Our occasional link fest from websites of MANY different viewpoints. The posts featured do not necessarily reflect the views of The Moderate Voice.
There Are All Kinds Of Controversies On The Internet…all kinds.
People Sometimes Get The Wrong Ideas About Moderates and he says it much better than we can. This is a classic MUST READ post. (He has written a version of this before and he is quite correct about how people react to moderates. We’ve been called “a member of the Republican cheerleading squad” and “a closet liberal” in the same week.)
Is Radio Talk Star Don Imus Losing Stations? It does sound that way, according to conservative talk show host Brian Maloney’s blog. (Note. Years ago we easily got him here on San Diego via a strong LA station. He’s hard to find on the dial here now…unless we’ve missed his station).
The New York Times Public Editor Versus Paul Krugman: This is a fascinating case that you can read about here. As a former fulltime journalist I can attest to the fact that a)columnists do operate a bit more independently, b)newspaper management (and I worked on two big chain newspapers) truly likes to put something totally behind the paper if a reporter (or columnist) goes too far or makes an error. It’s like in politics: you keep something alive if you don’t acknowledge it, basically say “I’ll do better next time” and then move on to other things. Krugman may disagree with the Time’s public editor but it sounds as if he handled it poorly. And if this festers Krugman has made someone on the paper unhappy over journalistic standards…never a wise move because administrations of newspapers change and they often like removing someone and putting in someone of their own.
Why Do Democrats Hate Bush? Thoughts Online (a moderate Republican site we pointed to when we did our schtick on MSNBC’s Connected a few months ago) has an interesting theory presented half seriously and half in jest:
What if the Democrats aren’t attacking Bush because they dislike him, or because they’re really opposed to regime change in Iraq, or because they equate him with Hitler, or because they really oppose the FBI looking into library records, or because they are really dissatisfied with the federal response to Katrina, but because they know that his Pavlovian, knee-jerk response to criticism is to throw money at anything and everything around him?
Apparently, the Democrats realized that if they criticize him on education, he will respond by throwing more money into the pot than any previous administration ever dared request. They know if they criticize him on Iraq (even though the Democrats secretly approve of what Bush is doing there), Bush will respond by funding every single funding demand the Democrats can come up with. If they criticize his tax cuts, he will answer by expanding domestic spending. If they criticize him for not being responsive enough in New Orleans, he will go and propose that the federal government take on more of the financial responsibility for rebuilding a disaster zone than has ever been done in the past.
Read it all. Indeed, what is now going to be interesting is to see the shifts in thinking among so many Republicans to adapt to what overall is big government Republicanism. This is NOT criticizing it; we’re simply stating that this is what it is. The rationalization, defense or condemnation of it are separate issues. On the other hand, “stealing the thunder” of an opposition party has worked throughout American history and perhaps decades from now this will be called a stroke of genius….
Another Take On GBW also looking at the belief from some on the left that he’s evil comes from Bill Maher (a MUST VIEW…it is not what you may think) and you can watch it HERE.
And Speaking Of Videos, here’s one of Michelle Malkin blasting former resigned FEMA Chief Michael Brown. (She feels he should have been fired for allegedly horsing around during the hurricane.)
America’s Misogynist Friend? Tom Watson takes look at Pakistan’s honcho General Pervez Musharraf. A MUST READ. Of course, it raises the longstanding debate about what a nation must do in its national interest and if by choosing to do X in your national interest you’re not enabling things your nation not onlhy doesn’t stand for but steadfastly opposes. It’s an argument that can be hotly debated and go on for a long time (and it has — like since the last century…)
Did The Washington Post Let Iran’s President Off The Hook? Oxblog’s David Adesnik thinks so and gives you the full context. Read his whole post, but here’s his final paragraph about what he argues is, basically, sloppy journalism:
But I think it is profoundly irresponsible to give Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a free pass. The issue here isn’t whether his cheapshots at the United States go unanswered. That’s irrelevant. But any article about the Iranian government should also let us know about the ongoing efforts of the Iranian opposition to stop rampant human rights violations in Iran and bring down the clerical dictatorship.
The Military’s Role In Hurricane Katrina Relief Operations is underscored in this SPECIAL POST on Citizen Smash…a letter from the Chief Of Naval Operations to his admirals.
Bush’s Plans To Spend Lots Of Money On Hurricane Katrina is welcomed at least by one highly prominent GOPER and former Presidential candidate. Greg Ransom has the details
FEMA Took Hurricane Workers Off Duty for a bureaucratic job. No joke.
More FEMA Stupidity is here.
But (NO SURPRISE HERE) Some Politicians Are Dumb, Too and one even requisitioned a National Guard truck and several soldiers to check out his house in New Orleans. What’s the big deal about that? Isn’t that the way royalty is always treated? The details are here.
CBS HAS A NEW BLOG and Jeff Jarvis suggests they may be afraid to speak.
Is France Enabling Iran To Export Nukes? Captain Ed thinks so.
More On Bush’s Disaster Relief: Some questions posed here..
Judge Ray Moore And The Ten Commandments is a fascinating ongoing story that you can read about here.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.