…but he might not like it.

….at Kiko’s House, a jewel of a new blog written by Shaun Mullen, an award-winning former Knight-Ridder reporter and editor. And it is a glory to read: the writing is truly stylish, witty and the topics aren’t what you find on so many other blogs. It does NOT limit itself to the political horserace. And Mullen hasn’t yet fallen into “blogspeak” (of course we haven’t either. Heh.) We predict Kiko’s House is going to be a big force on the Internet....

TMV will be headed to LA and unable to post until mid-day later today, at the earliest. But check back often since our always independent co-bloggers will likely have some things to say.

For weeks the war clouds seemed to be gathering. The bellicose comments — seemingly matched tit for tat — came from both sides. Tehran? It seemed to be sticking its tongue out at the United States, virtually defying it to act. Washington? Sources (unofficial and otherwise) seemed to issuing dire warnings about military action, even as official statements insisted diplomacy was the first chance. But now Washington has seemingly shifted gears to a policy familiar to Americans during the...

…and it’s long term. (NOTE: I read everything this guy posts…)

We did THIS POST on President George Bush comparing himself to President Harry Truman. Now someone else weighs in on this comparison — CNN’s Jack Cafferty. And you can watch it HERE. UPDATE BY HOLLY IN CINCINNATI: Peter Beinart in the Washington Post: Hijacking Harry Truman

Let’s just forget that the expert was dead wrong.

Perhaps Your Tax Dollars At Work Department in Massachusetts: A man serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife is asking a federal judge to order the state to pay for a sex-change operation for him, saying that denying him the surgery amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. A psychiatrist testified Tuesday that he believes Robert Kosilek will kill himself if state correction officials refuse to allow the surgery and Kosilek is unable to complete his transformation into a woman. Kosilek,...

People continue to speculate on the need for some kind of strong third party to offer an alternative to the two prime political parties, which are increasingly seen by many as bloated, politically-beached whales. Here are two must-read views: (1) CBS’s Dick Meyer’s Third Party Cabinet Draft Picks For 2008. (2) Sam Smith’s post on the idea of a bipartisan “Unity Ticket” for 2008. Both posts are “required reading” for those who aren’t happy with the way...

Has Al Gore stuck his foot in his mouth or has he articulated a view that even some Republicans may be privately saying? YOU decide: Al Gore has made his sharpest attack yet on the George Bush presidency, describing the current US administration as “a renegade band of rightwing extremists”. In an interview with the Guardian today, the former vice-president clls himself a “recovering politician”, but launches into the political fray more explicitly than he has previously done...

It’s an old joke: Passenger in car: Darn! You went through a red light. Uh, oh. Here comes a cop. Driver: What should I tell him? Passenger: Come up with an excuse. Tell him you were drunk and didn’t notice it. But it isn’t a joke these days: A Kentucky man is suing Caesars Indiana, alleging that he was drunk when casino employees offered him $75,000 in credit that he quickly gambled away in a drunken blur of blackjack and craps. Caesars officials sued Jimmy L. Vance, 64, in October...

A new Supreme Court ruling on whistleblowers underscores the shift that has occurred on the Supreme Court with the appointment of President George W. Bush’s two new Supreme Court justices: The Supreme Court declared today, in a ruling affecting millions of government employees, that the Constitution does not always protect their free-speech rights for what they say on the job. In a 5-to-4 decision, the court held that public employees’ free-speech rights are protected when they speak...

NOTE TO READERS: This was run over the holiday weekend. Some emails suggested we should run this today as well, when readership is higher. Keep scrolling since newer posts are under this. The Talking Dog has another one of his truly unique original blog interviews in his series of Q&As with lawyers of people accused of being involved in terrorism. And this interview has MANY tidbits that are thought-provoking and potentially controversial so it is a MUST-READ. The setup: Thomas Wilner is a partner...

If you like original blog reporting you need to regularly visit Michael Totten’s Middle East Journal. He covers many aspects of the countries he visits. Check out this photoessay on Lebanon.

There’s a controversy raging because some climbers got a peek at a crack.

Is she really unelectable as some say?

A fascinating MUST-READ in the German edition of the Financial Times, translated here on the indispensable site Watching America. Here’s a key part: It’s not just the tone and type of debate that distinguishes how America and Europe deal with immigration. The self-confidence shown by millions of illegal immigrants at recent mass rallies in the U.S. in, for example, demanding the right to become American, is astonishing. They see the U.S. as a promise to humanity and felt that most Americans...

If you read this site yesterday, you probably noticed a new name — Michael van der Galien, who has the weblog Liberty and Justice. He is the latest co-blogger to join The Moderate Voice. He is a law student based in the Netherlands and on his site describes his views this way: LIBERAL CONSERVATISM – THE ESSENCE OF LIBERALISM The World Of Politics, From A European’s Point Of View European Liberalism Equals American Moderate/ Conservatism Why did we invite him? If you look at CONTACT...

THIS JUST IN from investigative reporter Andrew Borowitz: GORE COULD CAUSE GLOBAL BORING Hillary Produces Cautionary Documentary About Former Veep The election of former vice president Al Gore to the White House could result in a disastrous phenomenon called “global boring� in which millions of people around the world would fall asleep in an unprecedented narcoleptic pandemic. That is the message of a new documentary about the 2000 Democratic Party standard-bearer that has been produced...

Yet, this time it’s good news.

A MUST READ special post from Citizen Smash. FOOTNOTE: TMV has met Smash and he is for real — just as his words are for real.

It’s always fun to watch Majority Leader Bill Frist who has a political pattern: on a controversial issue he’ll break with the White House but eventually discard his original position and quickly change it to the official line. It has happened again: Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, on Sunday defended the raid by federal agents on a Democratic lawmaker’s Capitol Hill office, breaking with senior House Republicans who had said the search was unconstitutional. Mr. Frist,...

…in Iraq.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose pronouncements have been marked by a candor that’s quite refreshing, says watch Florida Governor Jeb Bush because he could run for President one day: Probably ’08 is a little bit tricky, but ” ’12 or ’16 isn’t. And he’s a young enough guy (53) that he has a great future,” Gingrich said on the Political Connections television show airing today on Bay News 9. “I just think his natural, personal ability...