John Roberts’s passage through the Senate has, thus far, been relatively easy (despite some lingering concerns) — and nothing is likely to change. But some Senate Republicans are already preparing for a more rigorous examination of President Bush’s second nominee (the one to replace the retiring Sandra Day O’Connor), who may be announced as early as this week. The New York Times is reporting that “both socially conservative and more liberal Republican senators say they...

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.) Is President Bush a socialist? In yesterday’s Sunday Times (of London, not New York), Andrew Sullivan, libertarian extraordinaire (more or less), makes the case that he is. Consider the facts: “When you add it all up, you get the simple, devastating fact that Bush, in a mere five years, has added $1.5 trillion to the national debt. The interest on that debt will soon add up to the cost of two Katrinas a year.” That’s a lot. But there’s...

With most of my focus on Hurricane Rita this weekend, I’ve neglected a major event in Washington, D.C. Here’s the story: Tens of thousands of people packed downtown Washington [on Saturday] and marched past the White House in the largest show of antiwar sentiment in the nation’s capital since the conflict in Iraq began. The demonstration drew grandmothers in wheelchairs and babies in strollers, military veterans in fatigues and protest veterans in tie-dye. It was the first time...

I won’t double post it here, but over at The Reaction I have an update on national and local coverage of Hurricane Rita, along with links to more local news outlets that are doing an incredible job covering this incredible storm. See also this post for other links to local news outlets (many of which are running blogs in place of their main sites). And this one as an addendum. Needless to say, Joe’s post below provides an excellent round-up of what’s going on.

New Orleans’s Times-Picayune provided excellent coverage of Hurricane Katrina (and it continues to cover Hurricane Rita), and I thought it might be useful to have a look at some other Gulf Coast newspapers for good local news. Here’s a preliminary list: The Galveston County Daily News The Beaumont Enterprise The Port Arthur News The Lafayette Daily Advertiser In addition, the Lake Charles American Press is running a Rita-related blog — see here. And, of course, there’s...

I’ve previously written about the rise of avian flu in Asia — both the WHO warning and the outbreak in Indonesia. But now a new and deadly dog virus has turned up the United States, and it may turn out to be an extremely serious problem. Not good for our canine friends.

If you’ll allow a pause in our coverage of Hurricane Rita, here’s some non-Rita-related news: A couple of days ago, I called Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist a “crook” for profiting from an ethically-dubious and perhaps illegal sale of HCA stock just before the share price tumbled following a disappointing earnings report. That is, for insider trading. Dr. Frist, of course, has denied any wrongdoing, but the truth may yet come out: Federal prosecutors and the Securities and...

Click here for CNN’s hurricane tracker. Click here for the latest bulletin from the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane Rita is about 12 hours away from making landfall along the coast of Texas and Louisiana. It’s turned slightly to the north, away from Galveston, and now it’s taking aim at Beaumont and Port Arthur, a fairly low-lying, marshy area of Texas. Beaumont, in fact (and I’m watching Anderson Cooper reporting live from there right now), is just a few feet above sea...

I woke up to the pictures of this horrible tragedy early this morning, and, as details have emerged throughout the day, I simply can’t get them out of my mind: The flight from the danger posed by Hurricane Rita turned deadly early Friday as a bus filled with elderly evacuees from the Houston area burst into flames on traffic-packed Interstate 45, leaving as many as 24 people dead, according to local officials. “Deputies were unable to get everyone off the bus,” Dallas County Sheriff’s...

In New Orleans, the worst-hit areas from Hurricane Katrina, including the Lower Ninth Ward, are again under water: Hurricane Rita’s steady rains sent water pouring through breaches in a patched levee Friday, cascading into one of the city’s lowest-lying neighborhoods in a devastating repeat of New Orleans’ flooding nightmare. “Our worst fears came true,” said Maj. Barry Guidry of the Georgia National Guard. “We have three significant breaches in the levee and the...

As Rita prepares to bash the Gulf Coast, her eye expected to come ashore somewhere between Galveston and Lake Charles, Texas, coastal residents are fleeing for the interior, causing massive traffic problems in and around Houston as fuel supplies dwindle: Heeding days of dire warnings about Hurricane Rita, as many as 2.5 million people jammed evacuation routes on Thursday, creating colossal 100-mile-long traffic jams that left many people stranded and out of gas as the huge storm bore down on the...

From The Washington Post: President Bush today warned Americans to “be prepared for more violence” in Iraq as insurgents seek to disrupt an upcoming referendum on a new constitution, and he declared that there is “no middle ground” in the U.S. war on terrorism. Speaking to reporters after receiving a briefing at the Pentagon on the U.S. war effort, Bush also ruled out any concession to the demands of U.S. peace groups for a pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq. With the violence...

To resurrect Roberts’s now-famous baseball metaphor from the first day of hearings last week, the Democrats on the SJC struck out. Without even so much as swinging, let alone swinging for the fences. The hearings began with senatorial “self-congratulation”, as Dahlia Lithwick put it at Slate, and didn’t really go anywhere from there. All we got from Roberts was a declaration of judicial neutrality (a defence of law, as opposed to “law-plus”), guarantees of personal...

I suppose I take it for granted that Washington insiders and the various powers-that-be watch, or are at least familiar with, The Daily Show. Jon Stewart is, after all, one of the funniest people in the world (and lately he’s been particularly hilarious), and, as John McCain has put it, “the majority of young people say they get their news from the Jon Stewart show”. He’s clearly one of the more influential public figures in America — and his popularity certainly extends...

Just to sum up: First he was a medical hack (Terri Schiavo) Then he showed some common sense (stem-cell research). Then he revealed just how unintelligent he really is (intelligent design). And now… now he’s just a crook (insider trading?) He’s Dr. Bill Frist (R-TN). Senate Majority Leader. (See also Joe’s “Frist Gets Lucky Selling His Hospital Shares”.)

A couple of days ago, I wrote about avian flu as the next major pandemic (before I veered off to address the phenomenon of media hype). Whether or not avian flu becomes the next major pandemic remains an open question, but there is now no doubt that is has become an epidemic in Indonesia: Indonesia called an outbreak of bird flu in its teeming capital an epidemic on Wednesday as health and agricultural experts from around the world converged on Jakarta to help control the virus. Health Minister Siti...

So the snortin’ supermodel’s been dumped by H&M, Europe’s largest clothing retailer. Boo-hoo.

They’re back! In case you missed it, John Kerry and John Edwards, the two components of last year’s Democratic presidential ticket, have gone on the offensive, with Bush as the target: President Bush came under withering criticism for his handling of Hurricane Katrina yesterday, with Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) charging that the storm exposed the administration’s incompetence and ideological blinders and former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) asserting that even in its response,...

With all the problems in the world, is this really necessary? The FBI is joining the Bush administration’s War on Porn. And it’s looking for a few good agents. Early last month, the bureau’s Washington Field Office began recruiting for a new anti-obscenity squad. Attached to the job posting was a July 29 Electronic Communication from FBI headquarters to all 56 field offices, describing the initiative as “one of the top priorities” of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales...

Here’s yet another score for the “Yes” side. Seems America’s biggest retailer denied lunch breaks to some of its workers. Nice.

In light of the recent sentencing of former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski for looting the company (8 1/3 to 25 years), I have some thoughts over at The Reaction. Suffice it to say here that this may finally bring some closure to an ugly story. Next up: Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling. And it’s about time.

Weather-wise, that is. Hint: It’s not in Florida. Hint: It’s nowhere near the San Andreas Fault. Hint: Think Christopher Dodd. Check it out.

Breaking News: According to the BBC, “North Korea has agreed to give up all its nuclear activities and rejoin the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty”: At the same time, the US is said to have given an undertaking that it has no intention of attacking North Korea. The breakthrough came during a fourth round of six-party talks in Beijing aimed at ending a three-year standoff over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. There is no decision on whether to give North Korea a light-water reactor. We’ll...

Yet one more thing to drive us insane with worry: Millions of people could die around the world if bird flu spreads out of control, and most countries are totally unprepared for such an event, the UN’s World Health Organisation says. “If there was a flu pandemic tomorrow we would not be ready. The clock is ticking and when the pandemic strikes it will be too late,” said WHO spokeswoman Christine McNab. Despite warnings at the United Nations by US President George W. Bush and French...

From Reuters: Voters appeared to have forced Germany’s main political rivals into coalition with each other on Sunday, as exit polls showed conservative challenger Angela Merkel the winner but unable to form a centre-right alliance. Projections by leading institutes broadcast on German television gave Merkel’s conservatives — the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) — the biggest share of the vote at about 35.8 percent and their preferred partners, the...