For the non-geeks out there, James Doohan played “Scotty” in the original Star Trek series. In real life, Doohan was a genuine World War II hero. From CNN.com: James Montgomery Doohan was born March 3, 1920, in Vancouver, British Columbia, youngest of four children of William Doohan, a pharmacist, veterinarian and dentist, and his wife Sarah. As he wrote in his autobiography, “Beam Me Up, Scotty,” his father was a drunk who made life miserable for his wife and children. At...

The Pentagon and China are at odds over China’s military and what it means not just to Taiwan but to Asia in general. At issue is a report from the Pentagon with a notably tougher sound to it than in recent years. The Washington Post: China is building up its military for the long-term goal of projecting its power well beyond Taiwan, the self-governing island that draws most of the mainland’s attention today, a Pentagon report says. The Chinese military is buying new weapon systems _...

John Roberts, Supreme Court nominee! A “conservative non-ideologue”! I have no substantial thoughts on this guy – he’s been a government flack most of his career. But you can’t beat that name – what says America more than “John Roberts”? He could’ve been a pilgrim. I’ll also welcome his nomination because…he’s attractive. It’s been decades since someone really good-looking served on the High Court. Rehnquist –...

It has finally begun. The long awaited battle for the political soul (figuratively and — to some — literally) of the U.S. Supreme Court is now underway. When President Bush picked John G. Roberts Jr., a federal appeals court judge, as nominee to fill the first Supreme Court slot of his presidency, it was the moment Bush’s supporters (especially social conservative supporters) had waited and prayed for, the moment Democrats’ long dreaded, and the event that had been dismissed...

I respectfully disagree with Mike. Roberts is not a “right-wing radical.” He’s certainly not my ideal nominee. But I think he deserves to be heard out, and to be taken seriously. My full reaction (including the Daily Kos’ stunning revelation!) is over at The Debate Link.

It might be too early to judge John Roberts, but he is, as Wolf Blitzer just said, “a rock-solid conservative”. I’d call him a right-wing radical (see Slate’s evaluation here). Bush could have gone a number of different ways, but this one’s clearly for the base. Still, he’ll be confirmed (quite easily, I’d imagine). For weeks, we’ve all been throwing names around, but now at least we can do more than speculate idly (and, at times, wildly). For more...

Per the Associated Press: President Bush chose federal appeals court judge John G. Roberts Jr. on Tuesday as his first nominee for the Supreme Court, selecting a rock solid conservative whose nomination could trigger a tumultuous battle over the direction of the nation’s highest court, senior administration officials said. Bush offered the position to Roberts in a telephone call at 12:35 p.m. after a luncheon with the visiting prime minister of Australia, John Howard. He was to announce it...

A commonly held belief is that Syria, despite its claims to the contrary, is aiding the Iraqi insurgency by allowing safe passage for jihadists through its territory and across its borders. I’ve taken the idea to task before, so it’s not surprising that I disagree with such claims. A new Jamestown Foundation article, which utilizes a Syrian jihadist’s web posting complaining of tough conditions within Syria, also suggests that Bashar Assad’s regime is, in no way, actively...

TMV may be out of pocket and unable to be in his office when the announcement on GWB’s Supreme Court pick is announced tonight. If so, you’ll either see a breaking news recap posted by a co-blogger OR simply our post a bit later. TMV WILL be posting his reaction/analysis to the pick. So check back. You may see a co-blogger’s intriguing post and a bit later you will see one by TMV.

What does the Bush administration’s proposal for civil nuclear cooperation with India mean? A number of headaches in the near term, it seems, even if the long term military goals of containing China make sense.

You can expect President George Bush to name his Supreme Court nominee any day (or minute) now and — the prevailing perception goes — you can expect bloggers to begin a bitter battle over it. You might want to say “DUH!” and that in itself shows a shift in the journalistic landscape. The perception that comes through in a USA Today piece which, apart from specific content, is this underlying message: yes, blogs are a part of a new journalistic frontier….and they are...

…at The Reaction, a centrist blog by Canada’s Michael Stickings. We’ve been a fan of The Reaction and Stickings for some time. In fact, as of yesterday he will be one of our co-bloggers. From his base in Toronto, Stickings does a great job looking at and analyzing U.S. politics and sticking close to the center. The Reaction reacts to major news stories in a sober, thoughtful analytical way and peppers serious stories with some non-political ones as well. Visit The Reaction and you’ll...

The word has reportedly gone out to conservatives that the message has been “received” on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales — and Bush’s longtime friend will not be the name sent to the Senate as a Supreme Court Justice nominee. White House officials have assured select conservative leaders that they will not nominate Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to the Supreme Court to replace retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, according to a conservative familiar...

Sometimes the stuff you get is good but sometimes they send you a bunch of crap.

Why should I bother to cut my toenails tonight if this World Net Daily report is true? The DOWNSIDE: We’re all going to die. The UPSIDE: We won’t have to hear Tom Cruise lecture on psychiatry anymore.

Check out The New Republic’s “Etc.” blog, which this week is hosted noted Darfur expert and Smith College Professor Eric Reeves. Reeves gave a speech that I attended at Carleton, and he was magnificent. I’m sure his postings at Etc. will be excellent as well. And while you’re reading on this topic of monumental importance, I highly encourage you to visit the bipartisan Coalition for Darfur as well.

It’s not why you think.

The MSNBC report’s headline and subheadline says it all — and now you’re going to hear on cable news shows and talk shows how “this is what he meant all along”: HEADLINE — Bush says he will fire anyone who breaks law. SUBHEADLINE — President appears to qualify standard for firing in CIA-leak case And then the story: WASHINGTON – President Bush said Monday that if anyone on his staff committed a crime in the CIA-leak case, that person will “no...

You can listen to a talk show featuring bloggers online — every Wednesay night. Here’s their latest: Subject2Discussion news and comment webcast and podcast heard Wednesday nights LIVE at 6pm PT on LVROCKS.COM this week will welcome DCG the blogger of Whatshappeningatcnn.blogspot.com to the program. We will discuss all the changes at CNN and the rest of cable news plus the rest of whats in the news, please join us. Please note the new podcast RSS feed for the webcast http://www.autopodcaster.com/rss.aspx?channelid=5 NOTE:...

The L.A. Times has a particularly hard-hitting piece on the scandal/investigation involving whether Bush political guru Karl Rove outed a CIA official to retaliate for what her husband wrote about the President — and while it bluntly puts it all into perspective, it doesn’t greatly advance the story. It doesn’t cover a ton of new ground but provides more info on the angry White House reaction to a critic — and how two top White House staffers went into overdrive in a discrediting...

The rest of the news cycle’s more dramatic stories may edge this one out today, but it’s a big day in Washington where the U.S. is mending fences with India. Traditionally, the U.S. tries to foster ties with India’s rival (and former part of its country) Pakistan, the more estranged India gets from the U.S. But underneath the official pomp there is an important circumstance. THE POMP is reported in this Press Trust of India article: Guns boomed in salute and the national anthems...

Blogs CAN make a difference – a REAL difference. But we’re NOT talking about when every blog (including this one) writes on American politics. In essence, those are really more op-ed pieces or glorified rants that people on the right, left and center do. Who does it influence? Perhaps some journalists (who writes stories) and those who use their computers a lot. Or partisans who read them and use the Internet to try to get their messages across in comments, etc. We’d love to be...

Our periodic linkfest pointing you to interesting posts from DIFFERING viewpoints. These viewpoints do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Moderate Voice or its co-bloggers. CBS’s Bob Schieffer Blasts The White House on the Rove/Plume affair. Watch the VIDEO HERE. Note that Schieffer it has long been reported that Schieffer was one of the journalists a bit more sympathetic to George Bush so the cliche about this being typical mainstream media mantra, he always hated Bush, he was being...

When you see this logo from now on (unless the book has a logo we use instead) you’ll note that it’s for a TMV book review. A word on this: over the past year we’ve almost been negligent in getting around to review some very good books for this site. The reason: due to our travel, some personal complications and the posts we have to do to keep this updated, we haven’t gotten around to doing the reviews we envisioned. In almost all cases we planned long, detailed, almost stand-alone...

Did you ever get the feeling that the heads of politicians of both parties, of liberals and conservatives, are made of a substance akin to hallowed out wood? TRENTON, N.J. – Congressman Frank LoBiondo apologized for suggesting that Guantanamo Bay detainees were worse than Adolf Hitler because the Nazi dictator “sort of had a political rationale about what he was doing.” The New Jersey Republican made the remark on a radio talk show this past week, describing his recent visit...