Around The ‘Sphere

Our occasional linkfest directing you to posts from ALL OVER the Internet. Links are NOT restricted to one political viewpoint and don’t necessarily reflect the opinion of The Moderate Voice or its always-independent Guest Bloggers.


SPENDING TIME WITH “THE FILIBUSTERS”: Pennywit (which we think should be Pennywise because he makes so much sense) has a must-read post of traveling around with The Filibusters…college students in the capitol protesting the upcoming “nuclear option” that will eliminate filibusters on judicial nominees…by filibustering. This is the kind of blog post that USES blogs’ potential by using actual, detailed, newspaper quality (these days we will not say newsmagazine quality) reporting. Read it for the info — and if you have a blog, emulate it for its content and style. (Priscilla Queen of the Dissent would like it, too..)



Read The New Interview With Bob Dole if you haven’t already done so. In this interview by Jonathan Singer, Dole holds out hope — that the country isn’t on the verge of a long period of terrible polarization and partisan hatred. Singer (our newest guest contributor) was nice enough to link to this original interview on our site yesterday and we mentioned it before. But it is a MUST READ because of the information, solid Q&A interview technique and how Singer elicits Dole’s personality. Singer has his own views (as we all DO) but he does this interview 100 percent professionally, trying to get NEW info for his blog readers –which he does. REQUIRED READING for political junkies, aspiring journalists and all bloggers. (FOOTNOTE: This site has also been blessed recently by Greg Piper’s report on an anti-terrorism demonstration by Muslims and by Jack Grant’s original letters from France. These are new twists in the exciting blog form).



DISGREEMENT AMONG THE DEMMIES: Barney Frank doesn’t like the way DNC Chair Howard Dean has blasted Tom DeLay. Here’s some excellent video.

IT LOOKS LIKE THE NUCLEAR OPTION TO AXE THE FILIBUSTER ON JUDICIAL NOMINEES WILL HAPPEN and here’s an ad against it via the always-lively Crooks and Liars.

Is The Cannes Film Festival The Hate American Film Festival? Scared Monkey thinks it is and tells you why.

Is Basic Research And Development Off Track In The US? The New Editor offers a thought-provoking piece that suggests it is — and that there are consquences.



A Blunt And Commonsensical View On The Newsweek Koran Story Fiasco comes via Bull Moose. In a MUST READ POST he writes in party:

The Moose argues that accountability is a two-way street.Newsweek has much to answer for. The magazine should have had more than a single source for such a flammable story that has triggered death and mayhem….



Before the Pentagon strikes a holier than thou line on accountability, the civilian leadership there should take a hard look in the mirror. Secretary Rumsfeld and the gang have hardly stepped up to the plate regarding the horrific errors on their watch ranging from the failure to prepare for the Iraq occupation to Abu Ghraib. Perhaps Newsweek is only following Rummy’s example.

Liberals Really Have Their Work Cut Out For Them, according to Kevin Drum. He explains in detail how they’re outnumbered by conservatives and writes:

The rest of the time Democrats have governed only by appealing to moderates as well as liberals. Republicans, conversely, with a large conservative base to start with, have the luxury of paying less attention to the center.



Unfair? Sure. Deal with it. The reality is that liberals have two options: we can convince more people to become liberals — an unlikely prospect given that the number of self-identified liberals has stayed absolutely rock steady at 18% for the past four decades — or we can try to persuade more moderates to make common cause with us.

One prediction: if the “nuclear option” goes through and American politics becomes dominated by social conservatives with no attempt at consensus building, moderates move to the Democratic party. Why? Because the GOP could scare them in that direction. Would that be enough to offset a solid social conservative block? Uncertain. THE BIG IF: can the Democrats nominate someone appealing to centrists who could still excite the party’s left wing? Also uncertain.



ANOTHER IMPORTANT TAKE ON THE NEWSWEEK KORAN STORY FIASCO has arrived and at this point it would get lost in our roundup. We’ve run views from the right and left. This take from The Light Of Reason is an important one, since it raises some points strongly that you don’t see in many other analyses. Read it all but here’s a small taste:

I doubt very much that the Bush administration or the hawks could achieve outright censorship at this point. The outcry (from a “large and angry minority,â€? although not the one Reynolds depends on) would be too great. But there is a secondary, lesser goal: intimidation. The hawks hope that, by endlessly beating up Newsweek and making mainstream journalism appear to be “irresponsibleâ€? to the point of “causingâ€? deaths, the mainstream media will be far less likely to raise uncomfortable questions or write awkward stories about the various projects of the Bush administration, both foreign and domestic….

Mexican President Vicente Fox Put His Foot And Whole Leg In His Mouth when he said Mexicans coming to the United States want to do the jobs “not even blacks” want to do. Black conservative blogger LaShawn Barber says she doesn’t see what he has to apologize for.

I think what he said is true. Americans in general, not just blacks, are so used to living in a welfare state, they’d probably rather exist on the government dole than do “undignified� work. I believe there’s dignity in all work, as long as you’re hard working and self-supporting. But nobody asked me.



Unfortunately, some people are taught from birth that it’s OK to live off the labor of others. Welfare checks are an entitlement instead of a source of shame. But Fox should have kept race out of it.

But Molotov at the superb (one of TMV’s absolute favorites) Booker Rising, a site ostensibly for black moderates and conservatives (but of interest to everyone due to its constant quality) disagrees:

We disagree with Ms. Barber. The comments were racist, and inaccurate, and she should at least be calling Fox out harsher for singling out black folks. Before illegal immigration, it was black folks who did these jobs and did them well. Ever more reason why the Congressional Black Caucus should stop missing in action and put its collective foot up the ass of Vicente Fox and illegal immigration in general, and stand up for black employment and against lawbreakers.

(Readers will want to check both of these lively sites out).



Were Some Border Patrol Officials Trying To Make The Border Vigilante Minutemen Look Bad? Mike Minton thinks so and tells you why.



Free Press Under Fire is how The Loust Fork’s Glynn Wilson sees it and he outlines his argument in this blunt post here.



Indeed, What Was REALLY Behind The Newsweek Apology And Then The Retraction On The Koran Story? Sploid’s Ken Layne gives a fascinating analysis here in this shift memo written for Sploid staffers.