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Quoted in this edition:

Ace of Spades HQ
  Ace
Althouse
  Ann Althouse
The Anchoress
  TheAnchoress
Associated Press
  John Heilprin
  Qassim Abdul-Zahara
  Bruce Shipkowski
  Matti Huuhtanen
  Terence Hunt
  Devlin Barrett
  Sam F. Ghattas
Balloon Juice
  John Cole
THE BELGRAVIA DISPATCH
  Gregory Djerejian
Betsy's Page
  Betsy Newmark
The Blogging of the President
  Stirling Newberry
Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal
  Brad DeLong
BrothersJudd Blog
  Orrin Judd
Burnt Orange Report
  Byron LaMasters
BuzzMachine
  Jeff Jarvis
Captain's Quarters
  Captain Ed
Centerfield
  Tully @Centerfield
Chicago Sun Times
  Robert Novak
chicagoboyz.net
  Ginny @ChicagoBoyz
corrente
  Lambert @Corrente
COUNTERCOLUMN
  Jason Van Steenwyk
Daily Kos
  QWQ @DailyKos
  Plutonium Page
  Armando @DailyKos
  Al Rodgers
  DavidNYC @DailyKos
  Mcjoan @DailyKos
Daimnation!
  Damian Penny
Dallas Morning News
  April Kinser
danieldrezner.com
  Suzanne Nossel
democracyarsenal.org
  Suzanne Nossel
Discourse.net
  Michael Froomkin
EdCone.com
  Ed Cone
Eschaton
  Avedon
  Attaturk
  Atrios
Ezra Klein
  Ezra Klein
Happy Furry Puppy Story Time with Norbizness
  Norbizness
Houston Chronicle
  Jonathan Feigen
  Tony Freemantle
HughHewitt.com
  Hugh Hewitt
Independent
  Martin Hodgson
Informed Comment
  Juan Cole
INTEL DUMP
  Phillip Carter
Interesting Times
  Chris Andersen
James Wolcott
  James Wolcott
L.A. Observed
  Kevin Roderick
The Left Coaster
  Steve Soto
  Eriposte @LeftCoaster
  Mary @LeftCoaster
Little Green Footballs
  Charles Johnson
Los Angeles Times
  Michael Kinsley
  Tim Rutten
  Barbara Demick
The Mahablog
  Barbara O'Brien
Majikthise
  Lindsay Beyerstein
Matthew Yglesias
  Matthew Yglesias
Michelle Malkin
  Michelle Malkin
The Moderate Voice
  Joe Gandelman
  Greg Piper
New Orleans Times-Picayune
New York Post
  Heidi Singer
New York Times
  Adam Cohen
  Daniel Okrent
  Douglas Jehl
  Nicholas D. Kristof
  Frank Rich
  Juan Forero
  Robert F. Worth
  Tom Zeller Jr.
  Paul Krugman
  David Brooks
  Alex Berenson
  John Tierney
  Carl Hulse
  Eric Lipton
  Anne E. Kornblut
  Sheryl Gay Stolberg
  Maureen Dowd
  Laurie Goodstein
Newsweek
  Jonathan Darman
No More Mister Nice Blog
  Steve M.
Obsidian Wings
  Edward _
Off the Kuff
  Charles Kuffner
Oh, That Liberal Media
  Patterico
Outside The Beltway
  James Joyner
Pejmanesque
  Pejman Yousefzadeh
The People's Republic of Seabrook
  Jack Cluth
PoliBlog
  Dr. Steven Taylor
PoliPundit.com
  Jayson @PoliPundit
  Alexander K. McClure
Power Line
  Paul @PowerLine
  John @PowerLine
PressThink
  Leonard Witt
ProfessorBainbridge.com
  Steve Bainbridge
Rantingprofs
  Cori Dauber
Reuters
Roger Ailes
  Roger Ailes
Roger L. Simon
  Roger L. Simon
Rolling Stone
  Robert Dreyfuss
Secular Blasphemy
  Jan Haugland
The Sideshow
  Avedon Carol
skippy the bush kangaroo
  Cookie Jill
  Hello maybe
  Pudentilla
South Knox Bubba
  SK Bubba
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
  Taegan Goddard
Talking Points Memo
  Kenny Baer
TalkLeft
  Jeralyn Merritt
  TChris
»«TBogg»«
  Tbogg
TheAgitator.com
  Radley Balko
Think Progress
  Nico @ThinkProgress
  Judd @ThinkProgress
Times of London
USS Neverdock
  Marc @USSNeverdock
War and Piece
  Laura Rozen
The Washington Monthly
  Kevin Drum
Washington Post
  Shailagh Murray
  Lincoln Caplan
  David Segal
  T.R. Reid
White House
Winds of Change.NET
  Dan Darling



The Latest Rumbling in the Blogosphere: Questions About Ethics
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Bloggers like to demonize the MSM (that's Mainstream Media), but it is increasingly hard to think of the largest news blogs as being outside the mainstream. Bloggers have been showing up at national political conventions, at the World Economic Forum at Davos and on the cover of Business Week.
Ezra Klein: Adam Cohen writes a piece on bloggers' ethics today, and I'm a bit torn about it.
Attaturk: We are all bloggers, but hardly of the type referred to by today's NY Times Breaking of Wind, I mean Editorial by Adam Cohen.
Jeff Jarvis: Navel boring : On today's Times editorial page, Adam Cohen questions the ethics of bloggers.
Dr. Steven Taylor: A Lame Attempt at Criticism the Blogosphere — Via the NYT: The Latest Rumbling in the Blogosphere: Questions About...
Patterico: The New York Times's Adam Cohen Lectures Bloggers — and Makes a Few Seemingly Unsupportable Claims of His Own in the...
Charles Johnson: The New York Times is Concerned About Ethics — The New York Times' Adam Cohen is the latest in a long line of...
Also: Pejman Yousefzadeh, Barbara O'Brien, Roger Ailes, Mindles H. Dreck, Ann Althouse, Ed Cone, James Wolcott, Cori Dauber, Lambert @Corrente

Captured Al-Qaeda kingpin is case of 'mistaken identity'
  Times of London   —   Permalink 
THE capture of a supposed Al-Qaeda kingpin by Pakistani agents last week was hailed by President George W Bush as "a critical victory in the war on terror". According to European intelligence experts, however, Abu Faraj al-Libbi was not the terrorists' third...
Dan Darling: Al-Libbi: Still not #3, but no mistaken identity — Since the capture of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, there has been some...
Michael Froomkin: Three is the Loneliest Number — A followup to Three is a Convenient Number to State, in which I noted how the US was...
Roger Ailes: Kingpinheads — How goes the war on terror? Just peachy, if you're not too detail oriented.
Jeralyn Merritt: The Sunday Times of London reports that European counter-terrorism experts believe Bush and Rice got it wrong, and...
Juan Cole: Christina Lamb and Mohammad Shehzad in Islamabad suggest in the London Times that Abu al-Faraj al-Libi, arrested...
Attaturk: Apparently, he just said he was "Third in Command" to impress the ladies — Oh lordy, lordy, lordy, isn't anybody actually third in command?

Ending the Senate Impasse
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
WE BELIEVE THAT presidents are generally entitled to deference in judicial nominations and that their nominees are generally entitled to up-or-down votes. So we ought to support the Republicans' detonation of the "nuclear option" when the Senate returns from recess this week, right?
Paul @PowerLine: Disingenuous and unserious — The Washington Post delivers a characteristically disingenuous editorial on "ending the Senate impasse."
Lambert @Corrente: WaPo editorial board embarasses itself yet again — After doing the usual balance thing on how both Dems and Republicans...

Senate GOP Hopes Deal Will End Filibusters
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — A leading Senate Republican expressed hope Sunday for a deal to end the divisive fight over the filibustering of judicial nominees, saying that "some of us might be moderately intelligent enough to figure this out."
QWQ @DailyKos: Today on This Week, Hagel strayed way off the reservation, to the point of completely undermining the Republican...
Taegan Goddard: Quote of the Day — [snipped quote] — Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), quoted by the AP, on the judicial filibusters used by Democrats to block seven of President Bush nominees.

Seven U.S. Servicemembers Killed in Iraq
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
"/ Iraq killed seven U.S. servicemembers over the weekend even as the Shiite-dominated parliament reached out Sunday to Sunni Arabs, approving four more of their number to serve as government ministers.
Cori Dauber: Pure Propaganda — While this web piece is not as specific as what was reported on the air, ABC News reports tonight...
Armando @DailyKos: 7 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Action this Weekend in Iraq dino points us to this: [snipped quote] Raising concerns? That's it?

Briefers and Leakers and the Newspapers Who Enable Them
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
SOMETIME in the next few days The Times's staff will be presented a statement titled "Preserving Our Readers' Trust." Prepared by a committee of reporters and editors led by assistant managing editor Allan M. Siegal, the document will offer recommendations...
Jeff Jarvis: And in today's column by Times public editor Dan Okrent, you see the wrangling over such a code continue as the paper...
Cori Dauber: But I don't think it's the use of unnamed sources per se: as he explains, there are simply reasons why some sources will...
Avedon Carol: Nice try — Daniel Okrent, "public editor" at The New York Times, says Briefers and Leakers and the Newspapers Who...

Remember: You Can't Swat a Fly With a Computer
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
In this great country, there are newspaper editorial pages of every political stripe, from nearly insane far-left rantings to the Wall Street Journal.
But when the United States faces a danger to its most important institutions and values, Americans can count on the newspaper industry to put aside petty differences and speak with one voice.
Barbara O'Brien: In other news: Michael Kinsley reminds us that you can't swat a fly with a computer. Ron Chernow writes about the Founding Fathers and the judicial system.
Dr. Steven Taylor: Kinsley on the Decline of Newspapers — Michael Kinsely has an amusing column in today's LAT on the decline of newspaper readership.
Kevin Roderick: Then on Sunday, Editorial and Opinion Editor Michael Kinsley offers a satirical take that makes clear he wouldn't much...

Tug of War: Intelligence vs. Politics
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, May 7 - For more than two years, critics who accused the Bush administration of improperly using political influence to shape intelligence assessments have, for the most part, failed to make the charge stick.
Suzanne Nossel: Bolton and the Politicization of Intelligence — Douglas Jehl has a good piece in this morning's New York Times taking a...
Laura Rozen: Douglas Jehl: "This weekend, the situation in North Korea is providing a new reminder that intelligence is rarely conclusive, and may thus be vulnerable to manipulation.

CHASTE-Y RETREAT
  By / New York Post   —   Permalink 
Bolting bride Jennifer Wilbanks was chaste away — by her fiancé's insistence on abstinence, friends of the sex-deprived couple claim.
"She told people the fact that she and [husband-to-be John Mason] were not having sex was upsetting," a friend of Wilbanks' told People magazine, which hits newsstands today.
Tbogg: With this ring I do thee...and then I can stop masturbating — We really wanted to avoid writing anything about the...
Roger Ailes: When Republican Fundies Mate

Britons ignorant about Germany and still see us as Nazis, says ambassador
  By / Independent   —   Permalink 
Sixty years after the end of the Second World War in Europe, British people are still obsessed with Nazism, and ignorant about Germany, said the German ambassador to London, Thomas Matussek.
"The British behave as if they had conquered Hitler's hordes single-handedly.
Damian Penny: MoveOn.de — Just in time for V-E Day, Germany's ambassador to Britain says he's fed up with the way people...
Steve Bainbridge: "(Link)" Hmm, I wonder where they get such notions?
Jason Van Steenwyk: Shoah biz — The German ambassador to London is upset because the Brits aren't quite over World War II.
Marc @USSNeverdock: Germany - The Nazis Won't Die — On the day that Britain celebrates VE day, the German ambassador to Britain says...

The Pope and AIDS
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Let's hope that Pope Benedict XVI quickly realizes that the worst sex scandal in the Catholic Church doesn't involve predatory priests. Rather, it involves the Vatican's hostility to condoms, which is creating more AIDS orphans every day.
Matthew Yglesias: Saving Lives and Saving Souls — Nobody is more upset about the Catholic Church's opposition to condom use than I...
Orrin Judd: THE CHURCH'S TEACHING MORE THAN SUFFICES: The Pope and AIDS (NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, 5/08/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] In...

Thousands protest Bush Dutch visit
  AP   —   Permalink 
MAASTRICHT, Netherlands (AP) — Thousands of anti-war activists protested U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to the Netherlands on Saturday, saying the man who started the Iraq war should not pay tribute to those who died in World War II for Dutch freedom.
Cori Dauber: Dutch anti-war protesters march in opposition to President Bush's participation in V-E Day ceremonies marking their...
Jason Van Steenwyk: Holland puts its dimmest and dullest on full display: Cori Dauber put it best: [snipped quote] Splash, out

Rockets are history
  By / Houston Chronicle   —   Permalink 
DALLAS - The Rockets heard the rumble and felt the ground shake, until they looked up to see what was heading their way like roadkill does when it is too late to do anything but know it's over.
Jack Cluth: Get a roll of stamps and mail it in... Rockets are history: Margin of defeat sets record for scoring futility in a Game...
Charles Kuffner: I don't know if the same is true for sports, but there's no doubt about who won Game 7 last night in Dallas.

Laura Bush's Mission Accomplished
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
AS we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Drudge Report and the second anniversary of the Jayson Blair scandal, American journalists are in a race with the runaway bride for public enemy No. 1.
Roger L. Simon: An example of this is Frank Rich's cheap shot at Ron Silver as a "C-list publicity hound" (therefore presumably not...
Cori Dauber: Today, for example, he builds on points I agree with (well, who could disagree with something like this): Infotainment...
Jeralyn Merritt: Journalists: Public Enemy Number 1 — Frank Rich writes today about Laura Bush, MSM, bloggers and the Runaway Bride.
Barbara O'Brien: Adam Cohen suggests that bloggers adopt some ethics. Columnists first, I say. New Frank Rich. | bar.jpg
James Joyner: Laura Bush's Mission Accomplished — Frank Rich castigates the press corps for its syncophatic coverage of Laura Bush's...
Al Rodgers: "60 Minutes: Putin, New West Point graduates, Ray Romano AAR's Politically Direct: David Bender hosts Alec Baldwin Frank..."

Politics: Edwards Looks Back--And Ahead to 2008
  By / Newsweek   —   Permalink 
May 16 issue - It's traditional for out-of-work politicos to head to Harvard's Institute of Politics for genial wonk talk. It's also traditional for failed veep candidates to put major distance between themselves and their old campaign.
Taegan Goddard: Edwards Calls Advisers Together — This week, Newsweek has learned that former Sen. John Edwards will "host a retreat in...
Jayson @PoliPundit: Hollow Trees Falling in a Vacant Forest — I'm speaking of John Edwards and NewsWeak, of course.

Congressman Who Led Nixon Impeachment Dies
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
TRENTON, N.J. - Peter W. Rodino Jr., a little-noticed Democratic congressman from New Jersey until he led the House impeachment investigation of President Nixon, died Saturday. He was 95.
Tully @Centerfield: Pete Rodino (1909-2005) Congressman Who Led Nixon Impeachment Dies [snipped quote] A good man gone.
James Joyner: Peter Rodino, Congressman Who Led Nixon Impeachment, Dies at 95 — Congressman Who Led Nixon Impeachment Dies...

The Quagmire
  By / Rolling Stone   —   Permalink 
The news from Iraq is bad and getting worse with each passing day. Iraqi insurgents are stepping up the pace of their attacks, unleashing eleven deadly bombings on April 29th alone. Many of the 150,000 Iraqi police and soldiers hastily trained by U.S. troops have deserted or joined the insurgents.
Norbizness: (3) Two years after the U.S. invasion, Iraq is perched on the brink of civil war.
Mary @LeftCoaster: The not-so sanguine view was recently reported by Robert Dreyfuss in his latest article in the Rolling Stone: The Quagmire.

Nazi blunder casts shadow over German Open
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
BERLIN, May 7 (Reuters) - A photograph of Nazi Hermann Goering in the programme of the German Open tennis tournament and reference to the host club's "golden times" after its Jewish members fled in the thirties has caused outrage.
Jason Van Steenwyk: We should be better than that. But some things are hard to put aside, y'know? LOOK. Splash, out Jason Update: Heh.
Marc @USSNeverdock: That "something" is evident at the German Open tennis tournament.
Charles Johnson: German Open Program Features Goering — Reuters calls this a "Nazi blunder," but it's pretty clear that it was no mistake: Nazi blunder casts shadow over German Open.
James Joyner: Nazi blunder casts shadow over German Open (Reuters) [snipped quote] What in the world were they thinking?

Don't print the obit just yet
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
"So, you've been over into Russia," Bernard Baruch said to the muckraking journalist Lincoln Steffens, recently returned from a fact-finding trip to the new Soviet Union.
"I have been over into the future," Steffens replied, "and it works."
Leonard Witt: Tim Rutten, at the Los Angeles Times, got into the death of newspapers debate, with a reference to Jay's comment about "laying the newspaper gently down to die."
Kevin Roderick: On Saturday, media columnist Tim Rutten argued that plunging circulation figures are "a clear challenge to newspaper...

'Great Crime' at Abu Ghraib Enrages and Inspires an Artist
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
BOGOTÁ, Colombia, May 7 - Fernando Botero, Latin America's best-known living artist, shocked the art world last year when he broke sharply from his usual depictions of small town life to reveal new works that depicted Colombia's war in horrific detail.
Phillip Carter: A tale of two Americas (Via JAG Central) Sunday's New York Times reported on the latest work by Fernando Botero, Latin...
Jason Van Steenwyk: Artist depicts abuses at Abu Ghraib — The New York Times predictably runs a fellative review of Fernando Bolero, the...
Gregory Djerejian: Botero's Empty Outrage — I've never been a huge fan of Fernando Botero's rotund, distorted sculptures (so wasn't...
Jeralyn Merritt: In Paris, Fernando Botero, Latin America's "best known artist," known mostly for his pastoral scenes of small town life, has created an Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse collection

For Some in Iraq's Sunni Minority, a Growing Sense of Alienation
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 6 - Fakhri al-Qaisi, a rumpled, 51-year-old dentist, is an unlikely statesman - and just the kind of person both Iraqi leaders and Americans say they need to enlist to bring Iraq's recalcitrant Sunni minority out of the armed resistance and into mainstream politics.
Gregory Djerejian: The next major challenge, in all likelihood, will be a U.S. stablization role with regard to increasing Sunni-Shia...
Juan Cole: Robert Worth of the New York Times reports on the increasingly anti-Shiite feelings of alienation on the part of Sunni Arabs in Iraq.

Filibuster Fray Lifts Profile of Minister
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
In his home town of Pearland, Tex., Baptist minister Rick Scarborough was tireless in promoting his conservative Christian way of thinking.
He attacked high school sex education courses, experimental medical treatments and transsexuals trying to change their gender identification.
Judd @ThinkProgress: Murray reports: [snipped quote] Recently, Scarborough has gained recognition from his work to abolish the judicial filibuster.
Armando @DailyKos: A close friend of Tom DeLay, among other extreme Religious Right wingnuts: [snipped quote] These guys run the Republican Party.

This Fight's About More Than Judgeships
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Republicans in Washington have long been fuming about the federal judiciary, but something snapped with the recent Terri Schiavo case. Emboldened, they charged the judges with engaging in activism so outrageous as to warrant impeachment.
Paul @PowerLine: The perfect man to defend the Senate Democrats — This piece by Lincoln Caplan in the Washington Post's Outlook section...
Avedon Carol: I haven't had much time for reading the news, as a result, but you might find This Fight's About More Than Judgeships by...

Strong mayor plan defeated
  By / Dallas Morning News   —   Permalink 
Voters on Saturday overwhelmingly rejected a measure to give the Dallas mayor more power in what the victors said was as much a referendum on Mayor Laura Miller's leadership as it was on city government.
Charles Kuffner: Dallas voters soundly defeated a proposition to make theirs a strong-mayor system. The smoking ban passed in Austin.
Byron LaMasters: The Dallas Morning News reports: "Voters on Saturday overwhelmingly rejected a measure to give the Dallas mayor more...

Bush Won't Take Backseat in Latvia Meeting
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
RIGA, Latvia — President Bush is used to taking center stage, even when sharing the dais with other presidents in their own countries.
That made for some awkward moments at a news conference Saturday with Bush and the leaders of three Baltic republics.
James Wolcott: The Horse Wankerer Charms Europe — Displaying the offhand humor that is the trademark of conservatives, the Horse Wankerer in Chief holds court.
Lambert @Corrente: What a loser — The guy's such a loser, He has to grab the stage from the President of Latvia, fer gawdsake.

A Blog Revolution? Get a Grip
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
DON'T ask Nick Denton, publisher of Gawker Media and its growing list of popular Web logs, about his empire. "People come up to me as if it's witty and say, 'How is the empire going? ' " Mr. Denton said, "which is pretty pathetic."
John d'Addario, the editor of Fleshbot.
Kenny Baer: The hype about blogs is only building in intensity (Exhibit A: the front page of the business section of the New York Times today).
Ed Cone: Gawker — NYT's Adam Zeller profiles Nick Denton and Gawker Media: "But like it or not in the overheated atmosphere of...
Greg Piper: Gawker makes a Denton society — The Sunday New York Times has a feature on Nick Denton and his Gawker Media blog "empire," a compliment he doesn't particularly like.
Jeff Jarvis: Gawking : The NY Times Sunday biz section has a wet kiss for my friend Nick Denton and Gawker Media.

A Gut Punch to the Middle
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
By now, every journalist should know that you have to carefully check out any scheme coming from the White House. You can't just accept the administration's version of what it's doing. Remember, these are the people who named a big giveaway to logging interests "Healthy Forests."
Barbara O'Brien: See, for example, comments from Brad DeLong, other Brad DeLong, Paul Krugman, and Robert Kuttner (all economists), plus News Hounds, Kevin Drum, and Armando.
Brad DeLong: (The New York Times's Downward Spiral Continues Department) Earlier this week, Paul Krugman wrote apropos of Bush's...

Houstonians pour money and hearts into Bush-Clinton tsunami relief fund
  By / Houston Chronicle   —   Permalink 
From schoolchildren to corporate giants, churches to sports franchises, Houstonians have contributed $10 million to a fund set up by former Presidents Bush and Clinton to help victims of December's devastating Indian Ocean tsunami.
Steve Soto: Now It's Barbara Bush's Turn To Have Fun At W's Expense — This should make for some fun mealtime conversation in...
Atrios: Ouch — George isn't going to like this: "Bush and Clinton, in part because they have worked so closely on fund-raising...
Hello maybe: the bush's adopt a new and better son — [snipped quote] w's probably not real happy about the new addition.

Calling Democrats' Bluff
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Don't take people at their word. Don't listen to them when they tell you how to be virtuous.
They're faking it. They don't care about virtue, or you or the common good. They're just taking opportunistic potshots under the guise of sermonizing.
Barbara O'Brien: The Kool Aid Stand yellowrose.jpg Molly Ivins writes, [snipped quote] Along these same lines, this weekend both Bobo the...
Edward _: Then Brooks: "Democrats have been hectoring President Bush in the manner of an overripe Fourth of July orator.
TheAnchoress: David Brooks had a terrific column today that basically lifts the mists and spells out exactly how the Democrats have revealed themselves to be completely phoney in their concerns.
Lindsay Beyerstein: The Republicans' Big Game — Guest: cntodd Taking a page from the Bush War Manual, David Brooks uses his NYT column today to call the Democrats' bluff...or so he says.
Kevin Drum: Here's Tierney on Saturday writing about George Bush's Social Security plan: [snipped quote] And here's Brooks on Sunday:...
Avedon: Today, she notices that Brooks, Tierny and Krauthammer have teamed up for their side to call Democrats names because we...
Also: Brad DeLong, Betsy Newmark, Armando @DailyKos, Orrin Judd

President Discusses Freedom and Democracy in Latvia
  White House   —   Permalink 
PRESIDENT BUSH: Sveiki Draugi. (Applause.) Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the warm welcome. Madam President, Laura and I thank you for your kind words of introduction, we thank you for your principled leadership, and I thank you for your friendship, and we thank you for the hospitality that you and Dr. Freibergs have shown us.
Steve Bainbridge: In that same speech, Bush went on to make a powerful defense of his Middle East policy: "... it is a miracle of history...
Jan Haugland: Bush: We've learned since Yalta — President Bush, annoying Putin by visiting Latvia before Russia and supporting the...
John @PowerLine: You can read the entire speech here and draw your own conclusions.
Joe Gandelman: You can read the full text of Bush's blunt remarks here.
Ginny @ChicagoBoyz: But President Bush also recognizes that the western states of the former Soviet Union could themselves once again become...
Orrin Judd: MORE: President Discusses Freedom and Democracy in Latvia (The Small Guild Hall, Riga, Latvia, 5/07/05) "As we mark a...

Drug Makers Reap Benefits of Tax Break
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
A new tax break for corporations is allowing the biggest American drug makers to return as much as $75 billion in profits from international havens to the United States while paying a fraction of the normal tax rate.
Merck produces drugs in Singapore, where tax rates are lower.
Norbizness: (4) A new tax break for corporations is allowing the biggest American drug makers to return as much as $75 billion in...
John Cole: A Modern Outrage — You work hard. You pay your bills. You pay your taxes. Quick question: Why?
Lindsay Beyerstein: Big-Pharma Finds More Loopholes — Guest: cntodd You may recall that Congress passed tax relief last fall for U.S. based...
Steve Soto: And this refusal by the Administration to control drug costs comes at a time when the industry is defrauding the federal...
Cookie Jill: "- nytimes." big bidness getting away with the destuction of the health of our county's citizens and our country's finances.

Place Your Bets
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
After a recent column comparing Social Security with the Chilean system of private accounts, I was deluged with letters from readers eager to explain why I am a superficial nitwit. In this case, they're at least half right.
Betsy Newmark: John Tierney answers his critics about his column from last week comparing the benefits from our Social Security system...
Orrin Judd: Place Your Bets (JOHN TIERNEY, 5/07/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] Wouldn't it be amusing if every time a politician or...
Brad DeLong: (Yet Another New York Times Edition) Today it's the nearly-always-unreliable John Tierney, claiming that Social security...

Bush: U.S. Had Hand in European Divisions
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
(05-07) 11:21 PDT RIGA, Latvia (AP) —
Second-guessing Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Bush said Saturday the United States played a role in Europe's painful division after World War II — a decision that helped cause "one of the greatest wrongs of history" when the Soviet Union imposed its harsh rule across Central and Eastern Europe.
Joe Gandelman: But now, speaking in Europe, Bush has taken aim at one of FDR's last big acts — the Yalta conference in 1945 which...
John @PowerLine: President Bush in Latvia — You can expect to see a lot of headlines like this one, from Yahoo News: "Bush: U.S. Had Hand in European Divisions."
Orrin Judd: LIKE THE PORCELLIAN VOTE ALL OVER AGAIN (via Matt Murphy): Bush: U.S. Had Hand in European Divisions (TERENCE HUNT, May...
Brad DeLong: (Bush Blames Winston Churchill Edition) George W. Bush blames Winston Churchill (and Franklin Roosevelt) for not...
Steve M.: Bush singled out the 1945 Yalta agreement signed by Roosevelt in a speech opening a four-day trip focused on Monday's...

Schumer Urges Bush to Rein in Judge Fight
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Sen. Charles Schumer, a leading Democrat in the fight over judicial nominees, urged President Bush to intervene and rein in the strongest conservative critics of Democratic opposition to some candidates.
Captain Ed: More Projection From The Democrats — Yesterday, Charles Schumer called on President Bush to dial down the rhetoric of...
Hugh Hewitt: A day after Senator Uriah Reid (D-Nev) brands the president a "loser" and then apologizes, a week after Senator Ken...
Jayson @PoliPundit: Whining — Chuck Schumer wants President Bush to stop the mean old Senate Republicans from taking away his ability to...
Michelle Malkin: DEMO-CHUTZPAH WATCH — Hugh Hewitt: [snipped quote] Yup.
Mcjoan @DailyKos: In the radio address, Schumer "decried 'a whiff of extremism in the air the likes of which we haven't seen in decades,'"...

There's No Plan B to Deter N. Korea
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
SEOUL — As North Korea accelerates the pace of its nuclear weapons program, the United States and its allies have limited options to prevent one of the world's poorest and most erratic nations from becoming a nuclear power.
Steve Soto: Bush through his inaction and macho bluster has squandered that opportunity into where we are now, with even fewer options than were available then.
Matthew Yglesias: North Korea Endgame — It seems that we're about prepared to admit that the administration's pseudo-policy toward North Korea has definitively failed.
Pudentilla: another signal failure from awol's foreign policy team — [snipped quote] note to l.a. times: "blame clinton" is the preferred plan b for any administration plan.
Kevin Drum: NUCLEAR CHICKEN....The LA Times reports that North Korea will probably be testing a nuclear bomb soon and could shortly have nearly a dozen working weapons.
Laura Rozen: The Bush administration's bankrupt North Korea policy.

Filibuster Fight Nears Showdown
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, May 7 - With the Senate clock ticking toward a momentous procedural clash over judicial nominees, lawmakers and advocates on each side are readying a final push to win over the few uncommitted lawmakers and frame the fight to their best political advantage.
Dr. Steven Taylor: Via the NYT: Filibuster Fight Nears Showdown [snipped quote] It is remarkable that this tale has been going on for four years now.
Jeralyn Merritt: Radical Right Has Takeover Plans — If you had any doubt that evangelical leader James Dobson's grand plan is to for the...
Taegan Goddard: Filibuster Fight Nears Showdown — Beginning Monday, Senate Republicans and Democrats — and their allies on the outside...

U.S. to Spend Billions More to Alter Security Systems
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, May 7 - After spending more than $4.5 billion on screening devices to monitor the nation's ports, borders, airports, mail and air, the federal government is moving to replace or alter much of the antiterrorism equipment, concluding that it is ineffective, unreliable or too expensive to operate.
Steve Soto: What does it say about the priorities and moral values of the Bush Administration when it sees a need to cut the food...
Plutonium Page: Homeland Insecurity: time to spend billions more — In the "your tax dollars at work" category: [snipped quote] (Emphasis...
TChris: The NY Times reports on the billions of dollars Homeland Security will need to spend to correct the security problems that weren't solved by the billions of dollars already spent.
Pudentilla: homeland security just wasted $4.5 billion of your tax dollars — [snipped quote] ok, so we're not any safer. but some...

School Reduces Suspension Over Iraq Call
  AP   —   Permalink 
The angry calls about the boy's suspension got so bad at one point that secretaries had to take their phones off the hook, assistant principal Alfred Parham said.
Joe Gandelman: Suspension Penalty Sliced For Student Penalized For Talking To Military Mom — Following a firestorm of negative...
Ace: Iraq-Mom Student's Suspension Reduced — They're nasty and persnickety, but, on the other hand, they're also craven and spineless: [snipped quote] Awwww.
SK Bubba: So should the superintendent who defended them.

Tom DeLay's Empire of Favors
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Politicians are not always the most courageous lot. The first whiff of scandal, the first taint of defeat, usually makes them run - hence the popular saying that if you want a friend in this town, get a dog.
Tom DeLay has many chits to use.
Jack Cluth: And it couldn't have happened to a nicer demagogue, Chapter 29 — Tom DeLay's Empire of Favors (NY Times login:...
Pudentilla: bugman as capo di tutti — [snipped quote] it's a great profile - but is it good for american democracy? [snipped quote] don corleone.
Nico @ThinkProgress: That's the strange claim in today's New York Times.

Sex, lies, secret tape at center of trial
  New Orleans Times-Picayune   —   Permalink 
Hotshot political fund-raiser David Rosen didn't hesitate when an old friend, visiting Chicago, called to invite him to a pricey meal at Morton's steakhouse.
TheAnchoress: Were these taped excerpts about someone in the GOP, I am quite certain they'd be all over the MSM, instead, there's just this one little item, near as I can see.
Orrin Judd: TIME TO REASSIGN THE DELAY POSSE: Sex, lies, secret tape at center of trial: Reggie recording key as feds launch case...
John @PowerLine: Louisiana's Times-Picayune has now obtained a partial transcript of Reggie's taped conversation with Rosen over dinner in Chicago.

On the Go, but Not Running, Kerry Looks Like a Shhh!
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, May 6 - Ask Senator John Kerry if he will run again for president in 2008, and the answer comes back swift and sure: "I don't have any clue." But from a clean, well-lighted carpenters' union hall in St. Paul, where Mr. Kerry talked to 250 enthusiastic supporters about children's health care on Tuesday, a very different picture emerged.
Captain Ed: The Ghost Of Elections Past — Someone should tell John Kerry that the election is over.
Ann Althouse: Well, surely we're at least too tired of John Kerry. But here he is, begging for attention.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: THANK YOU SIR, MAY WE HAVE ANOTHER? Please let John Kerry run for President again. That is all.
Dr. Steven Taylor: Note to Kerry: You Had Your Shot, Time to Move on — Via the NYT: On the Go, but Not Running, Kerry Looks Like a Shhh!,...
Taegan Goddard: Kerry Doesn't Share 2004 Lessons — "Within the Senate," Sen. John Kerry "has irked fellow Democrats by twice canceling...

Bracing for the Filibuster Fight and Preparing for Its Fallout
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, May 7 - With the Senate clock ticking toward a momentous procedural clash over judicial nominees, lawmakers and advocates on each side are readying a final push to win over the few uncommitted lawmakers and frame the fight to their best political advantage.
DavidNYC @DailyKos: So what does a threat like this coming from James Dobson - talking about the fight over the filibuster - mean, then:...
Pudentilla: drive for democracy update: [snipped quote] have you pledged to donate five bucks to the dnc the day frist pulls the nuclear trigger?
Mcjoan @DailyKos: With Frist set to detonate the nuclear option possibly as soon as Tuesday, things are really heating up.

Democrats Voted Out of Baptist Church
  AP   —   Permalink 
(AP) — Some in Pastor Chan Chandler's flock wish he had a little less zeal for the GOP. Members of the small East Waynesville Baptist Church say Chandler led an effort to kick out congregants who didn't support President Bush.
Eriposte @LeftCoaster: Let's start with this quote of Jerry's, captured in the barebones media coverage on this issue: "The head of the North...
Chris Andersen: Isn't it just like Democrats to respond to an outrage like the excommunication of party members from a North Carolina church by talking about taxes?

Mitt Romney for president in '08?
  By / Chicago Sun Times   —   Permalink 
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in a recent secret Washington meeting with national political operatives signaled he probably will forgo seeking re-election in 2006 in order to pursue the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.
Alexander K. McClure: 2006 Massachusetts Governor Race — According to Robert Novak, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney may opt to decline...
Taegan Goddard: Romney May Forgo Re-Election Plans — Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) "in a recent secret Washington meeting with...

Bush hails Latvia's freedom
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
RIGA (Reuters) - President Bush hailed Latvia's young democracy on Saturday in a visit that has revived tensions over Soviet domination of the Baltics and irked Moscow before celebrations of the 1945 victory over the Nazis.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: VENTURES — The purpose and value of President Bush's trip to Latvia should not be measured simply in terms of whether...
Ginny @ChicagoBoyz: But I am reassured: my vote last fall was for a sense of proportion that leads to Bush's Latvian & Georgian visits, to...

Anti-Syrian leader returns to Lebanon
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Defeated in a battle against Syrian control of his country 15 years ago and sent into exile, Gen. Michel Aoun returned Saturday to a rousing welcome from thousands of supporters in a homeland recently freed of Syrian troops.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: LOOK WHO HAS THE LAST LAUGH NOW — Stories like this one must enrage Bashar Assad beyond measure.
Orrin Judd: "SOVEREIGN, FREE AND INDEPENDENT": Anti-Syrian leader returns to Lebanon (SAM F. GHATTAS, 5/7/2005, The Associated...

Craigslist.org Founder Eyes Journalism
  AP   —   Permalink 
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The number of people who use Craigslist.org is expanding at more than 100 percent per year — a growth rate any venture capitalist would covet.
Ed Cone: AP: Craigslist weighs personal journalism "Craig Newmark told Associated Press editors and writers in a bureau visit, his newest fascination is community journalism.
Cookie Jill: how do i love craig? let me list the ways.... mr. newmark knows community. the world wide community.
Jeff Jarvis: Craig's community : Craig Newmark talks to the AP about supporting journalism.

Ex-C.I.A. Official Says Bolton Interfered
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, May 6 - John R. Bolton's effort in 2002 to oust a top Central Intelligence Agency analyst from his post in a dispute over Cuba represented a troubling breach of the line between policy makers and intelligence, the agency's former deputy director has told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to a transcript of the exchange.
Suzanne Nossel: Credible evidence of Bolton's interfering with the provision of unbiased intelligence - Former CIA #2 John McLaughlin...
Pudentilla: bolton's molting — [snipped quote] it's not just that bolton's a horse's arse, it's that he a lousy candidate for the...

Apartment 300 G
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
NEW YORK Before they meet him, many people assume Mike Grabow is a weasel. They figure he's lying or hiding something, that he wants to snooker them out of their homes. Grabow is used to it.
"I understand why they think they're getting snowed," he says.
Pejman Yousefzadeh: BRILLIANT — The rent-control laws in New York are enough to drive any sentient human being stark raving insane (unless...
Radley Balko: Rent Control — This Washington Post article nicely (if uninentionally) explains how rent control hurts tenants.

What Rough Beasts?
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
I love chimeras.
I've seen just about every werewolf, Dracula and mermaid movie ever made, I have a Medusa magnet on my refrigerator, and the Sphinx of Greek mythology is a role model for her lethal brand of mystery.
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Captain Ed: Today's screed manages to be racist, condescending, and just flat-out foolish all at once, with a dash of self-congratulatory classical references thrown in for good measure.
Ann Althouse: Maureen Dowd riffs on the idea of the chimera — a mythological monster combining parts of different animals.

Vatican Is Said to Force Jesuit Off Magazine
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
An American Jesuit who is a frequent television commentator on Roman Catholic issues resigned yesterday under orders from the Vatican as editor of the Catholic magazine America because he had published articles critical of church positions, several Catholic officials in the United States said.
Orrin Judd: CRACKING THE WHIP: Vatican Is Said to Force Jesuit Off Magazine (LAURIE GOODSTEIN, 5/07/05, NY Times) [snipped quote] It's long past time someone brought the Jesuits to heel.
Stirling Newberry: Pope Ratzinger's War on Liberalism — For those who need to know what Pope Benedict XVI is about this is should tell you what you need to know.

Colorado Politician Signs Up for Iraq Duty
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
DENVER, May 6 — As the elected treasurer of a state that faces looming budget deficits and a complex effort to revamp its tax laws, Mike Coffman has had a lot to think about right here in Colorado.
Cori Dauber: State Government Goes to Iraq — The Washington Post reports that the State Treasurer of Colorado is headed to Iraq,...
Laura Rozen: The WaPo's T. R. Reid profiles a Colorado politician to admire.