Our neverending new war

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Simon Tisdall: War on Iran is the new nightmare
Is Iran next after Iraq? Iranians have good reason to wonder as the Bush administration refines bellicose plans for "regime change" in Baghdad. If George Bush can seriously contemplate an all-out invasion of the next-door neighbours, then Tehran's theocrats must ask what Washington has in store for them. After all, they meet Bush's fatuous "rogue state" criteria with ease.

An interesting theory.

Independent Argument Now, I might well have joined the protests – an attack on Iraq seems ill-advised for all the well-rehearsed reasons – but for one thing. I just do not believe that well-publicised US preparations for attacking Iraq are anything other than an elaborate feint on the part of the Bush administration, in likely collusion with the British government. Its purpose is to neutralise the threat from Iraq without the use of miilitary force.
The whole edifice rests on the premise, more readily accepted in Europe than in the US, that the Bush administration is a gun-toting bully, ready to use force at the slightest provocation. While the belligerent language used by Mr Bush and his senior defence officials fosters that image, the reality is different. Mr Bush displayed extreme caution before ordering US forces into Afghanistan. The operation was mounted only after careful planning and its primary aim was not to remove the Taleban, but to catch those responsible for 11 September. Contingency plans were in place for the event that the Taleban fell and for the capture of Kabul, but only through the Northern Alliance forces.

Dana Carvey -- The Peter Scolari of the New Century.

And you thought it was hot where you live.

97 Injured in Md. Amtrak Crash (washingtonpost.com) Moments before the accident, the engineer told officials, he saw track that had heaved to the side, Amtrak sources said last night. Extreme heat sometimes can cause such a condition, which railroaders call "heat kink." The temperature in the region at the time of the accident was recorded at 96 degrees.

"We know it's possible with continuous welded rail," said Carol Carmody, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, which dispatched investigators to the scene. She said heat can cause "a slight mishap or buckling." It could take months for the panel to identify the cause of the accident.

Not quite --

Instapundit notes sarcastically

Instapundit.com: GEORGE W. BUSH is 5.41 percent smarter than he was this morning.

Isn't he? Because when the market went down, he suddenly became dumber. Or so I recall.

No, the market going down simply threw his stupidity into sharp relief.

Train Derailment near DC

Amtrak Passenger Train Derails in Md. (washingtonpost.com) A Montgomery County fire department spokesman said an Amtrak train derailed in Kensington about 2:15 this afternoon.

The spokesman said six passenger cars are on their sides.

The accident occured in the 4100 block of Plyers Mill Road, near Connecticut Avenue, a major commuter thoroughfare.

Has Micky Kaus posted anything refuting this New York Times story yet?

Is this racist or just not funny?

You can tell that we are at war from our President's actions.

Salon.com News | Bush readies for month-long vacation President Bush looked to sharpen his golf game Sunday in advance of a long weekend in Maine, where he typically hits the links with his famously competitive father.

For the second day in a row, Bush was heading to the golf course, undaunted by a forecast of a 99 degree high and heavy humidity. Bush also golfed Saturday with three Republican House members.

"I'm just trying to get out of the house," the president said. His playing partners Sunday were a club pro and a couple of White House aides.

Bush starts a month-long vacation Friday in Kennebunkport, Maine, returning to Washington briefly for his annual physical examination before going to his Texas ranch.

The United States -- Subcontracting Torture

US ships Al Qaeda suspects to Arab states | csmonitor.com In the war on terror, the US is careful to show how fairly it's treating the hundreds of orange-suited Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters locked behind the razor-wire of the US base at Guantanamo, Cuba. But what the US isn't trumpeting is a quiet practice of shipping key Al Qaeda suspects to the Middle East for interrogation.

Link via Instapundit.

I don'tthink I'm on this list.

You mean, we might need a reason to go to war?

Some Top Military Brass Favor Status Quo in Iraq (washingtonpost.com) Despite President Bush's repeated bellicose statements about Iraq, many senior U.S. military officers contend that President Saddam Hussein poses no immediate threat and that the United States should continue its policy of containment rather than invade Iraq to force a change of leadership in Baghdad.

The conclusion, which is based in part on intelligence assessments of the state of Hussein's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and his missile delivery capabilities, is increasing tensions in the administration over Iraqi policy.

Is this not also terrorism? Withdraw from the West Bank NOW!

Girl Shot by Jewish Settlers, Palestinians Say Jewish settlers shot dead a Palestinian girl during a rampage in the West Bank city of Hebron on Sunday after the funeral of an Israeli soldier killed in a roadside ambush, Palestinian witnesses said.

Palestinian medical sources said nine Palestinians were wounded by gunfire.

The violence flared as the United States said it planned talks with Palestinian officials on security reforms and Israel pledged to ease hardships on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Palestinian witnesses said about 100 settlers attacked Palestinian houses in the old city and eastern Hebron, setting fires, breaking doors and windows and firing at houses.

I'm a winner!

Madeline Begun Kane has a humor/politics blog. She just ran a contest to come up with a funny explanation of the acronym TIPS. I am proud to say that while I did not place in the top 5, I did have two honorable mentions. Please visit her site and chuckle appropriately. Madeline, I await my cash and prizes.

I was very excited to hear that you could cut off a parent's head, freeze it, and store it for centuries. Then I found out that they have to be dead first. Damn.

Yes, I have a sick sense of humor.

From the "You can't make this up" file

You've probably already heard this, but I feel compelled to repeat it: The House voted 420-1 to expel Jim Traficant. The one vote: Gary Condit. I shit you not.

Vice President Cheney consults with the Administration's new corporate fraud SWAT team.

Joe Conason on the Post's endorsement of Right-Wing Judge Priscilla Owen

Salon.com News | Joe Conason's Journal Post backs Priscilla
Predictably, the editorialists at the Washington Post have endorsed the confirmation of Priscilla Owen. The Post’s habit of lining up with the Federalist Society dates back to its long love affair with Ken Starr, the man who saved the paper from a major libel judgment and taught the Grahams how helpful a right-wing jurist can be.

Thanks

I've now passed 2,000 hits. Thanks to all of my faithful readers. Now if only
1) I got more comments; and
2) I could figure out a way to make money off this thing.
Oh, well.

Good article from the Guardian

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Jonathan Freedland: How Bush could lose It's not that voters think the current economic mess is literally the fault of Bush or the Republicans (though incumbents always get punished for a slump). It's that Americans don't have any confidence in them to do anything about it. Too many believe Bush and his administration are part of the problem, rather than the solution. As the New York Times puts it: "Bush himself is a product of the cowboy end of the Sunbelt economy," while most of his team look like 19th-hole buddies of the WorldCom crowd. His army secretary is a former Enron executive, while the SEC - the body probing Cheney - is led by the one-time lawyer of the accountancy industry.

Bush has only confirmed that impression when he's tried to dispel it. When he addressed Wall Street executives this month, he showed none of the outrage millions of Americans feel. He condemned corporate "fudging of the numbers" - far too mild a phrase for what most believe is grand larceny on an unprecedented scale. Not that anyone knows what he should say: all the old Republican remedies, especially any move towards deregulation, is only likely to make matters worse. The result is that the markets are not reassured by the president's repeated interventions.

Oh yeah, The Washington Post is soooooooo liberal (one in an occasional series)

The Owen Nomination (washingtonpost.com) Justice Owen was one of President Bush's initial crop of 11 appeals court nominees, sent to the Senate in May of last year. Of these, only three have been confirmed so far, and six have not even had the courtesy of a hearing. The fact that President Clinton's nominees were subjected to similar mistreatment does not excuse it. In Justice Owen's case, the long wait has produced no great surprise. She is still a conservative. And that is still not a good reason to vote her down.

Andrew Sullivan -- Distorting History

In attempt to lionize both Presidents Bush, Andrew Sullivan writes "43 inherited a seriously delinquent anti-terrorism policy, in which his predecessor's feckless national security apparatus had left the United States vulnerable to the worst slaughter of American citizens in history. W didn't do enough immediately to rectify this, but he has performed superbly since on the matter." Actually, Bush did exactly nothing to improve our anti-terrorism apparatus prior to September 11. Indeed, as we all now know, Ashcroft actually de-emphasized anti-terrorism efforts in the Justice Department. Sully shouldn't pretend that Bush came in to office committed to anti-terrorism efforts. Congratulating him on his efforts after September 11 is fine, if you think he's done a good job, but it's simply wrong to paint Bush as a seer who saw farther than his contemporaries.

Huh?

Instapundit seems a little confused:

Instapundit.com: WE KEEP HEARING ABOUT HOW JOHN ASHCROFT IS THREATENING CIVIL LIBERTY, but here's another case of censorship by a University against someone it doesn't like. American University should be ashamed.

Yes, AU should be ashamed. But that doesn't mean that Ashcroft isn't threatening our civil liberties. What I.P. has written implies that the one precludes the other. I don't think he believes that. I hope not.

Jonah Watch, 2002

Yesterday, Jonah Goldberg (editor of National Review Online, for those who don’t know) wrote the following:

Tomorrow I will be making my annual peregrination to the YAF National Conservative Student Conference.

Something about the word “peregrination” seemed hinky to me. To quote The Princess Bride “ I do not think it means what you think it means.”
It turns out that I was right. According to dictionary.com, it means “A traveling from place to place; a wandering.” The following examples are given:

He ventures out in his pajamas and makes a dreamlike peregrination through the town's deserted streets.
--Richard Eder, "Puck-ish Ramblings in Midsummer Dreams," New York Times, May 18, 2000

In 1890, Lafcadio Hearn settled in Japan after a lifetime of restless, melancholy peregrination.
--Francine Prose, "Modern Geisha," New York Times, April 23, 2000

He left Parma in the family camper-van, abandoning it in a Milan car-park to avoid its being identified at border controls before setting off on a peregrination through Switzerland, France, London, Canada, New York and eventually back to London.
--Paddy Agnew, "Incident leads to crime that has baffled police," Irish Times, December 12, 1998

It thus seems to me that Jonah’s use of peregrination is incorrect. One does not peregrinate to anyplace, one peregrinates through a place.
Why do I care? Well, 1) it gives me something to write about, and 2) hey, he’s being paid to do this. The least he could do is look up the big words he uses.

The more I hear from and about Vermont Governor Howard Dean, the more I like him. He's not as far to the left as I would like, but he's not scared to campaign on important issues, like repealing the tax cut and expanding health coverage. But the real question I have for any Democratic candidate for President is -- Do you have the guts to win?
If there's one thing we learned from Bubba, it's that a Democrat can win, but he (or she) has to be as ruthless as the opposition. I like Gore, but he wimped out in the recount. Do you think Clinton would have let Bush roll over him in Florida. No way.
In fact, other than Carter, Democrats have won the Presidency since 1932 only when they weren't afraid to play hard ball -- to do whatever it took to get elected. Think about FDR, Truman, LBJ, and JFK. They would all do anything to get elected. They knew that there are no rewards for playing nice and being a gentleman.
Gore may be the man to get the White House back. He did actually win the election, after all. But I'm going to support whoever can win.

She can't really be saying this, can she?

Here's Anne Coulter praising Phyllis Schlafly:

What the feminists lacked in linear thinking, they made up for in viciousness, control of the media and Hollywood glitz. As Schlafly said, feminists had "the movie star money and we have the voters." With an army of women behind her, Schlafly defeated the ERA, beating both political parties, two presidents, the Senate, the House and a slew of Hollywood celebrities.

Well, that's fine, she can praise whomever she wants. But she goes on to say:

Soon feminists took up the issue of girl-firemen, demanding to know what possible arguments there were, pray tell, for women not to be firemen. (A short list: their inability to pick up the hose, their tendency to cry and panic when confronted with dangerous situations, the effect on families whose homes are on fire when they open the door and see the female equivalent of Michael Dukakis in a tank.)

Uh, gee, Anne, we've seen a lot of that since we let women become firefighters. (I'll post more on this soon.)

The "It's Clinton's Fault" Lie

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: OPINION: COLUMN: John Brummett I submit that the Republicans stand an actual chance of turning the corporate scandals on Democrats. I so submit only because I respect Republicans for their demonstrated ability to peddle hokum.

Never will I underestimate the political salesmanship of those who convince a significant number of Americans that deep tax cuts stimulate the economy and result in surpluses, not deficits; that taxes on fortunate children inheriting millions are "death" taxes; that subsidizing the drug and insurance industries amounts to a Medicare prescription drug benefit; and that foreclosing a patient's ability to sue his HMO somehow grants that patient a bill of rights.

But if the Republicans pull this off, and if the Democrats let them, then we will have witnessed the greatest partisan political feat of a generation.

Withdraw Now!

israelinsider: Views: Spreading the secret One of the best-kept secrets in Israel is that most Israelis are fed up with the occupation, and just want to get out.

According to June's findings by Mina Zemach, Israel's foremost pollster, 63% of Israelis are in favor of "unilateral withdrawal." In fact, 69% call for the evacuation of "all" or "most of" the settlements.

Mina's numbers are corroborated by everybody else: The Peace Index of Tel-Aviv University's Tami Steinmetz Center found that 65% of Israelis "are prepared to evacuate the settlements under a unilateral separation program".

A poll commissioned by Peace Now a month earlier revealed that 59% of Israelis support immediate evacuation of most settlements, followed by a unilateral withdrawal of the army from the occupied territories.

Read this! Frank Rich's trenchant analysis of the Administration.

The Road to Perdition Though the fate of John Walker Lindh was once a national obsession, its resolution couldn't knock Wall Street from the top of the evening news this week. Neither could the president's White House lawn rollout of his homeland security master plan. When John Ashcroft, in full quiver, told Congress that the country was dotted with Al Qaeda sleeper cells "waiting to strike again," he commanded less media attention than Ted Williams's corpse.

What riveted Americans instead was the spectacle of numbers tumbling as the president gave two speeches telling us help was on the way. For his first pitch, he appeared against a blue background emblazoned with the repeated legend "Corporate Responsibility." Next came a red backdrop, with "Strengthening Our Economy" as the double-vision-inducing slogan. What will be strike three— black-and-white stripes and "Dick Cheney Is Not a Crook"? Maybe this rah-rah technique helped boost the numbers back when George W. Bush was head cheerleader in prep school. But he's not at Andover anymore. Where his father's rhetoric gave us a thousand points of light, his lopped a thousand points off the Dow.

So you're saying there's a chance.

PageSix.com: Celebrity News Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton have called it quits, ending one of Tinseltown's most bizarre marriages.

The New Republic Online: Funny Business

The New Republic Online: Funny Business In reality, both Bush and Cheney were lousy businessmen. Their rise through the corporate ranks had nothing to do with financial or management acumen--and everything to do with cronyism and a gift for exploiting their insider status. By now, we're all familiar with the sad tale of how young W. had to have Poppy's friends bail him out of his spectacularly failed career as an oilman. And as not one, but two, columns in yesterday's New York Times op-ed page helpfully reminded us, it was family connections and political conflicts of interest that allowed him to buy and run the Texas Rangers baseball club. Now, as the story of Halliburton unfolds, it looks as though Cheney's much ballyhooed (and obscenely compensated) performance as CEO was largely a matter of smoke, mirrors, and cooked books. Far from a business whiz, Cheney was at best an average company steward, at worst an incompetent one.

At least he knows his limitations.

President Bush conducted a whole press conference with President Kwasniewski of Poland without trying to say "Kwasniewski." W. introduced him as "my friend, the President of Poland." Read a transcript here.

As far as I can tell, that would be none.

The Corner on National Review Online MAGAW RESIGNS [Dave Kopel]
Transportation Security Administration head John Magaw has just resigned, due in part to MSNBC's exposure of failures and coverups at the TSA. The resignation offers President Bush an opportunity to demand of the TSA the same kind of accountability he is demanding of private corporations, and to appoint a leader who will improve security rather than build a bureaucracy.

From the Missouri Code of Professional Conduct:

RULE 3.6 TRIAL PUBLICITY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(a) A lawyer shall not make an extrajudicial statement that a reasonable person would expect to be disseminated by means of public communication if the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that it will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding.

(b) A statement referred to in paragraph (a) ordinarily is likely to have such an effect when it refers to a civil matter triable to a jury, a criminal matter, or any other proceeding that could result in incarceration, and the statement relates to:

(1) the character, credibility, reputation or criminal record of a party, suspect in a criminal investigation or witness, or the identity of a witness, or the expected testimony of a party or witness;

(2) in a criminal case or proceeding that could result in incarceration, the possibility of a plea of guilty to the offense or the existence or contents of any confession, admission, or statement given by a defendant or suspect or that person's refusal or failure to make a statement;

(3) the performance or results of any examination or test or the refusal or failure of a person to submit to an examination or test, or the identity or nature of physical evidence expected to be presented;

(4) any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of a defendant or suspect in a criminal case or proceeding that could result in incarceration;

(5) information the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is likely to be inadmissible as evidence in a trial and would if disclosed create substantial risk of prejudicing an impartial trial; or

(6) the fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime, unless there is included therein a statement explaining that the charge is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

(c) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b)(1-5), a lawyer involved in the investigation or litigation of a matter may state without elaboration:

(1) the general nature of the claim or defense;

(2) the information contained in a public record;

(3) that an investigation of the matter is in progress, including the general scope of the investigation, the offense or claim or defense involved and, except when prohibited by law, the identity of the persons involved;

(4) the scheduling or result of any step in litigation;

(5) a request for assistance in obtaining evidence and information necessary thereto;

(6) a warning of danger concerning the behavior of a person involved, when there is reason to believe that there exists the likelihood of substantial harm to an individual or to the public interest; and

(7) in a criminal case:

(i) the identity, residence, occupation and family status of the accused;

(ii) if the accused has not been apprehended, information necessary to aid in apprehension of that person;

(iii) the fact, time and place of the arrest; and


(iv) the identity of investigating and arresting officers or agencies and the length of the investigation.

Next, I'll see what Ashcroft actually said.

I wonder if Ashcroft's comments about John Walker Lindh amounted to a violation of the Rules of Professional Responsibility or other relevant codes and regulations. I know that the constraints on what a prosecutor can say in public are greater than those on regular attorneys. I'll get back to you. While I'm thinking, read Richard Cohen's column about what a preening shmo Ashcroft is.

What a surprise!

House Panel Finds Congressman Guilty of Ethics Violations A defiant Representative James A. Traficant Jr. was found guilty by a House panel today of ethics violations arising from his recent conviction on bribery, fraud and tax-evasion charges.

The honeymoon would seem to be just about over.

Here's a salient paragraph from a New York Times story:

Poll Finds Concerns That Bush Is Overly Influenced by Business Two-thirds of all respondents, and slightly more than half of Republicans, said business interests had too much influence on the Republican Party. Slightly less than half of all those polled said business exerted too much influence over the Democrats. Many Americans also expressed concerns that Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney had not been sufficiently forthcoming about their own past business dealings.

But wait, there's more:"Asked whether Mr. Bush was telling the truth about his dealings at Harken Energy, an oil company where he was a director and consultant from 1986 to 1993, 48 percent of those surveyed said that they believed Mr. Bush was hiding something; another 9 percent said they thought he was mostly lying. Seventeen percent said they believed that Mr. Bush was telling the entire truth."

A conservative decries the "It was Clinton" spin.

The Project for Conservative Reform It is a sign of Republican desperation that the GOP echo chamber is now blaming Clinton for the corporate crime wave.

Whatever his deficiencies, Clinton appointed a tough SEC Chairman and vetoed legislation that bailed out auditors and corporations from investor suits. The GOP is now having a death bed conversion to corporate responsibility as they fear that control over the House will slip from their grasp.

Republican Family Values

Hi, we're the Bush Girls. Our father was arrested for DWI, our Uncle Neil was involved in S&L fraud, our cousin is in jail, and we've been arrested for under-age drinking. It's a good thing our Grandma and Grandpa were such good parents!

Mazel Tov, MaxSpeak

Super-Blogger Max Sawicky is quoted in today's Post:

Bush Resists Taking New Economic Steps (washingtonpost.com) But some liberals say Bush could pay a political penalty if he does not take aggressive action to stimulate the economy with more spending.

"Greenspan's saying just sit and ride it out," said Max B. Sawicky of the Economic Policy Institute. "Since the '90s, we have 3 million people off the job rolls. They're the ones riding it out."

I guess it helps to actually know what you are talking about.

President Bush models his new Suit of Corporate Responsibility.

Jonah Watch 2002

In the National Review's The Corner collaborative weblog, Jonah Goldberg, writes this about a McCain run for President in 2004:

THE MCCAIN BANDWAGON [Jonah Goldberg]
Anyway, I doubt McCain will run against Bush. One reason, albeit not a major one, is that there are a lot fewer Republicans who'd be willing to sign up with McCain this time around. It's one thing to work for the "maverick" when it's an open primary, it's another to challenge the sitting president. More important, I think "it's likely" we will be at war with Iraq around then and McCain won't challenge a wartime president.

I guess it really is out in the open on the right that the timing of an Iraqi campaign is entirely based on domestic political considerations. And they said Clinton wagged the ol' doggy.

Cynicism on the Right -- Podhoretz fils calls for Bush to wag pooch.

NYPOST.COM Post Opinion: OCT. SURPRISE, PLEASE By JOHN PODHORETZYou're in some domestic political trouble, Mr. President. You need to change the subject. You have the biggest subject-changer of all at your disposal. Use it.

More glad tidings

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | On the edge of a precipice The underlying problem is that since the mid-1990s, share prices are up by 200% but corporate profits - as measured by sober government statisticians rather than dodgy auditors - have risen by 40%. It is conceivable that Greenspan would have to cut, cut and cut again before Wall Street responded. Even then (and assuming there is no invasion of Iraq to complicate matters), there is a risk that the easing of policy will simply lead to a re-run of this year - a short-lived burst of euphoria followed by the realisation that companies cannot produce the earnings expected of them. Greenspan and Bush would then be in an even worse quandary than they are now, having used up nearly all the shots in their locker. Meanwhile, Europe and Japan - heavily dependent on a US recovery to keep their economies ticking over - would be faced with the prospect of deep, prolonged recession.

If this sounds gloomy, that's because it is. It would be the most critical moment for the global economy since the 1930s. There would, however, be one silver lining: people would ask how we got into this mess in the first place. The answer is that policy makers, dazzled by Cramer, Glassman and their friends in the financial markets, deliberately removed the brake pedal from global capitalism. And, as any engineer knows, the brake pedal is what allows the machine to travel safely at speed. Without it there are only two speeds - dangerously fast and dead slow.

No shit, sherlock.

Greenspan: Economy Resilient but Wounds Linger (washingtonpost.com) "Financial markets have been notably skittish of late and business managers remain decidedly cautious," Greenspan said.

This just in from Olympus...

Tapped notes:

Tapped is glad that the Post finally decided to profile Paul Sarbanes. But we found this sentence from the piece more than a little bit odd:
In an interview Friday in his Senate office, decorated with busts of fellow Greeks Zeus and Socrates, Sarbanes lampooned his media-shy image while taking credit for hearings last winter that shaped the consensus for today's vote even though they drew little attention at the time.

Should we take this as meaning that the Post thinks Zeus actually existed or exists? That certainly casts the paper's coverage of the Pledge of Allegiance issue in a different light....

Actually, whether Zeus exists or existed, he was not Greek. He was a God -- an entirely different species. After all, products of mating between Gods and Humans are demi-gods, who are neither completely divine nor completely mortal. Zeus is no more Greek than Secretariat was American. If I was the ruler of Olympus, I would be mightily pissed off. Watch out, Tapped.

Maybe he should stop trying to reassure people.

Wall Street Downdraft Continues (washingtonpost.com) Wall Street roared into reverse again this morning, backing over President Bush as he tried futilely to talk up the economy.
While the president was on television promoting his optimistic outlook a different picture crawled across the bottom of the screen, showing the Dow Jones industrials heading toward its first six-day losing streak since January and the Standard & Poors 500 stock index sinking below 900 for the first time since 1997.
Shortly after 2:20 p.m., the Dow was off 378 points (over 4 percent) to 8,305; the Nasdaq had fallen 47 (more than 3 percent) to 1,326 and the S&P was at 883, after losing 38 points (more than 4 percent).

I was explaining to my almost-seven-year-old niece that it's okay to make fun of the President. That got me to talking about how I wanted Al Gore to win, but, even though he got more votes, he did not become President. She asked me to explain how that could happen-- but before I could we were interrupted. Which was a good thing. I think trying to explain the electoral college to a second-grader is a daunting task.

Thanks, Avedon Carol

The Sideshow July 2002 Archive Argh, there is too much to read, I can never catch up. But who can resist? Scoobie is delicious fun going after Coulter (and Drudge) full-time (and provides the news of a a fresh Jack Chick tract). And there's Jody and Maddy, Brew (mercifully going on holiday for a bit), Lean Left, Adam Magazine....argh!

Sleazewatch 2002

Guardian Unlimited Observer | International | Bush squirms in sleaze scandalWhen it became clear last week Bush had not filed his documents, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer blamed 'a mix-up with the attorneys'. However, Robin Jordan, the leading lawyer concerned, went on to be appointed by Bush as ambassador to the oil kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

'Funny,' observed a former senior official in the Clinton administration, 'that the man at fault, instead of getting sanctioned, gets sent to a vital national security post by a President from Texas to an oil state and pivotal ally.'

There remains 'one great mystery', says Royce. 'Who was the "institutional client" who bought Bush's shares? Who the hell bought such a large block of crumby stock?' The broker of the deal, Ralph Smith, refuses to say. 'Someone out there was sure looking after George W,' says Royce.

BREAKING NEWS -- AMERICAN TALIB PLEADS GUILTY

We won't know the details of the plea agreement for a while.

Lindh Agrees to Plead Guilty (washingtonpost.com) John Walker Lindh, the American captured in Afghanistan, has decided to plead guilty to charges he aided the Taliban and al Qaeda, his lawyer told a court Monday.

There is a change in plea," defense attorney James Brosnahan told U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III.

Brosnahan told the court a deal was completed late Sunday night, on the eve of a hearing that was going to determine whether statements Lindh made to interrogators after his capture would be admissable in court.

I'm sure glad the Republicans are in office. They handle the economy and
national defense so well.

Oh yeah, the Washington Post is sooooooo liberal.

Today's lead editorial:

The Harken Energy Distraction (washingtonpost.com)
But the Harken story took place years ago. It has already been investigated and aired. It affected far fewer people than the billion-dollar scandals that have been in the news lately. Congress's focus must now be on preventing more corporate dishonesty, not on Harken.

I am living in the future.

I am sending this from my PDA via my mobile phone.

This is very disturbing.

CNN.com - Man who shot beating video arrested - July 11, 2002 The man who shot the amateur video of Inglewood police officers beating a black teen-ager was arrested Thursday by officials with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Meanwhile, the attorney for the police officer suspended in the case said the teen-ager took action "that required that he be punched."
...

Authorities said Crooks was taken to the grand jury investigating the beating case. He had failed to appear before the jury Thursday morning as scheduled. Authorities said his arrest was unrelated to that case.

Salon.com News | Ted Williams, Bud Selig and baseball's very bad week Williams was intense, and he was all of a piece. Those who found him mysterious or inscrutable -- two words that littered many if not most of his obits -- were simply unwilling to take him at face value. He told us early on what he wanted: "All I want out of life is for when I walk down the street, people to say, 'There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived.'" I for one was happy to give him what he wanted. At a baseball-card show in Atlantic City several years ago, he limped by me in a hallway while I whispered out loud to my cousin's 12-year-old son, "Derek, there goes the greatest hitter who ever lived." Williams stopped in his tracks, turned his head, smiled, and winked at us. It was a wonderful moment, and cheap at the price.

Please, take a pill and shut up.

Everyone who is upset about the tied All-Star Game. There is a lot wrong with baseball, but this isn't one of them.

It's not a war on terrorism -- but it should be. As conducted by W., it's a war-on-Muslims-we-don't-like. Otherwise, why are we planning to attack Iraq, and continue to be buddy-buddy with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, etc.
I believe that September 11 does require an aggressive, long-term effort. But I think we should target the people responsible. Call me nuts.
Maybe Saddam should go. But let's not just start a war for the sake of redeeming GHWB's legacy.

Jonah Goldberg, uber-conservative on National Review Online, proudly-linked back to an article he wrote a couple of years ago in which he comes out in favor of police brutality.

Goldberg File Just as doctors often take technically illegal actions while actually making the morally correct decision, the same holds true for cops. In fact, the stakes of the hidden law for cops are far higher than for regular folks. Cops do not merely arrest people, they enforce social norms where social norms are the least entrenched and the most needed. In my dad's old neighborhood, a cop was often more likely to slap a kid around than actually press charges for something like shoplifting (my dad was a good boy and did no such thing, FYI). The slapping was surely just as illegal then as it is now, but the intent was consistent with the hidden law. Growing up in New York, I myself got some stern warnings from members of the law-enforcement community, but that's a subject for another day.

Admittedly, the instance he was writing about then involved someone who shot at cops. Sometimes it is understandable that cops would use excessive force. But it's never okay. It is not the job of the police to render punishment for crimes. That is the job of the judiciary -- and one of the reasons we value the independence of judges.
Indeed, isn't one of the hallmarks of a dictatorship that the police are allowed to mete out punishment on a whim? Sure, that may preserve order, but at a price I'm not willing to pay.
As for Goldberg's fondness for the "hidden law" and "social norms" that the police enforce through "slapping," what he's really talking about is keeping people in their place. There used to be a hidden law in the South that was enforced through extra-legal means. I don't think even the wingnuts at the National Review want to live in a world of lynchings, beatings, and the third degree.

More on Bush's hypocrisy.

Harken Hypocrisy - Bush's corporate ethics: Do as I say, not as I do. By William Saletan there's no way to square the rules Bush applied to himself on Monday with the rules he applied to others on Tuesday.

More on the 80's

A visitor named AugMendoza comments:

Hey Adam! How about Flock of Seagulls, Vans checkerboard shoes, "jelly" sandals, all things neon-colored, skinny ties, Miami-Vice-esque menswear, etc. I'm not sure I am up for that trip down memory lane, burn it all - start the bonfire (of vanities, that is!)

It all comes flooding back so painfully. Here's more 80's stuff that should be burned and their ashes scattered to the four winds:

Don Johnson style stubble.
Don Johnson.
All those John Hughes movies (except Planes, Trains and Automobiles)
All of Saturday Night Live after the original cast left. even the funny ones with Eddie Murphy. (Except, when Charles Rocket said "Fuck")
Who Shot J.R.
Valley Girls and "Valley Girl."
The K-Car.
Lee Iacocca as American hero.
The Greatest American Hero. (Of course there's an unofficial homepage.)
Just about everything on MTV, but not the idea of MTV itself.

There's a word for this: Apartheid

Plan to Keep Israeli Arabs Off Some Land Is Backed A cabinet vote endorsing a bill that would bar Israeli Arabs from buying homes in Jewish communities built on state land caused an uproar here today, with critics in and outside the government calling it racist.

On Sunday the cabinet voted, 17 to 2 with one abstention, to support the bill submitted by Rabbi Haim Druckman, a lawmaker from the rightist National Religious Party.

The bill, which would amend an existing law, says that state land allocated to build communities in Israel will be "for Jewish settlement only."

More than 90 percent of the land in Israel is state owned or controlled; home purchases on such land are in effect long-term leases. The bill seeks to entrench this mechanism, which was designed to keep land in Jewish hands.

Will he start with his budget people, his Uncle Dick, the Supreme Court 5, or himself?

Bush Calls For Corporate Crackdown (washingtonpost.com) President Bush called for stiff new penalties for corporate criminals and a crackdown on boardroom scandals Tuesday, promising in a speech on Wall Street that his administration would "end the days of cooking the books, shading the truth and breaking our laws."

I've had quite enough of 70's and 80's nostalgia. I was there, and there isn't too much to be nostalgic about. I don't think we can do much about the 70's, but maybe we can nip in the bud Duran Duran-mania before it poisons all of us. Therefore, I propose the creation of an official list of 80's phenomena that are appropriate for reminiscing and/or retro comebacks. Here's what I've got so far:

1) Hill Street Blues.
2) Bloom County.
3) Goodfellas.
4) Stevie Ray Vaughan.
5) Nachos.

That's what I've got so far. The list of stuff that should be buried in Yucca Mountain is too long and hideous to contemplate. Where's the beef? The Super Bowl Shuffle. The Preppy Handbook. The invasion of Grenada. The Facts of Life. I can't go on.

Morning Edition had a story on The Book Thing of Baltimore, a service that gives out thousands of books free of cost. It is a fine and noble endeavor. They need donations in order to keep going, and the post-September 11 shift to relief efforts has hurt their fund-raising. Visit their website and send them some books or money.

Whoop-dee-doo

Bush to Hold News Conference Monday (washingtonpost.com) President Bush will hold an afternoon news conference Monday, the White House said.

Right on, Frank Rich

All the President's Enrons The sight of a corporate crook being led away in handcuffs, Giuliani-style, would do far more to restore confidence in Wall Street than any more presidential blather. Mr. Bush says that only "a few bad actors" are at fault. Why is the administration so lax about bringing them to justice?

That may have something to do with who those "few bad actors" are. Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Richard Grasso, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, tossed out a range of 1 to 15 as the rough count of corporate culprits, "in comparison to more than 10,000 publicly traded corporations." The fact remains that so far at least five members of that theoretically tiny club have direct ties to the Bush administration: Enron, Halliburton, Andersen, KMPG and Merrill Lynch — the last three all former clients of the president's choice as Wall Street's top cop, the S.E.C. chairman Harvey Pitt. Five for 15: Mr. Bush could have used a batting average that high when he ran the Texas Rangers.

Shocking!

Salon.com Technology | Ex-WorldCom execs to refuse House Two subpoenaed former executives of WorldCom Inc. will refuse to answer questions Monday from a House committee that is opening an investigation into allegations the huge telecommunications company defrauded investors of billions.

"We've heard from their attorneys and both are expected to take the Fifth Amendment and declare their constitutional right" to refuse to give testimony that could incriminate them, said Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

All I'm looking for in this world is a decent diet ginger ale. Something with a little bite.

Oh yes, he's changed the tone in Washington.

This is from an important new article from the Washington Monthly.

"The Gate-less Community" by Joshua Green But something changed when George W. Bush became president. The current administration has not lacked questionable behavior: Karl Rove met with Intel executives in the White House even as he held a significant amount of Intel stock; Deputy Interior Secretary J. Stephen Griles, a former coal-industry lobbyist, intervened in an energy-exploration dispute on behalf of former clients; Dick Cheney met repeatedly with energy company officials who appear to have had a strong hand in formulating the administration's energy policy; and, of course, there is White. Yet each retains his job. Eighteen months into Bush's term, his only appointee to resign under a cloud is Michael Parker, the former civilian chief of the Army Corps of Engineers, and not over allegations of corruption, but for what this administration views as the one true deadly sin: disloyalty. (Parker publicly criticized the president's budget.) By contrast, two years into the Clinton administration, 10 political appointees had resigned; under the elder Bush, eight; under Reagan, 13. What has changed isn't so much the conduct of officials, but the standards by which they're judged. The "new tone" that George W. Bush brought to Washington isn't one of integrity, but of permissiveness.(emphasis added)

And here's the most important quote in the whole thing:

Even these changes in the culture of Washington scandal, however, don't fully explain White's continuing presence. At some point, won't he become too big a political liability? I put that question to one of his closest aides, who told me an amazing story: During a trip to West Point on June 1, Bush pulled White aside for a private talk. "As long as they're hitting you on Enron, they're not hitting me," said Bush, according to this Army official. "That's your job. You're the lightning rod for this administration."

Spin watch 2002

This is from the transcript of yesterday's Meet the Press. Rep. Billy Tauzin is a wholly owned-subsidiary of corporate America, so we can see the spin taking shape -- blame it on Arthur Andersen, which is conveniently going out of business. Arthur Levitt is the former chair of the SEC, who's attempts to reform accounting practices were blocked by, uh, Tauzin.

Transcript for July 7 MR. LEVITT: Let me try to correct a point that Congressman Tauzin made that the Andersen situation was unique and peculiar to Andersen. I know in our experience during my eight years in Washington was that the problems at Andersen are not unique and similar problems have been found at every one of the other now big four firms, so...

REP. TAUZIN: Well, let me challenge you on that, Arthur. What we learned from the four other major firms was that every one of them had a quality review board that issued mandatory rulings upon its local auditors. Arthur Andersen was the only one that issued advisory rulings only. In the Enron case, Arthur, we found out that the local auditors were even responsible for getting people fired at the Chicago office who disagreed with them.

MR. LEVITT: Then you...

REP. TAUZIN: That didn't occur at any other major accounting firm.

MS. MITCHELL: Mr. Levitt.

MR. LEVITT: Look at the cases brought by the commission. You'll see an equal number of cases at KPMG where we brought...

MS. MITCHELL: One of the other big accounting firms.

MR. LEVITT: Yes, where we brought the very first case for an accounting firm acquiring a brokerage firm, a clear conflict of interest.

REP. TAUZIN: Well, Ar...

MR. LEVITT: Every one of those firms have had major, major scandals involved among their clients.

REP. TAUZIN: Arthur, look at that.

MR. LEVITT: Its irrelevant to say that it’s just Arthur Andersen. This problem is pervasive.

I'm not the only one who noticed the oleaginous hypocrisy of Tauzin:

The New Republic Online: Accounting Gimmicks You gotta admire Tauzin's audacity. Tauzin's longstanding ties to the accounting industry would seem to diminish his capacity for indignation when it comes to accounting scandals. (Arthur Andersen was his single biggest contributor in the last election cycle.) Even more embarrassing, Tauzin played a key role in derailing proposed regulations that might have prevented the whole Enron scandal from happening--or, at least, from getting so out of hand. In 2000, Arthur Levitt, then chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, proposed reforms that would have prevented accounting firms from providing both auditing and consulting services to the same company--the very thing that Arthur Andersen did for Enron. As Peter Beinart (among others) has recounted, Tauzin promptly swung into action, badgering Levitt with objections and, ultimately, threats that buried the reform. In his column, Peter suggested that Tauzin "should be a pariah." Instead, Tauzin is trotting around on national television, making himself look good.

Our arrogance is even beginning to make our best friends uncomfortable.

Independent News America's determination to foist "regime change" on both Iraqis and Palestinians, its visceral hostility to the ICC and its controversial protectionist measures on agriculture and steel, are making the Prime Minister's balancing act harder by the day as he attempts to be a "bridge" between Europe and the US.

Mr Blair's discomfort with Washington's stance on trade and the ICC in particular is palpable. But in every case, Britain soft-pedals its criticism, faithful to the time-honoured "special relationship" argument that Britain has more chance of being listened to by the administration if it keeps disagreements private and does not get involved in a public slanging match.

This is interesting.

Guardian Unlimited Observer | International | US 'to attack Iraq via Jordan' Although leaked Pentagon documents appear to show that Turkey, Kuwait and the small Gulf state of Qatar would play key roles, it is believed that Jordan will be the 'jumping-off' point for an attack that could involve up to 250,000 American troops and forces from Britain and other key US allies.
...

Iraqi dissidents in Amman have told The Observer that hundreds of American advisers have arrived in Jordan in the past few months.

From an American abroad.

Global Eye -- Seat of Power The curtain of lies that shields the benighted and betrayed American people from the grim reality of its rulers -- that corrupt tyranny of plutocrats, sycophants and frothing extremists which has taken power in Washington -- was pulled away last week and briefly, tantalizingly, the truth was revealed:

Dick Cheney is President of the United States.

For two whole hours last Saturday, Cheney held in name what he has long wielded in fact -- the executive power of the United States government -- when dimbulb frontman George W. Bush was rendered unconscious for an anal probe.

Drip, drip, drip

NYPress - Wild Justice - Alexander Cockburn - Vol. 15, Iss. 27 But even Pitt couldn’t choke off the investigation into Halliburton, one of the largest oil service companies in the world, headed until July 2000 by Cheney, who was the company’s CEO. The SEC is probing whether Halliburton reported more than $100 million of disputed costs on big oil contracts as revenues so that it could prop up its profits while negotiating a merger with a rival. These accounting shenanigans took place in 1998 on Cheney’s watch, and yes, the accounting firm was Arthur Andersen. Noting Bush’s promise that CEOs who have mismanaged their companies in some fraudulent way will "have to pay," Donaldson asked Pitt, "Will that be the case in Halliburton if you find wrongdoing under Mr. Cheney’s reign?" Quivering with integrity, Pitt bravely declared, "I head an independent regulatory agency. We don’t give anyone a pass."

Man, white people never cease to mistify me.

ChannelOklahoma.com - Goat Born With White '3' On Its Side A four-month-old goat with a curious birthmark has fans of the late racing star Dale Earnhardt flocking to a north Florida farm to pay homage.

The brown Nubian goat, named Lil' Dale, was born with a distinctive white three - Earnhardt's number - on her right side.

"It's weird," said her owner, Jerry Pierson. "I've seen people take pictures and get tears in their eyes."

Some racing fans who came to see the young goat in Interlachen, about 50 miles south of Jacksonville, said the image is that of a classic ghost.

"One woman said 'Man, she gives me chills,'" Pierson said.

So long, Teddy Ballgame.

According to ESPN Radio, the AP is reporting that Ted Williams just died. He was one of the giants -- maybe the greatest hitter in the history of baseball, the last man to hit .400, and a real-live American hero as a pilot in World War II and Korea. He was irascible, arrogant and a character. He will be missed.

An Israeli on the Bush Peace Plan

Uri Avnery's News Pages Everybody praised this fine speech. Prime Minister A. lauded the style, President B. commended the fabric, Sheik C. admired the collar. And I saw only a naked emperor.

Everynody knew, of course, that it was a stupid speech, perhaps the most silly ever uttered by an American president. But who will confront the leader of the world's sole superpower? Who will bring upon himself the wrath of a man that possesses such frightening power, while voicing such inanities?

A 12-year old would have been ashamed of presenting such a composition to his teacher. The assumptions are baseless, the general picture resembles a caricature, the conclusions are ridiculous and the parts contradict each other.

Many thanks to readers who have left encouraging comments.

I'm here. I've been checking in every day the last week or so. ( I saw a link to your site on another blogger's page.) I've got you bookmarked. I've enjoyed your comments so far.

Peggy V.
-a grandmother in Irving, Tx

Here too, man! Got you on my "Blog" bookmark. I'm lazy so I'll just leave my comment on your next post right here.

I'm am more than sickened that this Harken thing is not widerspread news (not to mention that it has been in the public's view since the selection). It took a brave editorial from Paul Krugman (the best, bar none) to get a rise out of anybody on this. But you're right, since there are no pee-pees and cigars involved then the public isn't going to give a flying f***. Also there are no senile, bile-filled billionaires involved to dole out the cash to make this anything.

family.telegraph.co.uk - The toughest gunfighter in town

Remember Sarah Brady? She's fighting cancer, and still thinking about gun control.

family.telegraph.co.uk - The toughest gunfighter in town President Reagan supported the Brady Bill, but his successor, George Bush Snr, did not. This prompted the Bradys - both Republicans - to defect to the Democratic camp in 1992 and support Bill Clinton.

None of this has endeared Sarah Brady to the current President Bush, whom she remembers as a "young party guy" in Washington in the Seventies. He has already damaged her cause by signing pro-gun laws in Texas and is heavily backed by the NRA, currently the most powerful lobby group in America.

"I keep thinking, 'You know, maybe there is a brain there,' " she says of Bush. "At least, I would like to think there is. I know he's not evil. I don't trust him, because I think he's against gun control for political reasons. That's what bothers me."

If you can't say something nice...

I've never read any of Rick Moody's novels, but that doesn't matter. This review is a brilliant evisceration of pretentiousness. If you like my blog, you will love this:

The New Republic Online: The Moody Blues (1 of 3) Together these books amount not so much to an oeuvre as to a career, one whose success, though fascinating, is inexplicable to me. In fact, I have to confess that I consider myself unequal to the task of analyzing Moody's writing. Its faults strike me as uniform and self-evident and none of them are complex enough for a sustained analysis. My gut feeling is that if you honestly do not believe that this is bad writing, then you are a part of the problem. When I finished The Black Veil I scrawled "Lies! Lies! All lies!" on the cover and considered my job done. Like all of Moody's books, it is pretentious, muddled, derivative, bathetic. His much-touted compassion strikes me as false (in his fiction he makes his characters suffer in order to solicit your pity, and this seems no less true of the self that he describes in The Black Veil); his highly praised prose--"rhythmic" and "evocative" are the tags that you see most often--comes only at the expense of precision, which is to say, of truth.

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Why I won't serve Sharon

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Why I won't serve Sharon No more. No more excuses. We members of Courage to Refuse, reserve soldiers who have vowed not to serve in the occupied territories, will not set foot beyond the 1967 line unless it is in civilian clothes and as invited guests.

Ariel Sharon will tell you that Israel is fighting a war for its survival against a bloodthirsty enemy. Not so. Sharon and his cronies are fighting a colonial war to keep their pet settlement project in place, to perpetuate the Israeli occupation and the subjugation of the Palestinian territories. It is a one-sided war with a not-so-covert purpose of destroying any hope of a Palestinian homeland and independent national life.

If I didn't know better...

I'd say this was "Clintonesque"

Bush SEC Delay Called 'Mix-Up' (washingtonpost.com) The White House yesterday changed President Bush's account of his failure to file timely disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission about a 1990 stock trade, as Bush aides sought to distance the president from a wave of corporate accounting scandals.

A decade ago, Bush blamed the 34-week delay in his filing on the SEC, which he said lost the disclosure document. But facing new inquiries sparked by the leaking of a 1991 SEC report, Bush's spokesman yesterday laid the blame on a "mix-up" by the company's lawyers.

If only he had lost money, then maybe it would be a scandal.

Media Whores Online (an Adam Magazine Approved website) reviews W.'s illegal insider trading and other financial skullduggery. It's all true. But I guess since he's a Republican a financial scandal that took place before he was President is no big deal.
Make your own fox/henhouse related comment.

-- In 1991, the SEC found a pattern of repeated securities laws violations by George W. Bush in the 1980's and 1990's.

-- The SEC also began an investigation into Bush's insider "pump-and-dump" Harken scheme, which eventually made Bush a multi-millionaire.

-- The SEC, for reasons still unknown, sought no injunction against Bush for the disclosure violations and shut down its probe about his Harken stock sale.

I know you are out there -- please leave comments. I get lonely.

Support your local blogfighter

The Rittenhouse Review is one of the best blogs around. It's got great comments on politics, economics and Andrew Sullivan. But James M. Capozzola didn't know what he was getting into when he made some comments about -- Rosie O'Donnell.

TRR said that "How about that? It turns out Rosie O'Donnell is just another mediocre potty-mouthed comedian, and a cranky one at that" based on reports about her return to stand up.

Michael Musto of the Village Voice reported thusly:

Rosie declared, "I'm just a big-mouthed lesbian now," as she proceeded to rip into a variety of big-name targets. It turns out she loathes Sharon Stone (pretentious), Michael Jackson ("a pedophile"), Joan Rivers ("does not look human"), Clinton (a big liar who "really fuckin' pissed me off"), and Anne Heche ("Just admit it—you took the dive for a year, you didn't like it, and you went back to the dick"). Rosie's rage was so vivid that one audience member impulsively yelled, "Jealous!" ("I have better people to be jealous of than Sharon Stone," countered Rosie.) Wait, what happened to the ass-kissy queen of daytime TV? "I had to be nice to people I hated!" she admitted. (At least she's honest about her phoniness, though it's jarring to have it confirmed that we'd been conned all those years.) Less shockingly, Rosie said that, while everyone told her coming out would ruin her career, "I'm the only person it's made more famous."

Well anyway, TRR has touched off a firestorm in the pro-Rosie community -- lots of flaming emails. Here's one he posted, with his response.

Of course, he's absolutely right.

Does he have a right to be offended by her foul mouth? Sure. I'm normally in favor of potty-mouths -- but Rosie has made her living being bland and non-offensive. In other words, she's a big phoney.

And he's right about her material -- it seems to be that kind of "controversial" topical humor that actually has no weight or meaning. It's like Jay Leno-style political humor -- it's just jokes about politicians, without any content. Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson are a little dated. And I don't think anybody knows that Anne Heche is still alive. Why doesn't she do routines about Pee Wee Herman or Dan Quayle?

Sharon Stone? Is she relevant at all? Joan Rivers has had plastic surgery -- oooooooooooh.

Don't get me started about her coyness on her sexuality, then her exploitation of her coming out in order to peddle her books. I don't care who you are and what you do, or even if you want to conceal your sexuality, but I am offended by her commercial exploitation of her decision.

And did you see Exit to Eden? Yeeesh.

It doesn't matter that she is a reliable supporter of liberal causes. She's a no-talent. And, according to TRR, who actually knows about the magazine business, Rosie is in trouble.

So surf on over The Rittenhouse Review and support James against the forces of darkness.


(Updated because I spelled Jim's last name wrong. I apologize profusely.)

Delusion on the right.

In this nutty column, Timothy P. Carney states that the coverage of J.C.Watt's decision to not run for re-election is biased against the GOP because the stories and headlines point out that Watts is black. Of course, if the media hadn't covered the decision as much, that would have been biased against the GOP buy downplaying the fact that there was a black congressman in a high position. Everything is evidence of liberal bias.

Wow -- this is a pretty major ruling. Of course, it won't last long

Judge Declares Federal Death Penalty Unconstitutional (washingtonpost.com) U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff issued a 28-page ruling reaffirming his earlier opinion that the death penalty act violated the due process rights of defendants.

The federal government was expected to appeal the ruling, which would not affect individual states' death penalty statutes.

The court found that the best available evidence indicates that, "on the one hand, innocent people are sentenced to death with materially greater frequency than was previously supposed and that, on the other hand, convincing proof of their innocence often does not emerge until long after their convictions.

Whether you support or oppose the death penalty, this should disturn you.

Ashcroft Aggressively Pursues Death Penalty (washingtonpost.com) Since taking office early last year, Ashcroft has reversed the recommendations of federal prosecutors 12 times, ordering them to seek the death penalty in cases where they had recommended against doing so, according to statistics compiled by the federal capital defense bar. These include at least one case in which a tentative plea agreement had already been reached.

The Rittenhouse Review is slightly embarrassed forponting out that while Andrew Sullivan brags that he has a thirty-two inch waist, TRR editor James M. Cappazzola has a twenty-eight inch waist. I say, If I had a twenty-eight inch waist, I'd never shut up about it.