Jan Marijnissen: the leader of the SP Pajamas Media blogger Peter Dorsman provides a valuable update about the Dutch elections at his own blog: Peaktalk. One of the main subjects of this post: the surprising success (at least in the polls) of the Socialist Party.

Russ Feingold withdraws The Journal Sentinel reports that the hero of the far left, Russ Feingold, has decided that he will not run for President in 08. Obviously this is quite big news for some, especially for the so-called netroots, but for just about every other person, this can hardly be a surprise. If there is one prominent Democrat who stands absolutely no chance of winning in 08, it is Senator Feingold. He is much too liberal, or at least – equally important – he is very easily...

NOS Journaal reports that Carl Levin said in This Week that the Democrats want US troops to gradually withdraw from Iraq… starting within 4 – 6 months time (from now). As NOS Journaal notes, Levin is likely to become chairman of the Armed Services Committee in US Senate in January 07. I wonder whether I missed this in American media, because I cannot remember reading about it at websites of say the NYT, the WaPo or CNN, but again, perhaps I missed it. To be honest, I am divided. My...

Prominent members of the political party the PvdA say that the party’s leader Wouter Bos is making a terrible mistake by focusing too much on the CDA. Margreeth de Boer and Joop van den Berg say that Wouter Bos assumed early on already that the elections will result in a PvdA – CDA coalition and that as such, the CDA being led by Prime-Ministed Jan Peter Balkenende, would adopt a ‘compromizing’ attitude, or at least a non-aggressive one. However, the CDA and the VVD are...

I am almost done reading Benjamin Franklin Unmasked: On the Unity of His Moral, Religious, and Political Thought by Jerry Weinberger. Weinberger carefully examined one of the most interesting ‘founding fathers’ of the United States and delivered a more than fascinating result with Benjamin Franklin Unmasked. Franklin is – perhaps – the most mysterious founding father: when one first reads his articles / books / works / essays, one might be tempted to think that Franklin...

The Shia leaders of Iraq have found a great way to alienate the Sunni population: It did not take long for Col. Brian D. Jones to begin to have doubts about the new Iraqi commander. The commander, Brig. Gen. Shakir Hulail Hussein al-Kaabi, was chosen this summer by the Shiite-led government in Baghdad to lead the Iraqi Army’s Fifth Division in Diyala Province. Within weeks, General Shakir went to Colonel Jones with a roster of people he wanted to arrest. On the list were the names of nearly...

The New York Times reports that the new class – new Democrats in Washington – are not inspired by ideologies, but by populism: Many in the class of 2006, especially those who delivered the new Democratic majorities by winning Republican seats, show little appetite for that kind of ideological crusade. But in interviews with nearly half of them this week, the freshmen — 41 in the House and 9 in the Senate, including one independent — conveyed a keen sense of their own moment...

Entrepreneurs continue (trying) to improve the Internet: From the billions of documents that form the World Wide Web and the links that weave them together, computer scientists and a growing collection of start-up companies are finding new ways to mine human intelligence. Their goal is to add a layer of meaning on top of the existing Web that would make it less of a catalog and more of a guide — and even provide the foundation for systems that can reason in a human fashion. That level of...

There is a myth surrounding famous Dutch painter Rembrandt: that he secretly converted to Judaism. Was the Dutch 17th century master Rembrandt, a Jew? In the last of a series of exhibitions marking the artist’s 400th birthday, the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam sets out to examine the myth of the painter’s Jewish links. The answer: no. The exhibition mercilessly demolishes the myth. It retraces the history of the “Jewish quarter”, which in Rembrandt’s day in...

There is an interesting discussion going on between conservative bloggers: more specifically between Power Line’s John Hinderaker and ‘Captain’ Ed Morrissey. It started with this post by Hinderaker. Ed responded. John responded to Ed’s response. Ed responds to John’s response to Ed’s first response. Steven Taylor weighs in at Outside the Beltway. It is an interesting discussion because it shows the battle or at least debate going on within the Republican party...

The Democrats plan on doing something about the AMT: Democratic leaders this week vowed to make the alternative minimum tax a centerpiece of next year’s budget debate, saying the levy threatens to unfairly increase tax bills for millions of middle-class families by the end of the decade. The complex and expensive tax was designed to prevent the super-rich from using deductions, credits and other shelters to avoid paying the Internal Revenue Service. But because of rising incomes, the tax is...

The New York Times reports: Hamas committed today to folding its eight-month government if that would restore the international assistance that was cut off after it won national elections earlier this year. In a shrewd and dramatic speech, the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyah, said he would likely resign in the next “two or three weeks� to make way for a national unity government more acceptable to international donors than Hamas, the organization responsible for the deadliest attacks...

Iraq’s President Talabani says that Democratic leaders told him that they do not plan on leaving Iraq any time soon. “They all told me that they want the success of Iraq’s democratically elected government and continued support for the Iraqi people to defeat terrorism,â€? Talabani said about his trip to the United States in late September as many were predicting the Democratic congressional triumph in Tuesday’s midterm elections. “One of them (a Democrat leader)...

According to The New York Times the decision that Rumsfeld should go was made months ago already. The only question was when not whether he should go. I find it quite funny that newspapers and bloggers are so overly pointing out that Bush recently said that Rumsfeld should stay. What would one have wanted him to say? “Yes, I am not happy with Rumsfeld either, but I have difficulty finding a good replacement”? Logically Bush could not have said that. Logically, could only answer questions...

The Washington Times reports that Mehlman will step down. His expected successor? Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele. Mehlman himself confirmed the news and added that he decided to step down during last summer… no one asked him to step down, so he explained. Instead, everyone wanted him to stay. I cannot quite see how ‘everyone’ wanted him to stay, looking back at this week’s elections. Steele has, as of yet, not made a decision. According to the WT Republican party officials...

The timing of this is quite surprising: Rumsfeld resigns. H/t to C.Stanley. I will update this post later: I am currently listening to Bush talking about yesterday’s elections. So far he sounds very good. UPDATE 1 Bush just confirmed it: Rumsfeld has, after being Secretary of Defense for approximately six years, resigned. UPDATE 2 Initial thoughts: Bush is dealing with yesterday’s elections in a marvelous manner. Whether one is Democrat or Republican, one has to give that to him. Most...

Ed Morrissey published a good post over at Captain’s Quarters. He is one of the Conservative bloggers, who is not afraid to speak out against the Republican party when he does not agree with its policies. The Republicans have indeed left reform in the dust, with notable and honorable exceptions like Tom Coburn and a handful of other highly active Republican officeholders. The explosion of earmarks over the last three sessions of Congress have stripped them of the mantle of fiscal responsibility...

CNN reports that the race for US Senate is down to two States: Montana and Virginia. Personally, I believe that Allen should go if not for anything else, than for his stupid ‘macaca’ remark, but that’s just me. Anyway: In Montana, Republican Sen. Conrad Burns was running behind his Democratic challenger, state Sen. John Tester. If Tester wins, Democrats could secure Senate control by winning in Virginia, where embattled Republican Sen. George Allen trailed his Democratic challenger,...

O, the irony. Governor of South Carolina Mark Sanford tried to vote earlier today. There was just one tiny problem: he forgot his voter identification card. The result? He got sent off: no voter ID, no vote. The other result? Hearing the annoying words of his wife “I told you to bring it with you!” Luckily he was able to retrieve his voter ID card and thus to vote later.

D-Day has arrived: today most of the readers of this blog will be part of the decision what party rules U.S. Congress and what Party rules Senate. Compared to elections in, for instance, the Netherlands, the U.S. elections are highly important for more people, also for foreigners (read: non-Americans). The U.S. influences the entire world. Thus by your vote, you influence the entire world. As a foreigner, it is difficult for me to do what Elrod and Michael Stickings did: urging you to vote for...

Give us the results of the exit polls It is all about the exit polls: Two-by-two, polling specialists from ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News and the Associated Press will go into rooms in New York and Washington shortly before noon Tuesday. Their cellphones and BlackBerrys will be confiscated; proctors will monitor the doors; and for the next five hours, these experts will pore over exit-poll data from across the country. If all goes well, only when they emerge from their cloisters will the legions of...

A thread specifically for those who took the time to vote today. Share your experiences. If you want to share, who did you vote for? Why? What is the general feeling ‘on the street’ now election day has arrived.

Umh… A retired priest committed suicide by setting himself on fire in a German monastery in protest at the spread of Islam and the Protestant Church’s inability to contain it. Roland Weisselberg, 73, poured a can of petrol over his head and set light to himself in the grounds of the Augustine monastery in the eastern city of Erfurt, where Martin Luther spent six years as a monk at the beginning of the 16th century. Witnesses said that Weisselberg climbed into a building site next to...

Justice – in a way – has been done: Iraq’s brutal former dictator Saddam Hussein has been found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. Angry, shaking and defiant, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death this morning by hanging after being found guilty of crimes against humanity. He shouted: “Allahu Akbar!” (God is Greatest) and “Long live the nation!”, pointing defiantly at the judge. Looking defiant and bitter as the verdict was delivered, he continued...

Chalabi joins the ‘fun’: So, Ahmad Chalabi, what went wrong in Iraq in the war you helped to sell? “The Americans sold us out,â€? he tells longtime Baghdad reporter Dexter Filkins in a lengthy cover story in this coming Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, reviewed by E&P. Chalabi was the Iraqi exile who worked — via everyone from Paul Wolfowitz to Judith Miller — to convince America to topple Saddam in 2003 (not that many in the administration needed much...