Or is she neither?Ethics question of the day: Is it right to do something you know is wrong, perhaps even illegal, for the sake of a greater good? Mary McCarthy at the CIA leaks highly classified information on a sensitive topic that compromises both the United States and some key allies. She clearly broke the law. It will make future espionage deals with foreign capitals more … [Read more...] about Is Mary McCarthy A Traitor Or A Patriot?

Lawrence Kaplan has no idea what college kids (or at least Carleton College kids) think about Iraq and Darfur. … [Read more...] about Kids These Days (Darfur Edition)

I'll second the question asked by Greg Mathis and Spencer Overton: Why is it that drugs with "White faces" (e.g., Meth) seem to be met with treatment plans, while those with "Black faces" (e.g., Crack) get met with draconian punishment? … [Read more...] about Zero-Sum Compassion

The Los Angeles Times has a great piece about how skyrocketing gas prices are making GOPers gloomier than ever. And it includes this tantalizing suggestion: In the interest of maintaining party unity, President George Bush should become President Moe.The situation may call for Bush to step in and demand more party unity from Republican lawmakers, who have increasingly kept … [Read more...] about GOP Party Unity: Should President Bush Become President Moe?

BBC: Three explosions have been reported in the Egyptian resort town of Dahab, on the east side of the Sinai peninsula. Police said there were casualties in the blasts, according to the Associated Press news agency. They said more than 20 ambulances and police cars were rushing to the el-Masbat area of the city, AP said. "There is smoke coming from the area and there are … [Read more...] about UPDATED: More Bombings in the Sinai

And wouldn't you know it, the issue is one of the smallest we've ever seen...sort of. More here. … [Read more...] about Democrats Find A Wedge Issue

From Time's Mike Allen: "So the White House is now on a survival footing, and Bolten is essentially planning a six-month campaign that will not only prevent a Republican hemorrhage in the fall but might even produce accomplishments for Bush in his lame-duck years." The plan: Deploy guns and badges (referring to a tough policy on illegal immigration); make Wall Street happy … [Read more...] about Bolten to the rescue?

For my fellow Big Love fans out there (or for those of you who just don't get it or who dislike it or are even repulsed by it without even giving it a chance), here's an interesting analysis of a key theme by William Saletan at Slate. He's right, more or less, yet I wonder if he quite grasps the show's intentional irony. The show is immensely entertaining, but beneath the … [Read more...] about Jealousy and polygamy

Well, there's another bin Laden tape. Maybe: A newly broadcast audiotape believed to be from Osama bin Laden slams the West for cutting off funds to the Palestinian Hamas-led government and calls on al Qaeda followers to fight a proposed international force in Sudan. In the tape, aired Sunday in part on Arabic-language TV network Al-Jazeera, the speaker repeatedly blasts a … [Read more...] about Bin Laden on tape, Canada at war

Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports in the New York Times that Democratic candidates across the country are preparing campaign strategies which highlight their support for embryonic stem-cell research. The issue has "cropped up in Senate races in Maryland and Missouri, and in House races in California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin, especially … [Read more...] about Time to Pass Stem Cell Legislation

In an op ed piece in the Washington Post, historian and former JFK advisor Arthur Schlesinger Jr. looks at President George W. Bush's remaining 1,000 days in office....and is concerned about what he sees. He notes the rumors of a preventive war against Iran and writes this:The issue of preventive war as a presidential prerogative is hardly new. In February 1848 Rep. Abraham … [Read more...] about George Bush And Preventive War: More To Come?

Did it give you bad vibes as it did him? … [Read more...] about Osama Bin Laden’s Latest Message

Then here are some examples. … [Read more...] about Want To See A Pulitzer Prize Winning Cartoonist’s Work?

Should this be kept in mind? … [Read more...] about On The Generals Defending Donald Rumsfeld

Some warn that it is. … [Read more...] about Is The Internet As We Know It At Risk?

Can you call it "All Right, Not All Right"? Taylor Marsh discusses (and we're sure the Bush administration would disagree). … [Read more...] about So What’s The New Leaking Game?

And is it a good thing that prices are going up? More here. … [Read more...] about How Much Would You Pay For Gas?

The Netherlands needs a refresher course on what the word "citizen" means. … [Read more...] about Sub-Citizenship

Is it just me, or does Cardinal Martini's statement on condom use sound suspiciously like Abstinence Plus education? … [Read more...] about I’ve Heard This Policy Before

Hu is reaching out to the Vatican -- which has implications for the U.S. and Taiwan. … [Read more...] about The Vatican, China’s Hu and Taiwan