…and the scenes in the courtroom more and more dramatic. And a pattern seems to emerging. More very bad news for Michael Jackson. UPDATE: 5:30 pm PST and the GREAT new tabloid site SPLOID offers this story about testimony touching on (literally) former child actor Macaulay Culkin. (Remember: Michael Jackson contends this is happening because he’s black…)

…abortion, that is. My college newspaper colleague Steve Barnett, now a law student in Oregon, describes his Con Law session on abortion law: We went silent because we knew blood was going to be shed. We knew after that day some of us would no longer would be friends. We knew passions would boil high, and our voices would be the piercing whistles telling others that we had reached the boiling point. But to his surprise, the discussion stayed civil, the professor kept him on his toes when...

And you think YOU have problems with your sick relatives, bills, flooded basement? And you think Michael Jackson has problems with his trial? All of those are mere trifles compared to what this guy faces. Writes Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson: Imagine you’re a 56-year-old man, famously unemployed. Your mother is a domineering executive consumed by her work, your father a dour martinet who inhabits a little surviving time bubble of the 19th century. Your first marriage was such...

Tom DeLay is providing just too, too much work for journalists (and bloggers) and may be trying to enter the Guiness World Book of Records under “Scandals” — so Slate helps all of us out with this wrap up…a kind of Sleaze-O-Rama. Enjoy!

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the movie star governor put in office with the votes of thousands of independents and Democrats, has just suffered his first major defeat. His plan to overhaul the state’s pension plan has bombed and he has taken it off the table — for now, he says — for an overhaul: SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Under pressure from firefighters and police officers, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday backed off, for now, his plan to privatize California’s...

…but I know it when I see it. And this (or some of this) is it: BERLIN – One hundred virtually naked women between the ages of 18 and 65 displayed their bodies in a Berlin art gallery Thursday to prepare for a one-day exhibit Friday. Wearing only transparent tights, the 100 nearly nude models stood, kneeled or sat down on the floor of the New National Gallery before a small crowd of journalists. Hey: this sounds like the Oval Office during the Clinton years. MORE: Bystanders peered...

Newshog’s Cernig MUST be psychic because he has just run this item: This week’s challenge from the Unpaid Punditry Corps was - “You are producing a political television program. And it’s your baby, all the way. You’re on CNBC, you have a guaranteed year of programming, and you have to select four bloggers who will serve on a thirty-minute-long daily roundtable discussion of recent events. Who do you pick, and why?” I’ve given this a fair bit of thought...

It was a major milestone day for democracy as Ukraine’s newly-elected president, Viktor Yushchenko, his face still pockmarked by the attempt to poison him, thanked Congress and the U.S. for its support: Ukraine’s newly-elected president, Viktor Yushchenko, has thanked the United States for supporting Ukraine as it begins a series of democratic and economic reforms. VOA’s Victoria Cavaliere reports that the Ukrainian leader is also asking the U.S. Congress for more financial support. Mr....

The testimony is getting more graphic in the trial of Michael Jackson on child molestation charges — and as legal experts note, once allegations of past molestations are allowed in it changes the context. What seemed like a trial with a somewhat questionable victim is now a trial where a pattern seems to be emerging. Here’s a small part of the latest: Jurors at Michael Jackson’s trial heard another shower story Thursday. And after this one, they may need to hit the showers themselves. Former...

This is now getting ridiculous, if it wasn’t at the beginning so let’s say it in unmoderate Jewish language: hey you schmucks, throwing a pie at someone with whom you disagree might elicit a guilty chuckle once or twice but now you’re showing yourself as truly tiresome idiots. This isn’t a matter of left or right or Democrat or Republican now. It’s a matter of seeing people who are not engaging in political debate but, rather, in what amounts to as sublimated violence...

…then here is a rather long post pointing out patterns in recent events in the US and how they link together.

A new Wall Street Journal poll might serve as a wake-up call to the GOP’s top leadership that some of its stances are not only polarizing America but splintering the party itself — not a good sign for a party whose President is serving out his second term: Almost three months into President Bush’s second term, a raft of economic and social issues — Social Security, immigration, gay marriage and the recent national debate over Terri Schiavo — is splintering the Republican...

Is this the year of good political news? As if the spread of freedom in the Middle East isn’t enough, now there’s this story that suggests the IRA may well renounce the violence for which it is (in)famous: BELFAST, Northern Ireland Apr 7, 2005 — The Irish Republican Army said Thursday it will consider an appeal by Sinn Fein party chief Gerry Adams to renounce violence, a long-elusive goal in Northern Ireland peacemaking. In a brief statement, the outlawed IRA said it received...

Centerfield’s Rick Heller has a fascinating post zeroing in on a Pew Center Study on Dean activists. He gives you a PDF file to the study and the link and quotes from a Washington Post story. Read his post and the links in it. Clearly, the Democratic Party is at a crossroads: it needs to harness the energy, expertise and enthuasism of the Dean voters, but if it gives them the kind of party they seek the Democrats could well remain the minority party for some time now. Writes Heller:”My...

…that in humor there is truth: Assuming either the Left Wing or the Right Wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles.     -Pat Paulsen

Tom “The Hammer” DeLay has hammered back at critics in the press (and we presume he also includes blogs) that have dared raise questions about paychecks going to his hard-working wife and daughter: In an interview with CNN, Mr. DeLay criticized an article in The New York Times on Wednesday that said his wife, Christine A. DeLay, and his daughter, Dani Ferro, had received more than $500,000 since 2001 from his political action and campaign committees. He called the article “just...

…you can find a suggested text here.

Was the U.S. about to become the scene of suicide bombings — carried out by teenage girls? The New York Times has an intriguing piece that raises the possibility that it may well have been in the cards…or was it? Two 16-year-old girls from New York City were arrested last month and charged with immigration violations after the F.B.I. asserted that they intended to become suicide bombers, according to a government document. A spokesman for one of their families, however, said the accusation...

The contents of Pope John Paul II’s will have been released – and there have been some surprises: Pope John Paul II suggested in his last will and testament that he thought about resigning in 2000, when the Roman Catholic Church began its new millennium and he turned 80. The testament also suggests that he considered a funeral in his native Poland, but left it up the College of Cardinals to decide. His funeral will be held Friday at the Vatican, with burial in St. Peter’s Basilica....

Links are NOT limited to one political viewpoint. Linked posts do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Moderate Voice or his Guest Bloggers. SEAN PENN: Artist Or Idiot? The Superficial gives you its opinion… CRY FOR ARGENTINA BUT NOT FOR JIMMY CARTER is basically what The Conservative Voice says about the bro-ha-ha over JC (Jimmy Carter, that is) not being officially invited along with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Poppy Bush to attend Pope John Paul II’s funeral. Read the...