…because these days he/she can face consequences. Due to video cameras…

Former President Bill Clinton: He told his left-leaning audience of about 500 journalists to consider opposing views and appreciate the value of working with people who differ with them. He urged them not to turn public figures into “two-dimensional cartoons.” While he doesn’t agree with much of the Bush administration policies, Clinton said, he has come to understand President Bush better. Clinton said Bush has “an intuitive intelligence,” provoking laughter from the...

His poll numbers are not zooming up and theirs are falling. Some voters have moved from favoring the Democrats to being unsure. Thanks to Political Wire for the tip.

“Screech” from NBC’s 1989-1993 teen hit comedy “Saved By The Bell” is politely screeching out to fans via the Internet and satellite radio to help him save his house. Firstly, NO…this is NOT a case of yet another child or teen actor who has hit the skids and is appealing for money due to unsavory problems. In fact, Dustin Diamond is doing comedy clubs, which means he has transitioned his young actor career into another aspect of show business (one that could...

…especially this one.

If you want to see the potential of blogging a MUST MUST MUST READ is THIS POST from Mark In Mexico about police breaking up a teachers’ stike in Oaxaca, Mexico. This is a MUST read for: anyone interested in news. bloggers who want to see what the full potential of blogging can be — with original photos and reporting that clearly took a lot of time and effort in both the gathering and packaging of it. journalism students who want to see a well-written example of blog journalism that...

Our periodic linkfest to introduce readers to a WIDE VARIETY of views from all over the ‘Sphere. We do NOT restrict mentioned links to one viewpoint — and views do not necessary reflect the opinion of The Moderate Voice. This is a special catch up edition. Due to extensive travel this week we accumlated a backlog of links from websites representing varying viewpoints and we are including them here. Dark Humor In The Military: Citizen Smash explains why it needs to be kept in perspective...

So is this justice or the triumph of entitlement? (If you or I did what she did would there have been probable cause?)

Ahh, the classic romantic songs. Before you click on this, make sure you note (a) how the meaning of certain words have changed, (b) that you MUST make sure you watch it beyond the first minute until this song REALLY gets started and (c) how band leader Spike Jones (before TMV’s time) used irony in comedy before irony was even popular.

Once again the always unique The Talking Dog has an original Q&A interview, his latest in a series of interviews related to detainees in the war against terrorism. Here’s his intro: Shafiq Rasul is a British national who was detained for two years at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mr. Rasul was the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case of Rasul v. Bush, which, contrary to the position then asserted by the United States government, held that detainees at Guantanamo had legal standing to challenge...

The Washington Post outlines White House political guru Karl Rove’s game-plan for 2006: the same as in 2000 and 2004. Aggressively hammer in the theme that the Democrats are weak on national security and arouse the GOP’s base on hot-button issues so they flock to the polls: Now Rove has the freedom to concentrate on preserving the GOP majorities in Congress, and an opportunity to purge the mistakes of the past two years. Based on recent Rove speeches and interviews with senior GOP officials,...

For some time now an eyebrow has been raised over the CBS Eye when it came to former news megastar Dan Rather. Now Rather is reportedly out, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer: After 44 years, Dan Rather will leave CBS by the end of the month, at the latest, industry sources said Friday. His departure could come as early as next week. Rather, 74, whose contract runs until late November, is working out the final details of his exit agreement, the sources say. Money is not an issue, they say....

Talkers Magazine, THE magazine for the talk show industry, has a list of talk shows, ranking them by audience share. It’s a given that Rush Limbaugh will be number one…no surprise there. But when it comes to progressive talkers, guess who’s the highest rated — in the Top 10? Which Air America host is it? In fact, it isn’t an Air America host.

To those who inquired: our Around The Sphere linkfest will run tomorrow with perhaps a longer version than usual, Due to logistics, it hasn’t gotten done the past few days (for instance, TMV leaves as soon as he posts this and will not be back until later this afternoon). We will be trying to do MORE Around The Spheres, hopefully even shorter ones every day, because we do feel it’s important to offer readers links to a variety of ideas that are presented in a compelling manner by websites...

The question: Was it engineered by newly liberated White House political guru Karl Rove, or was it like an act of spontaneous combustion — that just happened..during an election year…framed in a way to create a political trap for Democrats? Was this something GOPers felt just had to be brought up now (months before the elections)? Or was this on the books a long time? And if these are non-binding resolutions, what good do they have — except to function as devices to define political...

Is this it?

Yesterday we did THIS POST about what we feel is our WORST HOTEL EVER story. Rather than rehash it, if you haven’t read the post yet, read it now. But we will tell you this. I’ve been travelling since I went over to India in 1972 (where I met co-blogger Swaaraj Chuahan in New Delhi, where he was working on a major newspaper). Over the years I have stayed in hotels in South Asia, Cypress, Europe, Iran, the United States, Mexico and Canada. But the stay at this hotel was the worst in 34...

Yes, on the road again…and not near a computer. But our co-bloggers should have some interesting things to say and TMV will do a few posts. If you’re a blogger who sent us a link, Around The Sphere may not get done tomorrow. So you may see your link as a separate post. Rather than toss the links we may run them individually tomorrow, even if they are slightly outdated. NOTE TO READERS: As usual these links will represent A VARIETY OF VIEWPOINTS.

Perhaps they should just shut Congress down for the rest of the year. It seems to have gone from being a problem-solving legislative body to a body with a partisan function to define political opponents. This time the House GOP is forcing another debate on the Iraq war clearly aimed at backing Democrats into a position that can be used against them in the mid-term elections. It’s part of a series of issues transparently political (versus problem-solving), a use of Congress perhaps unparalleled...

What do you do when you personally face an ethical dilemma?

Do you need yet another sign that politics is enormously fluid and that all the conventional wisdom that’s out there can be changed in a flash — all the news stories, blog posts and political prognostication can be outdated within days or hours. If you do, then read this from Hotline On Call: At a briefing for the Washington, D.C. political press corps today, DSCC chair Chuck Schumer was in a mood to marvel and brag. Last night, with the victory of Jim Webb, Democrats finally found their...

TMV himself will post very little today (if at all). The reason: he is on a two day schedule that takes him to Santa Monica, CA, then (city name deleted), CA then Pasadena, CA then Chula Vista, CA then home in San Diego, CA. But there’s another reason. Last night I finished a show at a wonderful country club on a huge sandy beach in Santa Monica. The next stop was a city we won’t mention to protect (I don’t know why) the identity of The Hotel From Hell. I picked it out on Orbitz...

The folks at Unity08 invited yours truly to write a centrist/moderate-oriented column on their new website. And even though my vote does not belong to anyone or any party until the second I vote, I agreed. The first column is a bit of an introduction that also touches on what’s happening among centrists these days. READ IT HERE. Links to the weekly column will be posted on TMV.

You can read the memo HERE on Think Progress. Already weblogs are giving varying interpretations of it. We prefer you read the original yourself then see what you (and you can share your thoughts in comments).

…can be found at the Carnival of the Vanities (and if you have a weblog you can participate in it, too).