With President Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers not being greeted with particular enthusiasm from the right wing, is it possible that the Republican Party could lose the support of religious conservatives? By now no doubt you've read Joe's great coverage of the response from people of all political stripes and have noticed that there are a lot of folks on the right half of … [Read more...] about A Rebellion Brewing on the Right?

Just as he did on the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court, President George Bush has faked out many commentators and politicos on the left and right who had expected him to pick other candidates and named someone who was less expected: his former legal "pit bull" Harriet Miers:WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers to … [Read more...] about Bush’s Legal “Pit Bull” Miers Picked For Supreme Court (UPDATED ALL DAY)

What has been suspected for some time is now being formally acknowledged: former Mayor Rudy Giuliani says he's considering whether to run for President in 2008:COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Sunday he will contemplate next year whether to run for president in 2008. "I will be considering it next year," Giuliani said during a … [Read more...] about Giuliani Pondering Presidential Run

Just reminder (one we'll do every week) to explore the weblogs of our always independent co-bloggers. Each week we'll remind you to look at one of them (as we hope you do each day). Look at the CONTACT list in the left hand corner of the site and you'll see the listing of our co-bloggers. Our newest co-blogger is Canada's Michael Stickings, so we'll start at the bottom of the … [Read more...] about A Reminder To Readers

This is one of the most interesting stories I've come across in some time -- not least because of all the discussion surrounding Katrina, Rita, and the planned rebuilding of New Orleans and other areas along the Gulf Coast. Apparently, the Dutch (many of whom live in populous areas below sea level) are experimenting with amphibious houses that can float to accommodate rising … [Read more...] about Floating houses in the Netherlands

Remember that horrible bus accident on the evacuation route out of Houston just before Hurricane Rita hit, the one that killed 24 members of a Houston-area nursing home? Well, there's been another horrible accident involving seniors, this time in upstate New York: A tour boat carrying a group of senior citizens capsized and sank on an upstate New York lake Sunday, killing 20 … [Read more...] about Boat accident in upstate New York kills 20

Speaking of Germany, did you know that this weekend witnessed the World Championship in Beards and Moustaches in Berlin? … [Read more...] about That’s a whole lotta facial hair

Germany still hasn't sorted out the results of last month's federal election. (For some background and live blogging the day of, see here, here, here, and here.) Preliminary results from the postponed election in one of Dresden's districts show Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats ahead of Gerhard Schroeder's Socialists (SPD), but coalition negotiations will continue next week … [Read more...] about Democracy in Deutschland (the drama continues)

If one uses race as a proxy for something else, can one really call themselves "color-blind"? … [Read more...] about Speaking of Race

Did you know THIS? … [Read more...] about It’s True….

...Calvinball player extraordinaire? … [Read more...] about Representative Tom DeLay…

...let's never forget the things that really matter. … [Read more...] about And Amid The Political Controversies….

Think Progress has a tidbit that, if true, could completely change the dynamics of the last three years of President George Bush's term — and note that we said "if" true:Near the end of a round table discussion on ABC’s This Week, George Stephanopoulos dropped this bomb:Definitely a political problem but I wonder, George Will, do you think it’s a manageable one for … [Read more...] about The Next New Big Development In Plamegate Is….?

There's the old saying "one step forward and two steps back" and it would appear that's the bottom line for President George Bush in a new Newsweek poll that has some good and bad news for him. The good news, according to Newsweek. At the height of Katrina Bush apparently hit his "floor" on polling, and he's now rebounding. The bad news: even party faithful are now having … [Read more...] about Newsweek Poll: Good News And Bad News For Bush

On a lighter note, it seems that massaging pigs may actually help to reduce stress. No kidding. It sounds like a wonderful idea (no sarcasm). … [Read more...] about The promised land for pigs

Last week, I wrote two posts on last weekend's anti-war rally in Washington. In the first one, I withheld commentary but declared that "it's good to see such political passion every now and then". In the second one, I noted, via Christopher Hitchens, that the rally was organized by two extremist groups, one of which, International ANSWER, has expressed support for some of the … [Read more...] about How to make Republicans: The extremism of the anti-war movement

TMV's posts will start a bit later today — after 7 a.m. PST. Keep checking back, though, since our always-independent cobloggers may have something to say before then and may have a lot to say during the day. Stay tuned! And check back! … [Read more...] about Posts Will Start A Bit Later Today

Click here for my analysis of the Bill Bennett story. Here's an update on the response from the White House and Capitol Hill: Congressional Democrats blasted former Education Secretary William Bennett on Thursday for saying that aborting "every black baby in this country" would reduce the crime rate, and demanded their Republican counterparts do the same. "This is precisely … [Read more...] about The Bill Bennett fiasco (update)

Breaking news: A string of blasts on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Saturday killed at least 24 people and wounded about 95 others, hospital officials said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told CNN it appeared the blasts were "the work of terrorists"... The blasts happened in Jimbaran and Kuta, the top tourist spots on the island, and Natalegawa said … [Read more...] about TERRORISM IN BALI

...try this. … [Read more...] about If You Have Nothing Better To Do Today….