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Archive Edition for   Friday, April 22, 2005Go to Current Page
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Quoted in this edition:

ABCNEWS
Ace of Spades HQ
  Ace
Althouse
  Ann Althouse
The Anchoress
  TheAnchoress
Angry Bear
  Angry Bear
  PGL
ArchPundit
  ArchPundit
Associated Press
  Robert P. King
  Robert Burns
  Christina Almeida
  Pete Yost
  Nedra Pickler
  Estes Thompson
  Jesse J. Holland
  Rick Callahan
baldilocks
  Baldilocks
Balloon Juice
  John Cole
BBC
  Robert Piggott
  Jim Muir
THE BELGRAVIA DISPATCH
  Joseph Britt
Belmont Club
  Wretchard
Betsy's Page
  Betsy Newmark
Billmon
  Billmon
BLACKFIVE
  Blackfive
The Blogging of the President
  Stirling Newberry
Boston Globe
  Sarah Schweitzer
Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal
  Brad DeLong
BrothersJudd Blog
  Orrin Judd
Burnt Orange Report
  Karl-Thomas Musselman
Business Week
BuzzMachine
  Jeff Jarvis
Captain's Quarters
  Captain Ed
CBS News
Chrenkoff
  Arthur Chrenkoff
Chris C Mooney
  Chris Mooney
Chronicle of the Conspiracy
  Donald Luskin
The Claremont Institute
  Ken Masugi
  Richard Reeb
Clayton Cramer's BLOG
  Clayton Cramer
CNN
CNSNews
  Marc Morano
The Corner
  Ramesh Ponnuru
  Jonah Goldberg
  K. J. Lopez
  Tim Graham
  Rich Lowry
corrente
  Lambert @Corrente
  Riggsveda @Corrente
  Xan @Corrente
The Counterterrorism Blog
  Mike Chandler
cut on the bias
  Susanna Cornett
Daily Kos
  Armando @DailyKos
  Hunter @DailyKos
  Kos @DailyKos
Daimnation!
  Damian Penny
democracyarsenal.org
  Michael Signer
Discourse.net
  Michael Froomkin
DonkeyRising
  Ruy Teixeira
EconoPundit
  Steve Antler
Ed Driscoll.com
  Ed Driscoll
The Edge of England's Sword
  Kris Murray
Editor and Publisher
  Graham Webster
Eschaton
  Atrios
etc.
  Noam Scheiber
Ezra Klein
  Ezra Klein
Financial Times
  Tim Harford
  Andrew Balls
  Fiona Harvey
Gallup
  Riley E. Dunlap
Happy Furry Puppy Story Time with Norbizness
  Norbizness
The Hill
  Alexander Bolton
Hit and Run
  Julian Sanchez
  Tim Cavanaugh
  Charles Paul Freund
  Ronald Bailey
HughHewitt.com
  Hugh Hewitt
Hullabaloo
  Digby
INDC Journal
  Bill @INDCJournal
The Indepundit
  Smash
Informed Comment
  Juan Cole
Instapundit.com
  Glenn Reynolds
INTEL DUMP
  Phillip Carter
joannejacobs.com
  Joanne Jacobs
JustOneMinute
  Tom Maguire
Knight Ridder
  Matthew Schofield
L.A. Observed
  Kevin Roderick
The Left Coaster
  Steve Soto
  Mary @LeftCoaster
  Pessimist @LeftCoaster
The Liquid List
  Tarek @LiquidList
  Shawn @LiquidList
  Oliver @LiquidList
Little Green Footballs
  Charles Johnson
Los Angeles Times
  Peter Wallsten
  David Gelernter
  Charles E. Curran
The Mahablog
  Barbara O'Brien
Marginal Revolution
  Tyler Cowen
Matthew Yglesias
  Matthew Yglesias
Media Notes Extra
  Howard Kurtz
  Garrett M. Graff
Michelle Malkin
  Michelle Malkin
Minneapolis Star Tribune
  Conrad Defiebre
The Moderate Voice
  Joe Gandelman
MyDD
  Chris Bowers
  BobcatJH
National Review
  Sean Rushton
The New Republic
  Andrew Sullivan
  Ross Douthat
New York Magazine
  Steve Fishman
New York Newsday
New York Sun
  Josh Gerstein
  Benny Avni
New York Times
  Thomas L. Friedman
  Douglas Jehl
  Paul Krugman
  Andrew C. Revkin
  Sarah Kershaw
  David Brooks
  Sam Dillon
  Guy Trebay
  Neil A. Lewis
  Robin Toner
NEWS.com.au
No More Mister Nice Blog
  Steve M.
NY Daily News
  James Gordon Meek
Obsidian Wings
  Hilzoy @ObsidianWings
  Edward _
Opinion Journal
  Peggy Noonan
Outside The Beltway
  James Joyner
  Robert Tagorda
Pacific Views
  Natasha @PacificViews
Pejmanesque
  Pejman Yousefzadeh
PoliBlog
  Dr. Steven Taylor
PoliPundit.com
  Lorie Byrd
The Politburo Diktat
  Commissar
The Poor Man
  The Poorman
Power Line
  John @PowerLine
  Scott @PowerLine
ProfessorBainbridge.com
  Steve Bainbridge
The QandO Blog
  Dale Franks
  McQ
Rantingprofs
  Cori Dauber
Reuters
rexblog.com
  Rex Hammock
Right Wing News
  John Hawkins
The Road To Surfdom
  Tim Dunlop
Rocky Mountain News
  M.E. Sprengelmeyer
Roger Ailes
  Roger Ailes
Roger L. Simon
  Roger L. Simon
Romenesko
  Jim Romenesko
Secular Blasphemy
  Jan Haugland
Shot In The Dark
  Mitch Berg
The Sideshow
  Avedon Carol
Signifying Nothing
  Chris Lawrence
skippy the bush kangaroo
  Cookie Jill
  Skippy
  Pudentilla
Slant Point
  Scott Sala
Southern Appeal
  Steve Dillard
  JoelF @SouthernAppeal
Steve Clemons
  Steve Clemons
Suburban Guerrilla
  Ntodd @SuburbanGuerrilla
  Maya @SuburbanGuerrilla
Talking Points Memo
  Josh Marshall
TalkLeft
  Jeralyn Merritt
  TChris
TAPPED
  Jeffrey Dubner
  Matthew Yglesias
  Sam Rosenfeld
Tech Central Station
  John Luik
TheAgitator.com
  Radley Balko
Think Progress
  Jon @ThinkProgress
  Nico @ThinkProgress
  Guest @ThinkProgress
Townhall.com
  Jonah Goldberg
Unqualified Offerings
  Jim Henley
Vodkapundit
  Will Collier
Voice of America
  Michael Drudge
The Volokh Conspiracy
  Todd Zywicki
Wall Street Journal
  Theodore B. Olson
Wampum
  Dwight Meredith
War and Piece
  Laura Rozen
The Washington Monthly
  Kevin Drum
Washington Post
  Charles Krauthammer
  Nell Henderson
  Paul Farhi
  Doug Struck
  Ellen Knickmeyer
  Tina Brown
  George F. Will
Washington Times
  Charles Hurt
  Amy Fagan
White House Briefing
  Dan Froomkin
Wizbang
  Kevin Aylward
  Paul @Wizbang



Feds' weather information could go dark
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
Do you want a seven-day weather forecast for your ZIP code? Or hour-by-hour predictions of the temperature, wind speed, humidity and chance of rain? Or weather data beamed to your cellphone?
That information is available for free from the National Weather Service.
Hilzoy @ObsidianWings: You Just Can't Make This Stuff Up... by hilzoy Via Talking Points Memo, an article in the Palm Beach News tells us the...
Karl-Thomas Musselman: The Palm Beach Post reports... "Do you want a seven-day weather forecast for your ZIP code?
ArchPundit: You don't just plug in your clock when you want to know what time it is — Rick Santorum delivers up another gem in...
Josh Marshall: Indeed, the executive vice president of AccuWeather, Barry Myers, probably had to have his face specially treated with...
Ntodd @SuburbanGuerrilla: Raining On The Parade — Santorum is like the wind—he blows: [snipped quote] I'm incensed by this and not just for the obvious reasons.
Kos @DailyKos: Santorum is offended, and thanks to the persuassive ($$$) arguments of AccuWeather — a for-profit weather service — Santorum wants to eliminate the free service.
Also: Chris Andersen, Billmon

New Pope condemns Spain gay bill
  By / BBC   —   Permalink 
Pope Benedict XVI has responded firmly to the first challenge of his papacy by condemning a Spanish government bill allowing marriage between homosexuals.
The bill, passed by parliament's Socialist-dominated lower house, also allows gay couples to adopt.
Jan Haugland: Spain's lower house has passed a gay marriage law, and BBC News immediately connects the predictable Vatican condemnation to the new pope.
Natasha @PacificViews: The Pope & The Fuss — As Atrios points out, Spain has decided to legalize gay marriage, and the new Pope is tossing the...
Julian Sanchez: This has, of course, given Benny 16 his first red-meat issue: The new pope promptly condemned the law.
Tarek @LiquidList: This pope sounds like a real sweet fella and I'm sure he'll see your point about rubbers and AIDS because he seems like a real modern guy.
Tim Dunlop: For example, even today there is a report of the new Pope getting down and dirty with Spanish politics
Atrios: Church on Top — Looks like Pope Ratzi thinks he's in charge of the world now.
Also: Jeff Goldstein

2 Evangelicals Want to Strip Courts' Funds
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Evangelical Christian leaders, who have been working closely with senior Republican lawmakers to place conservative judges in the federal courts, have also been exploring ways to punish sitting jurists and even entire courts viewed as hostile to their cause.
Lambert @Corrente: Frist's owners, the Dominionists, plan to abolish the independent judiciary — Some kind soul recorded a Dominionist...
Joe Gandelman: Two Evangelical Leaders Advocate Defunding Courts They Don't Like — If you don't like the way a judge or an entire court rules, take their money away.
Edward _: First from Kos comes this by the Republican I've always considered true to his vision, if at times belligerent, Barry...
McQ: But then comes this story from the LA Times in which we see the outline of a plan, supposedly driven by evangelical...
Avedon Carol: The LAT this morning has quotes from a tape of the right-wing gabfest where the loonies discussed plans to use Congress to defund the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Poorman: Michael Moore is fat — The latest faith-based initiative: "Evangelical Christian leaders, who have been working...
Also: Digby, Maya @SuburbanGuerrilla, Pudentilla

Judicial Insanity
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Provocation is no excuse for derangement. And there has been plenty of provocation: decades of an imperial judiciary unilaterally legislating radical social change on the flimsiest of constitutional pretexts.
Steve Bainbridge: As Charles Krauthammer recently observed: [snipped quote] The question for conservatives ought not to be whether we fight back.
Jeffrey Dubner: Especially compared to, say, Charles Krauthammer's obnoxious endorsement of DeLay's and John Cornyn's loose talk, it's refreshingly level-headed.
Clayton Cramer: "Judicial Insanity" — This is the title of a column by Charles Krauthammer—hardly a conservative.
Ramesh Ponnuru: KRAUTHAMMER ON JUDGES — I agree with a lot of his column today—which is no surprise, since I think he's one of the best, maybe the best, of the big-time conservative columnists.
Joe Gandelman: No one has ever accused columnist Charles Krauthammer of being a liberal and he has now roundly denounced what seems to be a systematic assault on the American judiciary.
Charles Paul Freund: Even conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer, a long-time critic of "judicial activists," has concluded that...
Also: Ezra Klein, Matthew Yglesias, James Joyner, Glenn Reynolds, John Cole, Orin Kerr

Frist Draws Criticism From Some Church Leaders
  NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, April 21 - As the Senate battle over judicial confirmations became increasingly entwined with religious themes, officials of several major Protestant denominations on Thursday accused the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist, of violating the...
Sam Rosenfeld: And here's The New York Times: "There were signs, though, that Dr. Frist was planning to postpone the confrontation...
James Joyner: Even Senator Frist's own church is urging him to back off: Frist Draws Criticism From Some Church Leaders (NYT) "As the...
Shawn @LiquidList: Well, finally, we see some rumbles of complaint: "Religious groups, including the National Council of Churches and the...
TChris: The Filibuster and People of Faith — Republican pandering to religious extremists may be endangering the filibuster,...
Hunter @DailyKos: People of Faith — [snipped quote] Psst — Dr. Frist, before you go gung-ho towards establishing religious tests for...

Sizzle, Yes, but Beef, Too
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
New York Times columnists are not allowed to endorse U.S. presidential candidates. Only the editorial page does that. But in checking the columnist rule book, I couldn't find any ban on endorsing a candidate for prime minister of Britain. So I'm officially rooting for Tony Blair.
Armando @DailyKos: Wrong Lesson Friedman — Tom Friedman, yet again, demonstrates that when he gives advice, the person offered the advice should run in the other direction.
Roger L. Simon: Tom Freidman on Tony Blair — "There is much the U.S. Democratic Party could learn from Mr. Blair." No kidding!
Jeff Jarvis: Vote for Tony : I agree with every word of Tom Friedman's column endorsing Tony Blair... and I laughed at this

Police Handcuff 5-Year-Old After Tantrum
  ABCNEWS   —   Permalink 
April 22, 2005 — The videotaped altercation with a 5-year-old girl who was hauled off in handcuffs following an extended tantrum at her St. Petersburg, Fla., school has led to questions about whether the police overreacted.
Baldilocks: While watching this incident on the tube a few hours ago, I remember thinking that, had I acted in this manner some...
Kevin Aylward: ABC News quotes the attorney for the family of the girl:"The police officers' actions are way over the top.

Army Clears Top Abu Ghraib Case Officers
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Army has cleared four top officers - including the three-star general who commanded all U.S. forces in Iraq - of all allegations of wrongdoing in connection with prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, officials said Friday.
Michael Froomkin: Army Clears Top Abu Ghraib Case Officers: The Army has cleared four top officers - including the three-star general who...
Jeralyn Merritt: Army Clears Officers in Abu Ghraib Abuse — The Army has cleared four top officers of wrongdoing in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandals.

Woman in Wendy's Finger Case Arrested
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
LAS VEGAS - The woman who claimed she found a finger in her bowl of Wendy's chili last month has been arrested, the latest twist in a bizarre case about how the 1 1/2-inch finger tip ended up in a bowl of fast food.
Skippy: the asspress: anna ayala was taken into custody late thursday at her las vegas.
Joe Gandelman: Chili-Finger-Finder Now Under Thumb Of Law — All good and bad things must come to an end, and so it is in the saga of...
Clayton Cramer: Today's news: "LAS VEGAS (AP) - The woman who claimed she found a finger in her bowl of Wendy's chili last month has...
Captain Ed: Now, however, Ayala finds herself in a different arena in the justice system as Las Vegas police have arrested her in...
Susanna Cornett: Wendy's finger-lickin' lady is arrested — File this under "unsurprising": [snipped quote] And this is one big reason why: "As it turns out, Ayala has a litigious history.
Mitch Berg: Like You Couldn't See This Coming... The Wendy's Chili Woman has been been boxed up: [snipped quote] She'll be undergoing quite a grilling.

U.S. Sees Nothing Definitive on N. Korea Nuke Tests
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has not seen certain evidence that North Korea is preparing for a nuclear weapons test although it has seen "lots of stuff suggesting interesting activity," a senior administration official said on Friday.
Charles Johnson: Nothing "Definitive" on NK Nuke Tests — North Korea may be preparing to openly test a nuclear weapon.
Billmon: End Game — [snipped quote] gameover.jpg

Bush Backs His U.N. Nominee, but Powell Warns of Volatility
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, April 21 - President Bush on Thursday issued a strong new defense of John R. Bolton, his nominee as ambassador to the United Nations. But associates of Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state, said he had expressed reservations about Mr. Bolton in conversations with at least two wavering Republican senators.
Digby: The Incredible Shrinking President — Ezra makes an interesting observation today: [snipped quote] As a matter of fact, I've been noticing the same thing.
Noam Scheiber: LINCOLN CHAFEE, TODAY'S BIG LOSER: John Bolton's nomination to be U.N. ambassador looks like it could be in serious...
Ezra Klein: Bolting on Bolton — Maybe I'm overestimating the power of Powell, but I have to think his decision to actively lobby against Bolton effectively kills the nomination.
Tarek @LiquidList: It's clear that Powell would oppose John Bolton's nomination as our ambassador to the U.N. So why doesn't he just raise his goddamn voice once and say it loud and clear?
Dan Froomkin: ' " Powell Comes Back to Bite Cheney Douglas Jehl writes in the New York Times: "President Bush on Thursday issued a...
Dr. Steven Taylor: The NYT, Powell and Bolton — Via the NYT: Bush Backs His U.N. Nominee, but Powell Warns of Volatility "President Bush...
Also: Matthew Yglesias, Josh Marshall, Steve Soto, Maya @SuburbanGuerrilla

Moussaoui Pleads Guilty in 9/11 Conspiracy
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
"/ Osama bin Laden to fly a plane into the White House during a later attack.
"/ Pentagon in 2001. He pleaded to six conspiracy counts, four of which could bring the death penalty.
He said he would contest such a sentence, which prosecutors say they intend to pursue.
Jeralyn Merritt: Judge Leonie M. Brinkema accepted Zacarias Moussaoui's guilty pleas today to every charge in the Indictment, four of which could end in a death sentence.
Charles Johnson: Moussaoui Planned to Fly Plane into White House — Moussaoui Pleads Guilty in 9/11 Conspiracy.

Senator to Try New Strategy on Accounts for Retirees
  NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, April 21 - The Senate Finance Committee chairman, Charles E. Grassley, said Thursday that he would try to produce a Social Security bill with the support of Republicans alone, in an effort to jump-start a legislative effort now stymied by solid Democratic opposition.
Josh Marshall: As the Times reports this morning and USA Today did yesterday, Chairman Grassley plans to use the Finance Committee...
Pudentilla: grassley will walk awol's social security plank alone — [snipped quote] someday, some republican who was in congress...
Matthew Yglesias: Bush Loses The Pretentious Vote — [snipped quote] So quoteth, the Times.

Bush Cancels Great Smoky Mountains Visit
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - President Bush canceled an Earth Day visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Friday because of bad weather.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the threat of hail and thunder storms was keeping the president from...
BobcatJH: Meanwhile, the president is looking forward to washing the blood from his hands getting his hands dirty: ...
Cookie Jill: it's not nice to screw with mother nature she gets mad [snipped quote] wait until you see what she has coming for you...
Edward _: UPDATE: Hmmm...looks like God's not dead after all: "Bush Cancels Great Smoky Mountains Visit White House press...

Pelosi pressed for trip records
  By / Washington Times   —   Permalink 
House Republicans yesterday called on Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to provide documentation to prove that a Washington lobbyist firm did not pay for a trip she and other Democrats took to Puerto Rico in 2001.
Tarek @LiquidList: The fair-and-balanced Washington Times notes a discrepancy in a trip to Puerto Rico taken by some Democrats, but manages...
Hugh Hewitt: Nancy Pelosi/glass houses update here. Meanwhile, MoveOn.org targets Pelosi's competitor in the race to become the...
McQ: Now we have the same sort of questions being aimed at Nancy Pelosi: "The Washington Times reported earlier this week...
Howard Kurtz: The Washington Times is looking for DeLay-like behavior among Dems: "House Republicans yesterday called on Minority...

Odd numbers
  By / Financial Times   —   Permalink 
At first, Steven Levitt is not sure where we should go for lunch. We're meeting in his home city of Chicago, a place I have never visited, so I haven't a clue what to suggest.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: THE INCOMPARABLE STEVEN LEVITT — Via Tyler Cowen we have this interview of Steven Levitt, whose knowledge and research...
Tyler Cowen: Addendum: Here is an excellent interview with Steve Levitt (much on his personality), done by Tim Harford.

Japan's 'sorry' to Asian leaders
  NEWS.com.au   —   Permalink 
PRIME Minister Junichiro Koizumi has offered "deep remorse and heartfelt apology" for Japan's past aggressions in an attempt to placate China and salvage his attempt to gain a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council.
Arthur Chrenkoff: Saying sorry — Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi offers perhaps the fullest apology ever given on behalf of his...
Smash: Japan Apologizes for WWII — PRIME MINISTER Junichiro Koizumi apologized on behalf of his nation for past Japanese aggression, during an African-Asian summitt in Jakarta Friday.

Greenspan Says He Expects Tax Increases
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday, for the first time explicitly, that he expects tax increases to be part of any eventual agreement to reduce the federal budget deficit.
Brad DeLong: Nice to see: washingtonpost.com: Greenspan Says He Expects Tax Increases: "Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said...
Donald Luskin: The Washington Post says in the lede of a story today that "Alan Greenspan said yesterday, for the first time...
Matthew Yglesias: Poor misunderstood Alan Greenspan now wants the world to know "that his support for tax cuts in early 2001...

Passing the Buck
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
The United States spends far more on health care than other advanced countries. Yet we don't appear to receive more medical services. And we have lower life-expectancy and higher infant-mortality rates than countries that spend less than half as much per person.
Angry Bear: (AB) See also, todays Krugman Op/Ed in the NYT. AB
Mary @LeftCoaster: Open Thread — Krugman's column today explains why we Americans get so little for our healthcare dollars.
Steve Antler: Lack of confidence in the material itself... I don't agree with lots of it, but this is worth reading and considering.
Orrin Judd: Passing the Buck (PAUL KRUGMAN, 4/22/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] Hey, even Paul Krugman can figure out why we need universal Health Savings Accounts.

Whoppers and the End of an Epidemic
  By / TCS   —   Permalink 
It isn't just that they were fudging the numbers, it is the scope of the fudging that is so breathtaking. For the last few years Americans have been subjected to an incessant barrage of warnings about the risks of dying from being fat.
Bill @INDCJournal: Because while the Feds did indeed muff the numbers, the spin that almost shallowly scoffs at aggressive caution about...
Glenn Reynolds: SOME OBSERVATIONS ON FRAUD AND FAT: Many people will find this a relief.
Susanna Cornett: John Luik at TCS has a column on it that looks more closely at the numbers: "[E]ven the 25,814 deaths per year from...

Hell's Kitchen
  By / New York Magazine   —   Permalink 
This much we know: The day that Marine Lieutenant Ilario Pantano killed the two men was like any other day in Iraq. It was a year ago, though no one could initially recall the date. The afternoon was drawing to a close. Soon, it would be dark.
Phillip Carter: The trials of USMC Lt. Ilario Pantano — New York magazine has an amazing profile of Marine Lieutenant Ilario Pantano,...
Blackfive: JarheadDad sent this excellent article about the incident and Ilario Pantano. It's seven pages long, but it's very, very good.

Let Cookie Monster Be Cookie Monster
  NRO   —   Permalink 
Social engineers go way too far.
The producers of Sesame Street have decided that Cookie Monster is gay.
Hold the phone. I'm kidding. But try to hold onto your reaction for a moment because what they've really done to Cookie Monster is worse, they've taken away his reason for being.
Kris Murray: According to Jonah Goldberg over at National Review Online, the producers of Sesame Street have decided to completely destroy Cookie Monster.
Steve Dillard: That's the way the Cookie Monster crumbles: Is nothing sacred anymore?
Ace: To borrow from another cynically humorous take on WWII, "And so it goes." They got Cookie Monster. They disappeared him.

Crisis of Faith
  By / TNR   —   Permalink 
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem."
"We have a responsibility that, when somebody hurts, government has got to move."
—George W. Bush, September 1, 2003
Michael Signer: The Theocon Threat — Andrew Sullivan has a terrific piece up in today's TNR called "Crisis of Faith".
John Cole: Crisis of Faith — A pretty perceptive piece by Andrew Sullivan about what I have been feeling as of late regarding the GOP.

Lay Off Our Judiciary
  By / WSJ   —   Permalink 
A prominent member of the Senate leadership recently described a Supreme Court justice as "a disgrace." An equally prominent member of the leadership of the House of Representatives on the other side of the political aisle has characterized another justice's approach to adjudication as "incredibly outrageous."
Jeffrey Dubner: His op-ed in The Wall Street Journal is spot-on regarding Tom DeLay, court-stripping, judicial impeachment, and even the nuclear option.
Glenn Reynolds: TED OLSON, NO QUICHE-EATING LEFTY, writes that Republicans should lay off the judiciary: [snipped quote] He also...
James Joyner: Former Bush Solicitor General Ted Olsen, writing in the Wall Street Journal, warns congressional Republicans to "Lay Off Our Judiciary."

Salazar lets fly
  By / Rocky Mountain News   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., intensified his war of words with Focus on the Family on Thursday, accusing its evangelical Christian leaders of trying to turn the United States into a theocracy.
The Poorman: Ken Salazar hits back: "Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., intensified his war of words with Focus on the Family on Thursday,...
Armando @DailyKos: The Senator points out that Focus on the Family board member R. Albert Mohler, Jr said: [snipped quote] Salazar called on James Dobson to repudiate Mohler.

Treasury feels White House heat on policy
  By / Financial Times   —   Permalink 
The Bush administration's sudden shift on China's currency regime last week came as a surprise to many.
After several years of claiming its "financial diplomacy" was paying dividends, the US Treasury suddenly called for China to move immediately to a flexible currency.
Brad DeLong: From the Financial Times's Andrew Balls: FT.com / Home UK - Treasury feels White House heat on policy.
Dan Froomkin: The Power of the White House Andrew Balls in the Financial Times mulls the Bush administration's sudden shift of...

Climate Research Faulted Over Missing Components
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
The Bush administration's program to study climate change lacks a major component required by law, according to Congressional investigators. The program fails to include periodic assessments of how rising temperatures may affect people and the environment.
Tarek @LiquidList: The General Accountability Office helpfully points out that Bush administration research on climate change and the environment illegally omits key segments.
Pudentilla: gao: awol's boys are cheating on environmental studies — [snipped quote] why does the gao think awol has to obey the law?
Chris Mooney: Earth Day — If there's one article to read this morning, it's Andy Revkin's piece in the New York Times.

To Dems, It's 1974 Forever
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced recently that he is worried about the "hard, hard right" of the Republican Party, people whose goal is to turn "the clock back to the 1930s or the 1890s." I've never met one myself. He wants to conceal the Big Switch that has transformed American politics.
Ken Masugi: Gelernter on Progress and Reaction — LAT conservative columnist David Gelernter argues that "Today the Democrats are the party of reactionary liberalism.
Kevin Drum: This morning's column is just embarrassing, the sort of thing the Onion might run as a parody of an op-ed.

Celebs Ignore Death, Poverty on MTV Enviro Series
  By / CNSNews   —   Permalink 
(CNSNews.com) - A new MTV series features Hollywood celebrities praising the developing world's primitive lifestyles as earth-friendly — despite those poor nations' high infant mortality rates and short life expectancies.
Radley Balko: Read this, then join me avoiding MTV, Cameron Diaz, and Drew Barrymore product whenever possible. Christ.
Ronald Bailey: MTV Celebrates Earth Day — Few things are more contemptible than rich celebs glorifying poverty. Read it and weep.

Zoo Tries to Get Chimp to Kick the Habit
  AP   —   Permalink 
BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa — A South African zoo wants a chimpanzee to quit smoking cold turkey.
Keepers say Charlie the chimpanzee picked up the habit from visitors at the Bloemfontein Zoo who sometimes toss him cigarettes.
Jonah Goldberg: SMOKING CHIMPANZEE — First of all, who's lighting the chimp's cigarettes?
Commissar: Chimp Nic Fit — Zoo Tries to Get Chimp to Kick the Habit [snipped quote] Next they will probably try to take away his Halo 2 and stop him from watching "Numa Numa" 24 x 7.

PBS Scrutiny Raises Political Antennas
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Liberal commentator Bill Moyers is out on PBS stations. Buster the animated rabbit is under a cloud of suspicion. And right-wing yakkers from the Wall Street Journal editorial page have been handed their own public-television chat show.
Garrett M. Graff: Paul Farhi has an article today pointing to a recent series of controversies involving political correctness (as well as the odd appointment of two ombudsmen for the first time).
Jim Romenesko: Claim: PBS is being forced to toe a more conservative line — Washington Post A senior FCC official tells Paul Farhi...
Tim Graham: VAGUE PBS RUMBLINGS — Paul Farhi reports for the Washington Post that PBS officials that wish to remain anonymous...

A Kennedy Relative Acted as Informant in Democrat Circles
  By / New York Sun   —   Permalink 
A New Orleans political consultant who is Senator Kennedy's brother-in-law, Raymond Reggie, has been operating in Democratic circles for the last three years as an undercover informant for the FBI, sources close to the matter said yesterday.
Will Collier: Oh, That Liberal Media — The first time I read this New York Sun story, I almost figured it was a put-on.
Scott @PowerLine: As our readers helped us guess last night, the mystery witness is Senator Kennedy's brother-in-law Raymond Reggie: "A Kennedy relative acted as informant in Democrat circles."
Michelle Malkin: Today, Gerstein identifies Mr. X as Ray Reggie—Teddy Kennedy's brother-in-law. (A Power Line reader nailed it yesterday.)

Strict Construction
  By / TNR   —   Permalink 
The election of Benedict XVI, at least in the Western press, is being interpreted primarily as a blow to liberal Catholicism—the Catholicism that has endured a kind of exile since the late 1960s, when it became clear that the post-Vatican II renovation in Church teaching was not to be as sweeping as many hoped.
Matthew Yglesias: Orthodoxy — Ross Douthat makes a empirical case for doctrinal orthodoxy in Catholicism, offering the familiar argument...
Orrin Judd: CAN'T SAVE THE CHURCH BY DESTROYING IT: Strict Construction (Ross Douthat, 04.21.05, New Republic) [snipped quote] The...

Half of Americans Say Bush Doing a Poor Job on the Environment
  By / Gallup   —   Permalink 
PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup's annual environmental poll finds few signs that environmentalists opposed to President George W. Bush's environmental agenda have had success in persuading the public to see things from their perspective.
Dan Froomkin: Gallup reports: "Half of all Americans, up from 38 percent four years ago, now say Bush is doing a poor job of...
Riggsveda @Corrente: As for his "clear and strong example", I'd guess that would have to be his promotion of mountaintop removal mining...

Spain tries 9/11 terror suspects
  BBC   —   Permalink 
Three men have appeared in court in Spain charged with helping to plan the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US.
They include the alleged head of an al-Qaeda cell in Spain, who is accused of arranging a meeting allegedly attended by one of the 19 attackers.
Mike Chandler: From across "the pond" — The trial that has started in Spain of a number of individuals suspected of being members of...
Jan Haugland: Anti-terror case starts in Spain — A large court case against terrorist suspects begins in Spain, including cases...

Next Crisis at U.N. May Involve Ties Of Volcker, Strong
  By / New York Sun   —   Permalink 
UNITED NATIONS - The next chapter in the United Nations crisis may erupt over U.N. investigator Paul Volcker's membership on the board of one of Canada's biggest companies, Power Corporation, since a past president of the firm, Canadian tycoon Maurice Strong, is now tied to the oil-for-food scandal.
Damian Penny: Paul Volcker, the man the UN hired to investiate the program: The next chapter in the United Nations crisis may erupt...
Roger L. Simon: According to this Benny Avni article in this morning's NY Sun - Avni, btw, has been doing some of the best reporting on...

Ex-Ambassador: Bolton May Have Misled Senate Committee
  LAT   —   Permalink 
A former U.S. ambassador to South Korea said Thursday that John R. Bolton, President Bush's choice for U.N. ambassador, may have misled the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about a provocative and controversial 2003 speech on North Korea.
Laura Rozen: Thomas Hubbard is coming forward to say Bolton "grossly exaggerated" the truth in regards to a speech Bolton claimed to the Senators Hubbard approved.
Matthew Yglesias: Perhaps more importantly, Ambassador Thomas Hubbard says Bolton "might have misled the Senate Foreign Relations...
Kevin Drum: The LA Times has the details.
Howard Kurtz: The L.A. Times has that story too. Nominations sink only when members of the president's own party turn on his choice.
Pudentilla: bailing on bolton — [snipped quote] funny how all those folks named to public office by awol hate bolton. one might even say that opposition to bolton is bipartisan.

Woman who claimed to find finger in chili arrested
  AP   —   Permalink 
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) — The woman who claimed she found a well-manicured finger in her bowl of Wendy's chili last month was arrested Thursday night in Las Vegas, police said.
Anna Ayala was taken into custody at her home, San Jose police spokesman Enrique Garcia said.
JoelF @SouthernAppeal: The would-be plaintiff (if only people would make the law suit less emotionally draining) is under arrest.
Ntodd @SuburbanGuerrilla: Well, the Wendy's Finger Plot sickens: [snipped quote] Ayala appears to be a bit loco...

Canada's Martin Promises New Vote
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
TORONTO, April 21 — Prime Minister Paul Martin on Thursday promised to call a new federal election late this year or early next year, 30 days after a federal judge finishes an inquiry into a political scandal that Martin said was "an unjustified mess."
Wretchard: However, this same Maurice Strong has connections to Paul Martin, the Prime Minister of Canada who is now being accused...
Cori Dauber: Here, to an American, is the amazing part: It was the first time in a decade a prime minister has asked to make a nationwide televised address.

Filibuster Rules: Then & Now
  By / NRO   —   Permalink 
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D. , Conn.) on Wednesday held a press conference to criticize Republican efforts to restore Senate tradition to the judicial confirmation process.
Armando @DailyKos: It is now apparent that this outrageous lie, that the Dems are changing the rules, is a new GOP meme. But the lie is easily called.
John Hawkins: Just consider how this is going to play out: 1) Since 2003, the Democrats have been demanding that the GOP ignore the...

Iraq's murky corpse mystery
  By / BBC   —   Permalink 
In a country where things often turn out to be different from the way they at first seem, the retrieval of around 60 corpses from the Tigris River near al-Suwayra, south of Baghdad, is one of the murkiest and most complex stories to hit the headlines in recent months.
Joseph Britt: This BBC report suggests that in fact insurgents may have operated from that town but the kidnapping never took place.
Juan Cole: The BBC attempts to clear up the mystery of the bodies found in the Tigris River near al-Suwayra, and their connection,...
Avedon Carol: Iraq's murky corpse mystery suggests that there might be some ethnic cleansing going on in Iraq.

Let Cookie Monster be Cookie Monster
  By / Townhall.com   —   Permalink 
The producers of "Sesame Street" have decided that Cookie Monster is gay.
Hold the phone. I'm kidding. But try to hold onto your reaction for a moment because what they've really done to Cookie Monster is worse - they've taken away his reason for being.
Joanne Jacobs: Jonah Goldberg protests. "The whole point of the Cookie Monster character was to have a character who was silly because he ate so much.
Betsy Newmark: I'm with JOnah Goldberg. Don't mess with Cookie Monster.

Insurgents Down Civilian Helicopter Near Iraqi Capital
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, April 21 — Insurgents shot down a helicopter with a heat-seeking missile north of the Iraqi capital Thursday, killing all six American security contractors and five others on board, according to U.S. officials and insurgents.
Cori Dauber: Some Gaps — Some surprising gaps in the Post's coverage of the helicopter shoot down yesterday: In Ramadi, a western...
James Joyner: Insurgents Down Civilian Helicopter Near Baghdad, Killing 11 — Insurgents Down Civilian Helicopter Near Iraqi Capital...
Michelle Malkin: I can barely squeeze one out." *** More coverage from the NY Times and Washington Post.

Microsoft Comes Under Fire for Reversal on Gay Rights Bill
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
SEATTLE, April 21 - The Microsoft Corporation, at the forefront of corporate gay rights for decades, is coming under fire from gay rights groups, politicians and its own employees for withdrawing its support for a state bill that would have barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Ann Althouse: This front page story, about how Microsoft withdrew its support for a state law banning discrimination based on sexual...
Edward _: Now that The New York Times has confirmed the story, are ya a little less skeptical Kip? — Ken Hutcherson may very well cut an imposing figure.
John Cole: What will move you to threaten a corporation with a nationwide boycott of Christians? Simple. Anti-discrimination legislation.
Lambert @Corrente: At least linux doesn't wuss out when bigots come calling — And how could linux wuss out, anyhow?

In German town, Benedict XVI known for love of cats, conversation
  By / Knight Ridder   —   Permalink 
REGENSBURG, Germany - When he was a cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI often delivered sermons at the German-language church in Campasanto Teutonico near St. Peter's Basilica, but his most heartfelt talks may have been the ones he gave after celebrating Mass.
Rich Lowry: THE POPE IS OK BY ME — From Yahoo News: "In German town, Benedict XVI known for love of cats, conversation"
Kevin Drum: FRIDAY CAT BLOGGING...."God's Rottweiler"? Not quite: [snipped quote] Hmmm. Maybe this guy won't be so bad after all.

Powell Plays Behind the Scenes Role in Bolton Debate
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell is emerging as a behind the scenes player in the battle over John Bolton's nomination to the United Nations, privately telling at least two key Republican lawmakers that Bolton is smart, but a very problematic government official, according to Republican sources.
Steve Clemons: Here is an excerpt from an article by Jim VandeHei and Robin Wright in the Washington Post today: [snipped quote] I have...
Joe Gandelman: The Washington Post also has a strikingly similar piece on this — which by journalistic rules certainly qualifies as strong confirmation that this is indeed taking place.
Steve Soto: Both the Post and the Times are reporting in their Friday editions that Powell has spoken to GOP senators about Bolton and failed to endorse him for the job.
Josh Marshall: Articles in Friday's NYTimes and Post describe how the former Secretary of State (and Bolton's boss in the first...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: BACKING—OR NOT BACKING—JOHN BOLTON — Obviously, Colin Powell has the right to whatever opinion of John Bolton that he...
Joseph Britt: The Penny Drops — I had wondered when we would hear something about John Bolton from Colin Powell, his former boss.
Also: Betsy Newmark, K. J. Lopez, Orrin Judd, Laura Rozen

Bolton Gets Unequivoval Backing From Bush, but Not Powell
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, April 21 - President Bush issued a strong new defense today of John R. Bolton, his nominee as ambassador to the United Nations, even as associates of Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state, said that Mr. Powell had expressed reservations about Mr. Bolton in conversations with at least two wavering Republican senators.
Howard Kurtz: Colin Powell is the latest to weigh in, through back-channel leaks: "President Bush issued a strong new defense today...
Kos @DailyKos: Powell does not back Bolton — Bush wants to stand behind the serial abuser Bolton for UN chief, but in a high-profile defection, Powell will not.
Tim Cavanaugh: Drudge links to Washington Post and New York Times coverage.
Joe Gandelman: The New York Times reports this: "President Bush issued a strong new defense today of John R. Bolton, his nominee as...
Kevin Drum: According to the New York Times, his former boss Colin Powell has been chatting with Republican senators and has "made...
Lorie Byrd: Is Powell Working Against Bolton? There is a lot going on behind the scenes in this one. (Link via Drudge)
Also: Laura Rozen

Soldier Convicted for Attacking Fellow Troops
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
An Army sergeant was convicted Thursday by a military jury of premeditated murder and attempted murder in a grenade and rifle attack that killed two of his comrades and wounded 14 others in Kuwait during the opening days of the Iraq war.
Cori Dauber: So, good for the Washington Post for putting the conviction of that soldier who attacked his comrades immediately before the war in Iraq started on pg.
Orrin Judd: OUR WORST MOMENTS IN THIS WAR HAVE BROUGHT OUT OUR BEST: Soldier Convicted for Attacking Fellow Troops (Estes Thompson,...

Santorum reads nuke polls, applies the brakes
  By / The Hill   —   Permalink 
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a leading advocate of the "nuclear option" to end the Democrats' filibuster of judicial nominees, is privately arguing for a delay in the face of adverse internal party polls.
Avedon Carol: Dwight Meredith says the nuclear option is becoming less likely, and quotes from an article in The Hill that says even Santorum appears to be getting cold feet.
John Hawkins: The latest story is that Rick Santorum wants to apply "the brakes" because the polling data doesn't look all that hot.
Kos @DailyKos: Santorum wants slowdown on Nuclear Option — One of the strongest proponents of the nuclear option, Rick Santorum, is getting weak in the knees thanks to the polls.
Ace: Rick Santorum wants do delay attempting the "nuclear option" to break filibusters, based on bad polling: [snipped quote] I never really thought they'd have the stones to do it.
Billmon: And it looks like it may be time once again for the religious wackos to be sold down the river by their GOP "allies"
John @PowerLine: Reader Sean Rushton pointed out this disquieting article in The Hill: [snipped quote] The GOP's Senate leadership knows a...
Also: Joe Gandelman, Chris Bowers, Steve M., Sam Rosenfeld, Captain Ed, Kevin Drum, Dwight Meredith, James Joyner, Dr. Steven Taylor, Josh Marshall, Jonathan H. Adler

Roe's Birth, and Death
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Justice Harry Blackmun did more inadvertent damage to our democracy than any other 20th-century American. When he and his Supreme Court colleagues issued the Roe v. Wade decision, they set off a cycle of political viciousness and counter-viciousness that has poisoned public life ever since, and now threatens to destroy the Senate as we know it.
Guest @ThinkProgress: Like a kneejerk radical conservative, he attempts to blame all our political problems on the infamous Supreme Court...
Norbizness: David Brooks Is a Turd — C'mon, give the states a shot at this.
Barbara O'Brien: Still Vegetating — TBogg already wrote the perfect response to today's David Brooks atrocity. I just want to elaborate.
Jim Henley: Clark Stooksbury and Michael Berubé offer differing perspectives on David Brooks, judicial review and Roe v. Waid.
Chris Lawrence: Brooks on Roe — A good David Brooks piece appeared in today's New York Times on the hyperpoliticization of the abortion issue in the wake of Roe v. Wade.
Clayton Cramer: Overturning Roe v. Wade (1973) & Political Civility — A recent David Brooks column argues that Roe v. Wade (1973) has...
Also: Edward _, Ann Althouse, Michael Bérubé, Tresy @Corrente, Shawn @LiquidList, Unf @Unfogged, Steve M., Juan Non-Volokh, Steve @BeggingToDiffer, Sam Rosenfeld, Tbogg

Judicial Nominees May Force Filibuster Fight
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
Republicans sent a Texas judge's name to the full Senate for confirmation for a third time Thursday, moving closer to a confrontation over Democratic filibustering of President Bush's judicial nominees.
Sam Rosenfeld: Here's today's Washington Post: "Some senators thought the rule-change showdown might occur next week, but the Senate will take up the highway bill instead.
Hugh Hewitt: The break-the-filibuster vote moved closer today with the Senate Judiciary Committee action on previously blocked nominees Janice Rogers Brown and Priscilla Owen.
Kevin Drum: The Washington Post reports that two filibusterable candidates were sent to the Senate floor today. A showdown is now imminent.
Jon @ThinkProgress: Brown's Extremist Record — On a party-line 10-8 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee today approved California Judge...
Dwight Meredith: I suspect that is a hard sell. Update: Or maybe not.
Jeralyn Merritt: Owen and Rogers Brown to Trigger Nuclear Option Battle — The filibuster battle likely will hit next week over the nominations of Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown.
Also: Orrin Judd

Diplomat Disputes Bolton Testimony
  CBS News   —   Permalink 
(CBS/AP) President Bush personally came to the defense of his embattled nominee for United Nations ambassador on Thursday, telling reporters that despite mounting criticism, John R. Bolton deserved to be confirmed by the Senate.
Howard Kurtz: And CBS's Gloria Borger found a former administration official who challenged Bolton's veracity: "Bolton's fate grew...
Nico @ThinkProgress: "- 10/03/04" And yesterday… [quote] "President Bush personally came to the defense of his embattled nominee for United...[end quote]
Atrios: Isn't lying to Congress a no-no? Isn't Cokie Roberts going to start screeching "rule of law! rule law!"
Laura Rozen: More from CBS's Gloria Borger. (Thx to DB).

Economic Worries Aren't Resonating on Hill
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
Inflation and interest rates are rising, stock values have plunged, a tank of gas induces sticker shock, and for nearly a year, wages have failed to keep up with the cost of living.
Avedon Carol: He also cites a WaPo story that acknowledges how out of touch the Republicans are with the rest of the country as their...
Dwight Meredith: Eric links today to a Washington Post story about how out if touch with the concerns of the American people Washington...
Dr. Steven Taylor: And Now: The Economy — Via WaPo: Economic Worries Aren't Resonating on Hill "Inflation and interest rates are rising,...
Ruy Teixeira: More evidence that economic pessimism is running rampant is provided in article today in the Washington Post, "Economic Worries Aren't Resonating on the Hill".
Tarek @LiquidList: The Post's above the fold story this morning on the economy demonstrates just how much things have changed, and how...
Guest @ThinkProgress: Greenspan: Bush Budget Bankrupting America — The Washington Post today reports that the economic worries of Americans just are not registering with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Also: Matthew Yglesias, EBW @Wampum

Democrats accused of lack of vision
  By / Washington Times   —   Permalink 
House Democrats have voted with Republicans on several major bills this year, and Republicans say this indicates a lack of vision and agenda coming from Democratic leadership.
Todd Zywicki: The Washington Times also noted yesterday that 73 Democrats voted in favor of the bill in the House, one of the more...
Avedon Carol: Xan at Corrente suspects the Republicans are getting their lines from Eric Cartman after reading a knee-slapper in the...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: I SENSE WE ARE GOING 'ROUND IN CIRCLES — Consider this article—regarding why Democrats are supporting certain Republican bills.
Xan @Corrente: As Lambert pointed out last night, accommodationism with These People gets you a ticket on a fast train to...

Districts and Teachers' Union Sue Over Bush Law
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Opening a new front in the growing rebellion against President Bush's signature education law, the nation's largest teachers' union and eight school districts in Michigan, Texas and Vermont sued the Department of Education yesterday, accusing it of violating a...
Avedon Carol: She also brings to our attention another NYT article on teachers and school districts suing Bush over No Child's Behind Left.)
John Hawkins: Teachers' Union Suit Sparks 'No Bureaucrat Left Behind' — Satire By Scott Ott — President George Bush, faced with a...
Joanne Jacobs: 'No Bureaucrat Left Behind' — Faced with a teachers' union lawsuit, President George W. Bush has announced the 'No Bureaucrat Left Behind' plan, Scrappleface reports.
Dan Froomkin: The 'No-Child' Revolution Sam Dillon writes in the New York Times: "Opening a new front in the growing rebellion...
Orrin Judd: THE LEFT JOINS THE CONSTITUTION IN EXILE MOVEMENT: Districts and Teachers' Union Sue Over Bush Law (SAM DILLON, 4/21/05,...
Pudentilla: red and blue states unite in opposition to nclb — [snipped quote] when they realize awol's goal is to destroy public...

A Catholic Call for Dissent
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
I grew up as a typical pre-Vatican II Catholic. I entered the seminary at 13 and became a priest 11 years later, never questioning church teachings. But as a moral theologian in the 1960s, I began to see things differently, ultimately concluding that...
Avedon Carol: It must be news — In yesterday's LAT, Charles Curran talks about how Ratzinger got him fired for not agreeing with some current church positions.
Steve Bainbridge: He said it, not me — Commenting on defrocked Catholic theologian Charles Curran's LA Times attack on Pope Benedict XVI,...
Tim Dunlop: God only knows — Interesting story in the LA Times today that more or less bears out the points I was making in the...
Kevin Drum: Here's his account in the LA Times today: [snipped quote] That's par for the course. Six out of seven of those items are related to sex and gender.

Howard Dean warns of danger in Iraq pullout
  By / Minneapolis Star Tribune   —   Permalink 
Howard Dean came to Minnesota Wednesday evening without the scream that ended his 2004 presidential campaign, or the anti-Iraq war rhetoric that started it.
"Now that we're there, we're there and we can't get out," he told an audience of nearly 1,000 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
Hugh Hewitt: And Howard Dean cheerfully admits he has zero class. (HT: Powerline.)
Charles Johnson: Howard Dean: Picture of Class — In Minnesota, Howard Dean showed once again the sense of dignity and class that makes him the perfect man to lead the Democratic Party.
K. J. Lopez: More Dean: "Between a speech he delivered without notes and a question-answer session, Dean regaled an appreciative...
John @PowerLine: The Gift That Keeps On Giving — If you haven't already seen it, the Minneapolis Star Tribune's account of Howard Dean's...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: With antics like this one: [snipped quote] I don't listen to Rush Limbaugh. I have no brief for Rush Limbaugh.
Michelle Malkin: Here's how DNC chair Howard Dean gave voice to the Democrat value of compassion.

Who Pays $600 for Jeans?
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
COLLETTE LEONARD would probably be the first to tell you that the premium denim thing is a little out of hand. She is aware of how loopy it is to lose one's senses in the quest for a neatly packaged posterior.
Avedon Carol: Via The Road to Surfdom. Pudentilla discovers a stupid question in the NYT: Who Pays $600 for Jeans?
Jan Haugland: Good question: Who Pays $600 for Jeans? And the answer is, apparently, fashionable women who are very conscious about their behinds.
Ann Althouse: While some women are paying maybe $600 for pair of jeans to distinguish themselves in our heavily jeans-clad culture,...
Pudentilla: stupid question: [snipped quote] easy answer: people who want middle class tax payers to save them from the ravages of the estate tax.

Forget Blogs
  By / Editor and Publisher   —   Permalink 
Among forward-looking media thinkers, many of them with more experience in journalism that I have on this earth, I have developed an apparently unpopular opinion. The blog craze has prompted dozens of newspapers and other news outlets to produce or plan blogs for their own Web sites.
Rex Hammock: But this column certainly is idiocy. The "young reporter" at Editor & Publisher says "blogs are a horrible way to deliver journalism...and forget them."
Jeff Jarvis: Dinosaur roar : The frequently clueless Editor & Publisher, voice of the newspaper industry (:cough:), is without clue...
James Joyner: Newspaper Blogs a Bad Idea — Editor & Publisher's Graham Webster argues that newspapers should give up hosting...
Jim Romenesko: "Blogs are a horrible way to deliver journalism. Forget them" Editor & Publisher Graham Webster says young people don't get their news via blogs; they prefer portal sites.

Reverence Gone Up in Smoke
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
"Secular and the City" is a weird show to be in at the moment. For those of us who came to Manhattan precisely because you're guaranteed never to meet anyone who has read the "Left Behind" series, America's much-celebrated spiritual revival can have its trying moments.
TheAnchoress: Betsy Newmark: wonders just why it is that snippety secularist society types like Tina Brown feel they should have so much to say about the new pope.
Lorie Byrd: The Anchoress On Brown "Dreck" — The latest post by the Anchoress begins like this: "I don't know when I have read a...
Kevin Aylward: Columnists Contempt For Catholicism — Tina Brown gives a breathtaking example of the visceral hatred of religion...
Tim Graham: TINA'S TRAUMA — You have to love reading Tina Brown, since her columns for the WashPost seem to confirm what every...
Ed Driscoll: [quote]See how she puts it today: "For those of us who came to Manhattan precisely because you're guaranteed never to meet...[end quote]
Betsy Newmark: Well, if you haven't been offended yet about how the elites are treating the selection of the new pope, read Tina Brown today.
Also: Orrin Judd

Have a Nice Day, or Else
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
It hurt her feelings, says Jane Fonda, sharing her feelings, that one of her husbands liked them to have sexual threesomes. "It reinforced my feeling I wasn't good enough."
In the Scottsdale, Ariz., Unified School District office, the receptionist used to be called a receptionist.
Radley Balko: George is into it. What in the world is George Will trying to do with his column this week?
TheAnchoress: Maxed Out Mama, who does not suffer fools gladly, and for this we bless God, highlightes George Will's excellent column...
Dale Franks: Suck it up, Nancy-boy — George Will writes that the rise of therapeutic culture is turning us into a bunch on whining ninnies.
Richard Reeb: George Will Takes on the "Nice" People — Premier columnist George Will takes on the army of professional "feelings"...

Neil Bush, Ratzinger co-founders
  New York Newsday   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Neil Bush, the president's controversial younger brother, six years ago joined the cardinal who this week became Pope Benedict XVI as a founding board member of a little known Swiss ecumenical foundation.
Pessimist @LeftCoaster: The news that Pope Ratz has been directly involved with the Bu$h family in the past is a good place to start wondering...
Steve M.: Weird story from Newsday — grab the tinfoil hat: Neil Bush, Ratzinger co-founders President's younger brother served...

Retreat of Antarctic ice gathers pace
  By / Financial Times   —   Permalink 
Glaciers in the Antarctic are retreating at an increasing rate, in what scientists said on Thursday was a clear sign of climate change.
Most of the glaciers on the Antarctic peninsula, near the southernmost tip of South America, have retreated over the...
Clayton Cramer: The Financial Times article is breathless: "Glaciers in the Antarctic are retreating at an increasing rate, in what...
Stirling Newberry: Global Warming in FT — It's serious when the world's most serious newspaper talks about global warming.

The bashing of Bolton, &c.
  NRO   —   Permalink 
The John Bolton mess tells us a lot about the current debate over U.S. foreign policy, and about the differences between the two political parties. James Taranto, at OpinionJournal.com the other day, had a great catch.
Ace: Seems like the hyperpartisan hack Dana Milbank at the WaPo has committed a Kinsley-type gaffe: "James Taranto, at OpinionJournal.com the other day, had a great catch.
John Hawkins: "— Jay Nordlinger"
Betsy Newmark: Jay Nordlinger is spot on again. "The John Bolton mess tells us a lot about the current debate over U.S. foreign policy,...

Bush: Politics stalling Bolton vote
  CNN   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush on Thursday urged senators to "put aside politics" and confirm John Bolton as the country's new U.N. ambassador, calling him "the right man at the right time for this important assignment."
Laura Rozen: Far more than a partisan fight between Republicans and Democrats as the White House would have us believe, this is...
Steve Bainbridge: Bolton — As I understand it, the official case against John Bolton's appointment as UN ambassador consists largely of...
Steve Clemons: From a CNN Report: [snipped quote] Has the President read the dossier?

Dems try to kill Clinton probe
  By / NY Daily News   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats are quietly trying to kill a 10-year legal probe that implicates several senior Clinton administration appointees for obstruction of justice, the Daily News has learned.
Ace: Actually, it's Democratic Senators trying to kill the investigation into Clinton-era hijinks: [snipped quote] The...
John Cole: Via Ace, we see this nonsense from the folks on the other side of the aisle: "Senate Democrats are quietly trying to...

Why They Ran
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
There were many moving and dramatic moments in Rome two days ago, but this is the one I think I'll remember: the sight of them running.
Did you see them running to St. Peter's Square as the bells began to toll?
TheAnchoress: Peggy Noonan: I like this piece very much, and so I am linking to it again here, although I had excepted from it here.
Roger Ailes: Meanwhile, Peggy Noonan gives Benny the Rat a virtual knuckle job: [snipped quote] Jay-P died on the vigil of Feast of the Divine Mercy.
Ann Althouse: I guess everyone's going to link to Peggy Noonan's essay about the new pope, and I wasn't going to pope-blog, but this...
Steve Bainbridge: Why I Really Like Peggy Noonan — Her take on Benedict XVI is spot on: [snipped quote] I'll have more to say about this very fine column a bit later.

For Republicans, 2 Women Are Exhibits A and B in Battle on Judicial Appointments
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, April 20 - As the Senate moves ever closer to a partisan showdown over confirming President Bush's judicial choices, the Judiciary Committee is expected to vote along party lines on Thursday to approve at least two nominees certain to attract a Democratic filibuster in the full Senate.
Sam Rosenfeld: We'll watch Bill Frist and leading lights of the Christian right push the anti-Christian bigotry line to the hilt on...
Orrin Judd: WORTH A NUCLEAR EXCHANGE: For Republicans, 2 Women Are Exhibits A and B in Battle on Judicial Appointments (NEIL A. LEWIS, 04/21/2005, NY Times) [snipped quote] Sing out, Sister.

House Resources chairman disses key provision of energy bill
  CNN   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Shortly before the House began debate Wednesday on an energy bill aimed primarily at making the country less dependent on overseas oil, a House committee chairman involved in the legislation bluntly dismissed a key provision to boost the use of hydrogen fuels.
Kevin Drum: Republican Richard Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, mistakenly thinking he was speaking privately...
PGL: Energy Bill: A Rare Bit of GOP Honesty (profane as it might sound) The devil is in the details is an old Ross Perot line...

US Steps Up Pressure on Belarus
  By / Voice of America   —   Permalink 
The United States has issued a call for free and fair elections in Belarus next year. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says it is time for change in what she calls Europe's "last true dictatorship."
Robert Tagorda: Here's the latest encouraging development: US Steps Up Pressure on Belarus (VOA) "The United States has issued a call for free and fair elections in Belarus next year.
Scott Sala: Technorati Tags: NYC+Mayor Bloomberg unemployment — Condi Bucks Belarus Condi is taking Freedom on the road, and Europe's last vestige of tyranny - Belarus - is target 2006.

Pope May Color Debate in U.S. Over 'Life' Issues Like Abortion
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, April 20 - The election of an unstintingly conservative pope could inject a powerful new force into the intense conflicts in American politics over abortion and other social issues, which put many Catholic elected officials at odds with their church.
Ann Althouse: I wasn't going to pope-blog, but this NYT article makes the new pope story all about American politics: "Pope Benedict...
Maya @SuburbanGuerrilla: It so irritates me when non-Catholic Republicans like Bush start using Catholic dogma to further their agenda.
K. J. Lopez: Thank you, thank you, New York Times.
Tom Maguire: The NY Times tiptoes up to the question of whether, and how, the newly elected Pope intervened in the last Presidential election.
Betsy Newmark: Perhaps this is the real reason why so many in America seem tobe so offended by the choice of Cardinal Ratzinger to be pope.

Conn. approves gay civil unions
  By / Boston Globe   —   Permalink 
HARTFORD — Connecticut became the second state in the nation yesterday to create civil unions for gays and lesbians. The move disappointed some gay-rights activists who had hoped to see the state follow Massachusetts' lead in creating same-sex marriage and angered some conservatives who said the measure was a step in the direction of gay nuptials.
Ace: Connecticut Approves Civil Unions... Through Democratic Means — I'm still very much undecided on civil unions, as I...
Oliver @LiquidList: Politics: Always Has Been A Civil Part of the Union — Before I forget: KUDOS to my home state of Connecticut!
Orrin Judd: A MODEL FOR BLUE STATES: Conn. approves gay civil unions: Advocates and opponents criticize compromise law (Sarah...
K. J. Lopez: CIVIL UNIONS, STATE 2 — Connecticut approved civil unions for gay couples yesterday.

The Bolton Mugging
  Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
So John Bolton's nomination to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations is said to be in trouble, as a couple of Senate Republicans waver amid reports that he has been rude to subordinates.
Betsy Newmark: The Wall Street Journal has a strong editorial about what has been happening to John Bolton's nomination.
Scott @PowerLine: A familiar melody — In its editorial on "The Bolton mugging," the Wall Street Journal cuts through much of the smoke that shrouds what has happened.

Mystery of Unpopped Popcorn Is Discovered
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
INDIANAPOLIS — Eat your way to the bottom of almost any bag of popcorn and there they are: the rock-hard, jaw-rattling unpopped kernels known as old maids. The nuisance kernels have kept many a dentist busy, but their days could be numbered: Scientists say they now know why some popcorn kernels resist popping into puffy white globes.
Paul @Wizbang: Breaking News: Mystery of unpopped popcorn solved — We here at Wizbang pride ourselves in keeping you abreast of the important issues that impact your life.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: MYSTERIES SOLVED — We lumber forward—ever clumsily—towards omniscience.
Jan Haugland: Why some popcorn don't pop — It's a major scientific breakthrough: Eat your way to the bottom of almost any bag of...
Betsy Newmark: How wonderful it is when one of life's little mysteries is solved.

The filibuster fight will be disastrous for the GOP
  The Hill   —   Permalink 
In 1936, President Roosevelt had just won reelection by one of the largest margins in history. His Republican adversary, Kansas Gov. Alf Landon, carried only Maine and Vermont.
Kos @DailyKos: Those internal polls are actually quite revealing, and give added credibility to this column by the GOP's Mr. CW — Dick Morris.
Chris Bowers: Dick Morris, who kos dubbed "the GOP's Mr. CW" has even written that "now that Iraq seems to be more pacified, and the...

Phil Anschutz: Media Wildcatter
  Business Week   —   Permalink 
By the time the idea of making a movie about the life of singer Ray Charles was pitched to Philip F. Anschutz, just about every major Hollywood studio had passed on it. Young people wouldn't know Charles, producer Stuart Benjamin was told.
Kevin Roderick: • Phil Anschutz: Media Wildcatter, in Business Week from Los Angeles by Christopher Palmeri. • Thursday, April 21 2005 • LINK
Garrett M. Graff: Taking Wemple's story a bit further, sources have confirmed to us that Anschutz, whose media acumen received a write-up...