What is the meaning of tradition? Why is it viewed as something unchanging, when in reality tradition is a fluid, contested, and variable concept? … [Read more...] about The River Is Eternal, The Water Never Stops Flowing

Some thoughts on learning from others about race and racism. … [Read more...] about The Teacher and The Student

The Washington Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to the state's anti-gay marriage law, the latest in a string of setbacks for the marriage equality movement. I've got a round-up at my site, but the post proper focuses on a separate issue: why is it considered problematic when a judge appears to use her personal beliefs to strike down a statute, but not when a judge uses … [Read more...] about Washington Gay Marriage Decision

Maariv via Daily Alert: Assessment: Nasrallah is in the Iranian Embassy in Beirut - Ben Caspit. The latest intelligence assessment in Israel is that Nasrallah is hiding in the basement of the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. Even though there is no final determination, more and more Israeli officials are pointing at the Iranian Embassy, which is under Iranian sovereignty and … [Read more...] about Nasrallah’s Reputed Whereabouts

1) From the U.S.: "A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds 37% of Americans approving of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 59% disapproving." Bush's approval rating "seems to have reached a plateau in the 37% to 40% range since mid-June". 2) From the U.K.: "Britain should take a much more robust and independent approach to the United States, according to a … [Read more...] about Bush and Blair: A tale of two polls

Larry J. Sabato's CRYSTAL BALL: The Israeli-Hezbollah war in the Middle East has become this summer's obsession, and rightly so. The dangers of a wider war are ever present, and no story is equal to the misery of armed conflict in the world's tinderbox. Nonetheless, one wishes that the television media could walk and chew gum simultaneously. Loads of important stories, like … [Read more...] about Sabato’s Crystal Ball: The Mideast War and the Midterm Elections

Not always... … [Read more...] about Legal Depositions Are Always Orderly, Right?

It's always fun to watch a candidate seemingly self-destruct in an election year:Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's Senate campaign acknowledged yesterday that he was the anonymous candidate quoted by a Washington Post political reporter as saying that being a Republican was like wearing a "scarlet letter" and that he did not want President Bush to campaign for him this … [Read more...] about Mystery Of GOPer Who Blasted GOP Is Solved

Here's the great singer/songwriter Carole King performing a song she wrote that should be adopted as California's official state song: … [Read more...] about Great Musical Moment: Carole King

Updating a recent post on "the green light" the U.S. has apparently given Israel to weaken Hezbollah, Fox News is reporting this: The United States has given Israeli forces between 10 and 14 days to finish dealing Hezbollah "a strategic blow," a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official told FOX News, as both Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas continued to volley rockets … [Read more...] about Israel’s window of opportunity to weaken Hezbollah (UPDATE)

The Washington Post, along with other major news outlets, is reporting that four U.N. observers have been killed in an Israeli airstrike: An Israeli airstrike hit a United Nations post in southern Lebanon late Tuesday, killing four international observers, hours after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to lift Israel's 14-day blockade of Lebanon for shipments of humanitarian aid … [Read more...] about Four U.N. observers killed in Israeli airstrike

Sean Aqui has some suggestions... More here. … [Read more...] about How To Elect Moderates

Today I participated in an hour-long NJDC-sponsored conference call with US Representative Steve Israel (Democrat, NY-02). Other participants included Jeff Hauser and Rebecca Murow of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), Judith Weiss & Van Wallach from Kesher Talk, Mik Moore from Jspot, Irina Tsukerman from The J Blogosphere, David Honig from The Daily Pulse, … [Read more...] about UPDATED: Conference Call with Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY)

Find out what Florida Representative Robert Wexler likes to do with Cocaine and Prostitutes, as told to Stephen Colbert. Obviously, it was a joke, and a very funny one at that. And much kudos to the Representative for being a good sport (that he's unopposed for re-election probably helps). … [Read more...] about “It’s The Fun Thing To Do”

There's been some building momentum in recent weeks on the redistricting reform front, and I've been behind the eight-ball, for which I must apologize. Here are some recent developments: - Back on July 18, Reps. John Tanner (D-TN), Zach Wamp (R-TN) and other supporters of the Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act held a news conference in response to the Supreme … [Read more...] about Redistricting Watch: National Updates

Young Israelis are dying in south Lebanon, while their families huddle in shelters, to fulfill Condi Rice’s vision stated in Jerusalem of creating a “New Middle Eastâ€?. With each passing hour, the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict is turning into a proxy war between the United States and Iran. It is worth remembering that this war is about the safety of innocent Israeli … [Read more...] about Israelis are dying for America?

Human Rights Watch--a rare example of an international NGO that I truly do respect (which isn't the same as agreeing with them on every point)--has a very good overview of the international law as it applies to the Israel/Lebanon conflict. … [Read more...] about The Status of the Law

JerusalemOnline.com- July 24, 2006 Shalom, www.JerusalemOnline.com presents: Israeli PM Ehud Olmert addresses Israel's supporters. To watch the video – go to www.JerusalemOnline.co.il/4Israel.asp This is a "must see" Video, and it is super important that as many people around the world watch it. We are in the middle of a war, not only in Lebanon and Gaza, but in the Media … [Read more...] about Israeli PM Olmert Addresses Supporters in English

Thank you for your warm welcome, kind words and comments on my first post. I hope to make honest contributions to our collective TMV ideals. I have traveled to many countries and covered numerous United Nations Conferences, G7/G8 Summits, European Union and NATO meetings. My goal in requesting entry into TMV was to present views I cannot openly state as a reporter or analyst … [Read more...] about To the TMV community of cobloggers

Uh, oh. Tony Snow — whose ascension as White House press secretary seemed to us to be an improvement (a professional journalist, someone who could speak in declarative sentences, someone who would be candid but choose his words carefully)has committed the cardinal sin: He has made life HARDER for his boss(es) due to his poor choice of words. Either they were a poor … [Read more...] about Tony Snow’s Big OOPS