From the Economist An interesting, no fascinating article over at the Economist. The key question: 'Is the Republican Party in danger of shrinking to its southern base?'The Republicans are now engaged in a fierce debate about the meaning of last month's mid-term defeat. Was there anything more to their loss of both chambers of Congress than the six-year itch and an unpopular … [Read more...] about The Party of the South

">U.S. Prison Population Sets Record Who knows the exact percent of people in jail for personal use, but whatever it is is far too large. I think prison should be focused on predators. It seems like a better use of our resources to legalize pot and tax the hell out of it. Then the taxes can subsidize the enforcement. … [Read more...] about Half in Prison for Nonviolent Drug Possession

As all of you will have noticed by now, changes are coming (and have already come) to The Moderate Voice. Three new co-bloggers joined us during the last week or so: Shaun, Paul and now Polimom. Joe already mentioned that he is working on other major changes the coming 14 months if I remember correctly. Anyway, I wanted to publish a special post myself (since I do not any … [Read more...] about Changes

How one can be partially right... while at the same portraying an unbelievable refusal to take responsibility for failure. I agree with Krauthammer that the political climate Iraq and the weak Maliki play an important role in today's situation in the country, but there are more causes. The Bush administration handled the 'aftermath' of the actual war in a terrible manner. In … [Read more...] about The Realists, The Bush Doctrine and Failure

Good news brought to us by the British Broadcast Corporation:A Dutch court has sentenced four militant Islamists to prison for planning terror attacks on politicians and the Dutch intelligence service. Samir Azzouz, 20, was sentenced to eight years while three others received terms of between three and four years. Some of the group were alleged to have links to the … [Read more...] about ByeBye

I received this unsolicited email today, and got so inspired I sent Planned Parenthood a donation. "The purpose of No Room for Contraception is to expose the harms of contraception on marriage, society and women's health. Both pro-choice and pro-life forces know that the end to legal abortion is coming soon, and many think that we should turn to contraception to decrease the … [Read more...] about The Role of Contraception in Increasing Abortion

TMV happily and smilingly welcomes our newest co-blogger Polimom. TMV is smiling because Polimom is perhaps one of the best moderate writers on the Internet — and, in fact, TMV would say one of the best in any medium. She has her own blog and describes herself as "conservatively liberal, moderately well-educated, and highly opinionated." For a while she wrote a great … [Read more...] about We Happily Welcome Our Latest Co-Blogger

The Ragsly Reader:I'm not feelin' football anymore. I'm not feelin' it. There are no more consistent powerhouses like the The Cowboys of Aikmen, Irvin, and Smith. There are no longer teams like the old Giants of LT, Banks, Bavaro and Simms — a team that brought me to my knees in happy tears when, in the NFC championship of '91, they beat the mighty 49ers of Montana, … [Read more...] about “Fumbling Football”?

A majority of Americans think so, but what does that really mean? I have more here. … [Read more...] about A Civil War In Iraq?

Editor's Note: This was run late yesterday afternoon. Since the writer was a reporter in Vietnam, we're re-running this today out of its normal order. There ARE newer posts below this, so please keep scrolling. Parallels between the wars in Iraq and Vietnam are back in vogue these days. People who believe that there is no light at the end of the tunnel in Iraq already are … [Read more...] about Is Iraq Vietnam? Yes, No & Maybe So

THIS JUST IN from investigative reporter Andy Borowitz:Bush: US Committed to Finding New Synonyms for Civil War Launches Operation Noble Euphemism President George W. Bush said today that he would not allow a civil war in Iraq to erupt on his watch, and said that in order to prevent that from happening the United States would aggressively search for new synonyms for the phrase … [Read more...] about This Just In!

It's curiouser and curiouser....or is it?British intelligence sources increasingly suspect that Alexander Litvinenko, the former spy killed with a radioactive poison, was the victim of a plot involving "rogue elements" within the Russian state, the Guardian has learned. While ruling out any official involvement by Vladimir Putin's government, investigators believe that only … [Read more...] about British Believe Litvinenko Was Murdered By “Russian Rogue Agents”

From Cox & Forkum: … [Read more...] about Backsliding

In his new book, Barack Obama offers some advice on how contemporary advocates for racial justice should make their case. … [Read more...] about Rhetorical Reverse

Is there a learning curve for the GOP after an election in which they lost moderate, centrists and independents nearly as fast as Michael Richards lost fans? Nope:While they still can, House Republicans are looking at scheduling a vote next week on a fetal pain abortion bill in a parting shot at incoming majority Democrats and a last bid for loyalty from the GOP's base of … [Read more...] about “Hey, Let’s Polarize Again — Just For Old Times’ Sake!”

Global warming has finally made it to the highest court in the land. Sort of. While the Bush Administration, supported by the usual suspects from the automotive industry (as well as Michigan and eight other states), is claiming that the EPA has no authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions (specifically as a pollutant from new motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act), 12 … [Read more...] about Global warming at the Supreme Court

You decide. … [Read more...] about Journalistic Oversight Or Smear?

If the U.S. withdraws from Iraq, Saudi Arabia will intervene to protect Iraqi Sunnis, wrote Nawaf Obaid, an advisor to the Saudi government, in yesterday's WaPo: "If it does, one of the first consequences will be massive Saudi intervention to stop Iranian-backed Shiite militias from butchering Iraqi Sunnis." Cheney, who was in Saudi Arabia over the weekend and who is perhaps … [Read more...] about Reality according to the Saudis

In February, less than six months after Katrina and Rita hit, FEMA began transitioning from short- to long-term housing assistance for victims of the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. The notification process was confused, information changed from week to week, and people simply were not able to navigate the red tape. By April, when FEMA declared that some clearly uninhabitable homes … [Read more...] about FEMA ordered to resume payments

It is not being politically biased to read this and say: it certainly does sound like "stay the course":Bush sought to pre-empt the growing clamor to withdraw the more than 140,000 U.S. troops stationed in Iraq, which has been fueled by the November Congressional elections and the expected conclusions of a high-level commission headed by former Secretary of State James C. Baker … [Read more...] about Bush Rejects Key Baker Commission Idea Before He Gets It