President George Bush's poll numbers have gone down in yet another poll — perhaps an indication of his further loss of part of his party's base:President Bush's job approval ratings have slumped in the latest USA TODAY/Gallup poll, with the president's rating hovering near the lowest of his tenure. In the poll, taken Thursday through Sunday, 33% of Americans approve of … [Read more...] about Another Poll Shows Bush’s Post-Election Popularity Sag

Columnist Robert Novak has written a blistering column lambasting Congressional Republicans for wanting to in effect leave the Congressional leadership intact. If you look at the context it is not surprising. After an initial soul-searching that seemed to last some 24 hours, some Republicans have already resumed attack mode against Democrats (suggesting that because Al Qaeda … [Read more...] about Novak: The Republican Party As “Stupid Party”

The meetings are now becoming more high-profile as the date approaches when a potentially policy-changing report is released:President Bush, after meeting Monday with a bipartisan group seeking consensus on a new approach for the war in Iraq, said "I'm not going to prejudge" the report the panel soon will issue. "I'm not sure what the report is going to say. I look forward to … [Read more...] about Bush Meets With Bipartisan Group On Iraq War

The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz wonders how long the Democrats' honeymoon with the press will last — a significant question, although it seems a bit early, given that so far the post-election honeymoon has been less than a week. He also raises the tantalizing question of whether liberal commentators and bloggers could find themselves morphed a bit into conservative … [Read more...] about How Long Will The Democrats’ Press Honeymoon Last?

Just a few questions...how do we capitalize on this win, divide the country and make a hell of a lot of money in the process? Anybody? Thoughts? Click the pic for the story from TIME. … [Read more...] about TIME Says Centrism Is Cool

Lullaby Pit looks at Karl Rove, and whether Rove began to believe his publicity, that he's a genius. LP writes:I have said it before, and the GOP catastrophe last Tuesday won't stop me from saying it again: Karl Rove is a feckin' genius. He's easily one of the smartest men to ever slither into Washington, and the fact that's he's almost pure evil doesn't mitigate his … [Read more...] about Has Karl Rove Fallen Into “The Genius Trap?”

Tom Watson offers his take on the election, Republicans, Democrats and the meaning of Ned Lamont's challenge to re-elected Senator Joe Lieberman. Part of it:There's a myth out there a-growin' that this historic election of 2006 pushed the Democratic Party "back to the center," that the big winners were Democratic "conservatives," that Americans will only elect right-leaning … [Read more...] about The Myth About The 2006 Election

Links from weblogs of varying viewpoints 4 U. CAUTION: This is only for those who believe reading differing ideas won't give you brain cancer. Bad Environmental News: Carbon emissions are rising faster than expected. The Booman Tribune has some thoughts. So What's Press Bigwig Rupert Murdoch's Game? Is he planning to move left in 2008? Can Democratic Promises To Take A … [Read more...] about Around The ‘Sphere Nov. 13, 2006

He's now the longest living American President. … [Read more...] about Former President Gerald Ford Hits A Milestone

Surprised? Didn't think so. Still, a recent editorial from Chafee reveals that when Bush was President elect in December 2000, his administration was planning to turn the government into a partisan battleground. I take a closer look here. … [Read more...] about Chafee Confirms Bush Never Wanted To Unite

NOS Journaal reports that Carl Levin said in This Week that the Democrats want US troops to gradually withdraw from Iraq... starting within 4 - 6 months time (from now). As NOS Journaal notes, Levin is likely to become chairman of the Armed Services Committee in US Senate in January 07. I wonder whether I missed this in American media, because I cannot remember reading … [Read more...] about Cut’n and Run’n

Prominent members of the political party the PvdA say that the party's leader Wouter Bos is making a terrible mistake by focusing too much on the CDA. Margreeth de Boer and Joop van den Berg say that Wouter Bos assumed early on already that the elections will result in a PvdA - CDA coalition and that as such, the CDA being led by Prime-Ministed Jan Peter Balkenende, would adopt … [Read more...] about The War of the Roses

I am almost done reading Benjamin Franklin Unmasked: On the Unity of His Moral, Religious, and Political Thought by Jerry Weinberger. Weinberger carefully examined one of the most interesting 'founding fathers' of the United States and delivered a more than fascinating result with Benjamin Franklin Unmasked. Franklin is - perhaps - the most mysterious founding father: when … [Read more...] about Benjamin Franklin Unmasked

Incredibly scary. Be sure to watch this (all three trailers) to the end...if you dare: … [Read more...] about Some Truly Terrifying Horror Movies

The question that was first being whispered isn't being whispered anymore. Now it's being asked. How could the man called "Bush's [political] Brain" go overnight from being the man Bush called "The Architect" due his design and construction of political victories to someone who turn out to be The Dismantler of the Reagan coalition? For months Bush & Co went on the … [Read more...] about How Karl Rove Went From Being ‘The Architect” To The Dismantler

The Shia leaders of Iraq have found a great way to alienate the Sunni population: It did not take long for Col. Brian D. Jones to begin to have doubts about the new Iraqi commander. The commander, Brig. Gen. Shakir Hulail Hussein al-Kaabi, was chosen this summer by the Shiite-led government in Baghdad to lead the Iraqi Army’s Fifth Division in Diyala Province. Within weeks, … [Read more...] about Sunnis Persecuted

The New York Times reports that the new class - new Democrats in Washington - are not inspired by ideologies, but by populism: Many in the class of 2006, especially those who delivered the new Democratic majorities by winning Republican seats, show little appetite for that kind of ideological crusade. But in interviews with nearly half of them this week, the freshmen — 41 in … [Read more...] about Welcome Class of 2006

Entrepreneurs continue (trying) to improve the Internet: From the billions of documents that form the World Wide Web and the links that weave them together, computer scientists and a growing collection of start-up companies are finding new ways to mine human intelligence. Their goal is to add a layer of meaning on top of the existing Web that would make it less of a catalog … [Read more...] about The New Internet Revolution

There is a myth surrounding famous Dutch painter Rembrandt: that he secretly converted to Judaism. Was the Dutch 17th century master Rembrandt, a Jew? In the last of a series of exhibitions marking the artist's 400th birthday, the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam sets out to examine the myth of the painter's Jewish links.The answer: no. The exhibition mercilessly … [Read more...] about Rembrandt Jewish?

From the wonderful song parody group The Capitol Steps: Springtime For Liberals Old Man Rumsfeld (sung before the firing resignation) If you haven't heard the Capitol Steps they take potshots at both sides. So if you don't like a phrase in a song, remember they go after everyone. Note that the first song is sung from the perspective of conservatives; the second one from … [Read more...] about The Songs They’re Singing In Washington