Matthias Küntzel wrote a highly interesting article for The Weekly Standard: On December 12, 2006, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad personally brought to a close the infamous Holocaust deniers' conference in Tehran. A strange parade of speakers had passed across the podium: former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, the nutty followers of the anti-Zionist Jewish sect Neturei … [Read more...] about Denying the Holocaust, Planning a Second One
Note To Australia’s Prime Minister: We Don’t CARE Who You Want
Uh, oh: in a post below we just talked about bloggers have an excess of outrage, and now we're going to have to show you some as well. Dear Prime Minister John Howard of Australia: We truly don't care who you want or don't want to be the President of the United States in 2008 or which party you like better. Many Americans who support and many who do not support … [Read more...] about Note To Australia’s Prime Minister: We Don’t CARE Who You Want
Time’s Joe Klein On Blogging: “The Elements Of Vile”
Time's Joe Klein is blogging here on the newsmagazine's Washington-beat "Swampland" blog and he is struck by the nastiness of blog posts and discussions. His comments are pegged to the mini-firestorm over John Edward's hiring of two progressive bloggers. His post should be read in full but he makes two excellent points to take up here. He notes how our political culture … [Read more...] about Time’s Joe Klein On Blogging: “The Elements Of Vile”
Sabato’s Crystal Ball: Scheduling Insanity
Why we are courting disaster in next year's presidential primaries February 8, 2007 - In 1968 the country had 14 state presidential primaries, scheduled rather sensibly and intermittently between March and June. In 2008 a minimum of 42 primaries will be held, possibly as many as 47, beginning in January, or even earlier, and stretching out for six long months. Even worse, … [Read more...] about Sabato’s Crystal Ball: Scheduling Insanity
The Cheney Notes
The New York Times spends attention to notes Dick Cheney wrote back in 1975: RETURNING to the White House after the Memorial Day weekend in 1975, the young aide Dick Cheney found himself handling a First Amendment showdown. The New York Times had published an article by Seymour M. Hersh about an espionage program, and the White House chief of staff, Donald H. Rumsfeld, was … [Read more...] about The Cheney Notes
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin Slams Bush
Vladimir Putin on George W. Bush('s foreign policy): Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday blamed U.S. policy for inciting other countries to seek nuclear weapons to defend themselves from an "almost uncontained use of military force" -- a stinging attack that underscored growing tensions between Washington and Moscow. [...] "One state, the United States, has … [Read more...] about Russia’s President Vladimir Putin Slams Bush
Australia’s PM John Howard Slams Obama
It seems that Australia's Prime Minister John Howard isn't exactly looking forward to a possible Obama Presidency: Australia's conservative prime minister slammed Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) on Sunday over his opposition to the Iraq war, a day after the first-term U.S. senator announced his intention to run for the White House in 2008. [...] Australian Prime … [Read more...] about Australia’s PM John Howard Slams Obama
Snippet du Jour
This snippet from UPI editor at large Arnaud de Borchgrave: At a farewell reception at Blair House for the retiring chief of protocol, Don Ensenat, who was President Bush's Yale roommate, the president shook hands with Washington Life magazine's Soroush Shehabi. "I'm the grandson of one of the late Shah's ministers," said Soroush, "and I simply want to say one U.S. bomb … [Read more...] about Snippet du Jour
Condi Rice Raps
More Doomsday Talk On Newspapers
This week there was yet another 'It's The End Of The World' comment on newspapers -- this from Arthur Sulzberger, owner, chairman and publisher of the New York Times:Given the constant erosion of the printed press, do you see the New York Times still being printed in five years? "I really don't know whether we'll be printing the Times in five years, and you know what? I … [Read more...] about More Doomsday Talk On Newspapers
Anna Nicole Smith At The Heaven’s Gate
Great Skills, but Twisted Intent – A Defeat of Campaign Reform
Fred Barnes writing in the Weekly Standard praises Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell's superior political skills: Mitch McConnell runs rings around Harry Reid. McConnell's first major venture in exploiting minority rights in the Senate came in 1994 when Democrats still had a majority. A campaign finance reform bill that would have imposed public financing on … [Read more...] about Great Skills, but Twisted Intent – A Defeat of Campaign Reform
Obama’s message(s)
So. He's in. Barack Obama’s theme — the underlying core message — is so radically different from what we’re used to hearing from politicians, I can’t help but respond to it. It’s a visceral reaction — a balm to a wound I didn’t even realize I had. Of course, how he intends to implement his visions are another matter. Health care, foreign policy, … [Read more...] about Obama’s message(s)
Plans for Strike Against Iran’s Nuclear Sites Well Advanced
The Guardian reports that "US preparations for an air strike against Iran are at an advanced stage." Sources told The Guardian's Ewen MacAskill that the military build-up in the Gulf allows "the U.S. to mount an attack by the spring. But the sources said that if there was an attack, it was more likely next year, just before Mr Bush leaves office." Neo-conservatives, … [Read more...] about Plans for Strike Against Iran’s Nuclear Sites Well Advanced
Who is Secular in the World Today?
Holly sent me this link yesterday. Go check it out for yourselves. From the website of Trinity College: WHO IS SECULAR IN THE WORLD TODAY? A Symposium A special pullout supplement to the Fall 2006 edition of Religion in the News (Volume 9, No. 2). It features nine articles contributed by international scholars on what it means to be "secular" in the world today. The pieces … [Read more...] about Who is Secular in the World Today?
Every Picture Tells a Story
Sometimes I come across a photograph that says it all. That is definitely the case with this great Spencer Platt shot taken in South Beirut on the first day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah last year. It simply knocked my socks off. Others also were impressed. The image has now won the 2007 World Press Photo award. … [Read more...] about Every Picture Tells a Story
“Barack the Vote”
In case you missed it, Senator Barack Obama officially announced his candidacy for president this morning from Springfield. It was a good speech; he did himself proud, and he got the crowd fired up on what looked like an awfully cold day out there. The line I liked best, and one I hadn't heard before, was about how it might seem rather presumptuous of him to announce for … [Read more...] about “Barack the Vote”
Anna Nicole Smith: Thanks For the Mammaries
I was going to blog on the passing of Anna Nicole Smith and the weighty subject of celebrity in America yesterday, but Will Bunch knocked me off my game with his powerful, tear-provoking piece about Jennifer Parcel, a 20-year-old Marine who bought the ranch in Iraq and most assuredly did not make the evening news. Celebrities arrive, depart and overdose with numbing … [Read more...] about Anna Nicole Smith: Thanks For the Mammaries
TMV’s Get A Life Club: “Tag” Endangers Schoolkids
We are pleased to announce a new member of The Moderate Voice's highly-exclusive "Get A Life Club." Inductees awarded these highly-coveted seats must show by their statements or actions an obsessively or hilarious dedication to political correctness or stunning nitpickiness. The latest person to receive a seat in this club is being awarded a lifetime membership and a sofa … [Read more...] about TMV’s Get A Life Club: “Tag” Endangers Schoolkids