipped quote] Today God, responding to a comment made by Justice...
Nathan Newman: Scalia on Theocracy — As the Court debates whether governments can display the Ten Commandments on public property,...

House Votes to Ease Ban on Hiring Bias
  AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, March 2 (AP) - Religious groups participating in federal job-training programs could hire people based on their religious beliefs under a jobs bill that narrowly passed the House on Wednesday.
Steve Bainbridge: "(Link)" It was a party line vote, with the Democrats lined up against faith-based organizations. So much for their hospitality.
Dave Johnson: Jews Need Not Apply — House Votes to Ease Ban on Hiring Bias, "Under current law, religious organizations that...

Greenspan Says Federal Budget Deficits Are 'Unsustainable'
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, March 2 - Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned on Wednesday that the federal budget deficits were "unsustainable," and he urged Congress to scrutinize both spending and taxes to solve the problem.
Steve Clemons: This from the New York Times today: Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned on Wednesday that the...
Orrin Judd: VIZZINI SPEAKS: Greenspan Says Federal Budget Deficits Are 'Unsustainable' (EDMUND L. ANDREWS, March 3, 2005, NY Times) I don't think that word means what you think it means.
Susan Madrak: HIS MASTER'S VOICE — I'm surprised Greenspan doesn't have whiplash, considering he's flipped in so many different positions: [snipped quote] Well, of course.

Flight marshal numbers disputed
  By / Washington Times   —   Permalink 
Flight reports by the Federal Air Marshal Service show that federal agents were on less than 10 percent of the nation's flights in December, a number several air marshals say was inflated to make it appear to Congress that commercial air travel is better protected than it is.
Bigwig: And one From The Washington Times: Flight marshal numbers disputed Probable Key Passage(s) : FAMS flight reports for...
Michelle Malkin: Now, relentless Washington Times reporter Audrey Hudson reveals that FAMS higher-ups may have apparently fudged...

Wolfowitz No Longer in World Bank Race -- Wolfensohn
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz is no longer in the running to head the World Bank, outgoing bank president James Wolfensohn said Thursday.
Richard Schwartz: Good News and Bad News — In the good news/bad news department, instead of a crazy neo-con as head of one of the arms of...
K. J. Lopez: WOLFY OR BONO? Somehow I knew the Wolfowitz for World Bank thing would get knocked down. But Bono...that's one I'd expect.

Democracy dawns in Arab world
  Times of London   —   Permalink 
IT IS a region known for rulers and despots, where power passes from father to son and opposition is silenced by the secret police.
Yet in the space of only a few weeks the Arab world has experienced a political upheaval that could signal a Levantine revolution in democracy like the collapse of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe 16 years ago.
Orrin Judd: "A NEW AGE IS NOT ONLY POSSIBLE BUT PROBABLE": Democracy dawns in Arab world (Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor and...
Marcus @HarrysPlace: Winds of Change — Two commentators on the new situation in the Middle East via the Times: "What happened in Beirut is the beginning of spring in the region.

CIA Director Porter Goss says he's 'amazed' at workload
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
(03-02) 15:53 PST Simi Valley, Calif. (AP) —
In a rare public appearance Wednesday, CIA Director Porter Goss said he is overwhelmed by the many duties of his job, including devoting five hours out of every day to prepare for and deliver intelligence briefings to President Bush.
David Cohen: WASHINGTON IN A NUTSHELL — CIA Director Porter Goss says he's 'amazed' at workload (Ryan Pearson, AP, 2/2/05)...
K. J. Lopez: I'm actually hoping the AEI dinner wasn't too good, because I'm looking forward to Michael Ledeen's reponse to Porter Goss on the Hill yesterday.

DeLay Moves To Protect His Political Base Back in Texas
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
SUGAR LAND, Tex. — House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), struggling to protect his Washington power base as legal and ethical issues fester, also has to watch his back on the home front.
Charles Kuffner: The WaPo on DeLay — The WaPo does a feature on Tom DeLay, noting that his continued string of scandals may be having an effect back home in CD22.
Ezra Klein: The Bugman Goeth — You have to respect the karmic rightness of this: Tom DeLay's redistricting toughened his own...
Jo Fish: Best News I've Seen — Hey, this makes me smile... [snipped quote] A vulnerable Delay is a good thing.
Oliver Willis: I bet even a conservative area like Sugar Land, TX, isn't cool with Congressional Slush Funds.
Jim Dallas: The Washington Post reports that Tom DeLay is working his district and trying to soften his image, apparently frightened...

Brave, Young and Muslim
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
The last couple of years have not been easy for anyone, myself included, who hoped that the Iraq war would produce a decent, democratizing outcome. And even in the wake of the remarkable Iraqi election, the toppling of the Lebanese cabinet and the reforms brewing in Egypt, it is too soon for anyone to declare victory.
Cori Dauber: This morning the Times' Tom Friedman writes about Irshad and updates her projects in the context of recent events in the Arab world.
Orrin Judd: JUST LIKE US: Brave, Young and Muslim (THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, 3/03/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] What other option do they have?

Bush Rejects Delay, Prepares Escalated Social Security Push
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
President Bush plans to intensify his campaign to win public and congressional support for restructuring Social Security, warning that it would be a bad idea to delay action as the Senate Republican leader has suggested and politically unwise for lawmakers to oppose private accounts, White House officials said yesterday.
Noam Scheiber: Today's Washington Post brings word that the White House is pressing ahead with its privatization campaign, full speed.
Taegan Goddard: Bush to Ignore Wary Hill Leadership — President Bush "plans to intensify his campaign to win public and congressional...
Josh Marshall: From Thursday's Post: [snipped quote] Plus, two key grafs for the Fainthearted Faction chump-watch ... [snipped quote] The weak point is still the Senate Fainthearted Faction.
Yuval Rubinstein: So what's an embattled, lame-duck-to-be President to do? Full speed ahead!
DeLong: Why Oh Why Are We Ruled by These Liars?

Police probe suspicious calls, car
  Chicago Sun Times   —   Permalink 
Federal judge Joan Lefkow balanced work papers in one hand and a cake pan in the other as she walked up to her North Side home Monday evening.
Searching for signs of her family, she eventually made her way to the basement — and saw blood pooled outside a closed office door.
Charles Bird: The Chicago Sun-Times has more on the possible suspects, pictured here. Niewert wonders if or when the murderers will be called "terrorists".
David Neiwert: According to the Sun-Times, these descriptions probably are derived from witnesses who saw two men lurking about the...

Judge fears murders tied to her job
  By / Chicago Sun Times   —   Permalink 
With a weary voice that cracked at times, U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow on Wednesday said her great fear is that this week's slayings of her husband and mother could be linked to her job.
"I fear that to be true, and that's the great tragedy of it," Lefkow told the Chicago Sun-Times.
David Neiwert: Judge Lefkow also gave an interview to the Sun-Times, saying she feared it was connected to her work: "I fear that to be...
Jeralyn Merritt: Police Probe Judge's Relatives Murders — New York Times: White Supremacist's Relatives Are Questioned in Killings ...

Social Security blues
  By / Townhall.com   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — George W. Bush, who is not prone to confessing mistakes, has confided to close associates that he committed a whopper on Social Security. He admitted error in pushing for new personal accounts while not stressing the repair of the safety net for seniors.
Orrin Judd: EVERYONE'S GOING TO BE "RICH": Social Security blues (Robert Novak, March 3, 2005, Townhall) [snipped quote] This has...
Josh Marshall: Novak surveys the field on phase-out, calls Lieberman "most prestigious potential compromiser."

U.S. military dead in Iraq rises to 1,500, Associated Press tally shows
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) The number of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq campaign rose to 1,500 on Thursday, an Associated Press count showed, as the military announced the latest death of one of its troops.
Juan Cole: US Military Deaths reach 1500; 19 Iraqis Killed — Associated Press says that a US Marine killed by guerrillas in Babil...
Skippy: us death toll hits 1500 in iraq asspress: [snipped quote] there's nothing we can say.

Beirut protests leave Hizbollah with a dilemma
  By / Financial Times   —   Permalink 
Lebanon's opposition, flush with success after forcing the collapse of the pro-Syria government, has intensified appeals to Hizbollah, the Shia Islamist movement, to join its ranks.
Ted Belman: Beirut protests leave Hizbollah with a dilemma — By Roula Khalaf in Beirut, Financial Times Lebanon's opposition, flush...
Gregory Djerejian: Heh. P.S. Don't miss Roula Khalaf (one of the FT's best journalists) on Hezbollah's dilemma either.

A Look at U.S. Military Deaths in Iraq
  AP   —   Permalink 
As of Wednesday, March 2, 2005, at least 1,499 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,140 died as a result of hostile action, according to the Defense Department.
Mathew Gross: Not worth it. Not worth one. What I want to know is what in the world is the Democratic leadership doing still supporting the president's unilateral action in Iraq?
Atrios: r i p

Sen. Byrd's Hitler Comments Draw Fire
  By / Reuters   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senator's likening of Republican strategy on blocked judicial nominees to Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany drew condemnation on Wednesday from top Republicans and the Anti-Defamation League.
Steve Bainbridge: Robert Byrd — Reuters reports: "Sen. Robert Byrd on Tuesday compared Republican threats to change Senate rules to...
Lambert @Corrente: Senator Byrd utters the F-word — And the Piranha brothers try to nail Byrd's head to the floor. Anyhow, here's what Byrd said.
Captain Ed: UPDATE: Reuters has added coverage as well: "A U.S. Senator's likening of Republican strategy on blocked judicial...

President Honors Jackie Robinson at Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony
  White House   —   Permalink 
Washington, D.C.
THE PRESIDENT: Members of Congress. Mrs. Robinson, and Sharon and Dave, Laura and I are honored to be with you all as we honor your husband and your dad. Reverend Jackson. You know, I figure I'm the ninth speaker — (laughter.)
The Big Trunk: UPDATE: Click here for a transcript of the president's remarks upon awarding the medal.
Orrin Judd: HOLDING AMERICA TO ACCOUNT: President Honors Jackie Robinson at Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony (George W. Bush,...

GOP Jewish Group Critizes Byrd's Remarks
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - A pair of Jewish groups accused Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record) on Wednesday of making an outrageous and reprehensible comparison between Adolf Hitler's Nazis and a Senate GOP plan to block Democrats from filibustering.
Avedon Carol: I don't know who to blame for the dumb headline, though: "GOP Jewish Group Critizes Byrd's Remarks WASHINGTON - A pair...
Tbogg: All your fuhrers belong to us — Apparently no one can invoke Adolph Hitler or the rise of Nazism without paying a...
Orrin Judd: SCREAMING KLEAGLES: GOP Jewish Group Critizes Byrd's Remarks (ALAN FRAM, Associated Press) [snipped quote] With the...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: Robert Byrd is getting some well-deserved rhetorical smacks upside the head for his fantastically stupid comment...
Captain Ed: Jewish Groups Denounce Byrd's Nazi Remarks — Two Jewish groups have denounced Senator Robert Byrd for his equating...
Jason Van Steenwyk: "GOP Jewish Group Criticizes Byrd's Remarks" The subhead: "Jewish Republican Group Accuses Sen. Robert Byrd of Comparing Nazis to GOP Filibuster Plan" Geez.
Also: Betsy Newmark, Spoons

The Online Insurgency
  By / Rolling Stone   —   Permalink 
They signed up 500,000 supporters with an Internet petition — but Bill Clinton still got impeached. They organized 6,000 candlelight vigils worldwide — but the U.S. still invaded Iraq.
McQ: Yes and no. In Tim Dickson's Rolling Stone piece about MoveOn.com he notes: "They signed up 500,000 supporters with an Internet petition — but Bill Clinton still got impeached.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: Because Rolling Stone may have blown the cover on his covert operation to make the Democratic Party look horrible:...
Kevin Aylward: Rolling Stone Magazine sums up their existence thusly,Like so many other Internet start-ups, MoveOn has raised — and...
Joe Gandelman: At issue is a meaty Rolling Stone piece by Tim Dickinson which has this underlyling message: don't you Democrats think...
Ufrh4 @Centerfield: I posted an entry to my blog about Tim Dickenson's article that appears in Rolling Stone, but I thought it would be...
Glenn Reynolds: ROLLING STONE: [snipped quote] I think that this insurgency will be around a lot longer than the one in Iraq.
Also: Stephen Green

A Way to End Bitter Fights Over Justices
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
An activist judiciary has joined the legislative and executive branches in making public policy. The influence of judges has been magnified by their relative immunity from political pressure.
That fact alone makes judicial appointments important.
C. D. Harris: Putting A Band-Aid On A Sucking Chest Wound — Doug Bandow of the CATO Institute wants to totally rework how judicial...
Ken Masugi: To keep the Supreme Court independent yet still accountable, libertarian Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute supports a single term of "ten or 12 years."
Greg Ransom: Doug Bandow has a related idea — ending lifetime appointments for all those old people in black robes.
James Joyner: Cato's Doug Bandow has an interesting solution in yesterday's LAT: changing the Constitution to eliminate lifetime tenure for judges.
Dale Franks: Judicial Term Limits — The Cato Institute's Doug Bandow argues, as I do below, for term limits for the Federal Judiciary.

The war's silver lining
  By / Guardian   —   Permalink 
Tony Blair is not gloating. He could - but he prefers to appear magnanimous in what he hopes is victory. In our Guardian interview yesterday, he was handed a perfect opportunity to crow.
Harry @HarrysPlace: 'Region change' — Not surprisingly Jonathan Freedland's column in the Guardian yesterday The war's silver lining -We...
Oliver Kamm: And even The Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland, an opponent of the Iraq War, acknowledges that if, in his interview,...
Jan Haugland: Next in our 'eating crow' department we find The Guardian's Jonathan Freedland, inspired by Tony Blair's wise decision...
Ace: Ilbis tips to this piece: "The war's silver lining We need to face up to the fact that the Iraq invasion has...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: Vide Tony Blair: "Tony Blair is not gloating. He could - but he prefers to appear magnanimous in what he hopes is victory.
Roger L. Simon: And now even The Guardian is changing its tune... Their Jonathan Freedland writes: Even so, it cannot be escaped: the...
Also: K. J. Lopez, Norm Geras, Mitch Berg, Dr. Frank, Dale Franks, Orrin Judd

Mayor endorses gin to fourth graders
  By / Las Vegas Sun   —   Permalink 
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman told a group of fourth graders on Monday that if he was marooned on a desert island the one thing he would want to have with him is a bottle of gin.
Atomizer l link: Ginned Up Outrage — From Las Vegas comes this incredibly appalling story: [snipped quote] What can you do, Mayor?
Matt Welch: Asked about it later, Goodman told the Las Vegas Sun: "I'm the George Washington of mayors. I can't tell a lie."
Stephen Green: For the Children — Frank Martin asks, "What's the official VodkaPundit position on this?"
Paul @Wizbang: What Happens in Vegas - Is Often an Embarrassment — As if the major of Las Vegas weren't embarrassing enough in the...
Jeralyn Merritt: Mayor Oscar Goodman Tells the Truth — Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is being criticized by a few school officials, who sound like MADD-types.

Tearing down the press
  By / Salon   —   Permalink 
For the last four years the persistent storyline about the White House's relationship with the press has focused on the administration's discipline, denial of access, and ability to stay on message.
Scott Rosenberg: Rather, this is one more data point in the right's campaign against the Times and other media institutions that it sees as impediments on the path to total reality control.
Howard Kurtz: Eric Boehlert of Salon has a somewhat different view: "For the last four years the persistent story line about the...
Chris Mooney: The White House War on the Press — Eric Boehlert's Salon piece today—which discusses how the Bush administration's war...
Fred Clark: Eric Boehlert is really good, and since the Salon day pass just now is the trailer for "Be Cool," it's a good time to...
Tarek @LiquidList: First, on a national level, we learn from the good offices of Romanesko that Eric Boehlert in Salon has gathered some...

The Queen: Have you been playing long? Eric Clapton: It must be about 45 years now
  By / Telegraph   —   Permalink 
Pundits pronounce almost daily on the workings of the Queen's mind, but few people really know her likes and dislikes. As of last night, however, there is at least one certainty: Her Majesty has quite clearly never been a fan of virtuoso electric guitar.
The Big Trunk: The British media are mocking the Queen's obliviousness to guitar idol Eric Clapton at the reception.
Dr. Frank: Yardbird Suite — The Queen meets Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, whom she asks: "have you been playing a long time?"
K. J. Lopez: ERIC CLAPTON? HMMM. NO. NEVER HEARD OF YOU. The queen is evidently not a Claptonite.
Gary Farber: Nothing to condemn here, nor be excited about; only amusement is possible when the Queen meets famous rock guitarists.
Roger L. Simon: "Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl... ... but she doesn't have a lot to say." (hat tip: K-Lo) UPDATE: Well, she seems to have recognized this guy.

Bush Demands That Syria Leave Lebanon
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
ARNOLD, Md. - President Bush on Wednesday demanded in blunt terms that Syria get out of Lebanon, saying the free world is in agreement that Damascus' authority over the political affairs of its neighbor must end now.
Tim Cavanaugh: President Bush says today "You get your troops and your secret services out of Lebanon so that good democracy has a...
H.D. Miller: Here's George W. Bush suggesting that it might be time for Bashar and Co. to leave Lebanon.
Mitch Berg: Bet Raised — Bush pushed a big pile of chips into the Lebanese pot today: [snipped quote] For all the left's...
Roger L. Simon: Bush speaks out on Lebanon: ARNOLD, Md. - President Bush on Wednesday demanded that Syria get out of Lebanon, saying the...
Charles Johnson: Bush: "You Get Your Troops Out of Lebanon" — A blunt statement from the President: Bush Demands That Syria Leave Lebanon.
Joe Gandelman: Bush Warns Syria: GET OUT! Can Syria see the handwriting on the wall — or does it need the wall to fall in on it?
Also: Glenn Reynolds

Nevada Democrats decry Gibbons' remarks
  AP   —   Permalink 
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Nevada Democrats are decrying remarks by U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons condemning "tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippie, tie-dyed liberals" for their opposition to the war in Iraq.
Oliver Willis: And the media ignores it, save for a few outposts.
Captain Ed: UPDATE: Check out what the Democrats have decided to complain about instead: "Nevada Democrats are decrying remarks by...
Paul @Wizbang: More Related Update The Vegas Democrats have found a sense of outrage... sorta Nevada Democrats decry Gibbons' remarks...
Buckfush: The Anti-American Congressman Gibbons — From the diaries—Chris As heard today on the Ed Schulz show, Ed gave some much...

"The Whore Lived Like a German"
  By / DER SPIEGEL   —   Permalink 
In the past four months, six Muslim women living in Berlin have been brutally murdered by family members. Their crime? Trying to break free and live Western lifestyles. Within their communities, the killers are revered as heroes for preserving their family dignity.
Cori Dauber: But, then, how can you not worry for this woman when you see an article like this on Memeorandum about what's been happening in the heart of liberal Berlin?
Eugene Volokh: Blood-Curdling: This article on "honor killings" of Muslim women — in Germany — is generally shocking.
Robin Burk: I feel a little of that for Mona and the other young women of Jordan and elsewhere who face this threat from those who should be supporting and protecting them.
Glenn Reynolds: DER SPIEGEL: [snipped quote] — UPDATE: More background here. ANOTHER UPDATE: And read this article, too.

Don't Rush on the Road to Damascus
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
THE assassination last month of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, has given new life to an old idea: using the issue of Lebanese independence to undermine Syria's strategic position.
Greg Piper: Let's get Syria-us — Reason's Michael Young, also opinion editor of Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper, point-by-point...
Jonah Goldberg: Flynt Leverett writes in the Times that Syria should stay because Hezbollah will run the show if the Syrians leave.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: EXPERTS AND NON-EXPERTS — Don't miss this Michael Young post, which rips to shreds one of the more ill-informed opinion pieces yet seen on the events in Syria and Lebanon.
Michael Young: The latest offering comes in today's New York Times, which has published a piece by Flynt Leverett, formerly of the NSC...
Mitch Berg: Flynt Leverett in the Times, though, sounds a few cautionary notes.
Ed Cone: Flynt Leverett in the NYT: Go slow in Lebanon. I'm sure he makes some sound arguments, but who's going to explain it to her?
Also: Orrin Judd

Key Republicans Back Cable Indecency Rules
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
(03-01) 14:17 PST WASHINGTON (AP) —
Indecency guidelines that over-the-air broadcasters must follow should be extended to cover cable and satellite broadcasters, congressional Republicans who are influential on telecommunications issues said Tuesday.
Fafnir: If only there was somebody out there ready to step in an protect my squishily vulnerable little mind by regulating cable TV.
Jim Henley: Truer Words - About Senator Stevens explanation of his preoposal to regulate cable and satellite broadcasts — [snipped quote] Mrs. Offering e-mails JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!!!
Dan Gillmor: The powerful chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, now wants to extend their...

Court Considers Government Displays of Ten Commandments
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, March 2 - The justices of the Supreme Court appeared to wrestle with contradictory impulses as they heard arguments today in two cases challenging government displays of the Ten Commandments.
David Allan Pell: Drawing the Line Without a Pencil — Here are a few outtakes from today's Supreme Court hearing during which the...
Ann Althouse: Linda Greenhouse has a nicely detailed account in the NYT.
Tom Smith: THE TEN SUGGESTIONS — As the Ten Commandments may not be posted on government property, or may soon not be, because of...

Rough Justice
  By / Slate   —   Permalink 
Dissenting from Tuesday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the execution of juveniles, Justice Antonin Scalia ridicules his colleagues for switching sides on the basis of "evolving standards." He calls the majority opinion a "mockery" for supposing that the Constitution's meaning "has changed over the past 15 years."
Ann Althouse: UPDATE: William Saletan accuses Justice Scalia of switching sides with respect to juvenile moral development by...
Ramesh Ponnuru: SCALIA'S POLF-PILF — William Saletan argues that Justice Scalia, in arguing that the Court has an inconsistent view of...
Oliver @LiquidList: Politics: Flip-Flopper On The High Court — If only the Word could have been made Flesh at Slate.com today, then William...
Orin Kerr: Justice Scalia Isn't Exactly A Model of jurisprudential consistency, but those trying to play "gotcha" with him have to do much better than this piece by William Saletan in Slate.
Fred Clark: So it's good to see the Supreme Court of the United States finally reject the perverse logic of the statutory rapist in...

Opposition begins talks with Hizbullah and Amal in attempt to win vital support
  By / Lebanon Daily Star   —   Permalink 
BEIRUT: The opposition has begun to hold direct talks with the country's two pro-Syrian Shiite parties in an attempt to win their support in demanding a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon. On Wednesday, Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt dispatched MPs Marwan Hamade and Ghazi Aridi to meet with heads of the Amal Movement and Hizbullah.
Colt: I don't trust Jumblatt, in part due to things like this: he wants Hezbollah to act as an intermediary.
Tim Cavanaugh: Michael Young says Hizbollah honcho Hassan Nasrallah met with opposition figures today, and apparently Amal MP Nabih Berri has too.

GOP Lawmakers Attack Democrats, AARP
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
(03-02) 08:33 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) —
Republicans attacked the AARP as well as congressional Democrats on Wednesday as they struggled to build momentum behind President Bush's call for personal investment accounts under Social Security.
PGL: Opposing The Social Security Plan That Does Not Exist — Via Duncan Black comes the latest in hypocrisy from the GOP...
DeLong: Orwellian Once Again — And we hand the mike to Atrios: [quote] Eschaton: "There is Plan and No Plan":Cute trick.[end quote]
Atrios: There is Plan and No Plan — Cute trick.

Saudi Shiites Look to Iraq and Assert Rights
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
QATIF, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 25 - The Shiite Muslim minority in this kingdom once marked their Ashura holy day furtively in darkened, illegal community centers out of fear of stirring the powerful wrath of the religious establishment.
Robin Burk: "Or alternatively in today's NYT check out this article about Shiites in Saudi Arabia."
Orrin Judd: IGNITION SWITCH: Saudi Shiites Look to Iraq and Assert Rights (NEIL MacFARQUHAR, 3/02/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] And the Shi'a shall lead....
Steven Taylor: Via the NYT: Saudi Shiites Look to Iraq and Assert Rights [snipped quote] Intriguing, to be sure.

Social Security Vote May Be Delayed
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
The Senate's top Republican said yesterday that President Bush's bid to restructure Social Security may have to wait until next year and might not involve the individual accounts the White House has been pushing hard.
Patrick Ruffini: There's handwringing galore as WaPo indulges in two consecutive days of the D.C. art form it has perfected: collecting...
Tom Maguire: Mostly Dead Is Partly Alive — Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist may not have put the final nail in the coffin of Bush's...
Noam Scheiber: The Washington Post reports today that a vote on Social Security privatization in Congress may be postponed till next year—or till never.
RCox: On Being Misunderestimated - on Social Security — Chicken Little is the loose this morning with both The Washington...
Josh Marshall: The Post and the Times tomorrow both have articles that all but call the president's push for private accounts dead.
Billmon: "Washington Post Social Security Vote May Be Delayed March 2, 2005" But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of...
Also: Ezra Klein, Steve Soto, Kevin Drum, Barbara O'Brien, Taegan Goddard, Spoons, K. J. Lopez

Terror and the English Language
  NRO   —   Permalink 
Making use of a chief weapon.
The long, twilight struggle against Islamo-fascism requires Civilization to deploy numerous weapons against this implacable foe. As usual, these will include intelligence, covert operations, and high-tech armaments.
Stefan Beck: Reading this transcript, I was reminded of this quotation from Ayatollah Khomeini in Deroy Murdock's NRO piece today: "Allah did not create man so that he could have fun.
Cori Dauber: Here's a wonderful essay making several of the same points, quite powerfully.

Lebanon 'victory' spurs Syrians to demand a voice
  By / Washington Times   —   Permalink 
DAMASCUS, Syria — Demonstrations that brought down the government of neighboring Lebanon on Monday inspired Syria's intellectuals and activists to issue new calls yesterday for greater political participation in their own country — a nation known for its strict limits on dissent.
Charles Johnson: Sea Change in Syria — The waves of change sweeping across the Middle East now reach Syria: Lebanon 'victory' spurs Syrians to demand a voice.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: CHANGE ROILS SYRIA — Aspirations for freedom are contagious, after all: [snipped quote] It should be understood that...
Orrin Judd: BEIRUT CAUSES: Lebanon 'victory' spurs Syrians to demand a voice (Rhonda Roumani, March 2, 2005, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)...
Betsy Newmark: Gee, the inspiration democracy continues to have an impact throughout the Mideast.
Hindrocket: Hear Those Dominoes Fall — Good news out of Syria yesterday, as reported by the Washington Times: "Lebanon 'victory'...

Yahoo! offers free ice cream
  CNN   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Here's the scoop on Yahoo!'s 10th birthday: Free ice cream.
The search engine giant is celebrating its 10th birthday by offering Baskin-Robbins ice cream through its Web site.
Michele Catalano: So for all you registered Yahoo members who want to celebrate the birthday today, go to Yahoo and download a coupon for a free Baskin Robbins ice cream.
Kehaar: Happy Birthday, Yahoo! Free ice cream for everyone!
Gary Farber: Oh, wait, they did. [snipped quote] 2.5 ounces likely won't make you feel over-full, but, hey, the price is tolerable.

High Court Debates Commandments Displays
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Ten Commandments displays should be allowed on government property because they pay tribute to America's religious and legal history, the Supreme Court was told Wednesday, in cases that could render a new definition of the role that religion plays in the life of the nation.
The Big Trunk: We hold these truths — Today the Supreme Court heard oral argument in the Kentucky and Texas Ten Commandments cases: "High court debates commandments displays."
Amanda Marcotte: My fellow Texans keep on making the rest of us look like fools — Right now, a good number of Texans, your friendly...

Martha: The exit will be televised
  CNN   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Five months ago Martha Stewart one-upped the media by checking into prison before the television cameras had arrived.
On her way out this week, she's planning to let the world watch.
Jack Cluth: "UPDATE: Martha: The exit will be televised. The domestic diva snuck into prison five months ago, but she's not planning to sneak out.
Roger L. Simon: Unfortunately for us, however, it seems this will.

Military bankruptcy exemption defeated
  By / Indianapolis Star   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — The Senate rejected Tuesday an effort backed by Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., to exempt service members from some of the tighter bankruptcy restrictions Congress is considering.
DavidNYC @DailyKos: The Republicans, of course, derailed it: "The Senate rejected Tuesday an effort backed by Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., to...
Skippy: while pretending to support the troops, the gop has defeated an amendment that would exempt us veterans from the draconian bankruptcy laws.