Introduction This week, the Crystal Ball publishes another installment in our intermittent series of observations on the 2008 campaign and the politics of the day. We offer these musings as a supplement to our usual essays focusing on one subject, which will still appear regularly. Jefferson aficionados will find the title familiar, and they know he penned just one book in … [Read more...] about Sabato’s Crystal Ball: NOTES ON THE STATE OF POLITICS
Debate Analysis from The Fix: Winners and Losers
Republicans Debate: Winners and Losers Last night's Republican debate in Florida provided plenty of fodder for folks like The Fix. The candidates unloaded on one another time and time again, a sign that voting is just around the corner in crucial states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. The Fix spent late last night and this morning sifting through the remains … [Read more...] about Debate Analysis from The Fix: Winners and Losers
God Reportedly Forces Roberts To Resign From Oral Roberts University
And here we thought God was too busy trying to answer the prayers of Hurricane Katrina victims, California fire victims and of Dancing With The Stars Contestants who are praying for their competitors to fall flat on their faces. Just trying to save the souls of the men and woman running for President is a tough enough job for one overworked deity. But he is now busy with … [Read more...] about God Reportedly Forces Roberts To Resign From Oral Roberts University
The Sin of Appeasement
This should make it perfectly clear that negotiating with Arab terrorists is not just wrong but also futile: Jerusalem Post: Hamas demands UN rescind '47 partition Hamas on Thursday called on the UN to rescind the 1947 decision to partition Palestine into two states, one for Jews and one for Arabs. The group said in a statement, released on the 60th anniversary of the … [Read more...] about The Sin of Appeasement
Threats Are NOT Witty!
Last night, while answering a question on space exploration, one presidential candidate suggested that another presidential candidate be sent to Mars. This is NOT funny and may constitute a threat (which might be investigated by the Secret Service). CNN Political Ticker: Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee outlined one special plan he'd consider for NASA's exploration … [Read more...] about Threats Are NOT Witty!
Bwaah!!! Gimme Back My War
"Wait a minute! Wait a minute! I figured this out. I know what's wrong with what we've done in Iraq. We've been following time as it goes forward. What a classic mistake. Linear time is so pre-9/11." -- JON STEWART Well, it’s not even Friday yet, but if anything good has come out of this week it's that I'm now four-fifths of the way through grieving over the end of the Iraq … [Read more...] about Bwaah!!! Gimme Back My War
But is the Line Item Veto the Right Thing?
"The line-item veto is unconstitutional determined not by John McCain, but by the Supreme Court. And the Supreme Court found that the line-item veto is unconstitutional. If I hadn't challenged that, I would not have been carrying out my fiduciary duties for the people of New York City. That was money that was illegally deprived to the people of my city. I fought for … [Read more...] about But is the Line Item Veto the Right Thing?
Tonight’s CNN-YouTube Republican Debate
You can watch it on CNN.com. LIVE-BLOGGING: CNN Political Ticker Caucus Blog of the New York Times MSNBC First Read Michelle Malkin AMERICAblog: Okay, it's finally over. I'd say this was Mike Huckabee's night. He gave great answers, held his own against the big dogs. Romney looked pathetic and often uncertain. He's clearly not good when he's not scripted. … [Read more...] about Tonight’s CNN-YouTube Republican Debate
Good but Impossible Advice?
"Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip." - Will Rogers ------------------- OK, I know, that one reaches way, way back. And I also have to confess that I found it today on a source so pedestrian I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but I will anyway: Google's "Quote of the Day" feature. But hey, it's still a great quote, … [Read more...] about Good but Impossible Advice?
2008 Election Fatigue 12 Months Too Early: Any Alternative to Just “Change Parties and Dance”?
H. L. Mencken, The Master On elections: Each party steals so many articles of faith from the other, and the candidates spend so much time making each other's speeches, that by the time election day is past there is nothing much to do save turn the sitting rascals out and let a new gang in. On the lazy thought patterns of cynicism A cynic is a man who, … [Read more...] about 2008 Election Fatigue 12 Months Too Early: Any Alternative to Just “Change Parties and Dance”?
Center of Attention
Assorted writers who attempt to strike a balanced note on current affairs or improve our ability to find our own sense of balance by exposing us to new information and different points-of-view -------------------------- Expat Teacher gets us started today by thinking ahead to the time when any one of the leading (read: debate-participating) Democratic contendors for the … [Read more...] about Center of Attention
Made in China
Bob Englehart, The Hartford Courant … [Read more...] about Made in China
The U.S., Iraq & Empire Building (Or: When a War Becomes a Business Deal)
"War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses." -- Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler, USMC (1933) There inevitably are charges of American empire building in the wake of the … [Read more...] about The U.S., Iraq & Empire Building (Or: When a War Becomes a Business Deal)
9/11 and Other American Plots
When fire breaks out in a mental hospital, the paranoids are the first to respond -- they always expect someone to do terrible things. That bit of apocryphal folklore comes to mind with news that almost two-thirds of Americans think federal officials knew in advance about 9/11 but chose to ignore the warnings. A similar survey last year showed one out of three thinks our … [Read more...] about 9/11 and Other American Plots
Secretary Gates: “Al Qaeda is better at communicating its message on the Internet than America”
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates called for the US government to commit more money and effort to "soft power" tools, including communications, because the military alone cannot defend America’s interests around the world. The NY Times quotes Gates as saying: "We are miserable at communicating to the rest of the world what we are about as a society and a culture, about … [Read more...] about Secretary Gates: “Al Qaeda is better at communicating its message on the Internet than America”
America’s Iraqi Death Squads
So -- what's really going on in Iraq? If the warmongers are to be believed, violence is down and the light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter and brighter, all hail Bush and Petraeus and the Surge of Surges. Sure, it's been a tough go, but now, at long last, success is at hand thanks to the stick-to-it-iveness of those who have been determined to guide the war through … [Read more...] about America’s Iraqi Death Squads
The Electability Campaign Against Hillary Clinton
Although a more scientific poll conducted by Gallup "finds Sen. Hillary Clinton with a slim but not statistically significant advantage over both former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain in head-to-head matchups for the 2008 general election for president," as well as with "much more substantial leads over former Sen. Fred Thompson and former Gov. Mitt Romney, and … [Read more...] about The Electability Campaign Against Hillary Clinton
The Latest From Afghanistan: Taliban Making Major Gains
There is a lot of contradictory reporting about Afghanistan. Part of the problem, as Joshua Foust notes, is that there are few reporters in the country for more than two or three months at a time (and fewer still that ever leave Kabul.) If you believe Ann Marlowe at The Weekly Standard, for example, the Taliban are on their way out. Such an assessment seems a bit optimistic, … [Read more...] about The Latest From Afghanistan: Taliban Making Major Gains
Is Paris Burning (Again)?
New York Times: 77 Police Officers Hurt in Paris Riots Nearly 80 French police officers were injured during clashes with youths in a working- and lower-class suburb north of Paris last night, and six are in serious condition, police officials said, after some of the youths used hunting shotguns as well as more conventional guns, fire bombs and rocks. … [Read more...] about Is Paris Burning (Again)?
The Conspiracy Freaks Were Right
Bush and Al-Maliki Do the Deal I feel like the last guy in the room to get a bad joke this morning in the wake of announcements in Baghdad and Iraq that there is a quid pro quo deal in which the U.S. will babysit the Shiite-dominated Al-Maliki regime indefinitely in return for giving U.S. entrepreneurs first crack at Iraq's riches, which lest there be any doubt are its vast … [Read more...] about The Conspiracy Freaks Were Right