Center of Attention

July 26th, 2007 by PETE ABEL, Assistant Editor

A round up of recent posts by a few centrist, moderate, and independent bloggers.

The ’sphere’s collective analysis of the CNN/YouTube debate may be overcooked at this point, but I still found this Jeff Jarvis vs. Kevin Marsh post (and subsequent comments) fresh enough to offer up for your consideration.

Sean Aqui summarizes “a pretty informative [Scientific American] article on the current state of climate science” … and also picks up on a post about redistricting and gerrymandering by Simon at Stubborn Facts. [I missed the latter, but I’m glad I caught Sean’s “take two.”]

Speaking of Simon, TMV readers might enjoy his post on federalism/balancing power between DC and the states. Here’s a money quote he lifts from former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’C:

One fairly can dispute whether our federalist system has been quite as successful in checking government abuse as Hamilton promised, but there is no doubt about the design. If this “double security” is to be effective, there must be a proper balance between the States and the Federal Government. These twin powers will act as mutual restraints only if both are credible. In the tension between federal and state power lies the promise of liberty.

Meanwhile, McQ is frustrated with Jack Murtha’s persistence. I’m not sure frustration is the right reaction; cynical amusement might be more appropriate. I was in DC this week and it seemed that a fair number of the Members and staff are going to “check out” early (mentally if not physically) for the August recess. And we have the audacity to scold the Iraqi government for taking a break.

Sticking with Iraq for a moment, a quote from Matthew Dowd rings painfully true, courtesy of Andrew Sullivan. And on a related note, when the nation’s leaders finally agree to pull troops from Iraq, the always-thoughtful Dick Polman asks “then what?”

Finally, Patrick Joubert Conlon cites (and is not suprised by) a federal study which (among other things) found that: “Rural students perform better in science than their urban counterparts …” No suprise to me either: those kids need strong science skills to run their parents’ meth labs. [Save the hate mail; I’m joking … for the most part.]

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 26th, 2007 at 9:35 am and is filed under Center of Attention. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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