The latest Zogby poll is good — and big — news for Republicans:Following an aggressive media blitz, the latest Zogby America poll finds the standing of President Bush and congressional Republicans climbing as the November elections rapidly approach. The telephone survey was conducted Sept. 12-14, 2006, included 1,034 respondents, and carries a margin of error of … [Read more...] about Good News For Republicans: Polls Show GOP Narrowing Congressional Vote Gap (UPDATED)

Is it really over for John Bolton at the U.N., as I reported -- hopefully, gleefully -- last Saturday? One would think so, given that his nomination, according to WaPo, "appears increasingly endangered in the Senate". But it ain't over yet. For it seems that the White House is "[exploring] other ways to keep him in the job after his temporary appointment expires in … [Read more...] about Bolton to the end

Muslim leaders have accused the Pope of attacking the Islamic faith after a speech earlier this week in which Benedict XVI referred to the concept of jihad, or holy war, says The Times. A statement issued by the Vatican last night to clarify what was meant and to apologise for causing offence appears only to have made things worse. Religious and political leaders from Turkey … [Read more...] about Pope On Islam : Muslim Communities Up In Arms!

Alright, it's time to give the Senate, including a few of its Republican members, some credit. Finally, it seems, that august body, a repository of deliberative democracy, is performing its constitutionally mandated role of checker and balancer of the executive branch, that is, of Bush. There's been an awful lot of kowtowing and rubber stamping over the past five years, with … [Read more...] about Checks, balances, and tribunals

(Click on the map to enlarge.) My post Iran, Iraq and the USA : A Big Question Mark? has received interesting comments that need to be tackled in a separate post for the simple reason that many people who read the posts do not bother to read the comments. These comments discuss the possibility of splitting up Iraq on ethnic basis, and so deserve serious notice. Let me give … [Read more...] about A Debate To Divide Iraq On Ethnic Basis

Yes, it looks "like prewar Iraq all over again," in the words of one former nuclear inspector. Republican Peter Hoekstra's House Intelligence Committee has issued a report claiming that "Iran is producing weapons-grade uranium at its facility in the town of Natanz". In a letter to Hoekstra, The Washington Post is reporting, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) called … [Read more...] about Gearing up for war with Iran

...in Afghanistan? … [Read more...] about So What IS Our Objective

"Voters Gone Wild" in 2006 Watch out, folks! As of Tuesday, party nomination contests are "primarily" over (save for three states), and what a primary season it has been. But the same emotion that has characterized the summer primary season--the most powerful emotion in politics--shows scant signs of ebbing as we enter the fall. There's a lot of anger on the campaign trail in … [Read more...] about Sabato’s Crystal Ball: ANGRY POLITICS

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has just made it harder for the White House and GOP strategists to suggest that only partisan Democrats oppose President George Bush's terrorist interrogation plan:Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday endorsed efforts by three Republican senators to block President Bush's plan to authorize harsh interrogations of terror … [Read more...] about Colin Powell Backs Effort To Block Bush Terrorist Plan (UPDATED)

A new James Bond. And a new (more serious) style: … [Read more...] about An Upcoming New James Bond Film

And so we welcome our latest, newest, co-blogger...."elrod." Elrod (he's lower case in his byline and on the masthead due to TMV's mistake in setting it up) is familiar to this site and others because he often leaves comments that read almost like blog posts because they are so thoughtful (or, some might argue they do NOT read like blog posts — because they are so … [Read more...] about A Commentor Becomes A Blogger

Two things: (1) If you are a BLOGGER and have tried to do a trackback to one of our posts and it is not showing up on this site PLEASE email TMV himself and let him know ASAP. We've gotten two complaints. We have NOT disabled our trackbacks. (2) TMV's own posts will be limited today due his returning to San Diego late after a 14 hour trip (driving, airport time and flying … [Read more...] about Note To Readers And Bloggers

This last week, two of the most prominent conservative editors, Rich Lowry of the National Review and William Kristol of the Weekly Standard, co-authored an important op-ed piece in the Washington Post, calling for an increased US troop presence in Iraq. Much of their logic was, in my opinion, quite sound. Namely: * The Iraqi army has been utterly useless by itself in … [Read more...] about The “More Troops in Iraq” Option considered

AP via MSNBC: WASHINGTON - Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, is expected to plead guilty as early as Friday to at least one criminal charge in an election-year congressional corruption investigation, Republican officials said Thursday night. Ney, who has close ties with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, has consistently denied all wrongdoing. He announced earlier this summer he would not … [Read more...] about Ney’s Doom is Nigh

This is my first proper post so I hope it goes without glitches! Anyway, a new Pew Poll came out today with lots of interesting data on the state of the electorate. The Pew Poll is quite respectable because it samples a large number of voters (1,500) and tends to keep the number of Democratic and Republican self-identifiers at close to even. This poll is no exception on that … [Read more...] about Electorate 50% more willing to vote against the President than in 1994

Kofi Annan has again demonstrated that the UN is indispensable for world peace, perhaps more so than the US. His diplomacy has delivered the first significant gains of the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon. If that fragile cessation sticks for some time, it will be because the UN imprimatur over the peacekeeping force is helping to allay Arab fear of Israeli power. At the … [Read more...] about The UN and the US are together for better or worse

Many newspapers (especially in India) have been reeling under the post-globalization developments --- advertorials, crass commercialization, embedded journalism, the vanishing line between the news and the advertisements, etc. --- And almost reconciling to the fact that the power centre has shifted from the Editor's office to the Management. Here comes a refreshing news that … [Read more...] about Chaitanya Kalbag : Ex-Reuters Journalist Creates Ripples In Indian Media

(Just another day in the life and death of Iraq XIII, part of our ongoing series at The Reaction.) I turn to the BBC for a report of yesterday's carnage in Baghdad: Iraqi police say they have found in the space of one day 60 bodies of people bound, tortured and shot in the capital, Baghdad. They were found all over the city, from Sunni areas in the west to Shia districts in … [Read more...] about An obstacle to peace: The nature and degree of Iraqi sectarianism

If you're not quite aware of the extent of the damage the Bush Administration and its legal underpinners intend to inflict on the United States before they're done, you ought to check out Glenn Greenwald's post from the other day on former Justice Dept. official and current Berkeley law professor John Yoo's views on the separation of powers in times of war and peace. Glenn … [Read more...] about The un-American constitutionalism of John Yoo

Here is the full transcript of the discussion on "Iran urges US to withdraw from Iraq" in The World Today (Thursday, 14 September, 2006) Reporter: Kim Landers ELEANOR HALL: Iran and Iraq have wrapped up two days of talks aimed at developing closer ties. The United States has frequently accused the Iranian regime of interfering in Iraqi politics and of fostering violence by … [Read more...] about Iran, Iraq and the USA : A Big Question Mark?