(Shaun has already posted his thoughts on Kerry. Here are mine.) John Kerry has announced that he will not run for president in '08. The Boston Globe has the story here. There isn't much I can add to what's already been written -- see Memeorandum here for reaction from around the blogosphere. All I wish to say is that I admire and respect Senator Kerry a great deal. … [Read more...] about Thoughts on John Kerry
What the silence says about New Orleans — and us
In Tuesday night's State of the Union address, Bush talked about a number of issues -- all of which are pressing and valid. Unfortunately, he was silent about the Gulf Coast, and New Orleans. Silence is sometimes its own sound, and in this case I'm worred -- no, sad -- that what it articulated was thunderous indifference from both the federal government, and the people it … [Read more...] about What the silence says about New Orleans — and us
The Tenacious Allure of Term Limits
Nelson Lee Walker is a retired engineer who has developed a passion for Congressional term limits, and he’s certainly not alone. His advocacy site lists more than a dozen other sites/organizations fighting the same fight. What’s more, despite the failure of the idea to gain traction, it has a healthy populist appeal for many voters. After all, if we can term limit the … [Read more...] about The Tenacious Allure of Term Limits
Putin Chief Guest At India’s Republic Day Parade
Although India became free of the British yoke on 15 August 1947, it declared itself a Democratic Republic on 26 January 1950. Ever since the occasion is marked with ceremonial pomp and display of India's military might and the cultural diversity. Last year, India invited the Saudi King to be the Chief Guest on the occasion of the Republic Day. Tomorrow the Russian President … [Read more...] about Putin Chief Guest At India’s Republic Day Parade
When DSL Is NG for the SOTUS By the POTUS
Tuesday was a tres frustrating day if you are a blogger, or at least for some of the folks such as myself who co-blog at The Moderate Voice. (That's TMV editor-in-chief Joe Gandelman at the left in the photograph. He's complaining about his hotel room not having high-speed Internet access. I'm on the far right trying to figure out what a moderate is.) Anyhow, most of you … [Read more...] about When DSL Is NG for the SOTUS By the POTUS
It’s Dick Cheney Versus CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: Who Is “Out Of Line?”
And here we all thought Vice President Dick Cheney was the Vice President of the United States...when his REAL job is editor and media critic. (Attention Jay Rosen: has the Veep approached you yet to be a coblogger on your GREAT media blog Press Think?) It seems that Mr. Cheney was on CNN's The Situation Room with veteran journalist Wolf Blitzer when Blitzer dared to ask … [Read more...] about It’s Dick Cheney Versus CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: Who Is “Out Of Line?”
8 Reasons To Hate Cats
From moderate cartoonist Tom Briscoe: P.S. Yours truly is the proud "guardian" of two cats (one of them was a feral kitten). … [Read more...] about 8 Reasons To Hate Cats
Poll: Bush’s State Of The Union Speech Helped Him
There's finally some good news for the White House and from what has become an unlikely quarter for good news: an opinion poll. A new polls suggests that President George Bush's less-partisan-than-usual State of the Union address went over well with many viewers:Americans who watched President Bush's State of the Union Address generally approve of the proposals he outlined, … [Read more...] about Poll: Bush’s State Of The Union Speech Helped Him
Creative information display
A "tag cloud" has been generated for the recent State of the Union Address by President George W. Bush. Tag clouds were originally created to indicate which tags used to label/categorize blog posts were used the most; it lists the words (or tags) used in different sizes, with the larger sizes for the most used tags. In this case, the larger words are the ones used more often … [Read more...] about Creative information display
Rape: A History
In a discussion on "chastity balls," Feministe has a great run-down on how rape has historically been conceptualized--specifically, as a property crime against the woman's husband or father. … [Read more...] about Rape: A History
Jim Borgmann Cartoon
A good political cartoon in the Cincinnati Enquirer today: … [Read more...] about Jim Borgmann Cartoon
Fox in Charge of the Hen House
Sudan is campaigning hard to become the next chair of the AU. This cannot be allowed to happen. … [Read more...] about Fox in Charge of the Hen House
Is Carter Beginning to Admit The Validity of Criticism?
His apology at Brandeis is a good first step. … [Read more...] about Is Carter Beginning to Admit The Validity of Criticism?
There Is a God: John Kerry Quits Race
John Kerry, who plucked defeat from the jaws of victory in the 2004 presidential campaign, has announced that he will not run again in 2008. Kerry was last in the news for unleashing an ill-timed firestorm of criticism just before the mid-term election by telling college students that they'll "get stuck in Iraq" if they don't work hard in school. He later issued the … [Read more...] about There Is a God: John Kerry Quits Race
Protecting Canada’s rainforest
I know Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government is turning its attention to the environment in anticipation of another federal election, perhaps one as early as this spring, and I realize it's doing so largely because Canadians consider the environment a key issue and because the new Liberal leader, Stéphane Dion, is a committed environmentalist, and, yes, … [Read more...] about Protecting Canada’s rainforest
What’s the matter with Bill Kristol?
Over at The Reaction, Heraclitus explains why he used to like Kristol and why now he can't stand him. Short explanation: Kristol used to present himself with irony and detachment, but he's reduced himself to cynical cheerleading for both Bush and the neoconservative worldview to which he is still so ideologically, and unreflexively, committed. You can find the full post … [Read more...] about What’s the matter with Bill Kristol?
So what about Iran?
(See my SOTU live-blog here for the play-by-play with commentary.) Bush didn't say much about Iran in his SOTU address. By my count, reading through the prepared text, he mentioned "Iran" five times. Four of those mentions concerned Iran's support for Hezbollah and Shiite elements in Iraq. The fifth mention was just this quasi-internationalist statement: "The United Nations … [Read more...] about So what about Iran?
Literary Quote of the Day: Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe (b. 1931) is one of the best writers in American journalism and literature. Known for his trademark white suit, Wolfe is the father of New Journalism, in which the tradition of dispassionate and balanced reporting was discarded for freer narrative writing. The most oustanding example of this is Wolfe's "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" (1968), an account of the … [Read more...] about Literary Quote of the Day: Tom Wolfe
Fusion Ticket 2008
The brand new publication "The Politico" starts its second day featuring a creative article Fusion Is the Ticket for 2008 that argues for the timeliness of a cross party ticket. There is a strong voter pull from the Center that a clever ticket could capitalize upon. This is the intention Unity08 There are lively arguments for and against this kind of approach. But it is … [Read more...] about Fusion Ticket 2008
Popi Bama
It seems that Barack Obama's website is quite popular, to say the least: Twelve percent of Internet surfers who visit www.senate.gov click to the freshman senator’s homepage, according to rankings on Alexa.com, which tracks website traffic. Obama’s site gets more hits than any other senator’s, and, much like his popularity, those hits have increased over the last … [Read more...] about Popi Bama