Top Items:

Israel, Hamas, and moral idiocy — Much of the world's response is a false moral equivalence that simply encourages the terrorists. — Israel's decision to take military action against Hamas rocket attacks targeting its civilian population has been long in coming.
Discussion:
Jerusalem Post, Mondoweiss, Israellycool, Elder of Ziyon, American Power, Power Line, Commentary, The Corner and NewsBusters.org
RELATED:

We must adjust our distorted image of Hamas — Gaza is a secular society where people listen to pop music, watch TV and many women walk the streets unveiled — Last week I was in Gaza. While I was there I met a group of 20 or so police officers who were undergoing a course in conflict management.


FLORIDASTAN: ISLAMIC ANTI JEW, PRO-HAMAS RALLY - THE HATRED OF THE GOOD — Federal building Broward Blvd. Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Muslims rally against the Jewish state. — It was pandemonium. Muslims dress in full jihad garb juiced with .... hate.It looked like Halloween in Gaza.
Discussion:
Israel Matzav, Debbie Schlussel, the “silent&rdquo …, Ynetnews, Jihad Watch and Boker tov, Boulder!

The problem with Israel-Palestine blogging — Everyone engaged in it is interested in proving that one side is righter than the other. Since no action in the region has occurred without plausible provocation for 4,000 years or so, this requires constantly shifting the metrics by which you measure whichever side you happen to favor.
Discussion:
Israel Matzav


White House says cease-fire depends on Hamas
Discussion:
The Huffington Post

Israel Likely to Reject 48-Hour Cease-Fire Plan
Discussion:
BBC, Reuters, Boker tov, Boulder!, Harry's Place, A Blog For All, Mondoweiss, JammieWearingFool, Feministing, Truthdig and Soccer Dad

Fight Fire With a Cease-Fire
Discussion:
Commentary, Voice of America, Hot Air, Swampland, Associated Press, Haaretz, theheretik.us and Jules Crittenden

Another bad choice by ethically bankrupt gov — The people of Illinois didn't need another reason to throw Gov. Blagojevich out of office. — They had plenty already. — But on Tuesday, the governor gave the state one more excellent reason, this time by going back on his word and appointing …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs
RELATED:


Davis said thanks, but no thanks — WASHINGTON — Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) would like to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the Senate. The appointment was dangled before him last Wednesday. He turned it down. We discussed why when we talked Tuesday night …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, Ta-Nehisi Coates, TalkLeft, The Swamp, TIME.com, The Politico, Progress Illinois, TPM Election Central, Hot Air, Associated Press, Reuters and CNN

Does Senate have authority to block Blagojevich's appointment of Roland Burris? — Supreme Court has said in past that House and Senate cannot refuse to seat someone who meets qualifications — WASHINGTON — Democratic Senate leaders swiftly declared Tuesday that they would refuse …

For sheer brazenness, nobody surpasses Rod
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Progress Illinois, theheretik.us, Buck Naked Politics and The Gun Toting Liberal


Gonzales Defends Role in Antiterror Policies — WASHINGTON — Alberto Gonzales, who has kept a low profile since resigning as attorney general nearly 16 months ago, said he is writing a book to set the record straight about his controversial tenure as a senior official in the Bush administration.
RELATED:

Torture prosecutions finally begin in the U.S. — (updated below - Update II) — While fiercely loyal establishment spokespeople such as The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus continue to insist that prosecutions are only appropriate for common criminals ("someone breaking into your house") …

Arab youths open fire on Israelis working at mall in Denmark — A group of Arab youths opened fire Wednesday evening on a number of Israelis working at a mall in the Danish city of Odenza, some 200 kilometers north of Copenhagen. — The Israelis, who were operating a stall in the shopping center, were lightly wounded in their legs.
RELATED:

Village Voice Lays Off Nat Hentoff and 2 Others — The troubled Village Voice laid off three employees Tuesday, including Nat Hentoff, the prominent columnist who has worked for the paper since 1958, contributing opinionated columns about jazz, civil liberties and politics.

Bobby Rush on CNN — Here's Rush arguing for the importance of a black senator. To which I respond—Nigga, please!! — I don't know if I've shifted politically or what. But after watching a black man named Barack Obama—who couldn't get into the Democratic convention eight years ago …

No end in sight — More evidence? A weak case? Behind-the-scenes negotiations? — Anyway, it goes on:


HAMAS H.Q. BOMBED; POWER LINE, TOO — Talk about disproportionate response. Just an hour or so after Power Line posted a series of videos from the Israeli Defense Forces—videos that, as Scott discovered, YouTube had pulled—we experienced a Denial-of-Service attack from a cabal …

Re: The Sense of Proportion — I want to add two cents to the much needed efforts of Ramesh and Victor (see, e.g., here and here) to correct the perversion of the concept of proportionality. I noted this trend back in the summer of 2006, when it was applied to Israel's military operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.


Nobody Goes There Anymore, It's Too Crowded — I think trying to build housing in shopping malls is a potentially promising idea. It's a reminder that I've been meaning for a while to write a post about separating the idea of “walkable urbanism” from the idea of “living in a city.”