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Archive Edition for   Tuesday, August 23, 2005Go to Current Page
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Quoted in this edition:

Ace of Spades HQ
  Ace
AintNoBadDude
  Brian Linse
Althouse
  Ann Althouse
AMERICAblog
  Michael @AmericaBlog
  Joe @AmericaBlog
  John @AmericaBlog
AMERICAN DIGEST Essays
  Vanderleun
American Thinker
The Anchoress
  TheAnchoress
www.AndrewSullivan.com
  Andrew Sullivan
Associated Press
  David Pace
  Nedra Pickler
  Gene Puskar
  Darlene Superville
  Mark Sherman
  Angela K. Brown
Balloon Juice
  John Cole
BBC
Betsy's Page
  Betsy Newmark
BillHobbs.com
  Bill Hobbs
Billmon
  Billmon
The Blogging of the President
  Stirling Newberry
Bloomberg
Boston Globe
  Kaitlin Bell
Bradford Plumer
  Brad Plumer
Burnt Orange Report
  Jim Dallas
BuzzMachine
  Jeff Jarvis
Captain's Quarters
  Captain Ed
Centerfield
  Simon @Centerfield
  Tully @Centerfield
Chris C Mooney
  Chris Mooney
Christian Science Monitor
Chronicle of the Conspiracy
  Don
CJR Daily Home
  Paul McLeary
  Brian Montopoli
CNN
The Corner
  Andy McCarthy
  Kathryn Jean Lopez
  Jonah Goldberg
  Rich Lowry
corrente
  Lambert @Corrente
  Riggsveda @Corrente
COUNTERCOLUMN
  Jason Van Steenwyk
cut on the bias
  Susanna Cornett
Daily Kos
  Armando @DailyKos
  Kos @DailyKos
  DHinMI @DailyKos
Daimnation!
  Damian Penny
danieldrezner.com
  Daniel Drezner
Demagogue
  Arnold P. California
  Frederick Maryland
democracyarsenal.org
  Heather Hurlburt
Democratic Veteran
  Jo Fish
Detroit Free Press
DonkeyRising
  Pete Ross
Donklephant
  Justin Gardner
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
  Echidne
Ed Driscoll.com
  Ed Driscoll
EdCone.com
  Ed Cone
Editor and Publisher
  Greg Mitchell
Eschaton
  Atrios
Ezra Klein
  Ezra Klein
The Fourth Rail
  Bill Roggio
Fox News
Happy Furry Puppy Story Time with Norbizness
  Norbizness
Hit and Run
  Julian Sanchez
  Matt Welch
  Nick Gillespie
  Kerry Howley
Houston Chronicle
  Bennett Roth
The Huffington Post
  Steve Cobble
  Cindy Sheehan
  Cenk Uygur
  Bob Cesca
  Arianna Huffington
  John Fund
Hugh Hewitt
  Hugh Hewitt
Hullabaloo
  Digby
In the Agora
  Eric Seymour
INDC Journal
  Bill @INDCJournal
Informed Comment
  Juan Cole
Instapundit.com
  Glenn Reynolds
Interesting Times
  Chris Andersen
Israel news and commentary from IsraPundit
  Joseph Alexander Norland
  Ted Belman
Jerusalem Post
Jewish Press
  Robert J. Avrech
Julie Saltman
  The Mock Turtle
JustOneMinute
  Tom Maguire
La Shawn Barber’s Corner
  La Shawn Barber
Lean Left
  Kevin
The Left Coaster
  Steve Soto
Left in the West
  Matt Singer
The Liquid List
  Shawn @LiquidList
Los Angeles Times
  Stephanie Simon
The Mahablog
  Barbara O'Brien
Majikthise
  Lindsay Beyerstein
Marginal Revolution
  Tyler Cowen
Mark in Mexico
  MarkInMexico
Media Matters for America
mediabistro
  Garrett M. Graff
MemeFirst
  Jame @MemeFirst
  Stefan @MemeFirst
Michael J. Totten
  Michael J. Totten
Michelle Malkin
  Betsy Newmark
  Brian Maloney
  Bryan Preston
The Moderate Voice
  Joe Gandelman
MyDD
  Scott Shields
National Review
New York Post
  Ralph Peters
  Fredric U. Dicker
New York Sun
New York Times
  Cornelia Dean
  Verlyn Klinkenborg
  Adam Liptak
  Philip Shenon
  David D. Kirkpatrick
  Kenneth Chang
  Carlotta Gall
  Dexter Filkins
  Allan Kozinn
New Yorker
  Malcolm Gladwell
NewDonkey.com
  New Donkey
NewsHog
  Cernig
Newsweek
  Fareed Zakaria
No More Mister Nice Blog
  Steve M.
normblog
  Norm Geras
Oh, That Liberal Media
  Joshua Sharf
Oliver Willis
  Oliver Willis
One Hand Clapping
  Donald Sensing
Opinion Journal
  Brendan Miniter
Outside The Beltway
  James Joyner
  Steve Verdon
Pacific Views
  Magpie @PacificViews
Pandagon
  Jesse Taylor
Patterico's Pontifications
  Patterico
Pejmanesque
  Pejman Yousefzadeh
The Peking Duck
  Richard TPD
PoliBlog
  Dr. Steven Taylor
PoliPundit.com
  Jayson @PoliPundit
  Lorie Byrd
Power Line
  John @PowerLine
  Paul @PowerLine
  Scott @PowerLine
praktike's blog
  Praktike
ProfessorBainbridge.com
  Steve Bainbridge
protein wisdom
  Jeff Goldstein
Publius Pundit
  Robert Mayer
QandO
  McQ
The Radio Equalizer -Brian Maloney
  Brian Maloney
Rantingprofs
  Cori Dauber
RedState.org
  Krempasky @RedState
Reuters
  Caren Bohan
Right Wing News
  John Hawkins
Rising Hegemon
  Attaturk
Rocky Mountain News
  Kevin Flynn
Roger L. Simon
  Roger L. Simon
Romenesko
  Jim Romenesko
Salon
  Gary Kamiya
Secular Blasphemy
  Jan Haugland
The Sideshow
  Avedon Carol
Silent Running
  Murray @SilentRunning
Sirotablog
  David Sirota
skippy the bush kangaroo
  Skippy
  Pudentilla
Slant Point
  Scott Sala
Southern Appeal
  MJA @SouthernAppeal
Steve Clemons
  Steve Clemons
Suburban Guerrilla
  Susie Madrak
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire
  Taegan Goddard
the talking dog
  Talking Dog
Talking Points Memo
  Michael Crowley
TalkLeft
  Jeralyn Merritt
  TChris
TAPPED
  Matthew Yglesias
  Mark Leon Goldberg
  Sam Rosenfeld
»«TBogg»«
  Tbogg
Terry Heaton's Pomo blog
  Terry Heaton
Think Progress
  Nico @ThinkProgress
  Judd @ThinkProgress
  Faiz @ThinkProgress
Time
  Tim Padgett
Townhall.com
  Thomas Sowell
  Michael Graham
  Matthew Yglesias
US News
USS Neverdock
  Marc @USSNeverdock
Village Voice
  Sydney H. Schanberg
War and Piece
  Laura Rozen
The Washington Monthly
  Kevin Drum
Washington Monthly
  The Editors
Washington Post
  Ceci Connolly
  Terry M. Neal
  Ellen Knickmeyer
  Dafna Linzer
  Paul Farhi
  Dan Eggen
  Fareed Zakaria
  Howard Kurtz
  William Branigin
  Joel Achenbach
  Rick Weiss
Washington Times
  Rowan Scarborough
White House
Winds of Change.NET
  Andrew Olmsted
Wizbang
  Rob @Wizbang
World O'Crap
  S.Z.



THE REAL IRAQ NEWS
  By / New York Post   —   Permalink 
WHAT was the big "Iraq" story in August? Which vital issue got the most air-time and ink? The camp-out of a sad, tormented woman who had lost her son, her marriage and her judgment.
The media pounced on poor Cindy Sheehan in an anti-Bush, anti-war frenzy.
Jesse Taylor: Glenn leads us to Ralph Peters, who leads us to the promised land of disingenous crap. "What should have made headlines?
Rob @Wizbang: Military Exceeding Recruiting Goals — August 23, 2005 — WHAT was the big "Iraq" story in August?
Captain Ed: Ralph Peters reports in this morning's New York Post that the military has kept up with its needs on recruitment this...
TheAnchoress: Three pieces on military recruiting, one takes the press to task for making much of a muchness about the low recruiting...
John @PowerLine: Armed Forces Recruitment Exceeds Targets — Ralph Peters has a nominee for August's most important unreported story:...
Betsy Newmark: Ralph Peters reports on a story that hasn't got much press although if the news were the opposite, you know you'd be reading about it all over.
Also: Mitch Berg, Marc @USSNeverdock, Glenn Reynolds, Kathryn Jean Lopez

Troops' Gravestones Have Pentagon Slogans
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
ARLINGTON, Va. - Unlike earlier wars, nearly all Arlington National Cemetery gravestones for troops killed in Iraq or Afghanistan are inscribed with the slogan-like operation names the Pentagon selected to promote public support for the conflicts.
James Joyner: Troops' Gravestones Have Pentagon Slogans (AP) [snipped quote] Earlier wars had obvious names unassociated with an operation name.
Lambert @Corrente: Iraq Clusterf**k: Bush war propaganda carved on soldiers' tombstones — Man, every time you think these guys can't sink...
TChris: PR Slogans on Soldiers' Gravestones — The Bush administration's Pentagon has taken to branding gravestones with one of...
Mark Leon Goldberg: From the AP. [snipped quote] After a few Google searches I found out that Patrick joined the National Guard on September 12 2001.
Lorie Byrd: Gravestone Controversy — According to this AP story, there is a bit of controversy over the names of the conflicts that...

Grooming Politicians for Christ
  By / LAT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — In the blue and gold elegance of the House speaker's private dining room, Jeremy Bouma bowed his head before eight young men and women who hope to one day lead the nation. He prayed that they might find wisdom in the Bible — and govern by its word.
New Donkey: As Stephanie Simon of the Los Angeles Times reports, fundie activists have gotten deeply involved in policymaking in Tom...
Kos @DailyKos: The Fundamentalist Republic of America — Okay, so how is the Christian Right in this country different than Iran and the forthcoming Islamic Republic of Iraq?
Susie Madrak: The Future Quietly scary: Nearly every Monday for six months, as many as a dozen congressional aides — many of them...
Echidne: The Los Angeles Times has the story, via Kos, and it is a frightening one for all us pagan liberals: "Nearly every...
Jesse Taylor: The L.A. Times has a story on Christian training for conservative Congressional aides.
Digby: The Politics Business — Writing about this morning's very creepy article about the new evangelical Christian training...
Also: Taegan Goddard, Tim Dunlop

Text of Proposed Iraq Constitution
  AP   —   Permalink 
The Republic of Iraq is an independent state.
The political system is republican, parliamentary, democratic and federal.
1. Islam is a main source for legislation.
Robert Mayer: Here is the excerpt: "The political system is republican, parliamentary, democratic and federal. 1.
Bill Roggio: Security Watchtower excerpts the text of the draft submitted to assembly (the full text can be viewed at Newsday.com).
Hugh Hewitt: Here's the actual text of the Iraqi constitution as it stands today. It will be very interesting to see how it changes before the final vote later this week, if at all.
DHinMI @DailyKos: [Crossposted at The Next Hurrah] This has been barely mentioned in reports about the Iraqi constitution, but this...
Dr. Steven Taylor: The (Partial) Draft of the Iraqi Constitution — Via the NYT and the AP we have: Text of Proposed Iraq Constitution.
Matthew Yglesias: But whoever the Associated Press hired to translate the Iraqi constitution doesn't seem to have done a very good job.
Also: Jon Henke, McQ, Jan Haugland, Damian Penny, John Cole, John Hawkins, Juan Cole, Billmon, Michael J. Totten, Larry Kudlow, Justin Gardner, Glenn Reynolds, Attaturk, Jeralyn Merritt

Bush: Iraq Withdrawal Would Weaken U.S.
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
DONNELLY, Idaho - President Bush took on the California mother who has been defiantly protesting outside his Texas home, saying Tuesday that Cindy Sheehan doesn't represent the views of most military families and that fulfilling demands like hers for withdrawal from Iraq would weaken the United States.
Brad Plumer: What seems clear is that, regardless of what Condoleeza Rice is telling her boss, any constitution that truly angers the...
Cindy Sheehan: (The quotes are from an AP story: "Bush: Iraq Withdrawal Would Weaken U.S.")
Susie Madrak: Fearless Leader Speaks As opposed to how strong we are now, he means: DONNELLY, Idaho - President Bush charged...
Cori Dauber: Apparently for the National Post's headline writers it is. For God's sake, they got it right in San Francisco.
Armando @DailyKos: Bush: "[Sheehan] Doesn't Represent the Views of A Lot of Families I've Met With" — Bush said this today: "President...

THE MORAL-HAZARD MYTH
  By / New Yorker   —   Permalink 
Tooth decay begins, typically, when debris becomes trapped between the teeth and along the ridges and in the grooves of the molars. The food rots. It becomes colonized with bacteria. The bacteria feeds off sugars in the mouth and forms an acid that begins to eat away at the enamel of the teeth.
Steve Verdon: America's Health Care Caste System, Part II — In reading James' post I saw this comment from Malcolm Gladwell,...
James Joyner: THE MORAL-HAZARD MYTH (New Yorker) "People without health insurance have bad teeth because, if you're paying for...
Matt Singer: America's Health Care Plight — Ezra is right, Malcolm Gladwell ably summarizes: "One of the great mysteries of...
Ezra Klein: How Health Care Explains American Politics — So, as promised, more on the Gladwell piece.
Kevin Drum: HEALTHCARE BLUES...Via Ezra, Malcolm Gladwell asks the key question about American healthcare in the New Yorker:...
Tyler Cowen: Malcolm Gladwell delivers a lengthy polemic. He favors some form of national health insurance, but is this the correct conclusion?

Scientists Speak Up on Mix of God and Science
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
At a recent scientific conference at City College of New York, a student in the audience rose to ask the panelists an unexpected question: "Can you be a good scientist and believe in God?"
MarkInMexico: Darwin, Creationism and Intelligent Design — I don't understand all this hullabaloo over religion vs science.
Michael @AmericaBlog: Another Annoying NYT Article On Intelligent Design — This one talks as if scientists who are religious are an embattled...
Eric Seymour: Faith Among Scientists — The New York Times has an interesting feature today on scientists who believe in God (and some who don't).
Kevin Drum: TEACHING EVOLUTION...Reacting to poll numbers showing that the public overwhelmingly approves of teaching both...
Terry Heaton: So later, Ed Cone points to a New York Times piece on religion and science, where this statement is found above-the-fold: [snipped quote] Oh really?
Chris Mooney: I Have No Objections.... ....to the final New York Times evolution series piece, by Cornelia Dean.
Also: Ed Cone

Bush says anti-war protests threaten to weaken the United States
  AP   —   Permalink 
DONNELLY, Idaho (AP) - President George W. Bush said Tuesday that anti-war protesters such as Cindy Sheehan, who want U.S. troops brought home immediately, are "advocating a policy that would weaken the United States."
Cori Dauber: National Post Implies President Opposes Free Speech — Memeorandum links to the AP's article as used in Canada's...
Atrios: An American Patriot — Caption: [snipped quote] (thanks to reader A)
Kos @DailyKos: Here's your next mission, if you choose to accept: [snipped quote] You know what to do. Get to it.

Federal Funds For Abstinence Group Withheld
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The Bush administration yesterday suspended a federal grant to the Silver Ring Thing abstinence program, saying it appears to use tax money for religious activities.
Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services ordered the group to submit a "corrective action plan" if it hopes to receive an expected $75,000 grant this year.
Justin Gardner: Apparently a faith-based group was using federal funds to promote their religion, so the administration pulled the funds.
John Cole: The clues: Teenage graduates of the program sign a covenant "before God Almighty" to remain virgins and earn a silver...
Lindsay Beyerstein: Silver Ring Thing — Manringl "The Bush administration yesterday suspended a federal grant to the Silver Ring Thing...
Jesse Taylor: The Silver Ring Thing, which I talked about in our old (erased) archives a while back, has been banned from receiving federal funding because it's a big-ass virginity church.
Julian Sanchez: But it was a little disturbing to see that federal tax dollars have been funding this: "Teenage graduates of the...
Kerry Howley: AP reports: [snipped quote] Whole delightful thing here. ACLU asks why taxpayers are paying for promise rings here.
Also: Pudentilla, John @AmericaBlog

Military's Recruiting Troubles Extend to Affluent War Supporters
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
There was an eye-opening article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette a few days ago that explored the increasing difficulty the military is having recruiting young people to enlist.
TheAnchoress: The other looks at whether high-income families are less likely to produce soldiers.
Jo Fish: From todays WaPo on the predeliction of the Luxury-SUV class to have magnetic yellow ribbons on their vehicles, but...
Kathryn Jean Lopez: From Army spokeswoman Maj. Elizabeth Robbins (a.k.a. Mrs. Jim Robbins) in a piece on military recruiting.
Captain Ed: Unfortunately, the Washington Post joins that crowd with a laughable look at recruitment by Terry Neal.
Laura Rozen: Worth noting: Wealthy Republican Iraq-war supporters don't support their own children enlisting to go to Iraq.

Review finds no pre-9/11 Atta file
  By / Washington Times   —   Permalink 
A Pentagon investigation has found no evidence that Able Danger, a secret military intelligence operation, identified September 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta as a terror cell member more than a year before the attacks.
Cernig: Pentagon Can't Find "Able Danger" Evidence — There's a new elephant in the room to join that of Republican commission...
John @PowerLine: Pentagon: Still Not Convinced — Rowan Scarborough of the Washington Times reports that the Pentagon's investigation has...
Nick Gillespie: Atta Boys — From the Wash Times: [snipped quote] From AP via Fox News: [snipped quote] Wash Times story here. Fox News here.
Tom Maguire: However, neither the NY Times, the WaPo, nor the Wash Times mention it.
Captain Ed: After issuing its official statement, spokesman Larry Di Rita spoke out on Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer and their inability to...

Rumsfeld: Iraq not fated to civil war
  CNN   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (CNN) — U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday tried to dispel concern over the possibility that a civil war could erupt in Iraq between Sunni Arabs and Shiite Arabs.
"People have been moving together, talking, discussing things," Rumsfeld said.
Billmon: The Rumsfeld Effect — Rumsfeld: Iraq not fated to civil war "U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday tried to...
Armando @DailyKos: Billmon, cites cnn, noticing Rummy is talking again, this time regarding the predictions of strife as a result of the...

General: Army to Miss Recruiting Goals in '05
  Fox News   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army (search) will miss its recruiting goals this year but will be able to sustain troop levels in Iraq over the next four years, a high-ranking general told FOX News.
John @PowerLine: FURTHER UPDATE: Many readers pointed out this Fox News story, which begins: "The U.S. Army will miss its recruiting...
Armando @DailyKos: And like McCarthy, Assrocket gets his facts wrong: "The U.S. Army will miss its recruiting goals this year but will be...
Betsy Newmark: UPDATE: Almost Daily Blog links to this story saying that the Army did not meet its recruitment goals for 2005.

News Media Reporting Source - Political Reporting Journalist - White House Press Reporters - War Coverage Journalism
  By / Editor and Publisher   —   Permalink 
As the dog days of August wind down, the editorial pages of American newspapers face a moment of truth on the Iraq war. Over the next few weeks, with vacationers heading home, the president's popularity sinking, hearings planned in Congress and major antiwar...
Steve Soto: Fourth, as Gregg Mitchell in Editor and Publisher said yesterday, it is only a matter of time before the major...
Jason Van Steenwyk: 5th Column Alert — The editor of Editor and Publisher Magazine is calling on his news and media colleagues to use their outlets to agitate for American surrender.
Jim Romenesko: E&P editor urges newspapers to call for withdrawal from Iraq — Editor & Publisher "The time for the press to act, if it ever does, is now," writes Greg Mitchell.
Susie Madrak: Tipping Point Greg Mitchell, the editor of Editor & Publisher, spells it out: It's time for newspapers, many of...
Jeff Jarvis: Editor & Pontificator Greg Mitchell, editor of Editor & Publisher — which spends time dissecting such issues as...

MSNBC's O'Donnell labeled Crawford protesters "anti-war extremists"
  Media Matters for America   —   Permalink 
On the August 22 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, guest host and chief MSNBC White House correspondent Norah O'Donnell labeled anti-war demonstrators outside President Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch "anti-war extremists."
Kos @DailyKos: MSNBC: majority of Americans "extremists" — MSNBC's Nora O'Donnell believes that opposing the war makes one an extremist.
Atrios: O'Donnell says people who oppose the war, and those at Camp Casey, are "extremists." What a lovely couple. Prime fighting age, too.

Press Gaggle with Trent Duffy
  White House   —   Permalink 
MR. DUFFY: All right. The President had his regular briefings on board here. And we're en route to the VFW, where he will make remarks to the national convention. This is his third address to the VFW Annual National Convention.
Paul McLeary: Spin Buster — Putting Words in the Spinmeister's Mouth Perusing coverage of the president's break from his five-week...
Judd @ThinkProgress: Rumsfeld Compares Iraq Critics To Communists, Stalinists — From Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's press briefing...

Grasping the Depth of Time as a First Step in Understanding Evolution
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Last month a team of paleontologists announced that it had found several fossilized dinosaur embryos that were 190 million years old - some 90 million years older than any dinosaur embryos found so far. Those kinds of numbers are always a little daunting.
Stirling Newberry: Simple Clear and Reasonable — Verlyn Klinkenborg lays it out.
Barbara O'Brien: And his courtiers scramble to make it so. — Very nice pro-evolution op ed in today's New York Times. | bar.jpg
Jo Fish: Substance — A great op-ed on evolution and why ID is crap.

Hear Novak Tell All!
  By / Village Voice   —   Permalink 
Robert Novak, whose "confidential" sources helped him light the match that set off the Plamegate wildfire, is now on the Internet blithely hawking "confidential" sessions with Washington's power elite. He's only asking $595 a person.
Garrett M. Graff: Novak Still Selling Access — Over at the Village Voice, Sydney H. Schanberg picks up on something that we were griping...
Matt Welch: My ($595) Dinner With Novak — Sydney "Killing Fields" Schanberg reports that Bob Novak is offering a "confidential"...
Jim Romenesko: Novak hawks $595 "confidential" sessions with DC's elite — Village Voice Sydney Schanberg's invitation mentions that...

Navy Captain Backs Able Danger Claims
  Fox News   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — A second military officer has publicly backed claims by a military intelligence officer that a Pentagon unit named "Able Danger" (search) identified lead Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta (search) in early 2000 as a security risk.
Andy McCarthy: Seriously, the latest, from Fox News (hat tip to Chris Regan at Junk Yard Blog), has this intriguing bit about...
Jayson @PoliPundit: Maybe That's Why Sandy Berger Purloined Those Docs — By "that," I meant to say this.

Who Knew About John Roberts? In 1985, Maybe He Did.
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. may have had an inkling he was destined for greatness back in 1985 when, working as a young lawyer in the Reagan White House, he wrote a note to a colleague who had reviewed Roberts's files from his time in the Justice Department to see which ones should be sent to the National Archives.
Captain Ed: Apparently, their silence comes from a commitment of resources to another financial issue involving a political group,...
Lambert @Corrente: Here's a buried nugget from WaPo: [snipped quote] How odd. And how very odd we're not hearing about this ...

Randy Daniels Girds for GOP Primary Battle
  New York Sun   —   Permalink 
New York's secretary of state, Randy Daniels, offered a strong indication yesterday that he will fight in a primary for the 2006 Republican gubernatorial nomination against a former governor of Massachusetts, William Weld.
Scott Shields: This morning in the New York Sun, secretary of state Randy Daniels, long considered a probable candidate for Governor,...
Taegan Goddard: Weld Will Have Primary Challengers — New York Secretary of State Randy Daniels (R) "offered a strong indication" that...

White House dismisses Chavez assassination call
  CNN   —   Permalink 
(CNN) — Bush administration officials Tuesday disavowed Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Talking Dog: On the occasion of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's visit to fellow pain-in-the-ass leader Fidel Castro of Cuba, some...
The Mock Turtle: The culture of life — Pat Robertson wants America to assassinate Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

Iraqi Leaders Draft Constitution
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Shiites and Kurds prepared to send a draft constitution to parliament Monday for consideration, but the objections of Sunnis makes its passage unlikely. The proposal calls for a loose federation with strongly Islamic national law, but the Sunni minority has expressed concern that this could lead to the breakup of Iraq.
Brad Plumer: I'm not a constitutional lawyer, so I can't make heads or tails of exactly how these issues were specifically resolved...
Billmon: The Washington Post's Ellen Knickmeyer explains: "We're told today there isn't a proper draft put together yet — that...

No Proof Found of Iran Arms Program
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Traces of bomb-grade uranium found two years ago in Iran came from contaminated Pakistani equipment and are not evidence of a clandestine nuclear weapons program, a group of U.S. government experts and other international scientists has determined.
Cernig: Beware the Iranian Bandersnatch, My Son — From the Washington Post comes news that the Iranian WMD snark-hunt is about...
Mark Leon Goldberg: Today's Washington Post front page offers an excellent glimpse of what a discredited Bush administration faces when it...
Matthew Yglesias: That said, not only does this story make me a bit dubious about the Iran nuclear panic, but one of the administration's...
Steve Clemons: I am going to post a rather large segment of Linzer's piece in the Post today.
Daniel Drezner: Three weeks later, Linzer pours even colder water on Iran's WMD progress: [snipped quote] Link via David Adesnik, who...
Kathryn Jean Lopez: Washington Post headline declares: "No Proof Found of Iran Arms Program." As you can imagine, the headline is a bit ambitious.
Also: Pudentilla, Seesdifferent @DailyKos, Steve Soto

U.S. evangelist calls for assassination of Chavez
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative U.S. evangelist Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, saying the leftist leader wanted to turn his country into "the launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."
Jeff Goldstein: Mr. Robertson's Neighborhood — Many in the media will leap to condemn Pat Robertson's remarkably obtuse public...
Jayson @PoliPundit: Dear Hugo — Pat Robertson wants to put a bullet in your head. Gee, that wasn't subtle, huh?

Liberal Democrats want the party to take a stand
  By / Houston Chronicle   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON - Liberal activists have been on the warpath this summer, with some camping out near President Bush's ranch and demanding the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq while others are pushing for the defeat of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts.
McQ: The fight among Democrats — I don't think it will come as any surprise that there is dissention within the ranks of Democrats on how they should present themselves.
Betsy Newmark: The Houston Chronicle looks at this divide today.
Marc @USSNeverdock: Now, comes word that open warfare has indeed broken out within the Democratic party.
David Sirota: Pollster Says Iraq Opposition Shows "Vitality in the Dem Party" — In this Houston Chronicle story, nonpartisan pollster...

Why Iraq's Sunnis fear constitution
  Christian Science Monitor   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD - With the clock ticking down on Iraq's constitutional negotiations, the question everyone wants answered is what, if anything, can be done to satisfy Sunni Arab demands?
Dr. Steven Taylor: Sunni Fear — Via the CSM comes an attempt to explainWhy Iraq's Sunnis fear constitution "at root of the Sunni rejection of the constitutional process is fear itself.
Glenn Reynolds: Meanwhile, here's why the Sunnis don't like it: [snipped quote] I'm unmoved.

California Ruling Expands Same-Sex Parental Rights
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
The California Supreme Court ruled yesterday that both members of a lesbian couple who plan for and raise a child born to either of them should be considered the child's mothers even after their relationship ends.
Julian Sanchez: And the Times account notes: "The Supreme Court, in a 4-to-2 decision, ruled for K. M. notwithstanding a state law that...
Pudentilla: the sound you hear is that of freepers' heads exploding — [snipped quote] an easy prediction: here in maine, members of...
Ann Althouse: An important lesbian rights decision from the California Supreme Court.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: The California supreme court, that is., in a ruling Monday.

Bush: Palestinians must take next step
  Jerusalem Post   —   Permalink 
The Palestinians have the onus of moving forward on the road map, US President George Bush said on Tuesday. In a conversation with reporters in Idaho, where Bush is vacationing, the President made it clear that the Palestinians must take the next step towards peace, by reforming their government and their security forces.
Joseph Alexander Norland: In the following JPost report, see if you can find any reference by Bush to the Roadmap demand to "dismantle terrorist...
Ted Belman: JPost reported Bush: Palestinians must take next step I got the feeling from his remarks that the creteria set out in...

An oil 'crisis'?
  By / Townhall.com   —   Permalink 
With oil prices passing the record-breaking $60 a barrel level and heading even higher, the word "crisis" is now being used and all sorts of political "solutions" are being proposed. Is there really a crisis?
TheAnchoress: A coupla questions: Is there an oil "crisis', and Isn't Turn-About Fairplay (that second one looks closely at the...
Betsy Newmark: Thomas Sowell has some thoughts about the so-called oil crisis and the bad responses that government will probably have to high oil prices.
MJA @SouthernAppeal: Dr. Sowell's latest piece on the so-called "oil crisis" is one such example.

TV host urges US to kill Chavez
  BBC   —   Permalink 
US religious broadcaster Pat Robertson has called for the US to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Mr Robertson caused controversy with the comments on his TV show, describing Mr Chavez as "a terrific danger".
Brian Maloney: Could Pat Robertson be right about Chavez? --- The Freedom Institute, with a heavy focus on economics.
Jeff Jarvis: Not news Do we need any further demonstration that Pat Robertson is a loon?

U.S. Senators Criticize Robertson Call to Assassinate Chavez
  Bloomberg   —   Permalink 
Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) — U.S. Senators Norm Coleman, Republican of Minnesota and Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida, said a call by U.S. televangelist Pat Robertson for the U.S. government to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was ''irresponsible'' and ''incredibly stupid.''
Atrios: Trouble in Wingnuttia — Senators criticize Robertson: Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) — U.S. Senators Norm Coleman, Republican of...
Michael Crowley: The On-Your-Own Club: Republicans flee from Robertson — Rumsfeld, Coleman, Martinez.

How to Escape the Oil Trap
  By / Newsweek   —   Permalink 
Aug. 29 - Sept. 5, 2005 issue - If I could change one thing about American foreign policy, what would it be? The answer is easy, but it's not something most of us think of as foreign policy. I would adopt a serious national program geared toward energy efficiency and independence.
Andrew Sullivan: SUVS AND TERRORISM: Fareed Zakaria makes an excellent point today in a column about rising oil prices, and how they are...
Jonah Goldberg: OIL & TERROR — Fareed Zakaria's got a position on oil I'm increasingly sympathetic to. Worth reading.

Talk Show Host Graham Fired By WMAL Over Islam Remarks
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Washington radio station WMAL-AM fired talk show host Michael Graham yesterday after he refused to soften his description of Islam as "a terrorist organization" on the air last month.
Graham had been suspended without pay from his daily three-hour show since making his comments July 25.
Garrett M. Graff: WMAL Cans Controversial Host michaelgraham.jpgDCRTV has been leading the story for days, and today Paul Farhi at the...
James Joyner: Talk Show Host Graham Fired By WMAL Over Islam Remarks (WaPo, C1) "Washington radio station WMAL-AM fired talk show...
Tbogg: For those who never understood what "hoist with his own petard" meant Michael Graham is the living embodiment:...
Justin Gardner: (Source: Talk Show Host Graham Fired By WMAL Over Islam Remarks)
Avedon Carol: Back home, WMAL finally fired talk-show host Michael Graham for his insistence on-air last month that Islam is "a...
Steve Bainbridge: It's not a First Amendment Issue — Michael Graham got fired from his ABC radio job for making some derogatory remarks about Islam.

Why Pat Robertson's Statements Help Hugo Chavez
  By / Time   —   Permalink 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has a new best friend this morning: television evangelist Pat Robertson. With his astonishing call for the left-wing leader's assassination last night—"I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it...We have the ability...
Heather Hurlburt: (Meanwhile, Tim Padgett at Time points out that Robertson could hardly do more to bolster Chavez' popularity.
Oliver Willis: Think Progress: Robertson Needs To Update His Website Time: Why Pat Robertson's Statements Help Hugo Chavez

Iraqi Drafter Doubts Sunnis Will Support Constitution in 3 Days
  AP   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — The head of the committee drafting Iraq's constitution said Tuesday that three days are not enough to win over the Sunni Arabs, and the document they rejected may ultimately have to be approved by parliament as is and taken to the people in a referendum.
Armando @DailyKos: Look at this "scoop": [snipped quote] First of all, it seems clear that this draft did not comply with Iraq law: "Well,...
Brad Plumer: So I wonder how effective this much-heralded "political solution" can be (which, at any rate, isn't going very well),...

No Evidence of Atta Claims, Pentagon Says
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
The Pentagon said yesterday that Defense Department investigators have found no evidence to support allegations by a GOP congressman and others that a secret program had identified lead hijacker Mohamed Atta more than a year before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Steve Soto: The Post is reporting in tomorrow's edition that the Pentagon has found nothing yet to substantiate what Lt. Col. Tony...
Cori Dauber: So, one step forward, two steps back.
Susie Madrak: Nada So far, nothing: The Pentagon said yesterday that Defense Department investigators have found no evidence to...
Rich Lowry: ABLE DANGER — Pentagon still saying it can't confirm, according to Washington Post.

Televangelist Calls for Venezuelan President's Assassination
  AP   —   Permalink 
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested on-air that American operatives assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop his country from becoming ''a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism.''
John Cole: Robertson's Fatwah It appears that Islamist crazies are not the only people who can issue fatwahs: Religious...
Jame @MemeFirst: Alzheimer's must be setting in — So much for the sixth Commandment.
Stirling Newberry: Now we know why it isn't the Struggle Against Violent Extremists — We'd have to do something about this guy.

Well, they got me...
  By / Townhall.com   —   Permalink 
The First Amendment and I have been evicted from ABC Radio in Washington, DC.
On July 25th, the Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded that I be "punished" for my on-air statements regarding Islam and its tragic connections to terrorism.
Brian Maloney: Town Hall has two new pieces, one from Graham and another by Joel Mowbray. --- Chateau D'If says fellow WMAL host Chris Core's new public statement stinks.
Murray @SilentRunning: Ok they're inside the wire. This is extremely dangerous s**t we're looking at here people.
John Hawkins: "Michael Graham: Well, They Got Me" "John Kyl: U.S. Economy Strong, If Unappreciated" "Robert Novak: John Thune Driven...
Steve Bainbridge: Now he's claiming: "The First Amendment and I have been evicted from ABC Radio in Washington, DC." Sorry, but no.

Mile by Mile, Into the Oil Trap
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
If I could change one thing about American foreign policy, what would it be? The answer is easy, but it's not something most of us think of as foreign policy. I would adopt a serious national program geared toward energy efficiency and independence.
Ezra Klein: Read it. By the way, The Oil Drum, your goto blog for all things crude and peak, has moved. You can, and should, find them here.
Laura Rozen: A plan for greater energy conservation and independence: [snipped quote] And what's the one single thing that would make a difference?

Iraq: The unseen war
  By / Salon   —   Permalink 
Aug. 23, 2005 This is a war the Bush administration does not want Americans to see. From the beginning, the U.S. government has attempted to censor information about the Iraq war, prohibiting photographs of the coffins of U.S. troops returning home and refusing as a matter of policy to keep track of the number of Iraqis who have been killed.
Arnold P. California: Update: A colleague pointed me to a story and "photo gallery" in Salon, coincidentally published today, exemplifying the...
Jim Romenesko: > Many reasons why U.S. press won't run graphic war images (Salon)

GOV DEMANDS FEDERAL PROBE TO FIND PHONE SNOOPER WHO CROSSED 'LINE'
  By / New York Post   —   Permalink 
ALBANY — An angry Gov. Pataki yesterday called for a federal investigation into who recorded and leaked the explosive secret tapes of private telephone conversations involving him, his wife, Libby, then-Sen. Alfonse D'Amato and others.
"We have requested...
Scott Sala: Fred Dicker posts his part-II transcript of the anonymously-supplied audio tapes, while Pataki calls for a federal probe...
Taegan Goddard: Pataki Calls for Investigation — New York Gov. George Pataki (R) [snipped quote] the New York Post reports. Link | Related News

Evolving Tactics
  By / Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
Quick, someone call Howard Dean. It appears the right has stolen the left's playbook and is now using tactics liberals have used for decades. Unlike Jimmy Carter's debate briefing book, which someone slipped to Ronald Reagan's staff in 1980, there are actually useful nuggets that the old Reaganites and the new Bushies can use.
MJA @SouthernAppeal: Brendan Miniter has a good article on WSJ on conservatives' use of the god of diversity to push for the inclusion of intelligent design in school curricula.
S.Z.: And speaking of respected conservative thinkers (and we were, just yesterday), here's Brendan Miniter, the assistant...

As Columnist Departs, Little Warmth From the Sun
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
When Jules Witcover wrote his final column for the Baltimore Sun last week, after 24 years at the paper, it was not by choice.
The Sun dismissed Witcover, a Washington fixture for half a century who launched the column with his longtime pal Jack Germond, after cutting his salary by more than two-thirds and publishing him less often.
Garrett M. Graff: Sun Sets on Witcover witcover-jules2.jpgHoward Kurtz is back from vacation and today offers up a surprising story: The...
Jim Romenesko: Witcover's termination notice was sent by overnight mail — Washington Post Jules Witcover says of being fired by the...

Churchill inquiry sent to higher level
  By / Rocky Mountain News   —   Permalink 
A faculty group has sent the investigation of University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill to the next level.
Seven complaints of alleged plagiarism, historical fabrication and other research misconduct by Churchill have been recommended for a deeper...
Betsy Newmark: Although his lawyer is spinning like mad that this is good news for Ward Churchill, it certainly doesn't sound good for him.
Glenn Reynolds: WARD CHURCHILL UPDATE: [snipped quote] Here's a Rocky Mountain News editorial on the subject.

Iraq's Assembly Is Given Charter, Still Unfinished
  NYT   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Tuesday, Aug. 23 - Iraqi leaders submitted a draft constitution to the National Assembly just before their self-imposed midnight deadline on Monday, but disagreement with Sunni leaders and other, secular Iraqis left the document incomplete, with fundamental issues still in dispute.
John Cole: Iraq Constitution For a group of people new to this whole democracy thing, these folks sure seem to learn quick: ...
Juan Cole: The NYT suggests that the religious Shiites had been planning to use their majority in parliament to simply pass the...
Jeralyn Merritt: A three day extension of the deadline for the Iraq Constitution has been granted. Here's the text of the draft.
Praktike: Especially troubling, aside from the much-discussed "judicial review" provisions that bear an uncanny resemblance to the...
Glenn Reynolds: HERE'S THE LATEST on the in-progress Iraqi Constitution. Here's the current text.

Pat Robertson calls for assassination of Hugo Chavez
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former presidential candidate, said on "The 700 Club" it was the United States' duty to stop Chavez from making Venezuela a "launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."
Jan Haugland: Fundamentalist preacher, TV-evangelist, wingnut and founder of the Christian Coalition Pat Robertson argues that the US should have Chavez assassinated.
Joe Gandelman: The AP: "Electronic pages and a message to a Robertson spokeswoman were not immediately returned Monday evening."
Steve Cobble: So now Pat Robertson is publicly suggesting the assassination of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela?!
Terry Heaton: Extremes make news — Pat Robertson thinks we should kill Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, because he's a "terrific...
Atrios: I'm actually fairly sympathetic to when things aren't properly credited - on TV, especially, there isn't really time -...

Iraq assembly gets charter draft but Sunnis fight
  Reuters   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's tentative efforts at consensus politics were pushed to breaking point when the Shi'ite majority forced a draft constitution into parliament in defiance of Sunni warnings that it could ignite civil war.
John Hawkins: Daily News For Aug 23, 2005 — Foreign "Iraq: Draft Constitution Completed, But Sunnis Unhappy" "Israel Evacuates Last...
Cernig: "In The Best Tradition Of Democracy" — Unable to agree a constitution by today's deadline and facing the dissolution of...
Michael J. Totten: Draft of Iraq's Constitution is Islamist (Updated) The current draft of Iraq's constitution doesn't look good.

Bush Defending His Iraq War Policy
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — President Bush, defending his Iraq war policy in the face of anti-war opposition and slumping approval ratings, says pulling out before the mission is complete would dishonor the memory of all the Americans who fought and died in pursuit of freedom.
Joe @AmericaBlog: Still no plan to solve the Iraq mess but he is spinning out of control: "President Bush compared the fight against...
Richard TPD: "9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11" — From the AP: "President Bush compared the fight against terrorism to both world wars...

Bush Compares War on Terror to World Wars
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
(08-22) 20:02 PDT SALT LAKE CITY, (AP) —
President Bush compared the fight against terrorism to both world wars and other great conflicts of the 20th century as he tried to reassure an increasingly skeptical public on Monday to support U.S. military involvement in Iraq.
Kos @DailyKos: Iraq is, like, every war combined — Wow. I didn't realize Iraq was so ginormous a war!
Bob Cesca: Monday, he spoke to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Salt Lake City and invoked 9/11 and compared the war on terror to World War II.

Bush Defends Strategy in Iraq at Veterans' Convention
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
President Bush, seeking to rally support for the war in Iraq, warned today that "retreat and isolation" would leave the United States less secure and said Americans need to make the kind of sacrifices that led to victory in World War II and the Cold War.
Joe @AmericaBlog: Normandy? Then, yesterday, in Utah, Bush invoked Normandy, too: [snipped quote] So, now it's Normandy. Got that?
Lambert @Corrente: Iraq clusterf**k: Mush from the chimp — Oh, puh-leeze: [snipped quote] I'll bet He didn't. But the article is silly.

Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuela's president
  Media Matters for America   —   Permalink 
Pat Robertson, host of Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club and founder of the Christian Coalition of America, called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
ROBERTSON: There was a popular coup that overthrew him [Chavez].
Norbizness: (4) "You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it.
Cenk Uygur: Reverend Pat Robertson, on "The 700 Club" — Aug. 22, 2005 Robertson doesn't suggest Hugo Chavez is an imminent threat to the United States.
Echidne: The Fatwah of Pat Robertson — He has recently advocated assassinating Hugo Chavez: [snipped quote] Atrios points out how...
Kevin: Filed under: Culture, Media No comment yet, add yours? » Pat Robertson: Man of God Posted by Kevin Well, the god...
Avedon Carol: Media Matters has the transcript and video of Pat Robertson advocating the assassination of Hugo Chavez, claiming there...
Ezra Klein: I mean, sure, it's not exactly neighborly to call for Hugo Chavez's assassination, but neither is it necessarily un-Christian.
Also: Ed Cone, Joe Gandelman, MarkInMexico, Randy Paul, Frederick Maryland, Xan @Corrente, Susie Madrak, Greg @TheTalentShow, Brian Linse, David Sirota, Captain Ed, Lambert @Corrente, Greg Saunders, James Joyner, Jeralyn Merritt, Judd @ThinkProgress, Steve M., Mark Kleiman, Mimus Pauly, Dr. Steven Taylor, John @AmericaBlog, Steve Soto, Kevin Drum, McQ, Matt Singer, Jesse Taylor, Oliver Willis, Atrios

Draft Constitution Would Fundamentally Change Iraq
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Aug. 22 — Shiites and Kurds were sending a draft constitution to parliament on Monday that would fundamentally change Iraq, transforming the country into a loose federation, with a weak central administration governed by Islamic law, negotiators said.
Brad Plumer: Not Quite the Federalist Papers... I suppose we'll just have to see what happens with the new Iraqi constitution over...
La Shawn Barber: Other sources: Bush optimistic about Iraq constitution, Iraqis Submit Charter, but Delay Vote… (Pictured in...
Atrios: The Noble Cause — I guess this is what they died for: The draft, slated for action by a Monday deadline, would be a...
Andrew Sullivan: My own evolving view of what's happening in Iraq is that there's still a reasonable chance of a pretty depressingly...
Billmon: This one brief passage from the Washington Post kind of illustrates everything problematic about such a neocolonial...
Armando @DailyKos: The Iraq Constitution: By the Shia and Kurds — Pretty pictures? : [snipped quote] Aahhh, the "pretty pictures" for Bush will come in the Spring they hope.
Also: Garance Franke-Ruta, Larre @LeftCoaster, Norm Geras, Jo Fish, Andy McCarthy, Von @ObsidianWings, Joe @AmericaBlog, Lambert @Corrente, Oliver Willis, Cori Dauber

Navy Officer Affirms Assertions About Pre-9/11 Data on Atta
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 - An active-duty Navy captain has become the second military officer to come forward publicly to say that a secret defense intelligence program tagged the ringleader of the Sept. 11 attacks as a possible terrorist more than a year before the attacks.
Kevin Drum: The latest comes from the New York Times, which interviewed Capt. Scott Phillpott, a member of the Able Danger team
Bryan Preston: But Navy Captain Scott Philpott moves up the Atta ID further than Shaffer: "The officer, Scott J. Phillpott, said in a...
Laura Rozen: (Editor's note: I've updated this post). Update: Here's more on Phillpott's statement from the New York Times.
John Cole: However, it appears a second officer has come forward to verify the claims: An active-duty Navy captain has become the...
Jan Haugland: Second Officer: Able Danger fingered Atta — A second officer has come forward on Able Danger: An active-duty Navy...
Captain Ed: Able Danger: Second Source Sheds Anonymity, Confirms Shaffer — The second source for the Able Danger story, the...
Also: Kathryn

The Tail That Wags the Blog
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
I constantly tell myself: Ignore the blog. Do your work. You are an enormous literary figure and cultural icon, not a mere "blogger." You must produce high-end journalism with grand themes and huge groaning multi-syllabic words like "eschatological," and you can't be dribbling away all your ideas on the blog.
Steve Bainbridge: More Thoughts on Comments — Via Althouse I found these amusing thoughts by WaPo journalist/blogger Joel Achenbach on...
Jeff Jarvis: Washington Post blogger Joel Aschenbach writes a funny (almost as funny as the accompanying illustration) take on blogs...
Jim Romenesko: WPer: "The blog is hungry. " The blog will not be ignored. "Washington Post Joel Achenbach has been blogging for just eight months and he already fantasizes about killing it.
Vanderleun: Washington Post, The Tail That Wags the Blog
Ann Althouse: Joel Achenbach writes about the way comments transform the life of the blogger: [snipped quote] Okay, commentariat, it's your turn.
Jan Haugland: Blogs to take over the world (one blogger at the time) WaPo columnist Joel Achenbach, who also blogs, has a hilarious article called the tail that wags the blog.
Also: Terry Heaton, James Joyner, La Shawn Barber, Ed Cone

Page One Feature
  By / Jewish Press   —   Permalink 
I am a Hollywood screenwriter. I have written feature films, episodic television, movies for network and cable. An Emmy Award for the screenplay for my film "The Devil's Arithmetic" sits over the fireplace in our living room.
Marc @USSNeverdock: I refuse to fund these anti-American morons. Here is a snippet from Avrech's article.
Murray @SilentRunning: In the mean time this read has me back at the "oh crap" sensation. One of our own is out there somewhere in the dark in what is, by it's very nature, hostile territory.
Roger L. Simon: Out of the Closet and Into the Streets — I am not a Republican (not interested in joining any political party these...
John Hawkins: "John Fund: Resurrecting Jim Crow For Political Gain" "Robert J. Avrech: Help! I'm A Hollywood Republican!"
TheAnchoress: A few things I read that were pretty good and you might enjoy: Cathy Seipp at NRO This screenwriter, a Hollywood Republican, essentially commits career suicide in this piece.
Ace: You'll Never Do Lunch In This Town Again — Hollywood screenwriter and blogger Robert Avrech comes out as a...
Also: Ed Driscoll

President Honors Veterans of Foreign Wars at National Convention
  White House   —   Permalink 
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. (Applause.) Thank you all very much. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's a pleasure to be back here in Salt Lake City, Utah. And I'm proud to again stand with the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Thanks for having me. (Applause.)
Cori Dauber: Take a look at the numbers he used: We have lost 1,864 members of our Armed Forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and 223 in Operation Enduring Freedom.
Faiz @ThinkProgress: [8/22/05]" Previously, Bush has called on the memories of the Revolutionary War, World War I, the Korean War, and even the Civil War to bolster support for the Iraq war effort.
Steve M.: But did you know that nearly one-fifth of the speech — approximately 600 words of a 3,500-word address — was given over to banter?
John Hawkins: [quote]"— George W. Bush [end quote]

Pentagon Can't Verify Atta Speculation
  AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has been unable to validate claims that a secret intelligence unit identified Sept. 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta as a terrorist more than a year before the attacks, a Defense Department spokesman said Monday.
John Cole: Able Danger Story Unverifiablel, Yet Verified For now, at least, the Pentagon refuses to verify the Atta story: The...
Captain Ed: Able Danger: Pentagon Can't Find Data — The Pentagon has provided its official response to the revelations made almost...
Kevin Drum: The Pentagon, for its part, has broken its silence and says that its research so far has not verified any of Shaffer's...
Avedon Carol: It would have been convenient for some people to believe that 9/11-connected terrorists could have been stopped by...
Billmon: The vast liberal conspiracy to conceal Bill Clinton's responsibility for 9/11 has seized control of the Department of Defense!
Laura Rozen: The AP reports on the Pentagon's current response to Able Danger claims: [snipped quote] (Thx to reader WA for the heads up).

Fresh deadline for Iraq document
  BBC   —   Permalink 
Iraqi negotiators have been given three more days to reach agreement on the draft of a new constitution.
MPs met for a brief session minutes before the 2000 GMT deadline to receive the draft expired, but did not vote.
Brian Linse: Simon, Totten, and Armed Liberal still not writing about the Iraqi constitution and the US-sanctioned concessions to Islamic fundamentalism.
James Joyner: Fresh deadline for Iraq document (BBC) [snipped quote] This is eerily similar to the process that the U.S. used to get...
Donald Sensing: The BBC reports, "Iraqi negotiators have been given three more days to reach agreement on the draft of a new constitution.
Damian Penny: Update: the BBC says the constitutional negotiators have asked for three more days to finish their work.
Jan Haugland: In the end, the parliament voted to give the parties three more days to come to an agreement.

Bush: US must finish job in Iraq to honor the fallen
  By / Reuters   —   Permalink 
SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - President George W. Bush, speaking amid protests and growing public unease over Iraq, said on Monday America owed it to the more than 1,800 U.S. soldiers killed there to complete the mission, which he linked with the campaign against terrorism.
John @AmericaBlog: Reuters nails Bush — Just read it. Rarely has any reporter gotten it as clearly as the one who wrote this article about Bush trying to link Iraq AGAIN to the war on terror.
Chris Andersen: Bush finally defines the mission in Iraq — [snipped quote] Shorter version: The mission in Iraq is to give meaning to the mission in Iraq.
Magpie @PacificViews: Continuing his cross-country stump to shore up support for his failing policies in Iraq, Dubya today offered yet another reason why the US should stay in Iraq.

Sometimes It's Who You Offend
  NRO   —   Permalink 
Radio-talk-show host Michael Graham is out of a job.
Let's imagine a scenario that's not so fictional. Suppose we had a big multinational corporation called Filch. Its code of conduct includes some dubious provisions that can be interpreted to encourage aggressive business and accounting practices.
James Joyner: Andrew McCarthy has a sample of Graham's remarks: "Because of the mix of Islamic theology that — rightly or wrongly —...
Kathryn Jean Lopez: WHO YOU OFFENDED — Andy McCarthy takes a closer look.
Paul @PowerLine: UPDATE: Andrew McCarthy at NRO sums it up nicely when he says that Graham's offense "was worthy of a wince, not a pink slip.

Democrats Split on Tactics for Confirmation Hearings
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 - Two weeks before senators begin questioning the Supreme Court nominee, John G. Roberts Jr., the debate over his confirmation is becoming a test of Senate Democrats as well.
Michael Crowley: Two big articles today in the Times and the Post chronicle surging tensions between the party's liberal base and its...
Avedon Carol: Is it an accident that not only The Washington Post but the NYT have this same story today?)
Pejman Yousefzadeh: But Roberts supporters surely must take heart on reading this: [snipped quote] Of course, all of these splits can only help Roberts.
Captain Ed: The Washington Post and the New York Times picks up on this battle, but look at it superficially in terms of specific issues rather than as the gestalt of the party itself.
Tully @Centerfield: Democrats Split on Tactics for Confirmation Hearings "Former Senator John Breaux, a Louisiana Democrat, said the hearings were a test of his party's independence.

U.S. Says Terrorists May Pose As Vagrants
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Asking for increased vigilance in the wake of the London bombings, the government is warning that terrorists may pose as vagrants to conduct surveillance of buildings and mass transit stations to plot future attacks.
James Joyner: U.S. Says Terrorists May Pose As Vagrants (AP) [snipped quote] So, that dollar you give to a beggar may go to al Qaeda.
Magpie @PacificViews: Now that US government terror warnings have told citizens to beware of (for example) people with almanacs and people who...
Attaturk: Mor(a)ns — Undoubtedly from the same people who recently said environmental activists were the major terror threat in...

More baloney from Krugman
  American Thinker   —   Permalink 
Paul Krugman, tries to respond today to withering attacks on his column from last Friday in which he declared that a full statewide manual recount would have given Al Gore the victory in Florida in 2000. Somebody at the New York Times may have gotten concerned about how far from the truth Krugman was straying.
Patterico: All this comes via the work of Richard Baehr, who provides the above analysis and much more.
Scott @PowerLine: While John is away on personal business, Richard Baehr does the honors once again: "More baloney from Krugman."
Don: Apparently he thinks that other op-eds are as unreliable as his.Update 2... Richard Baehr at The American Thinker has an...
Betsy Newmark: MONDAY LINKS — Richard Baehr just tears Paul Krugman apart. This is a followup to his first ripping of Krugman.

In Explaining Life's Complexity, Darwinists and Doubters Clash
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
At the heart of the debate over intelligent design is this question: Can a scientific explanation of the history of life include the actions of an unseen higher being?
Kevin Drum: The New York Times has been running a series of articles on ID (here, here, and here), for example, and they're genuinely problematical.
Shawn @LiquidList: And since my methodology is apparently good enough for the New York Times to write about on another matter for four...
Eric Seymour: Here's an excerpt: [snipped quote] The Times also has a typical "he said/she said" article about intelligent design and Darwinism, if you haven't read enough of those already.
Michael @AmericaBlog: Still More On The False God Of Intelligent Design — The NYT does another big piece on creationism — again, it's...
Susanna Cornett: Yesterday and today, the NYTimes weighed in with what is, for them, very even-handed pieces: here is Sunday's, here is the one from today.
Stefan @MemeFirst: Intelligent Design: Finally a testable hypothesis — There is a great ending to Kenneth Chang's NYT article on evolution today.
Also: Jo Fish, Brad DeLong, Ed Cone

G.I. Death Toll in Afghanistan Worst Since '01
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 21 - This year is already the deadliest for American soldiers in Afghanistan since the war of 2001, and the violence is likely to intensify before the nation's legislative elections on Sept. 18.
Cori Dauber: The New York Times today quoted a figure of 181, which seems more like the figure you generally hear quoted.
Michael @AmericaBlog: Now, most of the country is controlled by drug lords and the Taliban. And the news is getting worse, per the NYT.
Nico @ThinkProgress: Taliban fighters have also killed "more than 800 Afghan officials, police, troops, aid workers and civilians since...

Democrats Split Over Position on Iraq War
  WaPo   —   Permalink 
Democrats say a long-standing rift in the party over the Iraq war has grown increasingly raw in recent days, as stay-the-course elected leaders who voted for the war three years ago confront rising impatience from activists and strategists who want to challenge President Bush aggressively to withdraw troops.
Pete Ross: Iraq: Where Dems Agree — Peter Baker and Shailagh Murray are generating some buzz with their article in today's WaPo...
Armando @DailyKos: The Washington Post runs a story tomorrow that simply is false in important particulars.
Juan Cole: Ten Things Congress Could Demand from Bush on Iraq — The Washington Post notes that the Democratic Party is deeply...
Mark Leon Goldberg: Conventional wisdom distilled from the pages of the Washington Post, Bull Moose and elsewhere would have it that most...
Riggsveda @Corrente: And Iraq continues to devolve into a nightmare of Vietnam-ish proportion with blinding speed, and some Democrats start to get the idea that maybe they were lied to.
Frederick Maryland: The Washington Post reports today: [snipped quote] I think there are a variety of reasons why congressional Dems aren't...
Also: Norbizness, Ann Althouse, Hugh Hewitt, Tarek @LiquidList, Susie Madrak, Avedon Carol

More young blacks ready to embrace GOP
  By / Boston Globe   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON — Adam Hunter, an ambitious law student with bright eyes, an easy smile, and plenty of charisma, seems practically destined for politics.
A half century ago, his grandfather helped register blacks living in rural South Carolina to vote.
Marc @USSNeverdock: UPDATE Even the Democrats staunches allies, African-Americans, are deserting them in droves.
TheAnchoress: A smart piece that points out: Ask a thirty-five year old infertile woman whether she has "the ability to control her...
Jayson @PoliPundit: And I certainly don't trust the Boston Globe. But I found this article quite interesting nonetheless.
John Hawkins: '700 Club' Host Says Venezuelan Leader Poses Imminent Danger" "More Young Blacks Ready To Embrace GOP" Columns "Is Al Qaeda Of Iraq Wearing Out Its Welcome?"
Hugh Hewitt: The Boston Globe reports on the increasingly likelihood that young African Americans will align with Republicans.

Iraqi Leaders Report Agreement, but Key Issues Remain
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 22 - Less than an hour before the deadline for finishing a new constitution, Iraqi leaders said tonight they had reached general agreement on the document.
Cernig: According to the New York Times, there are three major sticking points: The first issue was that the alliance of Kurds...
Dr. Steven Taylor: Now You See, Now You Don't — Via the NYT: Iraqi Leaders Reach Agreement on New Constitution [snipped quote] But, before...
Talking Dog: The Iraqi National Assembly decided to respond to U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad the way many of my classmates back at...

Resurrecting Jim Crow for Political Gain
  Opinion Journal   —   Permalink 
The Voting Rights Act, whose 40th anniversary we celebrate this month, has helped minorities elect 81 sitting members of Congress and thousands of local officials.
John Fund: I hope Huffington Post readers look at this piece of mine in today's Wall Street Journal in that spirit.
Avedon Carol: If you want to see the wingers play the racist card again, John Fund is on the case, insisting there is no election...
Glenn Reynolds: JOHN FUND writes about loose talk regarding election fraud and quotes my law school classmate Joe Andrew: [snipped quote] It wasn't, of course.
Betsy Newmark: USING JIM CROW TO SCORE POLITICAL POINTS — John Fund has a column in today's Wall Street Journal about how some...
MJA @SouthernAppeal: Voter ID = Jim Crow — John Fund has a great article in the WSJ on liberals' use of racial scare-tactics and "victimization" in order to try to maintain their power.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: JOHN FUND ON VOTER FRAUD — In today's WSJ: [snipped quote] Read it all here.

White House Week
  US News   —   Permalink 
The recent controversy swirling around Karl Rove hasn't slowed him a bit. That's according to White House insiders who say Bush's political boy genius is as engaged as ever in high-level decision making despite all the attacks by angry Democrats alleging he improperly—and possibly illegally—outed a covert CIA operative.
Joe @AmericaBlog: George Allen is on the Iraq = Normandy message — US News finds that for many right wingers, George Allen is the natural successor to George Bush.
Judd @ThinkProgress: Rove's involvement in the leak
Taegan Goddard: Conservatives Bet on Allen — Conservative Republicans are "becoming increasingly convinced that Virginia Sen. George...

Other guides ask what colleges can do for you. We ask what are colleges doing for the country.
  By / Washington Monthly   —   Permalink 
This month, U.S. News & World Report releases its annual rankings of colleges. First published in 1983, the guide has become its own mini-event: College presidents, education reporters, alumni, parents, and high school juniors alike all scramble to get their hands on the rankings.
Brian Montopoli: So check 'em out. The Nation is ruminating on who, exactly, is to blame for childhood obesity, and, as loyal Nation...
Bill @INDCJournal: Check out the Washington Monthly College Guide: "Other guides ask what colleges can do for you.
James Joyner: The Washington Monthly College Guide "There's a good reason for the American fixation with rankings—if done correctly, they can help tell us what's working and what's not.
Jim Dallas: A&M, UT ranked among top thirty schools by Washington Monthly — Yes, the US News and World Report once again overlooks...

Leaders in Iraq Report Progress on Constitution
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 22 -Iraqi leaders moved to the brink of agreement on a new constitution on Sunday, solving several contentious issues but still struggling with the potentially explosive questions of Shiite autonomy and the role of Islam in family disputes and the judiciary.
Andrew Olmsted: Conversely, if the agreement was made, it appears to have paid off in near-agreement on the new constitution.
Juan Cole: Dexter Filkins of the NYT reveals some of the details about which the constitution drafting committee has been arguing.
John Hawkins: Daily Links For August 22, 2005 — Foreign "Scotland Yard Believes It Has Thwarted An Al-Qaeda Gas Attack Aimed At...
Jan Haugland: Iraqi constitution deadline — Progress on the Iraqi constitution, but they are not there yet: Iraqi leaders moved to...
Arianna Huffington: And they try to hide it. Just look at today's above-the-fold, front-page story on Iraq's constitution.
Susie Madrak: Why do they have so much trouble admitting the obvious - that women will be reduced to chattel in Iraq?
Also: Dr. Steven Taylor, James Joyner

Skin Cells Converted to Stem Cells
  By / WaPo   —   Permalink 
Scientists for the first time have turned ordinary skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells — without having to use human eggs or make new human embryos in the process, as has always been required in the past, a Harvard research team announced yesterday.
Betsy Newmark: With that as a given, this story about creating stem cells using skin cells plus the embryonic stem cells that were from...
Simon @Centerfield: Having your cake and eating it — The Washington Post is reporting that a Harvard research team has succeded in morphing...
Glenn Reynolds: STEM CELL UPDATE: [snipped quote] It's still early, but I hope this pans out.
Susie Madrak: Progress Of course, the wingnuts will use this as a pretext to shut down embryonic stem cell research: Scientists for...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: MORE GOOD NEWS ON THE STEM CELL FRONT — And happily, uncontroversially good news: "Scientists for the first time have...
Kathryn Jean Lopez: POTENTIAL GOOD STEM-CELL NEWS — From Rick Weiss in the Washington Post: "Scientists for the first time have turned...

Folk Singer Supports Anti-War Protesters
  By / AP   —   Permalink 
CRAWFORD, Texas — Joan Baez was against the Vietnam War and she showed it _ appearing at marches, once even blocking the entrance of a military induction center.
The folk singer is against the Iraq war, too, and she showed her support Sunday to protesters camping out near President Bush's ranch.
Bill Hobbs: They are volunteers and heroes, not victims. UPDATE: The Sheehan protest has officially jumped the shark.
Ed Cone: The V word — Unsurprising headline of the day: "Folk Singer Supports Anti-War Protesters." Joan Baez?
Ann Althouse: She's a humdinger. Folksinger.
Marc @USSNeverdock: America - Pro Bush Rally Growing — ABC News reports on the growing counter protest to Sheehan's.
Norm Geras: Song of peace "[Joan] Baez took to the stage for about 500 people on an acre lot offered by a landowner who opposes the...

MONEY PIT
  New York Post   —   Permalink 
August 22, 2005 — AIR America, the much-hyped liberal media ven ture that was supposed to revolutionize talk radio, is "solvent and apparently stable": So claim the gullible cheerleaders at The New York Times, who made that unsubstantiated assertion in a recent glowing profile of Air America host...
Brian Maloney: But the charity scam is just the tip of the iceberg. Read the rest here.
Joshua Sharf: All this is covered in a hopefully-not-too-shrill oped in this morning's New York Post.
TheAnchoress: Perhaps he should follow Morgan's example. Malkin and Maloney spell out the Air America story in the NY Post.
La Shawn Barber: The New Medium At Its Best — The New York Post published a must-read op-ed called Money Pit.

Thompson considers run for U.S. presidency
  Detroit Free Press   —   Permalink 
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson acknowledged this week that he is considering a run for the White House in 2008 as an extension of his mission to improve the nation's health care.
"I can't think of anybody else as vocal on this issue as I have been," he said.
Scott Shields: He told the Detroit Free Press that he wants to run to highlight healthcare issues.
Taegan Goddard: Thompson Considering White House Bid — Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson (R) said he is [snipped quote] reports the Detroit Free Press.
Steve Bainbridge: A brief flash of hope — When I saw this headline from the Detroit Free Press: "Thompson considers run for U.S. presidency" I had a brief moment of hope.
Krempasky @RedState: Well, he's at least thinking about it. As another RS'er put it, "That sound you hear is America shrugging."

Synthesiser pioneer Dr Moog dies
  BBC   —   Permalink 
Synthesiser pioneer Dr Robert Moog has died at his North Carolina home aged 71, four months after being diagnosed with brain cancer.
Born in the New York district of Queens, his instruments were used by The Beatles and The Doors among others.
Norbizness: Robert Moog, 1934-2005.
Ed Driscoll: Dr. Robert Moog Died — A friend in Manhattan sent me a link to this BBC article; Bob Moog was one of the great pioneers of musical synthesizers.

Democrats Are Split on Questioning Roberts
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 - Two weeks before senators begin questioning the Supreme Court nominee, John G. Roberts Jr., the debate over his confirmation is becoming a test of Senate Democrats as well.
Sam Rosenfeld: Of course I hate repeating myself, but the latest account of divisions among Democrats over the John Roberts nomination...
Joe @AmericaBlog: NY Times: Dems Divided on Roberts Hearing — Yet, another story about discord among Democrats.

Robert Moog, Music Synthesizer Creator, Dies
  By / NYT   —   Permalink 
Robert Moog, the creator of the electronic music synthesizer that bears his name and that became ubiquitous among both experimental composers and rock musicians in the 1960's and 1970's, died on Sunday at his home in Asheville, N.C. He was 71.
Skippy: the nytimes tells us: at the height of his synthesizer's popularity, when progressive rock bands like yes, tangerine...
Brian Linse: Patching in Heaven. Sad news that Dr. Robert Moog, inventor of the Moog Synthesizer, has died at the age of 71.