That is what U.S. attorney general Alberto Gonzales must be thinking: “The former Justice Department official who carried out the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year told Congress that several of the prosecutors had no performance problems and that a memo on the firings was distributed at a Nov. 27 meeting attended by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, a Democratic senator said yesterday.” As Dan Eggen and Paul Kane point out, “the statements to House and Senate investigators...

Dan Balz writes at the Washington Post: Five months after midterm elections that demonstrated the rising power of independent voters, conservative and liberal activists continue to drive the presidential campaign dialogue, deepening the red-blue divisions that have defined national politics for more than a decade. The huge gulf between the two parties’ candidates is most evident on Iraq — a division reinforced last week by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who excoriated his Democratic rivals...

The Economist summarizes what to expect in the coming week. In short: - presidential elections in Nigeria: “an oil-rich but troubled west African nation with some 140m people.” - the trial against… José Padilla is expected to begin… after five years. - presidential elections dans la France. - and Bhutan will hold a “mock election” to “familiarise both voters and officialdom with the alien procedures of a democratic poll”. Quite a fascinating country,...

An interesting article appeared in Tunisian magazine (I think) the Tunis Hebdo. Watching America (one of the best, most innovative and most interesting websites on the entire Net) translated it. I encourage all Americans to read it, not because I agree with it (although the author, Tahar Selmi makes some valid points), but because it gives you all (and other Westerners for that matter) an understanding of how the media in certain countries report about Bush. Be forewarned: it’s not good. Seldom...

Didn’t they? Early American history was a conservative’s nirvana: It was one long tax revolt. The British imposed taxes on everything from molasses to tea, and Americans smuggled the molasses, tossed the tea into a harbor and reached for their muskets. Thomas Jefferson’s incendiary Declaration of Independence listed King George III’s basest transgressions; prominent among them was that he had “sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.”...

Fred Thompson wrote an op-ed for the Opinion Journal (WSJ). In he makes the case for tax cuts: lower taxes mean more economic growth. I don’t think that there are any serious political commentators who harbor serious doubts about whether or not Thompson will run: he will. His campaign has, in a way, already started. He is trying to appeal to the conservative base: both ‘authoritarian’ and ‘libertarian’ conservatives: the same coalition that brough Ronald Reagan (and...

At one of my favorite progressive blogs: Newshog. Well, it’s not Newshog anymore, from now on it’s The Newshoggers, this to emphasize that it’s a group blog from now on. If you haven’t bookmarked NewshogThe Newshoggers yet, do so now. I do not always agree with the guys and gals posting there, but they are all thoughtful and well informed. Question: when will Joe change The Moderate Voice into The Moderate Voices? Or Voices of Moderation. Or TMVs. Just kidding Joe.

The Washington Post has an article up, Sudarsan Raghavan, describing an interesting development: Sunni factions in Iraq have split with Al Qaeda. The good news: “The split could help isolate a primary foe of the United States in Iraq.” The bad news: it “could also further splinter the Sunni insurgency and make it even harder to control, according to insurgent leaders and Iraqi and U.S. officials.” As long as they are united, you know that you are, at least, dealing with one...

The Washington Post reports that “an investigation by an Afghan human rights commission alleges” that a “platoon of elite Marine Special Operations troops reacted with “excessive force” after an ambush in Afghanistan last month, opening fire on pedestrians and civilian vehicles along a 10-mile stretch of road and killing 12 people — including a 4-year-old girl, a 1-year-old boy and three elderly villagers.” The investigation, based on dozens of eyewitness...

If this is true, Iran is playing with fire: A former FBI agent is being held by Iranian authorities, the Financial Times reported on Friday, but U.S. officials said they were still unable to verify the whereabouts of the missing American. Florida resident and ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson went missing while on a visit to the Gulf island of Kish in Iran early in March. His family has not heard from him since and U.S. officials told Reuters they do not have any valid leads. Diplomats fear the case of...

Krishna Guha reports for the Financial Times that “Paul Wolfowitz’s future as president of the World Bank was in jeopardy on Friday after the bank’s board issued a damaging finding of facts on his role in the Shaha Riza affair and pledged to ‘move expeditiously to reach a conclusion on possible actions to take.’ The board said that its ‘consideration of the matter’ would ‘focus on all the relevant governance implications for the Bank’. The promise...

Overweight people pay attention: you now have the perfect excuse for being obese: scientists found a ‘fat gene’. A gene that contributes to obesity has been identified for the first time, promising to explain why some people easily put on weight while others with similar lifestyles stay slim. People who inherit one version of the gene rather than another are 70 per cent more likely to be obese, British scientists have discovered. One in six people has the most vulnerable genetic make-up...

I have spent several posts on Turkey, the PKK and Iraq now, constantly repeating my hope that Turkey won’t invade Iraq just yet because doing so could bring about chaos in Iraq’s most peaceful and stable region. Well… things have gotten worse: The Turkish army has asked the Turkish government’s permission to carry out attacks against PKK camps in Northern Iraq. Cernig comments that this will put the U.S. in an incredibly difficult position: the U.S. cannot afford to lose the...

Mick LaSalle published the 14th chapter of The Event. I know that quite some of you are as addicted to this story as I am, so to you all I say: go check it out, it is another great chapter. In this chapter we also find out more about Lyle B. East’s past and… Whitaker Sr. thoughts about his son. Also: Monroe Sr. and Whitaker Sr. decide to join forces. Their goal: to safe as many people as possible from their evil sons. Will they succeed? Lastly, the conversation between Jessica and her...

A couple of days ago, an American commenter asked me why I kept on referring to “liberals” as “progressives”. I explained that what is called “liberalism” in America these days is, in many ways, the opposite of what is called “liberalism” in Europe. In short, the term “liberalism” kept its meaning here, while it changed in America. Because I am a proud European liberal, I do not like to call American progressives ‘liberals’:...

This is London reports that “captive sailor Arthur Batchelor, who was dubbed Mr Bean by the Iranians, has apologised for selling his hostage ordeal story and ‘letting the Navy down’.” More: Seaman Batchelor’s claim that he cried himself to sleep after his Iranian captors likened him to the comedy character Mr Bean made him a laughing stock. One serving soldier posted: “Batchelor didn’t do the reputation of servicemen much good either! Being broken by being...

Once again ‘good’ news from Iraq: “Iraqi Cabinet ministers allied to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened Wednesday to quit the government to protest the prime minister’s lack of support for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal.” If the Sadrists pull out, Iraq’s (al-Maliki’s) government is in very real danger of collapsing. On the other hand, it is not exactly the first time that the Sadrists have threatened to leave al-Maliki’s government. “Al-Sadr’s...

UPDATED below: Iran plans book, CD on Britons’ detention Another great take on the hostage drama, this time by Toby Harnden, blogging for the Telegraph. It took just two blubbering sailors spilling their guts before the Government realised its nifty PR strategy to hide the ignominy of what happened to the Tehran 15 had backfired badly. Now the original ban on getting paid for newspaper stories has been restored. Bit late now, eh? The two sailors, about as much use in a combat situation as...

James Joyner has the results up the latest Gallup Poll: good news for Giuliani and Clinton, bad news for John McCain. The April 2-5 Gallup Poll finds 38% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents favoring Giuliani for the 2008 nomination, well ahead of his closest pursuer, McCain (16%). Two unannounced but potential candidates — Gingrich and Thompson — tie for third at 10%. The remaining 10 candidates tested in the poll all score below 10%, led by Mitt Romney at 6%.� For...

There are two ways to interprete this: Tens of thousands of protesters loyal to Moktada al-Sadr, the Shiite cleric, took to the streets of the holy city of Najaf on Monday in an extraordinarily disciplined rally to demand an end to the American military presence in Iraq, burning American flags and chanting “Death to America!� The first interpretation is the most obvious one: Iraqis want the U.S. out of Iraq ASAP. Not a good thing: they want their particular sect to take over. The second...