Nice: President Bush tries to set an example for Americans whenever he can, in terms of physical fitness, faith, optimism and a certain overall moral rectitude. He also sets an excellent example on taking vacation. On Thursday, Bush left for a weekend in Kennebunkport, Maine, and his family's summer compound, Walker's Point. On Monday, he heads to his Crawford retreat, … [Read more...] about Vacation President
All Balled Up
The intriguing saga of Barry Bonds record-breaking 756th home run baseball. … [Read more...] about All Balled Up
Have They No Shame Department
Now there's a political ad targeting The Obama Girl. … [Read more...] about Have They No Shame Department
The Lowdown on the Hoedown
I covered or directed coverage of eight presidential campaigns, so I can appreciate how difficult it is to write something fresh, let alone something fresh 15 months from Election Day. Will Bunch knows. A former colleague at the Philadelphia Daily News and blogger extraordinaire, Will was asked by his editors to put together a prototype for a weekly rundown on the … [Read more...] about The Lowdown on the Hoedown
A Saturday Seventeen of Sweet Songs
Olu Dara I've been toiling over the most absolutely depressing piece I've written to date on the Iraq war (coming next week God willing and the creek don't rise) and I'm really, really really hard up to offer something that has nothing to do with people dying. So I’m going to splash around in the shallow end of the pool this morning and share a Saturday Seventeen of … [Read more...] about A Saturday Seventeen of Sweet Songs
Rudy Giuliani Gets Top National Poll Numbers Despite Stumbles (UPDATED)
So far he has weathered the media's breathless anticipation of the highly touted Fred Thompson enters-the-GOP-race firestorm (or fizzle?). He has survived an onslaught of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who this week suffered several bouts of foot-in-mouth disease (so, Mr. Romney, your sons' working on your campaign is REALLY the equivalent of them risking getting … [Read more...] about Rudy Giuliani Gets Top National Poll Numbers Despite Stumbles (UPDATED)
Original Blog Reporting: Talking Dog Interviews Marshall Onellion and Steven Fortney
Once again The Talking Dog has a thought-provoking --and truly debate sparking -- original weblog interview. (We're running so many of these from that site that we're close to letting TD post them himself). And this one is one were if we take a quote we'll be taking it way out of context. So we'll just give you the intro and ask you to read the entire piece … [Read more...] about Original Blog Reporting: Talking Dog Interviews Marshall Onellion and Steven Fortney
New NASA Data Still Proves Global Warming is Real
Details at Tech Blog HERE. … [Read more...] about New NASA Data Still Proves Global Warming is Real
Uncle Sam Is Listening
RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch … [Read more...] about Uncle Sam Is Listening
Country-Club Health Care
While politicians slobber about democratic principles of universal health care and market competition, an increasing number of Americans are turning back the clock to a me-first, screw-the-poor solution that would not have offended Louis XIV. To bypass HMOs and managed care insurers, doctors are setting up their own little country clubs for patients who pay dues of at least … [Read more...] about Country-Club Health Care
Sleazing Out More Money
A GOP fundraising letter "audits" its recipients and says that there are "irregularities" in their record which can be solved by a donation. Misleading, probably not illegal, but certainly quite underhanded (especially when they send the letters out to octogenarians). … [Read more...] about Sleazing Out More Money
Taslima Nasreen, Poet, Attacked in India: Men Attack Her; Other Men Try to Sheild Her
I wrote on TMV about Taslima, a poet and doctor, against whom a fatwa to behead her had been called ....for she dared to write poetry about "honor killings"; she was imprisoned for writing about women taken to the stadium and stoned to death while the mullahs present were laughing. Read on TMV May 18, 2007: Four Arrested In Honor Killing and a New Call for Beheading Taslima … [Read more...] about Taslima Nasreen, Poet, Attacked in India: Men Attack Her; Other Men Try to Sheild Her
Since I am Back
As you all know, I spent almost four weeks in Turkey this summer. Today, after 26 great days in Turkey, I landed in Amsterdam. Today, you ask, I thought yesterday? Well, I would have arrived yesterday, except for one thing? the airliner, corendon, changed the time. The original plan was 9 August, back at 12 PM Dutch time, they changed it into 4.10 on August the 10th. I only … [Read more...] about Since I am Back
Canada’s President
Barack Obama believes that NAFTA should be amended. If he were president, he said, he would call the president of Mexico and the president of Canada, "to try to amend NAFTA, because I think that we can get labor agreements in that agreement right now." The only problem? Canada does not have a president. As David Frum points out, this is "the kind of misstep that would … [Read more...] about Canada’s President
The Military & The Monetary (*)
Were These Sheep Taliban? As the war in Iraq has degenerated and with operations in Afghanistan not looking too good either, I have cut way back on blogging about collateral damage -- the unfortunate instances in which civilians are bombed by mistake. It's quite simple: I have a deep empathy for the boots on the ground, if not the knuckleheads in Washington, and don't … [Read more...] about The Military & The Monetary (*)
An Unamusing Musing On Stu ‘Oops! I’ve Done It Again’ Bykofsky
Stu Bykofsky, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News (note to copy editors: only Daily News is italicized) has set off a sh*tstorm by writing that he is hoping for another 9/11 terrorist attack because it would bring Americans together again. Before I address the particulars of Stu’s column, which as Joe notes in a post below is beyond the pale, I would like to note … [Read more...] about An Unamusing Musing On Stu ‘Oops! I’ve Done It Again’ Bykofsky
This Is Not About Scott Beauchamp
As I have written early and often, the mainstream media has been painfully slow to embrace the Internet and even slower to come around to the blog as a way to leaven its loaf, attract new readers or (gasp!) even win back readers it has lost. Joe Gandelman, Robert Stein, Alan Mutter and Yours Truly are examples of Dead Tree Era journalists who quit or retired from the biz and … [Read more...] about This Is Not About Scott Beauchamp
Columnist Wishes For Another 911
Yes, someone has finally written it. And we just KNEW this day would come...didn't we? A columnist is opening wishing for another 911 to unite Americans (what about the innocent lives that would cost). The link is HERE. And yes, yours truly agrees with the column writer that it is indeed a "sick" sentiment -- no matter what the intellectual (or non-intellectual) … [Read more...] about Columnist Wishes For Another 911
Hillary Clinton’s Development As A Campaigner
One of the most fascinating aspects about this never ending 2008 Presidential campaign is the growth of Senator Hillary Clinton as a political campaigner. She started out more wooden than some of the characters that I use in my show. But she is blossoming by the month. Look at her response below to when Senator John Edwards took a dig at her for appearing on the cover of … [Read more...] about Hillary Clinton’s Development As A Campaigner
Poll: U.S. Public Distrusts Mainstream News Media More Than Ever
As if a shrinking news hole in newspapers, diminishing advertising, and sinking readership isn't enough...as if broadcast and cable networks pulling out all stops to survive in the ratings-dependent dog-eat-dog world of broadcast/cable journalism isn't enough...now there's a new poll that shows Americans distrust the mainstream news media more than ever: More than half of … [Read more...] about Poll: U.S. Public Distrusts Mainstream News Media More Than Ever