One of the biggest caricatures of the critical left is that it is relentlessly partisan and believes that any conservative is a racist. To be sure, some of the responses regarding the Malkin case aren't doing much for the left (check out the battle in Ampersand's comments), but in general, I think this is something conservatives say without backing up. The prevailing … [Read more...] about Oh No! A Needle is Coming Right at My Stereotype Balloon!

CQ Weekly's Shawn Zeller has the interesting story. By tradition, elder statesmen are decorous showpieces, trotted out for reunions or legislative anniversaries. But 76-year-old Pete McCloskey, a liberal Republican House member from California from 1967 through 1982, and Lewis H. Butler an assistant secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the Nixon administration, have … [Read more...] about Republicans Come Out Against DeLay

Is Great Britain about to face a long, drawn out battle involving homegrown terrorists -- the equivilent of an Islamic "insurgancy" within its borders? According to the Independent, intelligence chiefs are warning Tony Blair that he should brace himself for a long term problem not due to outside forces as much as an inside insurgency:Intelligence chiefs are warning Tony Blair … [Read more...] about Does Great Britain Face An Insurgency From Within?

You'd think that the one thing the British government would not be doing would be wasting spending its time pondering whether PC labels could help battle terrorism on its soil -- but think again:THE Government is proposing to rename ethnic minority groups along US lines in an attempt to strengthen and highlight their British roots. Minorities could be described as, for example … [Read more...] about British Government Proposes PC Labels In War Against Terrorism

Guess who's near the top of the request list for books among prisoners at Guantanamo:Lori, who for two years has overseen the detention center's library, said J.K. Rowling's tales about the boy wizard are on top of the request list for the camp's 520 al Qaeda and Taliban suspects, followed by Agatha Christie whodunits. "We've got a few who are kind of hooked on it. A … [Read more...] about Terrorist suspects at Guantanamo love Harry Potter

Over at The Reaction, I address a recent post by Mark Schmitt (i.e., The Decembrist) on whether or not the Democrats should emulate the Republicans in terms of party unity (specifically, the unity-enforcement strategies of Grover Norquist and the Club for Growth). Some on the left have long argued that the Democrats need to mirror the Republicans and enforce ideological … [Read more...] about The Norquist model: How important is party unity?

Peter Jennings, the Canadian native who succeeded on his second try to become ABC News' main news anchor — and the last major "big three" permanent network anchor who came to prominence during the print-media-influenced 20th century — is dead. The culprit: the lung cancer that he had courageously announced on the air four months ago — leading him to choose … [Read more...] about ABC’s Peter Jennings Is Dead

Today TMV returns to home base San Diego after nearly two weeks performing at and staying at various cities in Wyoming and Montana. This post is being written from Salt Lake City, Utah. Due to the travel schedule his own blogging may be relatively light today. But this site's co-bloggers may have some things to say. So stay tuned (and check back often!). … [Read more...] about TMV Returns To Home Base Today

Continuing the theme set in my condemnation of liberal attacks on conservative minorities, I take a critical view on the way liberals see conservative minorities, and why I think their perspective is valuable precisely because they are conservative minorities. It's a story of liberal hypocrisy, conservative blindness, and a fair bit of post-modern babble thrown in. If you're … [Read more...] about Burying the “Uncle Tom”: How Ought Conservative Minorities Be Evaluated?

I still consider myself a moderate liberal. Because of this position, I often disagree with the folks who share my liberalism but are farther to the left than I am. But it is a rare day when I am actually ashamed to be part of the same party as these people. I do not like Michelle Malkin. But nobody deserves to be victim of these sorts of attacks--least of all from the … [Read more...] about Crude Assault

Scientists are working on a way to breed them faster... … [Read more...] about Just What We Need: More Lawyers

What do you do when you were a world-famous heavyweight boxing champion, a millionaire and now you're neither and need cash? If you're Mike Tyson you consider a career change — even this. Tyson wants to do on the screen to co-stars what some of his business associates did to him. … [Read more...] about Mike Tyson IS Considering A Career Change

Bull Moose thinks so. … [Read more...] about Should Bob Novak Consider A Career Change?

The drip-drip-drip on the Plame/Rove scandal involving the naming of a CIA official continues with Murray Waas' piece in American Prospect that raises the possibility that the source jailed journalist Judith Miller is protecting is an aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, raising overall doubts about the White House's stance on this case:I. Lewis “Scooterâ€? Libby, the chief of … [Read more...] about Was This Judith Miller’s Source In The Plame Case?

Salman Rushdie, long a marked man for his book "The Satanic Verses" which earned him a death sentence under a fatwa, argues in the Washington Post that Islam must be reformed — and Great Britain's reliance on domestic Muslim allies is flawed: When Sir Iqbal Sacranie, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, admitted that "our own children" had perpetrated the July 7 London … [Read more...] about Islam Needs A Revolution

An editor of mine used to say that if someone comes up to you and says "I've got a story that'll bust this town wide open!" it's time to go out and get a huge chunk of salt. It's time to rev up the car and go to the grocery store. The reason: there are new revelations centering on what are said to be until-now-not-revealed transcripts involving tapes purportedly made by the … [Read more...] about Marilyn Monroe Transcripts Don’t Pass The Confirmation Test

Due to a tight morning schedule and an afternoon travel schedule TMV may be posting a bit less than usual today. He will try to do some in the afternoon before his trip from Big Piney, WY to Salt Lake City, Utah. But keep checking back since our co-blogger may have some things to say. NOTE: You may notice that we sometimes move up posts that have appeared on this site after … [Read more...] about Light(er) Blogging By TMV Today

According to Newsweek, Bush's approval rating on Iraq is down to 34 percent -- his disapproval rating is 61 percent. It's the lowest it's ever been. In addition: "50 percent of those polled say the United States is losing ground in its efforts to establish security and democracy in Iraq; just 40 percent say the U.S. is making progress there." I'm not one to place too much … [Read more...] about Ouch! Bush’s approval numbers continue to slide

Cross-posted at The Reaction. As oil and gas prices continue to soar (here in Toronto, regular unleaded is fast approaching $1.00/liter — which is a lot, trust me), as King Abdullah assumes the reins (and the reign) in Riyadh, as Iraq comes to look more and more like a quagmire from which there will be no easy withdrawal, and as terrorism continues to dominate the front … [Read more...] about A relationship of mutual dependence: The United States and Saudi Arabia

If having any history of violent extremism is our redline, then we all fail. … [Read more...] about What Does It Mean To Be a “Religion of Peace” Anyway?