Is it going to be the same 'ol same 'ol with a Palestinian leader -- or is it for real this time: RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday ordered Palestinian security forces to stop attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis. The move comes after a Palestinian attack Thursday on the Gaza-Israel border that killed six Israeli … [Read more...] about New Palestinian President: Lip Service Or A Real Change?

Last year the country was shocked and stunned by an unprecedented sight on television: Janet Jackson's breast reveal during the Supertime half-time show. The only thing worse would have been a breast reveal by American Idol's Ruben Studdard. The FCC clamped down, warning that it would pursue a draconian fine policy....Howard Stern was targeted...his stations were told they … [Read more...] about Stemming A TV Threat Worse Than Janet Jackson’s Breast Reveal

When President George Bush is inaugurated into his second term this week, the Washington Post reminds us, it's also going to mark the solidification of the fact that the Bush family is now one of the most successfully political dynasties in American history. It notes that the Bushes haven't been stylesetters and if Bush had lost in November the family's standing could have … [Read more...] about The Bushes: Now The U.S.’s Leading Political Dynasty

On April 4, 1968 I was an Amity High School senior, sitting up in my room in Woodbridge, Connecticut writing a history term paper on conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. I was then, as now, a news junkie so I had the radio tuned to WCBS News Radio in New York City. Suddenly, that awful CBS bulletin sound came on. The news: Dr. Martin Luther … [Read more...] about Dr. Martin Luther King: January 15, 1929- April 4, 1968

Our posts will resume Monday morning. We put the one on below by mistake and will leave it there. Tomorrow is the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a pivotal figure to us and we want to spend a bit of time tonight reflecting -- and writing. So there will be a special post on that here tomorrow. We'll also be doing an Around The 'Sphere weblog roundup of … [Read more...] about Note To Readers:

CBS Dan Rather may face some consequences after all because the CBS bigwigs are seemingly inching towards a neat, corporate-face saving (they hope) alternative to letting him resume a high-profile career after the independent panel's blistering Memogate report: by canceling 60 Minutes Wednesday out from under him. This would be a quintessentially corporate way of ending a … [Read more...] about Is Dan Rather On The Verge Of Being Indirectly Fired?

The Watcher of Weasles Council has selected this post we did on CBS's Memogate report and Dan Rather as its winning council post. And we say Thank Yew! The other post that won the most votes in the non-council category is this post by Varifrank, "Today, I Was Unprofessional." It is ABSOLUTELY MUST READING -- dealing with the tsunami and U.S. response to it. Food for … [Read more...] about Weasle Watchers Select Moderate Voice Post On Dan Rather

The Royal Family is trying to do damage control on Prince Harry....and the VERY LATEST NEWS is that the Prince will  " make a private personal apology to the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth for wearing a Nazi costume with the swastika armband to a friend's fancy dress party." England's Prince Harry has been in a fix: being … [Read more...] about They’re Not Wild About Harry

At first we thought this game was about what Democratic candidates for President should do with Bob Shrum's recommendations for their campaigns. It apparently isn't (but it seems close). … [Read more...] about This Is Fun…

This ruling against an atheist who wanted to ban George Bush putting his hand on a Bible and a prayer at the January 20th inauguration did not come as any surprise -- since if the atheist was right our former U.S. Presidents were ignoramuses:An atheist who tried to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance lost a bid Friday to bar the saying of a Christian … [Read more...] about Judge Nixes Atheist’s Attempt To Ban Prayer At GWB Inaugration

Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist is apparently rapidly failing, according to this report in the New York Post -- setting the scene for a massive battle within the sadly not-to-distant future over his seat on the court. This doesn't sound like someone who's going to be on the court for another year or two:January 14, 2005 -- WASHINGTON — One of the most … [Read more...] about A Supreme Court Chief Justice Draws Closer

This cartoon plus a ton more dealing with  Memogate can be found at RatherBiased.com   … [Read more...] about

https://themoderatevoice.com/1839/

The Wall Street Journal reports the Howard Dean campaign paid two bloggers to hype their campaign -- but when you read this report it's clear that compared to the conservative commentator who took money from the Bush administration to hype its programs this is a case of apples and oranges. Why? Because the Journal report -- which truly seems framed to draw as close a parallel … [Read more...] about Dean Campaign Paid Two Bloggers — Apples & Oranges

Since early last night due to some apparent problems on Typepad we could not post on this site. We could not even log in. Our regular posting will resume today. We will be doing some postings soon and others will appear throughout the day today as usual. Thanks for your patience! … [Read more...] about We Could Not Post Due to Technical Difficulties

And I won't use the joke about "They drink in moderation" (since it's probably not true, especially given the polarization in this country these days). But moderates and centrists ARE around...and if you want to meet some in the New England area, here's this news from Rick Heller at Centerfield which we will run in full: Here is a chance to meet your fellow … [Read more...] about Yes…There ARE Moderates…And They Do Get Together

The Democrats are digging in their heels on Social Security, writes the New Republic's Ryan Lizza, but  perhaps another way of looking at it is that this just one more sign of  this administration's failure in the once-cherished art of developing bipartisan support via coalition building.Whether going it largely alone is by choice or due to Democratic … [Read more...] about Social Security: Another Failure In Coalition Building

Bravo to Michele Malkin for taking a firm, unbending, principled stand against the news that commentator Armstrong Williams got a nice, big fat paycheck from the Bush administration to shill its education programs (a fact we would not have known about had not USA Today reported it). We have to add this: Some months ago we lost a reader who was furious because we have Malkin … [Read more...] about Michele Malkin: There Are NO EXCUSES For Armstrong Williams

Did you ever want to create tasteful book covers? If you do, you might not want to copy these. And if your artistry is PLASTIC SURGERY, definitely don't duplicate this... Or you can just make sure you don't duplicate bad art. … [Read more...] about Sometimes Art Stinks

Ever have something happen where you just wanted to scream? (You're right, Howard, I do remember when you...) Well, I just learned that my laptop computer, gifted to me by my sister Nona Gandelman, is totally dead. It was virtually new but the freaky failure would cost more to fix than to buy a new one (and I never have the cash on hand to make replacement easy). Alas, The … [Read more...] about Laptop Is Totally Broken: I Could Scream

Democrats can start winning again: Bob Shrum is retiring:Bob Shrum, one of the dominant Democratic political strategists and speechwriters of the last three decades, said Wednesday that he was ending his formal consulting career and moving to New York, where he would write and teach at New York University as a senior fellow. "I wanted to reflect on what I've done, not … [Read more...] about BIG POLITICAL NEWS: