Could Ron Paul's freshest strategy be to keep showing up for all his party's nominee debates, bringing his message out over and over again... and then, near the midnight hour, maybe suddenly say, You know what guys? I'm booking. I'm going to run Third Party. A lot of people right now, seem to be thinking it might make stark sense to vote third party. All across the … [Read more...] about Time For A Third Party Candidate? How About Ron Paul Squared?
M&C Interviews Charles Johnson
Dan Schneider, who owns (and runs) Cosmoetica, interviewed National Book Award-winning author Charles Johnson, for Monsters and Critics. It is a great interview, a small sample: M&C: Let's jump right in with some of the posits you have on specific things. I've read, now, all of your fiction, and recently read your previously mentioned 2003 nonfiction book, Turning The Wheel: … [Read more...] about M&C Interviews Charles Johnson
Torturing It
The New York Times reports that “a group of experts advising the intelligence agencies are arguing that the harsh techniques used since the 2001 terrorist attacks are outmoded, amateurish and unreliable.†The psychologists and other specialists, commissioned by the Intelligence Science Board, make the case that more than five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush … [Read more...] about Torturing It
Critical Views
About Iraq. An example: JD in Karma: “In fact, there is a civil war in progress in Iraq, one comparable in important respects to other civil wars that have occurred in postcolonial states with weak institutions. Those cases suggest that the Bush administration’s political objective in Iraq–creating a stable, peaceful, somewhat democratic regime that can survive the … [Read more...] about Critical Views
Protecting Iraqis
Take a look at these photos: "An Iraqi boy hides behind a U.S. soldier on Monday amid gunfire after a car bomb in Central Baghdad killed 24 people." Makes one remember why US forces are still in Iraq, and why they cannot all be withdrawn any time soon, doesn't it? … [Read more...] about Protecting Iraqis
Iraq: Drink Thish and Call Me In 6 Momths
A U.S. -- NOT IRAQI -- SOLDIER STANDS GUARD AFTER TUESDAY ATTACK One of the most insidious consequences of always putting politics ahead of policy in the Age of Bush has been the slow but inevitable unraveling of the administration's "strategy" in Iraq. Or "strategies," to be more accurate. Having determinedly misled the public about why it was taking the U.S. to war, it … [Read more...] about Iraq: Drink Thish and Call Me In 6 Momths
Triangle of Death Hostage Search: Day 18
Another of the five U.S. soldiers killed as a result of an Al Qaeda-led ambush on May 12 has reached his final resting place. Corporal Christopher Edward Murphy was buried yesterday afternoon in Arlington National Cemetery after a memorial service in Gladys, Campbell County, Virginia. Please click here to read more at Kiko's House. … [Read more...] about Triangle of Death Hostage Search: Day 18
Protecting the Whales
Paresh Nath, National Herald, India … [Read more...] about Protecting the Whales
The Mitt Romney Crisis Pregnancy Center
I can see it now...The Mitt Romney Crisis Pregnancy Center AP via Forbes: Republican Mitt Romney said Tuesday he would likely donate his salary to charity if elected president, a financial freedom he described as a byproduct of a successful business career.ANDLater, speaking with reporters, Romney said he would likely accept the presidential salary of $400,000 annually … [Read more...] about The Mitt Romney Crisis Pregnancy Center
New Boss at the World Bank
BBC:President Bush chooses former top diplomat Robert Zoellick to replace Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank, officials say. … [Read more...] about New Boss at the World Bank
Define Yourself
I'm wondering how you all define yourselves politically. Do you consider yourself to be a moderate, centrist, conservative, liberal, or neoconservative (etc.)? I'm curious like that. Or... do you consider yourself to be a conservative liberal (like yours truly)? … [Read more...] about Define Yourself
Days Go By
Another case of employment discrimination (in this case, pay disparity), not being taken seriously by the Supreme Court. Talk about a bogus interpretation of a filing deadline. How is a paycheck disparity resulting from gender discrimination not a unique instance of harm? But since this is a statutory case, I don't need to hear lectures on whether the decision was legally … [Read more...] about Days Go By
Mexican Audience Boos Miss USA During Miss Universe Pageant Won by Miss Japan
Mexicans don’t likey America no more: Booed mercilessly at the Miss Universe pageant by a Mexican audience angry at U.S. immigration policy, and seen by millions of TV viewers as she slipped and fell on the pageant stage, Miss USA Rachel Smith nonetheless managed to take the high road and offer her Spanish-speaking hosts an enthusiastic, “Buenas noches Mexico. Muchas … [Read more...] about Mexican Audience Boos Miss USA During Miss Universe Pageant Won by Miss Japan
The Giuliani Temperament
A fascinating article and video at the New York Times about Rudy Giuliani's temperament. The dyspeptic, “not afraid to suggest his opponents have really deep-seated psychological problems†Republican mayor of fact and legend has taken a holiday. What’s left on the presidential campaign trail is a commanding daddy of a candidate, a disciplined fellow who talks about … [Read more...] about The Giuliani Temperament
Minimum Wage Hike
RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch … [Read more...] about Minimum Wage Hike
Potential Health Emergency
I've read about extensively-drug-resistant tuberculosis before. Now we have a patient who has been quarantined because he flew from North America to Europe and back in violation of a no-fly order and the advice of the CDC. AP via Houston Chronicle:ATLANTA — A man with a rare and exceptionally dangerous form of tuberculosis has been placed in quarantine by the U.S. … [Read more...] about Potential Health Emergency
Whistling Past Dixie
Alabama finds terrorists in the strangest places. … [Read more...] about Whistling Past Dixie
A Theme Park Dick Cheney Will Love
When his new grandchild is old enough, the Vice President can take him to a new British theme park that reflects his world view--Dickens World, where tourists get a buzz from the Victorian squalor that the underprivileged deserve. This non-Halliburton environment is chock full of rat-infested sewers, ragged beggars, debtors’ prisons, child pickpockets--in short, a … [Read more...] about A Theme Park Dick Cheney Will Love
Social Conservatives Backing Rudy?
The Politico: Rudy Giuliani, whose positions on abortion and homosexuality mark him as the most socially liberal Republican presidential candidate in more than a generation, is so far winning the contest for the support of social conservatives, according to a new analysis of recent polls. Widespread perceptions that Giuliani is the most electable Republican in this year's … [Read more...] about Social Conservatives Backing Rudy?
Tense, Sober and In the End Chickenhearted
Write Michael Isikoff and Evan Thomas in Newsweek: Appalled by the White House's heavy-handed attempt to coerce the gravely ill attorney general, virtually the entire top leadership of the Justice Department is threatening to resign. The group includes the director of the FBI, Robert Mueller, Associate Attorney General Robert McCallum and the chief of the Criminal Division, … [Read more...] about Tense, Sober and In the End Chickenhearted