While real life hero and heroines rarely find a proper place in our media, we have a strange fascination in making pygmies on the political stage appear larger than life in newspapers/TV channels/blogs. Here I am talking about a New Zealander and an American woman who have become legends in their lifetime. This week, a middle-aged man from New Zealand called Mark Inglis … [Read more...] about Everest Saga: Of A New Zealander Hero and An American Heroine

...then think again. … [Read more...] about If You Thought The Bush Administration Couldn’t Make Relations With Congress Worse

It turns out Iran isn't quite there (yet): Canadian newspaper apologized Wednesday for an article that said Iran planned to force Jews and other religious minorities to wear distinctive clothing to distinguish themselves from Muslims.... The story, which included tough anti-Iran comments, was picked up widely by Web sites and by other media. "Is Iran turning into the new Nazi … [Read more...] about Newspaper Apologizes For Report About Iran Pondering Religious Colored Clothing

From investigative reporter Andy Borowitz:HOFFA TAUNTS U.S. IN NEW VIDEO Late Teamster Boss Twits FBI For Failing to Find Him Late Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa appeared in a new video broadcast worldwide today in which he taunted the Federal Bureau of Investigation for failing to find him in their recent search for his remains. For the FBI, whose credibility as the nation’s … [Read more...] about This Just In (Jimmy Hoffa Watch)

Creative, indeed... … [Read more...] about A Creative Solution To Local Government Budget Shortfalls

It truly looks as if President George Bush is proving to be a "uniter, not a divider":The constitutional clash pitting Congress against the executive branch escalated Wednesday as the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House demanded the immediate return of materials seized by federal agents when they searched the office of a House member who is under investigation in a … [Read more...] about Both House Leaders Demand Seized Papers Be Returned

TMV is writing this from Phoenix, AZ. Yes, his car part finally came in and so his days of being stranded in the mountains of Eastern Arizona a few hours from the New Mexico border ended. And...wait...who's that? It's me. You called on me and asked me to help you and I did. You mean... Yes. Me. But, Joe, why is it you only call on me for things such as car repairs, making … [Read more...] about Pat Robertson Isn’t The Only One Who Talks To HIM

Hoffa cupcakes. … [Read more...] about A Tempting New Dessert 4 U

ABC News' The Blotter: The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert, is under investigation by the FBI, which is seeking to determine his role in an ongoing public corruption probe into members of Congress, ABC News has learned from high level government sources. Federal officials say the information implicating Hastert was developed from convicted lobbyists who … [Read more...] about FBI Investigating Denny Hastert

TMV is going to get unstranded soon. But this means he may have to do the all day, all night drive back to his San Diego home base from the mountains of Eastern Arizona. He may not be able to post today at all. But keep checking back because the always-independent co-bloggers may have some things to say. … [Read more...] about TMV May Finally Leave AZ

For a look at "the Bush administration's failure to plan for the formation of the new Iraqi police force soon after the fall of Saddam in 2003," see here. For those of us who initially supported the war, this is a bitter, bitter disappointment. I may have been excessively naive at the time, but I (yes, even I) was willing to give Bush the benefit of the doubt and thought he'd … [Read more...] about A cascading series of misjudgments

Over at The Reaction, where my co-bloggers are filling in for me while I'm on vacation (hence not much posting here at TMV), The (liberal) Girl Next Door responds to the latest news from Iraq, notably Blair's call for a British troop withdrawal, and wonders if the mission has been accomplished... again. See here. … [Read more...] about Mission Accomplished again?

And so the latest bit of hard news in the sad, sad tale of the demise of the once-great Knight-Ridder newspaper chain hit the wires today:PHILADELPHIA May 23, 2006 (AP)— McClatchy Co. is selling The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News for $562 million to a group of local investors who hope to reverse circulation declines by emphasizing local news and doing … [Read more...] about The Fall Of Knight-Ridder: Publishing Tragedy Or Darth Vader Victim?

Yesterday we did this post about bipartisan and particularly Republican Congressional outrage due to an FBI search of a Democratic lawmaker's office. The New York Times now has a report that echoes some of the observations and predictions we made in that post and others on this site. What's new: a top Republican leader personally expressed his ire to President George Bush … [Read more...] about White House VS Congressional GOPers On FBI Raid

Hotline On Call has the full text of former president Clinton's speech at Cooper Union's commencement today. Quite an interesting and - if I may say so - good speech. Some excerpts follow: "Too often in the past twenty-five years our elections and political discourse have been marked by the triumph of personal attacks, baseless or irrelevant assertions, and blind ideology over … [Read more...] about Clinton Talks Like a Centrist at Cooper Union

It looks as if ABC News bigwigs scoped the landscape — and third place ratings — and decided they needed to have one, big journalistic gun to compete with NBC's Brian 'Williams and CBS-to-be's Katie Couric in the evening newscast anchor wars:ABC News has named Charles Gibson to be sole anchor of "World News Tonight." "Charlie Gibson is one of the most distinguished … [Read more...] about ABC Names Charles Gibson Sole World News Tonight Anchor

I'm too sick to comment on it, but this article on Al Gore's political prospects is truly fascinating. … [Read more...] about Al Gore for President?

Once again the administration has stepped into a political buzzsaw involving issues of separation of powers. And, it now turns out, the government reportedly knew that this raid was indeed unprecedented — which suggests bipartisan concerns over this not being separation-of-power as usual have some foundation. The Washington Post reports: An unusual FBI raid of a … [Read more...] about FBI’s Raid On Lawmaker’s Office Questioned By Both Parties

Kurtz Media Notes Monday: Rove "Scoop" Remains Exclusive Robert Luskin, Karl Rove's lawyer, says he spent most of the day on May 12 taking his cat to the veterinarian and having a technician fix his computer at home. He was stunned, therefore, when journalists started calling to ask about an online report that he had spent half the day at his law office, negotiating with … [Read more...] about UPDATED AND MOVED UP: Truthout‘s Story on Karl Rove

Studs Terkel and friends have sued AT&T over NSA wiretapping. AP via CNN: CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- A lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of author Studs Terkel and others seeks to stop AT&T from giving customer phone records to the National Security Agency without a court order. The plaintiffs, who also include a doctor and a state lawmaker, said they rely on … [Read more...] about Go Studs Go!