Say “adios” to Harriet Miers now — or if she is confirmed say “hola!” to an irreparable split in the Republican party…because now there’s the Hillary Connection: Harriet Miers’ political contributions to Democrats didn’t end in 1988 with her support of Al Gore. A Federal Elections Commission report obtained by WND columnist Jerome Corsi shows her law firm’s political action committee contributed $1,000 to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s...

Attention, Pentagon: body armor isn’t only needed for the troops in Iraq but for Harriet Miers who just received a brutal punch in the gut from Wall Street Journal bigwig John Fund who is no longer urging conservatives to mute their skepticism: But that was before I interviewed more than a dozen of her friends and colleagues along with political players in Texas. I came away convinced that questions about Ms. Miers should be raised now–and loudly–because she has spent her entire...

I think I’ve got the Democratic non-response figured out on Miers. As y’all know, Republicans are far, far more divided on the Supreme Court nominee than are Democrats. That’s not to say that Democrats have agreed on a cohesive position. But Republicans are currently at each other’s throats, in a type of intra-party bloodbath we haven’t seen from the GOP in ages. Democrats, of course, have one of these weekly. And that’s the reason Democrats are keeping quiet....

According to WVXU-FM News, the DNC is screwing over Paul Hackett by urging him to withdraw from the US Senate race for Mike DeWine’s seat now that Rep. Sherrod Brown has entered the race…. I am a Democrat and I think that this is just plain stupid: WVXU-FM: Hackett Pressured to drop out of US Senate race By Maryanne Zeleznik 10/10/2005 1:03:42 PM An advisor to Democratic candidate Paul Hackett says the Iraq war veteran is being pressured to drop out of Ohio’s US Senate Race....

It sounds as if the seemingly nonstop string of uncontrollable events, legal problems and political foot-stumbling have begun to have an impact on the GOP: Republican politicians in multiple states have recently decided not to run for Senate next year, stirring anxiety among Washington operatives about the effectiveness of the party’s recruiting efforts and whether this signals a broader decline in GOP congressional prospects. Prominent Republicans have passed up races in North Dakota and West...

Cross-posted to The Debate Link If I appear to be in a bad mood, I am. And here’s why. Now, normally I would not be so upset over a tenure denial–even of a blogger I read rather frequently. However, Professor Drezner was something special. He was the inspiration for this blog, from the time I read his New Republic column and noticed that it had a link to a web-thingy. He was the epitome of what I aspired to be–intellectual, analytical, fair, thoughtful, and above all, honest. I...

This post by Scott Horton, on how the Bush administration’s ever-shifting and hypocritical standards are used to smear those brave enough to protest American abuse of prisoners, may be one of the most important posts I’ve ever read in the blogosphere. Read it, then if you’d like you can read my thoughts on it as well. But whatever you do, read his post.

The issue of a likely flu pandemic is a real one, simmering out there…festering…and possibly coming to a city sooner-than-you-think near you: A plan developed by the Bush administration to deal with any possible outbreak of pandemic flu shows that the United States is woefully unprepared for what could become the worst disaster in the nation’s history. A draft of the final plan, which has been years in the making and is expected to be released later this month, says a large outbreak...

In many states across the nation, felons (disproportionately black) are barred from voting. However, they are still counted as persons for purposes of representation. And, in many states, they are counted as residents not of their homes prior to incarceration, but rather as denizens of wherever the prison is located. It may not be obvious at first glance–but it’s the 3/5 compromise all over again. This is precisely the sort of easily-missed policy which perpetuates the continual racial...

Mother Nature has brutally struck again in a year when she has been deadly cranky: the death toll for South Asia’s earthquake is now 18,000 and rising, as is clear from this AP report: A devastating earthquake triggered landslides, toppled an apartment building and flattened villages of mud-brick homes Saturday, killing more than 18,000 people across a mountainous swath touching Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. The casualty toll from the 7.6-magnitude tremor rose sharply Sunday as rescuers...

According to a Pakistani general: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — The Pakistan earthquake toll has reached 18,000 dead and 41,000 injured, Pakistan military spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan has told CNN…

Last week, I wrote about the potential ramifications of the gubernatorial run of Ten Commandments Judge Roy Moore in Alabama, where he plans to challenge sitting GOP Gov. Bob Riley. Now it appears this out-and-out battle for the soul of the Republican Party will indeed play out. The Associated Press has the story. Gov. Bob Riley said Saturday he will seek re-election, setting up a hotly-contested Republican primary against ousted Chief Justice Roy Moore. Moore announced his plans to run for governor...

Is the web a panacea for troubled publications? Well, they say hope springs eternal, and so it does in the case of U.S. News & World Report, according to the Washingtonian: U.S. News & World Report, the perennial third among the newsmagazines, is trying to become the first to exploit the Internet. It’s also trying to be among the first of the mainstream media outlets to hitch its fortunes to the shaky engine of Web economics. A reading of the magazine’s internal memos, examination...

Also bizarre. The BBC is reporting that famed broadcaster Sir David Frost has joined al-Jazeera TV: Sir David is to appear on al-Jazeera International, the pan-Arab news network’s new English-language channel, due to be launched next spring. The Qatar-based channel said Sir David, who broadcast his final Breakfast with Frost programme for the BBC in May, would be among the “key on-air talent”. Sir David was quoted as saying he felt “excitement” about his new role....

What comes next in the firestorm over Harriet Miers nomination to the Supreme Court? It sounds as if it’ll be the polarization card. Even with the White House being under fire from conservatives who feel they have been betrayed by President George Bush’s decision to name his lawyer who has no judicial experience to the post, the White House yesterday was the setting for a previously tribute to conservative icon William F. Buckley. As the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank notes, the...

If George Bush’s previous poll low numbers reached the “floor” during Hurricane Katrina and later went up after an improved federal response to Hurricane Rita, perhaps you can now say his latest numbers are going into the basement: (CBS) This CBS News Poll finds an American public increasingly pessimistic about the economy, the war in Iraq, the overall direction of the country, and the President. Americans’ outlook for the economy is the worst it has been in four years. Most...

In what was billed as a “major speech” coming at time of multi-pronged crises and controversies for his administration, President George Bush says the U.S. has thwarted 10 terrorist plots and is committed to see out the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq through to successful conclusion. Overall, the United States and our partners have disrupted at least ten serious al Qaeda terrorist plots since September the 11th, including three al Qaeda plots to attack inside the United States....

The speculation — informed and otherwise — continues to swirl with the news that White House bigwig Karl Rove will not only testify again in the “Plamegate” leak case but that prosecutors aren’t ruling out that he could be indicted: Federal prosecutors have accepted an offer from presidential adviser Karl Rove to give 11th hour testimony in the case of a CIA officer’s leaked identity but have warned they cannot guarantee he won’t be indicted, according to...

According to CNN, a woman was kicked off of a flight for wearing an (obscene) anti-Bush T-shirt under her sweatshirt. Pointer to my post on Julien’s List

CNN Breaking News: — New York City is raising threat alert level for subway system, CNN has learned. AP reports a “credible security threat” as reason.

Scholar Noah Feldman offers a historically sound but risky formula for rethinking the separation of church and state By AMI EDEN in The Forward October 7, 2005 As Senator Dianne Feinstein wrapped up her opening remarks during the hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of John Roberts, she offered an apparent plea for preserving a robust separation of church and state. “During the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, the Reformation, and even today,” the California Democrat said, “millions...

Given the way the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court has been generally welcomed by Congressional moderates and accepted by many Democratic liberals, the official news as reported by The Hill should come as no surprise: The Gang of 14’s centrist Democratic and Republican senators met and gave preliminary approval yesterday to Harriet Miers as President Bush’s nominee to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court. Emerging from a meeting at the offices...

President George Bush’s nomination of his lawyer Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court is now turning out to require a sales job that may not necessarily require an emergency visit by super salesman Zig Zigler — but all the King’s horses and all the King’s men may not be able to put George Bush’s agenda and trust from some factions of his party together again. How bad has it gotten? How about a top White House aide accusing Miers’ Republican critics of sexism, as...

…at DC Debate — a sparkling new site we KNOW is going to become a huge hit on the Internet. DC debate was started by Cornell University student Herbert Ziskend as a kind of political debate website. And it is that — and a lot more. This is an ADDICTING site. It includes a good mix of items. On many items it gives you a succinct left/right take on the story. It also offers a Liberal Rant of the Day and a Conservative Rant of the Day. They’re always exceptionally well done....

The White House is at war. With some Republicans. President George Bush is now playing defense in a battle no one would have predicted he would have to wage: a battle to convince many in his own party — many social conservatives and libertarians — that a nominee he picked for Supreme Court justice is qualified. Call it the GOP Insurrection of 2005. But will it last? — Because there are already signs that some of the tough-talking rebels are giving up and falling back, lockstep...