Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune

This has not been a good week for Republicans if they have wanted to press their family values theme. Advice: Put it on ice for a while. First, New Orlean’s GOPer Senator David Vitter gets linked to the so-called D.C. Madam. And now (THIS JUST IN) Florida State Rep. Robert “Bob” Allen is enmeshed in a sex scandal for soliciting a male police officer. We will absolutely resist making the cheap joke that — if these allegations are true — perhaps Vitter did to an escort...

Although I was born during Eisenhower’s presidency, Lady Bird Johnson is the earliest First Lady I really remember. Here is the Washington Post’s coverage: Lady Bird Johnson Dies at 94 Lady Bird Johnson, 1912-2007 Former First Lady Remembered Live Q&A, Noon Thursday: Author Lewis L. Gould

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Thomas Friedman writes: When it comes to Iraq, September will be coming early this year — like now. Democrats, and a growing number of Republicans, are determined not to wait until September for the president to report on whether the surge is working. The American people have had enough. They want out. As we move into the endgame, though, the public needs to understand that neither Republicans nor Democrats are presenting them with a realistic strategy. Obviously, President Bush’s stay-the-course...

A four times-married British woman has wed a son of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after meeting him on holiday and plans to apply for a visa so that he can visit the U.K. Jane Felix-Browne, a 51-year-old grandmother and parish counselor from Cheshire, had kept her marriage to Omar Ossama bin Laden, 27, secret from everyone except her immediate family and close friends. She told The Times of London: “It would be nice if, like any other married woman, I could stand up and say this is my husband...

That’s what most Turkish political parties offer the voters. Considered the most likely party to be in power after the election, the AKP prefers to be deliberate in its promises and just gives a basic outline of its economic policies. Lessening the tax burden and preparing the youth for life with the help of resources that will be gained from the Unemployment Insurance Fund are among the most noteworthy promises of the AKP. The CHP, MHP and DP, on the other hand, have assertive promises directly...

Joe Lieberman is one of those Senators who I have defended on several occasions in the past. He is – in my opinion – a good Senator – someone who is able to work with both parties. The left-wing of the Democratic Party does not exactly like him, same goes for the right-wing of the Republican Party (except for the war in Iraq). I do disagree on certain issues with Lieberman, but that does not mean that he is not a good Senator / politician. One of the issues I disagree with him on...

Our famous linkfest offering readers interesting links to websites of varying opinions so they can explor the ‘sphere. Links do not not necessarily represent the viewpoints of The Moderate Voice or its writers. To Leave Iraq ASAP Or Not? A long-range debate between two bloggers with sharply differing ideas is raging. MUST READ DETAILS HERE. More On The New York Times Calling Fred Thompson’s Wife A “Trophy Wife”: We ran a post on this issue, about a NYT reporter labeling Fred...

Remember the Walter Reed scandal? Remember the Veterans Administration hospital scandal? Remember reports that a tidal wave of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan with serious physical and mental health needs will soon break on the shore? With all that in mind, The Associated Press reports that: “The Bush administration plans to cut funding for veterans’ health care two years from now – even as badly wounded troops returning from Iraq could overwhelm the system. “Bush is using...

Yet another piece has emerged to fill out a pattern that has emerged about the Bush administration: Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona told a Congressional panel Tuesday that top Bush administration officials repeatedly tried to weaken or suppress important public health reports because of political considerations. Note the words “public health” — so this should have been something that transcended politics. But, in his testimony, Carmona made it clear that it did not: The...

A new Gallup poll indicates a whopping majority of Americans think President George Bush should have stayed out of the Scooter Libby case — yet another poll which is underscoring a fundamental question about this President: President Bush’s commutation of a prison term for a former aide to Vice President Cheney did not play well with the public or even Republicans, a survey found. In a USA Today-Gallup poll released on Tuesday, 66 percent said Bush should not have intervened in the case...

Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com

You’ve seen some great reviews here by others at TMV — but you should have been seeing more reviews — the ones I promised I myself would be doing…the regular CD, movie, DVD and book reviews. BUT: Due to a series of personal complications since January, three trips to the East Coast, subsequently falling behind on a zillion things, and now being in a season with extensive car travel (you can’t post while stuck in traffic heading up to LA), in addition to some technical...

Oh, dear, I’m sorry. Vitter wants this matter to remain private between him, his family, and God. And I respect that. Or I would, if he hadn’t voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment. Twice. Thus making marriage issues a matter between him, his family, God, and the US federal government. Or perhaps I would respect it, if he worked to repeal the prostitution laws that–if literally enforced–make his conduct a matter between him, his family, God, and a local DA. Seeing as that’s...

Anwar Ibrahim, writing in The Washington Post recently, makes a very compelling argument about the upcoming Turkish elections. Although the situation is often painted as a conflict between Islamism and secularism, this characterization is misleading. Instead, Ibrahim argues, the elections are a struggle “between the forces of freedom and democracy on the one hand and authoritarianism on the other.” The outcome will decide whether Turkey continues down the modernizing path it was set...

The last Democratic presidential debate left me with one major question: how to help the African American community? How to help them help themselves? It does not take a genius to figure out that today’s policies have not accomplished what they were designed to accomplish. Many African Americans still live in poverty, many African Americans are not insured (health care), African Americans are twice as likely to drop out of school than whites, the list goes on and on. This all despite (or perhaps...

Why is it that only Republicans or right-wing demagogues who suck up to Republicans get caught with their pants down these days? At least he wasn’t having sex with underage boys. * * * * * John McCain in 1994: “The right course of action is to make preparations as quickly as possible to bring our people home. It does not mean as soon as order is restored to Haiti. It doesn’t mean as soon as democracy is flourishing in Haiti. It doesn’t mean as soon as we’ve established...

Aislin, The Montreal Gazette

According to SSRN download statistics for the past two months (May 11th to July 10th), my article is ranked #9 in downloads among all articles in the Law & Society: Public Law section. It reached that lofty position with 58 downloads. The article, in case you’ve forgotten, is entitled When Separation Doesn’t Work: The Religion Clauses as Anti-Subordination Principles, and it is forthcoming soon in the Dartmouth Law Journal. Thanks to everybody who has read and commented on it.

Washington Post: McCain Advisers Quit Struggling Campaign Top aides’ resignations raise questions about how long McCain will be able to stay in the race.

See it here. The real outrage was not so much Blitzer, who was his usual self, tongue-tied and clueless in the face of Moore’s justifiably relentless criticism, but the segment on Sicko by CNN’s resident medical expert Sanjay Gupta. In what was essentially a point-by-point evaluation of the accuracy of some of Moore’s statistical claims in Sicko — with no such evaluation of Moore’s critics, those who oppose reform and defend the status quo or call for greater Big Pharma-...

I have criticized Gen. Petraeus before — he’s a good Bushie when he needs to be — but credit him now at least for being candid: The head of US forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has told the BBC that fighting the insurgency is a “long term endeavour” which could take decades. This is likely true. It may or may not be the latest spin from the White House (check with Tony Snow, who shamelessly self-contradicts with the best of them, an even better Bush is he), but...

Anybody see a surge in there? Monday: The White House insisted that Mr. Bush did not intend to change gears. “Don’t expect us to lift a veil and have a whole different strategy,” the spokesman, Tony Snow, said. “We’re not going to have a strategy jumping out of a cake.” Tuesday: [T]he White House announced that an upcoming progress report will result in “the beginning of a new way” in Iraq. . . . “What Congress will get this week is a snapshot...

President George Bush’s approval rating has hit a new low in a new poll — as public opposition to the Iraq war reaches a new high: Opposition to the Iraq war has reached a record high, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, a development likely to complicate President Bush’s efforts to hold together Republican support as the Senate begins debate this week on Pentagon priorities. Bush’s approval rating has reached a new low: 29%. In the survey, taken Friday through Sunday, one in five...