Mark A. Kilmer's Political Annotation

Finishing Thoughts…

Vilsack moving to abortion extreme

However, Vilsack, a Roman Catholic who was adopted as an infant, now holds a position more favorable to abortion rights than he did when he was a state senator in the 1990s. Today, his views are more in line with Kerry's.

DeLay: "It's one war." Reporter: "He's not serious."

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Monday the war in Iraq and Israel's battle against Palestinian terrorists are two fronts in the same global conflict, "and we will win it."

New Judson Cox column on the RSN site

Few people take Michael Savage seriously when he claims "liberalism is a mental disease." But, how else would you describe a man who, after watching al Qaida cut off his son's head, blames President Bush and describes his son's murderers as "sick people" who have "some good in them"?

Kucinich Still Running

"The reason I have not dropped out of the race is that we may have a nominee, but the future direction of the Democratic Party has not yet been determined."

Pentagon: "Hersh made it up"

"This is the most hysterical piece of journalist malpractice I have ever observed," said Lawrence DiRita, spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in response to Hersh's report.
A senior intelligence official said the article contains "fantasy," adding, "I haven't found any truth in it."

The unit described simply does not exist, the intelligence official said.

[ . . . ]
DiRita, responding Monday, called Hersh "one of history's great conspiracy theorists."

And the intelligence official told CNN there is no such thing as "Copper Green." The official said there is no joint interrogation program between the Defense Department and the CIA approved by the Secretary of Defense.

It is "incorrect" to suggest that the CIA withdrew from interrogations at Abu Ghraib, the intelligence official added.

More Kerry/McCain…

"Kerry will be much better off if it's refused," [Dr. Larry] Sabato says. "He gets to look bipartisan, and McCain will undoubtedly say glowing things about his best Vietnam buddy, and Kerry won't have the burden of actually running and serving with McCain. I don't mean just the policy differences, but McCain's personality. He's got a terrible temper and is virtually incapable of stepping aside from the spotlight, or yielding it even to a president. Kerry would regret it a hundred times over, even though he would never able to admit it publicly."

Joe Biden and John McCain

Comments?

The New Al Gore flick

"The Bush-Cheney administration has worked very hard to create a false impression that the scientific community is uncertain about whether this [global warming as depicted in the film] is a serious problem or not — not unlike the misleading impression that we were given in the run-up to the Iraq war," Mr. Gore said.

"The right wing has already cranked up its PR machine to discredit the movie as a 'fright flick,' propaganda cooked up by climate change conspiracy theorists," MoveOn.org noted, adding that the movie is "making the Bush administration very nervous."

[S]pecial effects… include collapsing ice caps, a 290-foot-tall tidal wave, dueling tornadoes over Los Angeles, and Manhattan encased in ice.

The morning…

New "Media Fund" web site

5. Dick Cheney collected a $20 million dollar bonus when he left Halliburton to run for Vice-President in 2000. Since then, he’s been paid $488,408 more from Halliburton on top of his government salary. Why should Halliburton get no-bid government contracts?

8. You flip-flopped your position and removed steel tariffs, do you know how much that hurt West Virginians?

11. Why have you spent over a third of your time in office on vacation?

12. You have visited Pennsylvania 29 times and West Virginia only 8 times since taking office. Why do you like Pennsylvanians so much more than us?

France Salivating at Potential Loss of US Prestige

Jordan's King Abdullah II told US television that he worried about the impact of a decline in US stature around the world, particularly in the Middle East.

"The perception is that the United States is not fair and balanced on the core issue in the Middle East, which is the Israeli-Palestinian problem," Abdullah continued.

"Then you compound that with Iraq, so you get, unfortunately, the visions of Israeli tanks with Palestinians and American tanks with Iraqis," said Abdullah.

Colin Powell this morning

King Abdullah Speaks

Saxby Chambliss on LE

McCain and Biden on Russert

The Rightsided Newsletter

The Seymour Hersch Show

It Takes All Kinds

He is a Republican, a fan of President George W. Bush. He said he will fight for jobs. He said he will use his experience as a successful businessman to promote northern Michigan's way of life.

The Sunday Morning Talk Shows

Kerry/McCain?

Questions about Berg Video

Sharpton told to Pay Up

"We expected this. They've been under pressure from these right-wing hate groups for months now," said Sharpton campaign manager Charles Halloran.

New Jan Ireland column

JF Kerry is the American Idol

No Coercion of Prisoners

Cameron Kerry

Only the Kerrys know what counsel Cam gives during those private deliberations.

The younger Kerry’s role as the campaign’s kibitzer-without-portfolio was evident in the firing of campaign manager Jim Jordan and replacement by Mary Beth Cahill, top aide to Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), according to Kerry insiders.

[ . . . ]
So should John Kerry win in November, don’t look for another presidential sibling who has to be kept out of sight by the Secret Service, as were Lyndon Johnson’s hard-drinking brother Sam Houston Johnson, Richard Nixon’s influence peddling brother, Donald Nixon; Jimmy Carter’s beer-swilling brother Billy Carter; Bill Clinton’s free-spirited, cocaine-peddling half-brother, Roger Clinton; or even George W. Bush’s messily divorced brother Neil Bush.

A Collective Iraqi "Now What?"

Iraqis have identified some successful areas in post-Saddam Iraq, the pollsters found.

"One of the things that comes up again and again as a success in the transition so far is education," Sahm said. He also mentioned increasing trust in the Iraqi police and the new Iraqi army.

"When we see the images of war and terror on the TV screen," Sahm said, "it's hard to believe that behind all of this, many Iraqis are leading normal lives and going about their business."

The President's Polls…

JF Kerry on Abu Ghraib vrs. Kerry on Vietnam

Kerry faulted Bush administration's policies for contributing to the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers, including poor training for prison guards, extended tours for servicemembers and the failure to grant rights to detainees consistent with the Geneva Conventions.

JF Kerry: A Senator from Massachusetts?

No Eucharist for Voters

From the Defense of Sgt. Davis

Paul Bergrin, attorney for Davis, said his client was ordered to do what he did, but denied Davis "committed any criminal acts."

"He went to his chain of command. He questioned some of the interrogation techniques, and he was told as a soldier he was to follow orders and that intelligence wants additional information," Bergrin told CNN's American Morning.

Davis' superiors, Bergrin said, told the specialist it was important to "break the prisoners" in order to "save the lives of innocent soldiers on the outside and civilians and individuals like Nicholas Berg."

A Bag Over your Head

Mr. Secretary, do you think crouching naked for 45 minutes is humane?" Reed asked.

"Not naked, absolutely not," Wolfowitz replied.

"So if he's dressed up, that's fine. But this also has other environmental manipulation," Reed said.

"Let me put it this way: Seventy-two hours without regular sleep, sensory deprivation, which would be a bag over your head for 72 hours -- do you think that's humane, putting a -- and that's what this is, a bag over your head for 72 hours? Is that humane?"

"Let me come back to what you said the word ...."

"No, no. Answer the question, Mr. Secretary. Is that humane?"

"I don't know whether it means a bag over your head for 72 hours, Senator. I don't know," Wolfowitz said.

"Mr. Secretary, you're dissembling, nonresponsive!" Reed boomed. "Anybody would say putting a bag over someone's head for 72 hours, which is ...."

"I believe it's not humane," Wolfowitz said quietly.

$50-million for Iraq/Afghanistan

The PRC and Senate Democrats

Since the pictures were made public in late April that Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison were mistreated by US soldiers, including being stacked naked in a pyramid, attacked by a dog and forced into simulated sex acts, the US military has been a target of condemnation worldwide, especially in Arab countries.

Prisoners of war (POWs), just like civilians, should enjoy deserved dignity. That is clearly set out in the Geneva Convention.

Not only at the grassroots level, but also the top military leaders should be held directly accountable for the astonishing systematic abuses of prisoners.

It would be awkward for Bush to discharge Rumsfeld. Firing him is equal to admitting wrongdoing in the way the Iraq War has been handled.

But Bush's unmasked praise of Rumsfeld amidst the prisoner abuse scandal is indeed distasteful, just as he feels distaste over the exposed pictures of abuses.

[ . . .]
Bush's words not only appeared faint in the face of the current US predicament in Iraq, but also trivialized his apologies to the abused victims.

Prisoner's T-Shirt

One prisoner wore a T-shirt with the question, "Why are we here?" in English.

The latest Jan Ireland column

Lautenberg is being used

The Catholic Church on Abu Ghraib

``Whatever the United States has done to prisoners in Iraq is nothing compared to what priests and nuns did to Catholic kids for decades while the Catholic hierarchy covered it up,'' King said. ``Think of the thousands of kids in the U.S. and Ireland who were abused by priests and nuns -- you wonder where the Vatican's moral compass is.''

Kerry's Campaign Struggles

Now, remember, this guy Kerry - he's the smart one. President Bush, as our Democrats have it, he's the dumb one. Tell ya what, if Kerry is smart, then I thank God I'm with stupid.

New column on the RSN site

Qaeda abuse

In the case of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a high-level detainee who is believed to have helped plan the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, C.I.A. interrogators used graduated levels of force, including a technique known as "water boarding," in which a prisoner is strapped down, forcibly pushed under water and made to believe he might drown.

JF Kerry: Delay the Trials

Rummy and Myers in Iraq

"If anybody thinks that I'm (in Iraq) to throw water on a fire, they're wrong," Rumsfeld told reporters on board. "We care about the detainees being treated right. We care about soldiers behaving right. We are about command systems working."

Critics are calling for Rumsfeld, one of the architects of last year's invasion of Iraq, to resign.

Other U.S. defense officials said the sudden trip by Rumsfeld and Myers was triggered by the photographs.

The President's Poll Numbers

9-11 Commission to Question Al Qaeda

I've Been Remiss

“Luke, pleased to meet you. I’m Bob Dornan, and this is my wife Sally.”

Senators don't get Geneva Conventions

Moving Forward

Reform Party 4 Nader

Mutants' Vid

Three New Columns

Wictory Wednesday

Nick Berg

This Blog has returned

And you know what happened to Winston

Firstly, because of the wider claims of brutality by some British troops contained in the Red Cross report but, probably more dangerously, because of the uncontested cases of abuse by the US.

Even if British soldiers are in the clear, the prime minister is bound to suffer because of his closeness to the US president and his persistent support of the US actions in Iraq.

Whatever the outcome of the ongoing inquiries, Mr Blair must be in no doubt that he is now facing probably months more controversy over the war.

And it looks increasingly likely it will rumble on into the next general election.

Daschle Decries Partisan Sniping

"Demonizing those with whom we disagree politically does not serve the interests of democracy. It does not resolve differences," the South Dakota Democrat said to about 500 people at Kansas State University.

"Today, enormous new challenges confront each and every one of us," he said. "We will not meet those challenges or seize those opportunities if we indulge in the brutal politics of division, if we attempt to silence those who have other ideas."

Judson Cox writes...

The photos of Iraqi prisoner abuse were disturbing, but they were not scenes of torture. Torture is how Saddam and his thugs ruled Iraq. They cut out people's tongues, cut off limbs, crushed feet, raped and killed children in front of their parents, lowered people feet first into vats of acid and plastic shredders and filled graves with hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis. The pictures from Abu Ghraib were of humiliation and abuse. The guards who committed these acts should be punished to the full extent of the law, but these abuses should never be e! quated to the torture ordered by Saddam - to do so is to minimize the suffering of Saddam's victims. [MORE]

Phantom Molester

Schutterle later was taken to the state mental hospital in Yankton but was released after a psychiatric evaluation determined he was no danger to himself or others.

Million Mom March

The Nuremberg Trials (1945-1946)

Note from the Front

Hello! Sounds like everybody is going ape over the photo's of the prisoner abuse in Iraq. It's sad that most of the soldiers are from Pennsylvania. I think there will be some interesting information reveled once the courts martial begin. Those pictures have undone some the good work we have tried to do here. how sad. I hope to be back in June, or July, how are you guys doing back there?

GHWB vrs. Rumsfeld

As veterans of the Ford White House remember, Mr. Rumsfeld was an intense rival of George Bush's, and by all accounts the men had a terrible relationship in the 1970's and 1980's. Bush partisans still say that Mr. Rumsfeld masterminded what became known as the Halloween Massacre, the 1975 Ford cabinet shake-up in which Mr. Rumsfeld jumped from his position as White House chief of staff to become secretary of defense, thereby enhancing his prospects, never realized, of being President Gerald R. Ford's running mate in 1976.

In that same shuffle, Mr. Bush, who had been the chief United States envoy to China, was sidelined as director of central intelligence — a job that took Mr. Bush out of the running for vice president, since at the time C.I.A. directors were thought to have no future in politics.

Katherine Harris, Florida 2000 joke

As Florida secretary of state, Katherine Harris oversaw the disputed 2000 presidential election and the recount that followed. Now she admits she's responsible for a vote going uncounted -- her own.

The congresswoman forgot to sign her absentee ballot when she voted in Longboat Key's local election on March 9. So her vote didn't count.
Harris says she was rushing to catch a flight to Washington, D.C. when she handed the unsigned ballot to her husband to send in. She said she usually votes in person.

Harris said it was a mistake and she regrets it.

Where has JF Kerry been lately?

"Kerry is still being defined. He has to go out there each and every day and try to break through the daily chatter on Iraq or the echo chamber on [Defense Secretary Donald H.] Rumsfeld," Miss Brazile said.

Biden and Hegel on Face the Nation

Host Schieffer kicked off his show by reading from the editorial in next week's Army Times, a civilian publication which is evidently well-read by members of the military. The editorial faults Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs chairman General Richard Myers for a "lack of situational control" and failures at all levels.

Senator Chuck Hegel (R-Nebraska) declared that the President is commander-in-chief, and this was the worst incident since Vietnam. He agreed with the Editorial and declared that "we have miles to in on this issue."

Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) also agreed with the editorial and declared this to be "a sad moment." He faulted the Administration for losing its "moral clarity," and added that this is "bigger than Rumsfeld and Myers."

Biden asked: "What would Ronald Reagan have said?" (I think I'll offer a theory on the blog later.)

Biden stated: "The President should regain his clarity that he's lost," and he talked about standing on the rubble in Manhattan. "He should be speaking to the American people." He said that the Administration was ruining everything he, Biden, had worked for: that the United States is not wrong to act in the name of world justice. (That was a paraphrase. Biden did not use the term "world justice," per se.)

Hegel said that the pictures at which Rumsfeld hinted on Friday should be made public, that we should learn the lesson of Watergate: "Get it out now… deal with it publicly."

Karen Tumulty of TIME Magazine asked Biden: "Does the Administration grasp how big that is."

Is this as big as the press has tried to make it? Not in the "damage to the Bush Administration" sense to which they are so devoted, but the intelligence community may take another hit.

Intelligence Did It?

The Rightsided Newsletter is live

Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi told Blitzer that the guards the guards' behavior was disgusting and was the work of "overzealous people who wanted information" through interrogation. He also faulted that there was no Iraqi involvement in the interrogation process.

Chalabi said that the decision to turn Saddam's Abu Ghraib torture facility into a Coalition prison was "an ill-advised decision." He argued: "It should have been razed or turned into a museum." The military has said that this decision would be left up to the Iraqis.

Of Donald Rumsfeld, Chalabi said: "The Defense Secretary has done a good job." He praised Rumsfeld's efforts.

"President Bush is seen [by the people of Iraq] as the man who liberated Iraq from Saddam Hussein." If this statement is indubitable, and not everything from Chalabi is, then our press has this dead wrong.

Meet the Press...

Host Tim Russert spent the first half hour or so of MTP talking to Senators Warner, Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), and Carl Levin (D-Michigan), as well as former candidate for the Dem presidential nomination Wes Clark, about Abu Ghraib.

Warner had no sooner finished telling Russert that they still didn't know who was in charge of the interrogations when Levin offered: "The responsibility lies on his [Rumsfeld's] doorstep." He spoke from the Dem talking points, of the "system effort" to get information at any cost, of the "environment" of disregard of the Geneva Convention created by the President.

He spoke of the White House's averment that the Geneva Convention did not apply to Afghanistan, with the President referring to it as "legalisms."

"I think he helped to create the environment" in which the Geneva Convention was ignored at Abu Ghraib.

Wes Clark rattled on about the "credibility of the U.S. mission" and "how we are perceived" by the international community. Are we perceived as taking the abuses at Abu Ghraib seriously? He also stuck with the Dem talking points, about the President creating an atmosphere in which the Geneva Convention could be ignored.

Senator Graham told them that the application of the Geneva Convention did not matter. He was angry that United States policy and laws were abrogated at Abu Ghraib. By questioning the applicability of the Geneva Convention to a given set of circumstances, the President most certainly did not call into question U.S. law and military policy.

Levin interjected that "we need a policy change." It has to be "internationalized," he insisted, to give it an air of "legitimacy." He said that this mistake was made early on by the Administration, implying that we need a new president to fix things. This may be Kerry's new case for himself: The Only Candidate Who Can Internationalize the War Effort. That is risky, because to the extent that the President continues to succeed in internationalize various aspects of the effort, the more Kerry is seen as blowing a lot of hot air.

And it could be argued that if Kerry were President, he would have changed policy several times by now.

Warner thinks we have to give the June 30 deadline for Iraqi sovereignty "a try." Clark sees a 50-50 chance of the Iraqis rising up and throwing us out before full sovereignty is achieved.

Senator Graham said: "To the White House, pleas don't say, 'get of his back,'" regarding Secretary Rumsfeld. Clark said we have to internationalize things, and Senator Warner said: "We're doing that." The White House is doing its best to get others involved, and it is succeeding in certain respects, but it is important to the election campaign of JF Kerry to create the perception of arrogance and isolation.

The Evan Bayh Show

FNS this week was to be a response to Ted Koppel's recitation of the dead, looking at the accomplishments of the Coalition forces in Iraq, but that was truncated to about 20-minutes. The bulk of the show was taken by a talk with Senators Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and McCain about Abu Ghraib.

Bayh was very calm and assuring, very vice-presidential in an election season where JF Kerry will need a quick jolt of gravitas. Kerry leaning on Bayh for gravitas is almost comical, but it might be necessary.

Asked about the resignation of Rumsfeld, Bayh insisted: "I really don't think him stepping down would placate the Arabs." That is what he wants to see happen, and it frankly is something which is not going to happen. They were never happy to begin with. But Bayh preemptively castigated the president for "cast[ing] him aside" to save himself politically. He read the Democrat Sunday talking points, and he blamed Abu Ghraib on the environment created by the President. (More on that as we go….) "This is a question of Presidential leadership."

McCain, who was largely silent, stated that it served no good purpose, "aiming unwarranted criticism at the Secretary of Defense." That, he said, is what Vice President Dick Cheney meant when he admonished the Dems and the press to "get off his case and let him do his job."

McCain's Question

The first question out of Senator John McCain's (R-Arizona) mouth when grilling Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on Friday was: Who was in charge of the interrogations? The Secretary couldn't give a solid answer, even after consulting with the generals seated with him. On MTP, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-Virginia) gave his answer to host Russert: "It is still not known." Evidently somebody was, and Senator Warner assures us that they are going through military channels to find out exactly whom it was.

The Sunday Morning Talk Abu Ghraib Shows

NO SCAPEGOATING!

She is accused of assaulting Iraqi detainees on multiple occasions; conspiring with another soldier, Spc. Charles Graner, to mistreat the prisoners; committing an indecent act; and committing acts "that were prejudicial to good order and discipline and were of nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces through her mistreatment of Iraqi detainees."

The Sheikh's Solution

He told the 3,000 worshippers that anyone who captured a woman soldier would be allowed to keep her as a slave. Al-Bahadli is a close adviser to Muqtada al-Sadr, head of the Mahdi army which is at the centre of fighting in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Kerry's arrogant, "go-it-alone" trade policy

In a speech at the Institute for International Economics, Mr Zoellick said the contest offered voters a choice between Mr Bush, who has aggressively pursued trade pacts with countries around the world, and Senator Kerry, who has promised to conduct a 120-day review of existing trade agreements before deciding how to move ahead.

Mr Zoellick, a Bush appointee, was critical of the Kerry campaign's refusal to say whether the Massachusetts Senator would ask Congress for a two-year extension of presidential trade negotiating authority, which expires June 1, 2005.

[ . . . ]
Mr Zoellick said Senator Kerry's 120-day review would "eat up all of the time you have left in 2005 on trade promotion authority," putting potential agreements with a long list of countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America in doubt.

Sexy fashion in Iran

"There are some manteaus [sacks] with slits on the sides up to the armpits," said Mahmoud Salehi, a 25-year-old manteau salesman. "And then there are the `commando manteaus,' with ties on the legs to show off the hips and an elastic under the breasts to accentuate the bust."

More serious than we thought?

There is a striking similarity between the run up to the attacks in Washington and New York on Sept 11, 2001 and the ghastly occurrence inside the Abu Ghraib prison. There have been ample forewarnings.

Kerry moves to Middle

As he makes the transition from a primary contender to a general-election candidate, Mr. Kerry has been steadily, if subtly, tinkering with his message. He has dropped some of his more heated notes of outrage and added cooler ones about economic opportunity, empowerment, and shared responsibility, the cornerstones of Mr. Clinton's, and the council's, brand of progressivism.

Make up your mind

If you're an undecided in Ohio, they'll come cut your grass and wash your dishes," [Republican Frank] Luntz said.

Abu Ghraib, the President, and Kerry

But Bush was forced to spend much of the week dealing with the Abu Ghraib debacle, sitting for interviews with two Arab television networks and finally doing something he is not generally wont to do - publicly apologize. Now the question becomes whether the reports of abuse at the prison, bolstered by photographs and videotape, provides a short-term problem for the Bush campaign or a long-term malady.

"The abhorrent pictures on our TV screens have stained our honor," Bush acknowledged to a crowd of supporters during a campaign swing through Dubuque, Iowa, on Friday. "They do not reflect the nature of the men and women we have sent overseas."

But there remains some feeling that the president hasn't gone far enough, and that his political problems won't retreat anytime soon.

The French amazed at President Bush's Bus

US President George W. Bush courted voters in two heartland states Friday on a bus -- a state-of-the-art, specially equipped, run-a-war-from-the-road bus, but a bus nevertheless.

[ . . .]
The Bush campaign has determined another reason for getting the president on the road: Its internal polling has found that Americans, who normally tune in after the Labor Day holiday, are more interested in the 2004 election.

"Our polling shows they're as interested now as they were in October 2000," one campaign staffer told AFP on condition of anonymity. "That's why we've been engaging so much."

And Holt points out that modern technology does little to change traditional concerns: "Even in the 21st century, elections are about the discussions that people have at their kitchen tables, their diners, down at the mailbox."

Does it matter?

Something Positive from this prison mess

``I do believe how it's handled can demonstrate to the people of Iraq and perhaps to the people of the Middle East the essential difference between a democracy and a dictatorship,'' she said. ``In democracies, young soldiers say when abuse like that takes place. It was a soldier who called this to the attention of a superior.''

She added, ``Nobody ever said human beings are perfect because they're in a democracy. The difference is that in a democratic system, acts like these are exposed and dealt with.''

Bush vrs. Kerry, State-by-State

Along those lines, Kerry advisers have checked the cost of air time in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky. They insist that the Vietnam veteran and hunter could overcome the cultural hurdles that tripped up Gore in the South.

"The Buck Stops Here" -- what Truman Meant

"The chain of command goes all the way to the Oval Office," Kerry said. "Harry Truman did not say 'the buck stops at the Pentagon.'"

On more than one occasion President Truman referred to the desk sign in public statements. For example, in an address at the National War College on December 19, 1952 Mr. Truman said, "You know, it's easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the coach should have done, after the game is over. But when the decision is up before you -- and on my desk I have a motto which says The Buck Stops Here' -- the decision has to be made." In his farewell address to the American people given in January 1953, President Truman referred to this concept very specifically in asserting that, "The President--whoever he is--has to decide. He can't pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That's his job.

Kerry is to Dole as Dole is to Kerry

Kerry's only hope is that voters turn on Bush and use him as a vessel for their frustration. This could happen. The right direction — wrong track numbers in this survey are problematic, the economy continues to be a problem area in the polling, Iraq is a wildcard, and Bush faces a heavily polarized electorate.

Quickie Poll

But there was no clear indication yet that the scandal has affected the public's overall attitudes toward the war in Iraq, which have been trending downward since the first of the year as the situation in Iraq has grown increasingly violent and unstable.

Can Rumsfeld be Effective?

Rumsfeld's Testimony

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs…

Rudy and two sets of abuse

"It does not represent the majority. It's an aberration, a horrific aberration," said Mr. Giuliani, who during his two terms as mayor presided over the furor raised by the police torture of Abner Louima in 1997 and the fatal police shooting of an unarmed immigrant Amadou Diallo in 1999.

Gorelick's says she is a Democrat

At least six of the 10 members of the 9/11 commission have made campaign donations since joining the panel, records show.

Jamie Gorelick, who has given roughly $14,000 to Democratic causes and candidates, said the panel decided early that members should not physically participate in partisan activities, but that they could donate to campaigns: “If I stopped for the period of my service, it doesn't give a more honest representation of who I am -- I am a Democrat.”

Bob Kerrey has donated at least $25,000 to Democratic candidates and party committees. Chairman Tom Kean has donated at least $4,000 to Republicans.

Slade Gorton gave $2,700 to Republicans, James Thompson contributed $2,000 to President Bush's campaign, and John Lehman has given at least $6,000 to Republican candidates and causes.

Jack Murtha's Opposition

Find someone to blame… then kill him

American taxpayers are paying an enormous price because Donald Rumsfeld has done a poor job as Secretary of Defense. Secretary Rumsfeld must resign."

Roman Catholic NJ governor obeys the church

Prez holds child in swing State (OH)

In a moment largely unnoticed by the throngs of people in Lebanon waiting for autographs from the president of the United States, George W. Bush stopped to hold a teenager's head close to his heart.

Lynn Faulkner, his daughter, Ashley, and their neighbor, Linda Prince, eagerly waited to shake the president's hand Tuesday at the Golden Lamb Inn. He worked the line at a steady campaign pace, smiling, nodding and signing autographs until Prince spoke:

"This girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9-11."

Bush stopped and turned back.

"He changed from being the leader of the free world to being a father, a husband and a man," Faulkner said. "He looked right at her and said, 'How are you doing?' He reached out with his hand and pulled her into his chest."

Kerry and the Abuse at Abu Ghraib

IT was bizarre yesterday to hear John Kerry criticize President Bush over the Iraqi prisoner-abuse scandal, considering Kerry publicly confessed to committing war "atrocities" when he served in Vietnam.

"Yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers," Kerry told "Meet the Press" in 1971, ticking off "free-fire zones" and burning villages in violation of the Geneva Convention.

I [jf kerry] committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free-fire zones. I conducted harassment and interdiction fire. I used 50-caliber machine guns which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search-and-destroy missions, in the burning of villages. All of this is contrary to the laws of warfare. All of this is contrary to the Geneva Conventions and all of this ordered as a matter of written established policy by the government of the United States from the top down.

$25-million more for Iraq and Afghanistan

"By requesting just $25 billion in additional money for our troops in Iraq -- when we know that at least twice that amount will be needed -- the Bush Administration is once again keeping the true cost of the war from the American people.

[ . . .]
"We need to know how the Administration all of a sudden decided that it needed $25 billion since many experts -- including the House Budget Committee -- have concluded that at least $50 billion in additional funding will be necessary to provide our troops with the equipment and support they need to accomplish their mission."

Out of Control

More photos showing the abuse of prisoners in Iraq have been published, threatening U.S. efforts to control a scandal spiralling [sic] out of control.

Top Ten Jewish Conspiracies

6. Writing in Kuwait's Al-Watan on March 14, columnist Adnan Zayid Al-Kazimi identified the real culprit in the Madrid bombings: "I claim with certainty that the ones who attributed all evil to the Arabs and the Muslims are the Zionists, those who are closest to carry out such an operation like the other operations [that they carried out]."

World Leaders Support…

Zafarullah Khan Jamali's comment was a rare taking-of-sides by a world leader in another country's election, and one that is particularly unusual given the American president's low standing among Muslims angered over the war in Iraq, U.S. support for Israel and allegations that American servicemen abused Iraqi prisoners at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad.

"Today we are lucky with the Republicans that the president, his secretary of state, the vice president and the secretary of defense -- they all have a personal relationship with Pakistan, and also as a government, so that I think is a much better bet as far as Pakistan-American relations are concerned," Jamali said Wednesday at his official residence on a hilltop overlooking the capital.

Photographs and Fake Photos

"They are clearly staged photos, done by actors, as the site itself states. Their publication needlessly inflames an already heated atmosphere."

"We have published, maybe, one picture from the Internet," Bakri said.

The new collection includes more than 1,000 digital images ranging from scenes of mundane military life to pictures showing crude simulations of sex among soldiers.

Some of the pictures also appear to show US soldiers abusing prisoners, many of whom wear ID bands. However, The Post said that it could not eliminate the possibility that some of those images were staged.

Tear down this Prison

Kerry's Qualifications

"WE KNOW WE'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LOSS OF ENEMY LIVES": Kerry asked whether he killed anybody in Vietnam, how it felt during Univision interview: "I think it affects anybody who carries a gun in another country shooting at human beings. Unless you're insensitive, it has an impact on you. But I did my duty, I'm proud that I served my country, I'm proud of my service and I learned a lot of lessons. And I think I will make a much stronger commander in chief, a much better head of state..."

An Opinion Piece from the Brits

But I have felt the extra rage of one who has been a mug. Up and down the country, I have given the same defence of the operation. "Of course Saddam never had anything to do with September 11, and of course he never had any weapons of mass destruction. But there is one powerful reason for supporting the liberation of Iraq," I say, "and that is that we rid the world of an odious tyrant, and we have made life better for the Iraqi people."

Well, look at what is happening now.

It's Politics to Kerry

"The horrifying abuse of Iraqi prisoners which the world has now seen is absolutely unacceptable and inexcusable," he said. "And the response of the administration, certainly the Pentagon, has been slow and inappropriate. I believe the president needs to guarantee that the world is going to have an explanation.

It's also important for the people of Iraq to know that in a democracy, everything is not perfect, that mistakes are made. But in a democracy, as well, those mistakes will be investigated and people will be brought to justice. We're an open society. We're a society that is willing to investigate, fully investigate in this case, what took place in that prison.

Nader might be Kerry's Strategy

• 39 -- 41 percent for Vice President Richard Cheney;


• 50 -- 36 percent for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld;


• 71 -- 19 percent for Secretary of State Colin Powell;


• 54 -- 30 percent for National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice.

"President Bush and his team are going down in their approval ratings, but Sen. Kerry is going nowhere. Bush has lost three points in the three-way matchup, but those three points did not go to Kerry. The so-called gender gap, where men favor the Republican candidate and women favor the Democrat, is very narrow right now, with the exception of white women, who are lining up strongly for Bush," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

College Abuse Conference

Disney Rejects Moore

Mr. Moore's agent, Ari Emanuel, said Michael D. Eisner, Disney's chief executive, asked him last spring to pull out of the deal with Miramax. Mr. Emanuel said Mr. Eisner expressed particular concern that it would endanger tax breaks Disney receives for its theme park, hotels and other ventures in Florida, where Mr. Bush's brother, Jeb, is governor.

"Michael Eisner asked me not to sell this movie to Harvey Weinstein; that doesn't mean I listened to him," Mr. Emanuel said. "He definitely indicated there were tax incentives he was getting for the Disney corporation and that's why he didn't want me to sell it to Miramax. He didn't want a Disney company involved."

Mr. Moore, who will present the film at the Cannes film festival this month, criticized Disney's decision in an interview on Tuesday, saying, "At some point the question has to be asked, `Should this be happening in a free and open society where the monied interests essentially call the shots regarding the information that the public is allowed to see?' "

Kerry Responds to Vietnam Vets

"This attack was organized by the same pro-Bush group that smeared John McCain in 2000. It has ties to the White House and to Bush in Texas," the Kerry campaign said.

"If he wanted to, the President could stop these baseless attacks on John Kerry with one phone call. But instead he allows groups like this to attack John Kerry, who put his life on the line to serve his country."

"Allegations by the Kerry campaign that this news conference was organized by the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign or the Republican National Committee are false," said Bush-Cheney '04 Campaign Chairman Marc Racicot in a statement.

"Neither the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign nor the Republican National Committee have coordinated or participated in the planning of this news conference," Racicot said. "We first learned of the event yesterday through press accounts."

"We honor all veterans' service to their country and respect their right to participate in the political process, regardless of whom they support in this election," Racicot added.

Wictory is at hand

Who is John Kerry?

The Press, Racism, and the Secretary of State

When asked if he thought Powell had finked out as Bush tries to make a case for declaring war against Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Belafonte unloaded. Until a few weeks ago, Powell, the nation's first black secretary of state, had been considered a voice of sanity in an otherwise war-obsessed White House and was a leading advocate of securing U.N. approval for military action.

Belafonte accused Powell of having abandoned his principles and likened his turnaround to the behavior of a "house slave."

"In the days of slavery," Belafonte said, "there were those slaves who lived on the plantation, and there were those slaves that lived in the house. You got the privilege of living in the house if you served the master. . . . Colin Powell's committed to come into the house of the master. When Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to the pasture."

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Colin Powell feels uneasy about being the house pragmatist in an administration dominated by ideologues, a close friend says.

"This is, in many ways, the most ideological administration Powell's ever had to work for," says Harlan Ullman. "Not only is it very ideological, but they have a vision. And I think Powell is inherently uncomfortable with grand visions like that. ... There's an ideological core to Bush, and I think it's hard for Powell to penetrate that."

Al Gore and the Young American

"This is not going to be a liberal network, or a Democratic network in any way, shape, or form,'' the former vice president said.

ABK: Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

A group of Vietnam veterans will charge today that Sen. John F. Kerry is ``unfit'' to be commander-in-chief because of his claims that U.S. soldiers committed widespread atrocities during the war.

Roy Hoffman and John O'Neill, both known Kerry opponents, said they will be joined by at least a dozen swift boat veterans today in releasing a letter saying he is unfit to serve.

The drafters of the letter, a new group calling itself ``The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth,'' claims it will be signed by ``a substantial majority of all known Swift boat veterans.''

Sen. John Kerry's accounts of his service in Vietnam and his statements that he witnessed atrocities were attacked as fabrications and political opportunism today by a group of Vietnam veterans who served with him personally or in the units affiliated with him during his short tour of duty in Southeast Asia.

The veterans, including some of Kerry's former commanders and shipmates, have formed an organization called "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" and called on the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to authorize release of all his service records, including medical records.

[ . . . ]
"I do not believe John Kerry is fit to be commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces," said retired Rear Adm. Roy Hoffmann, chairman of the organization. "This is not a political issue. It is a matter of honesty."

Hoffman said Kerry had recently telephoned him and spent 45 minutes attempting to convince Hoffman of not proceeding with the formation of the organization, which Democrats have attacked as a shill for Bush.

Hoffmann, who debated Kerry on television in 1971 over Vietnam allegations, denied any ties to Bush or the Republican Party. The Swift boat veterans held differing political and social views, he said. "There is only one issue we all agree on, and that is the issue of John Kerry."

Systemic Sexual Humilation

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., emerged from the briefing saying he feared allegations made public so far are ''the beginning rather than the end'' of the abuse allegations.

Dean supports (?) Kerry

Howard Dean yesterday said he wants his former presidential campaign -- renamed Democracy for America -- to play a key role in energizing grass-roots Democrats and independents to help elect Sen. John Kerry in November.

"My goal is to get every single one of my supporters to vote for John Kerry," the former Vermont governor said in a conference call with reporters yesterday.

Franken for Senate

Two New Columns…

If there is one statement that summarizes Democrats from the 19th Century to the 21st, surely it is this: They consistently have made wrong choices when it comes to the great moral issues confronting us. [MORE]

Is it possible for a handful of men and women to bring shame and disgrace to the greatest fighting force in the world? Is it possible for this small number to embarrass a country of over 280 million people? Yes, it is and they did. [MORE]

The Dutch say…

The advertising campaign has cost the Democratic presidential challenger 25 million dollars. Once his campaign team believes the American voters have come to see John Kerry in a more positive light, they won't be afraid to go on the attack with a negative advertising campaign targeting his opponent. But, for the moment at least, Mr Kerry is confining himself to emphasizing his leadership qualities and his independence, with just the occasional dig at President Bush, such as the allusion to the loss of millions of jobs under his administration.

Kerry's Veep

This match-up may sound like it is straight out of Fantasy Island, but both these names have been floated and there should be one spot in this bracket where star-struck Democrats can have some fun. (And remember, the question is who John Kerry will make an offer to, not who will accept that offer.) . . .

If Kerry's looking for star power, there is another name that has been floated - soon-to-retire NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw. After all, he will have nothing to do after December 1 and he is welcomed nightly into millions of American households. Of course, vice president would be a demotion for a network news anchor, but naming Brokaw to the ticket might get the greatest generation to stand up and salute one more time.

Kerry Plans to Define Self, II

But the Colorado Rocky Mountain high
I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky
The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullaby
Rocky Mountain high (high Colorado) Rocky Mountain high (high Colorado)

Mitt Romney and Capital Punishment

One of the major recommendations is raising the bar for a death penalty sentence from the normal legal standard of guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt" to a finding of "no doubt about the defendant's guilt." The commission has also proposed that a defendant in a capital case be given the option of facing two separate juries -- one to try him and, if he is convicted, a second to sentence him.

About Ted Rall

Saleh is Out

Their initial choice, who outraged victims of the Baathist regime because of past service in Saddam's feared Republican Guard, said he was stepping aside, leaving command of the new Falluja Brigade to former intelligence officer Mohammed Latif.

Vets Say Kerry is "Unfit"

Hundreds of former commanders and military colleagues of presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry are set to declare in a signed letter that he is "unfit to be commander-in-chief." They will do so at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday.

A soldier can kill. A soldier can be killed. It is a special employment, and it must not be considered, for the purposes of winning a war, with the terms used for civilians in peacetime.

Mr. Kerry voted not to fund those troops, thus denying them the rights of soldiers.

He is unfit to be Commander in Chief.

Dodd to seek reelection

Dodd said when he ran for re-election six years ago the economy was strong, the United States had good relations with foreign countries and the country had made strides in health care and education.

Dodd said he was seeking a record fifth term to "protect against the radical and reckless path the Bush administration is putting this country on."

New Judson Cox Column

Approximately 90% of black Americans vote only for Democrats. However, a few decades ago blacks were more likely to vote for the party of Abraham Lincoln than for the party essentially founded by the Ku Klux Klan. Democrats by day/Klansmen by night, like Robert Byrd, Bull Conner and George Wallace were racist segregationists who wielded dogs, fire hoses and clubs in the civil rights battles. [MORE]

Attacking the Catholic Church

The few policy-makers who have been punished or attacked [by the church for their pro-abort beliefs] have not changed their views, and instead have been perceived as more sympathetic candidates, winning elections even when they were the underdogs.

But something has changed in the Vatican and among conservative Catholics: No longer are they simply anti-abortion, they are now Bush Republicans. Like their earlier counterparts in the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition, winning elections has become more important than practicing good theology. They know that the Catholic vote will play a critical swing role in the 2004 election, and they hope to deliver that vote to George W. Bush. A Catholic Democrat is a serious obstacle to that goal.

Warren Buffet and JF Kerry

"I have only had one talk to John Kerry who called me three weeks ago and said would I work on an economic council with Roger Altman and Bob Rubin [Treasury secretaries in the Clinton administration] and some others and I said yes and that's about it," said Mr Buffett.

"I have not had any meetings yet but I expect I will receive calls asking me to endorse a policy of some sort or another."

"I think the election will be a referendum on George Bush," said Mr Buffett at the close of his annual shareholder meeting in Omaha. "The Kerry campaign is quite unimportant compared to how people feel about Bush when they go into the voting booth."

Buffett said he has become an economic adviser to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. He said President George W. Bush's tax cuts are ``tilted toward the rich.

``I've got way more money in my pocket because of the tax change and I don't think it's a good idea,'' he said.

The Fight is Not Over?

Kerry plans to define self

The new ad campaign featuring his biography and platform includes substantial ventures into two Republican-leaning states.

[ . . . ]
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the two new ads -- one that focuses on aspects of Kerry's life such as his Vietnam service and another that talks primarily about his top issues -- also will run on national cable networks.

KOFI ANNAN MEETS THE PRESS

Who will be the Democratic nominee?

Thomas Hamill

A Conspiracy of "Embedded Operatives"

The only war that the Bush administration is fighting with great skill and imagination, aided by wisdom gleaned from past experience, is the war against John Kerry's Vietnam war (and anti-war) record. Bush has had practice: All his previous major national opponents (John McCain and Al Gore) have been Vietnam vets.

Unlike in Iraq, President Bush has the help of embedded operatives throughout the country, locals willing to be even more gung-ho in the viciousness of their attacks than Bush himself. His troops also include his closest White House confidants, including Vice President Dick Cheney and Bush's language-nanny Karen Hughes. They've been sent out to snap and snarl at Kerry.

Rieckhoff on This Week

The Sunday RSN is LIVE

Heard on CNN's Late Edition

Saleh "will not be the head"

The Sunday Morning Talk Shows

The Times digs Koppel

When "Nightline" could not obtain a portrait, the show ran a Department of Defense photograph of flag-covered coffins at Dover Air Force Base, one of many such images that were published over the objections of the Bush administration.

Not all conservatives agreed. "Your decision to deny your viewers an opportunity to be reminded of war's terrible costs, in all their heartbreaking detail, is a gross disservice to the public, and to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces," Senator John McCain wrote in a letter to the chief executive of Sinclair that was published Friday. "It is, in short, sir, unpatriotic."

Saddam's boyz are back in town?

Too bad the Democrats suck so hard because if they didnt this would be the perfect opportunity to nail President Bush to the wall for going wobbly. We have the guys causing all the trouble bottled up in a city the marines are ready to take them down and we BACK DOWN! What sort of bloody bullshit is THAT???? This is pitiful and what we are seeing signals the deathknell of the US chances for victory. Whats next we replace Bremer with Saddam?

Gen. Abizaid names names

"I do favor the inclusion of more international troops, especially more Muslim troops," Abizaid told reporters via teleconference from his base in Doha, Qatar. "For example, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia -- they all have very capable and very professional forces that could be added to the stability equation once we move into this new level of political future that develops after negotiations in the U.N., or wherever they may take place."

Late Derby Prediction

The PRC reports on prison atrocities

Assaulting Justice Souter

Touching the Screen

Space Shuttles to Again Fly

Mission Accomplished

Koppel and the war dead

Sharpton invited to speak at the DNC

On Rev. Al Sharpton as a Speaker at the DNC ...

Kerry: "I hope so. Sure ... That's my call ... If he wants to do it, he can do it ... Let me just say to you ... if he wants to do it, I'd like him to do it. I think he'd do a terrific job. I think he'll add something ... there's no plea necessary. It's my invitation."

On Rev. Sharpton's Impact on the Presidential Campaign Season ...

Kerry: " ... He certainly earned the right to be part of this process, and I think he can be very, very helpful in motivating people, in helping to register people."

New Column on the RSN site

Words so often reveal more than the writer intends, and truth can find its way out of the craftiest planted propaganda.

Puerto Rico and the University of Massachusetts were shamed yesterday when their lamentable son Rene Gonzalez sought to wound America as it grieves for football great turned elite Army Ranger Pat Tillman.

Racism and envy were part of the reason Gonzalez called Tillman a "pendejo" (idiot) and a "Rambo" soldier who deserved to die. But the biggest reason of all was the personal cowardice of America hater Rene Gonzalez. [MORE]

Al Gore and the Young American

"This is not going to be a liberal network, or a Democratic network in any way, shape, or form,'' the former vice president said.

John McCain and Ted Koppel

The ABC Television Network announced on Tuesday that the Friday, April 30 edition of "Nightline" will consist entirely of Ted Koppel reading aloud the names of U.S. servicemen and women killed in action in Iraq. Despite the denials by a spokeswoman for the show, the action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq. [emphasis in orig]

[ . . . [
We understand that our decision in this matter may be questioned by some. Before you judge our decision, however, we would ask that you first question Mr. Koppel as to why he chose to read the names of 523 troops killed in combat in Iraq, rather than the names of the thousands of private citizens killed in terrorist attacks since and including the events of September 11, 2001. In his answer, we believe you will find the real motivation behind his action scheduled for this Friday. Unfortunately, we may never know for sure because Mr. Koppel has refused repeated requests from Sinclair's News Central news organization to comment on this Friday's program.

There is no valid reason for Sinclair to shirk its responsibility in what I assume is a very misguided attempt to prevent your viewers from completely appreciating the extraordinary sacrifices made on their behalf by Americans serving in Iraq. War is an awful, but sometimes necessary business. Your decision to deny your viewers an opportunity to be reminded of war’s terrible costs, in all their heartbreaking detail, is a gross disservice to the public, and to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. It is, in short, sir, unpatriotic. I hope it meets with the public opprobrium it most certainly deserves.

It is "Nightline's" failure to present the entire story, however, to which Sinclair objects. "Nightline" is not reporting news; it is doing nothing more than making a political statement. In simply reading the names of our fallen heroes, this program has adopted a strategy employed by numerous anti-war demonstrators who wish to focus attention solely on the cost of war. In fact, lest there be any doubt about "Nightline's" motivation, both Mr. Koppel and "Nightline's" executive producer have acknowledged that tonight's episode was influenced by the Life Magazine article listing the names of dead soldiers in Vietnam, which article was widely credited with furthering the opposition to the Vietnam war and with creating a backlash of public opinion against the members of the U.S. military who had proudly served in that conflict

In closing, I would like to quote for you the words of Captain Kate Blaise of the U.S. Military. Captain Blaise served in Iraq as a member of the 101st Airborne Division and suffered the loss of her husband Mike who was killed while also serving in Iraq. In commenting on exactly the type of practice which "Nightline" intends to employ, Captain Blaise had this to say:

"I was watching the news, watching this anti-war demonstration and they were reading off names of soldiers who had fallen in Iraq and they read off my husband's name. That made me very angry because he very strongly believed in what he was doing and they were using his name for a purpose that he would not have approved of."

The French: "Canadians Hate Bush"

Joe Wilson's Book

"The workup on me that turned up the information on Valerie was shared with Karl Rove, who then circulated it in administration and neoconservative circles," Wilson writes.

Those Pictures of prisoner humilation

"I visited Abu Ghraib a couple of days after it was liberated. It was the most awful sight I've ever seen. I said, ‘If there's ever a reason to get rid of Saddam Hussein, it's because of Abu Ghraib,'” says Baer. “There were bodies that were eaten by dogs, torture. You know, electrodes coming out of the walls. It was an awful place."

"We cannot tolerate it and the military is taking strong action against the individuals responsible for these despicable acts," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

New column on RSN site

WASHINGTON - We caught up with Sen. John Kerry as he prepared to debate fellow Democrat Stephen Douglas for the right to challenge likely Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election.

We wanted to clarify Sen. Kerry's position on slavery, the most divisive issue in American politics. Republicans will campaign on a strong anti-slavery platform, while Democrats are equally staunch in their support of the "peculiar institution."

Yesterday at a noontime rally, Sen. Kerry defended the rights of slaveholders in the face of
mounting criticism from Christian clergy, who call slavery immoral and an affront to Christianity. [MORE]

Ronald Reagan U.

Air Support

"Go figure, we spend zillions of dollars and have Anti Virus software running all the time but this crap slips through.

Think of it this way. For all the trouble which can be caused by computer viruses and Iraqi insurgents, they don't get air support. - Mark

To win (reelection), the Prez has to lose (Iraq)

Ordinarily, presidents are rewarded for doing their jobs well. In Bush's case, however, quiet in Iraq would allow Americans to focus on their pocketbooks. While the economy--and Bush's approval numbers on the issue--have rebounded from lows, the president remains far weaker on domestic issues than on international affairs. Democrats can still claim that Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover to preside over a decline in the number of jobs. The latest Gallup poll shows a 54 percent disapproval rating on Bush's handling of the economy. Bush's best hope for reelection is for the electorate to focus on his leadership abilities--and one way for that to happen is for there to be trouble in Iraq.

New Column on RSN site

There they go again. Another Liberal has decided that loud must somehow equal right. This time Hillary Clinton has decided to join the ranks of Al Gore and Howard Dean by screaming herself into a hysterical frenzy at a pro-abortion rally. Other than making America finally understand why Bill looked outside his marriage for companionship, Hillary's tirade about how she is tired of Republicans calling Liberals "unpatriotic" makes no sense. No Republican has called the Democrats unpatriotic. They have questioned the Liberals dedication to national defense, their commitment to the War on Terror, and the motivations for their Socialist policies, but not their patriotism. Liberals may want to blame the Republicans for their public perception of Anti-Americanism, but the Democrats actually are having a problem with common sense. [MORE]

The Testimony of the President

I want to thank the Chairman and Vice-Chairman for bringing the commission here and giving us a chance to share views on different subjects. And they had a lot of good questions. I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I took the time. This is an important commission, and it's important that they ask the questions they ask so that they can help make recommendations necessary to better protect our homeland. It was -- I enjoyed it.

New Poll (Manet still has brush in hand)

The New York Times-CBS News poll found that 47 percent of those surveyed believe the United States did the right thing in invading Iraq, down from 58 percent in March and 63 percent in December.

New Column on RSN site

LAST WEEK I wrote a column in which I argued that liberals have started addressing conservatives as neoconservatives because the word conservativewithout the divisive prefix of neono longer frightens the American public. By labeling the Bush Administration neoconservative, rather than merely conservative, liberals are trying to undo all of the positive steps conservatives have taken to improve our image. [MORE]

Patterns of Global Terrorism Report

[Top State Department counterterrorism official, Cofer] Black also said al-Qaida "is no longer the organization it once was. ... Most of the group's senior leadership is dead or in custody, its membership on the run and its capabilities sharply degraded." He said more 3,400 al-Qaida suspects have been detained worldwide.

Testifying in Private

The president, who initially fiercely opposed the commission's creation, grudgingly agreed to the session on condition he not be sworn to tell the truth, that Cheney accompany him, and that there be no transcript or recording.

But a poll published Thursday showed Bush's approval ratings in a slump, his race with Kerry a dead heat, and highlighted growing doubts about his handling of the war in Iraq.

And former counter-terrorism aides have publicly called into question Bush's response to the growing threat from Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network after he took office in January 2001.

Election Law Broken in South Dakota Senate Race

"Their hypocrisy is unbelievable," said Thune's campaign manager, Dick Wadhams. "It's either blatant disregard for the law or incompetence."

The state of the nation is…

Gore gives $4m to the DNC

"I didn't support John Kerry. President Carter didn't support John Kerry. President Clinton didn't support John Kerry," Gore said. "John Kerry earned the nomination of this party. He won it the hard way."

Infiltration

"I think they don't understand either just how much of New York City is not prepared to welcome them," said Amanda Hickman, who described herself as a community gardener from Brooklyn. "I don't think that has clicked."

PA Redistricting Plan Stands

McDermott's Pledge

WANTED: People who aren't there

Clinton's Vial of Powder

Hot Judicial Nomination

Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah and the committee chairman, extolled Mr. Kavanaugh as a graduate of Yale Law School and a law clerk to three judges. Mr. Hatch also said the American Bar Association had rated Mr. Kavanaugh "well qualified" for the judicial post, on the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Mr. Hatch said it was wrong of opponents to portray Mr. Kavanaugh as a right-wing ideologue. He has devoted a majority of his career to public service, not ideological causes, Mr. Hatch said.

Thursday's Joint Appearance

White House -- President Bush says Thursday's appearance before the 9-11 commission will be a "good opportunity" to help in the panel's work. He says he looks forward to what he terms "the discussion."

Bush will not be under oath, and there'll be no recording or transcript, when he and Vice President Cheney are questioned together behind closed doors at the White House.

Bush says he expects the panel to ask about "what happened leading up to" 9-11 and administration anti-terror efforts in general.

Questioned by reporters as he met with Sweden's prime minister, the president side-stepped a question about the lack of a transcript. And he wouldn't say why the White House insisted he appear jointly with Cheney.

UN Resolution on WMD

The United States could get a major victory at the UN Security Council on a new resolution aimed at keeping weapons of mass destruction (WMD) out of the hands of terrorists.

But the measure would still pass with 14 votes in favour on the 15-nation council, even if Pakistan abstains. The United States has called for a vote this week, before Pakistan takes over the Security Council presidency in May.

Hoping to get Islamabad's support, the United States revised language to make the measure non-retroactive so that Pakistan would not be held accountable for the spread of the technology by its nuclear mastermind A.Q. Khan.

On Wictory Wednesday

The Mod Squad

The latest...

The latest...

PA Senate...

early Pennsylvania results...

During the Vietnam War

Kerry's three war injuries -- all minor -- were enough to allow him an early return to stateside duty. After petitioning for honorable discharge six months early in 1969, Kerry ran for a House seat in Massachusetts, but later gave up his bid for the Democratic nomination. He joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War and became its leading spokesman. During a protest in April 1971, Kerry threw his war ribbons over a fence at the Capitol.

The high cost of gasoline

``There is no general shortage of crude oil in today's market -- supplies are readily available,'' Naimi said.

Instead, he pointed to ``balkanized gasoline markets'' that required dozens of different gasoline blends to meet local clean air U.S. requirements.

To increase refining capacity in the United States, Saudi Arabia is prepared to spend $70 million to $100 million to obtain environmental and regulatory permits required to build two new U.S. oil refineries, the first such construction in decades.

No new refineries have been built in the US in the past 25 years. And petroleum industry experts say anyone would have to be crazy to launch such an effort -- even though present refineries are running at nearly 100 % of capacity and local gasoline shortages are beginning to crop up.

Why does the industry appear to have built its last refinery?

Three reasons: Refineries are not particularly profitable, environmentalists fight planning and construction every step of the way and government red-tape makes the task all but impossible. The last refinery built in the US was in Garyville, Louisiana, and it started up in 1976.

Energy proposed building a refinery near Portsmouth, Virginia, in the late 1970s, environmental groups and local residents fought the plan -- and it took almost nine years of battles in court and before federal and state regulators before the company cancelled the project in 1984.

Industry officials estimate the cost of building a new refinery at between $ 2 bn and $ 4 bn -- at a time the industry must devote close to $ 20 bn over the next decade to reducing the sulphur content in gasoline and other fuels -- and approval could mean having to collect up to 800 different permits. As if those hurdles weren't enough, the industry's long-term rate of return on capital is just 5 % -- less than could be realized by simply buying US Treasury bonds.

"I'm sure that at some point in the last 20 years someone has considered building a new refinery," says James Halloran, an energy analyst with National City Corp. "But they quickly came to their senses," he adds. [note: They claim their source as Investors Business Daily]

GOP economic Priorities

Kerry's Nowhere in Ohio

He has no field offices. No paid staff. And Kerry bumper stickers are harder to spot than faded "Gore-Lieberman" ones.

Cuyahoga County's Democratic Party headquarters - down the street from the Slovenian National Home in Cleveland, where Kerry appears this afternoon - displays placards in its windows reading, "Elect Dennis Kucinich President."

By contrast, President Bush's re-election campaign, which has had the luxury of time and money to get organized here, fills a Columbus office with 12 paid staffers and acres of signs and bumper stickers. The campaign says it has already signed up 24,000 volunteers, ready to pound on doors for the president.

Charlie Cook on Toomey-Hoeffel

[M]ost Democrats… argue -- and most independents observers agree -- that Hoeffel would have an advantage over Toomey if the Allentown Republican knocks off the incumbent in today's GOP primary.

Apart from the simple fact that the state seems to be trending Democratic, Hoeffel would begin with a strong advantage in the Philadelphia suburbs, including his homebase of Montgomery County, as well as Bucks and Delaware Counties. Historically, this has been Republican territory. But Al Gore won all three counties in the 2000 election and Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell won
them in the 2002 gubernatorial contest.

Like so many suburban counties outside the South, social and cultural issues are driving many suburban voters away from the Republican Party. This is mirrored in the way those same issues tend to be pushing small town and rural voters away from the Democratic Party.

The tough question for the Toomey campaign in a general election is this: Where outside of your congressional district will you do better than George W. Bush did in 2000, when he took 46 percent while running as a much less ideological candidate than you are today? Where will Hoeffel do worse than Gore?

Afghanistan Executes One

Kerry Lost It

The Future of the Party?

Powell never considered resignation

Part of the Revolution

Deaths in the hunt for WMD

The military initially claimed that a detail of U.S. Army soldiers were about to raid a suspected bomb making factory when two were killed after an explosion.

Kerry has been hit

Another new column on the RSN site

Oh, for the days when knights wore shining armor and came to the rescue of damsels in distress. They slew mythical dragons and searched for the Holy Grail. The world has a different kind of knight these days. King Arthur would take an axe to the Round Table if he were alive today.

Today, there is a kind of "knight" in Middle Eastern countries that is held in high esteem but he doesn't don armor--he wears a bomb-vest. He doesn't mount a magnificent steed but steals a police car and stuffs it with explosives. This noble knight tricks ten year old boys with gifts of toys and sends them off to become unknowing, tiny-mobile- killing-machines. This "knight" is not a brave and honorable man, but a coward who kills children and then celebrates his great victory. [MORE]

New Column on RSN site

John Kerry has accused Republicans of questioning his patriotism. Why not question Kerrys patriotism? Should not a candidate for the Presidency of the United States be patriotic? Should he not love and be loyal to the land he hopes to lead? I say yes, and I will question Kerrys patriotism.

Sen. Kerry has a record of engaging in activity that falls just short of treason; he has aided and abetted enemies of the United States. [MORE]

Veep smacks Kerry around

"It's time for Dick Cheney to call off the Republican attack dogs," said Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe.

Clinton Book

"It is the fullest and most nuanced account of a presidency ever written, and one of the most revealing and remarkable memoirs I have ever had the honor of publishing," Sonny Mehta, president and editor-in-chief of Alfred A. Knopf, said in a statement Monday.

Doomsday in Fallujah

No Elections for Hong Kong

"ticked-off radicals"

At a pre-march rally on Saturday night at the D.C. Armory by RFK Stadium, California congresswoman Maxine Waters told George W. Bush to "go to hell." Going to hell with him, said Waters, should be John Ashcroft, Don Rumsfeld, and Condi Rice. In a brief, non-impromptu speech, that's what a member of the United States Congress chose to say. (You'll be amused — or horrified — to know she was introduced as "the future president of the United States.")

Kerry's own religion

The Paulist Center attracts Catholics uncomfortable with some of the Vatican's orthodox teachings or who otherwise feel alienated from the Roman Catholic Church.

The congregation includes gay couples, whose adopted children are baptized there, unlike in some other Boston parishes. In November, its leaders refused to read aloud during Mass from a letter opposing gay marriage, as requested by the Massachusetts bishops.

The congregation is not geographical, but ideological, drawing people from as far as away as New Hampshire, said Drew Deskur, the center's music director and a parishioner for 25 years.

In Fallujah…

Marines at the office, set up between the Marines' base at Camp Fallujah and the city itself, were issuing new identification cards to Iraqi police and civil defense officers - 600 have been given out so far - in a bid to get the Iraqi security agencies functioning again.

Nearby, about 100 sets of shovels, wheelbarrows and axes were piled in a dusty courtyard - part of a Marine effort to, slowly, spread some cash around Fallujah and put the idle back to work. The idea is to hire Fallujans, paying them perhaps $2 a day, to clean up the rubble around the city of 250,000 left by the street battles.

Later, if it's safe, Navy engineers called Seabees will sweep in with front-end loaders to clear out major damage, such as bombed buildings and walls.

Bigger American plans include a new bridge over the Euphrates River, two large secondary schools, two new clinics, an addition to the Fallujah General Hospital and a bypass to the so-called Cloverleaf Highway that links Baghdad to Ramadi and other parts of the province.

Commanders at 1st Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters describe their campaign to re-establish control over the city in a more nuanced way than using superior air and ground power to storm inside.

So jaws dropped across Washington when Kerry responded with just one word after host Tim Russert asked him on "Meet the Press" whether he supported Bush's promises to Sharon.

"Yes," Kerry said.

"Completely?" Russert followed.

"Yes," Kerry said again.

Kerry's Medals/Ribbons

On the program, an interviewer asked Mr. Kerry to explain what was happening in a photograph of a man hurling a medal, apparently during a protest. Mr. Kerry responded that the veterans had decided that the best way to "wake the country up" about the war was to "renounce the symbols which this country gives, which supposedly reinforces all the things that they have done, and that was the medals themselves."

"And so they decided to give them back to their country," he added.

"I never asserted otherwise," Kerry said on Monday -- moments after ABC played part of the 1971 interview in which Kerry indicated he threw his medals over a fence.

"And back then, ribbons, medals were absolutely interchangeable...We all referred to them as the symbols..." Kerry continued. "So the fact is that I have been accurate precisely about what took place. And I am the one who later made clear exactly what happened."

"Good Morning America" anchor Charlie Gibson said he was there 33 years ago when Kerry threw medals over the fence. "I saw you throw medals over the fence, and we didn't find out until later (interrupted) that those were someone else's medals," Gibson said.

Kerry, not listening to the end of Gibson's statement, said, "Charlie, Charlie, you're wrong. That is not what happened. I threw my ribbons across. And all you have to do..." [Gibson tried to clarify that Kerry threw someone else's medals over the fence, but Kerry would not give him an opportunity.]

Kerry eventually clarified that he did throw two medals (not his) over the fence at the request of two veterans.

Kerry said what he did in 1971 was unpopular and polarizing: "I threw my ribbons over; I threw the medals of two veterans who asked me to throw them over -- after the ceremony, completely separate. And I'm the one -- if I had something to hide -- I'm the one who made it known exactly what happened. To me, it's one and the same [ribbons, medals] -- and I'm proud of it."

"We threw away the symbols of the war. I'm proud I stood up and fought against it -- proud I took on Richard Nixon. And I think to this day there's no distinction between the two [medal/ribbons]."

Republicans, nervous about questions regarding President Bush's Air National Guard service, have raised the issue to revive accusations by some veterans that the discarding of medals dishonored those who served and died in the war.

Kerry said he didn't want to throw medals or ribbons over the fence to begin with. "I thought we ought to lay them on a table and put them in front of people in a way that wouldn't be as challenging to many Americans. Other veterans felt otherwise. They took a vote...they voted to throw. I threw my ribbons. I didn't have my medals."

High-Tech Stuff

On broadband, the name for the high-speed Internet connections over phone, cable and satellites, Bush said in a speech last week that America is "lagging a little bit." To encourage more broadband connections, he believes users should not be taxed, and that the government should encourage competition among providers.

Bush has already signed into a law a two-year extension of the Internet Access Tax moratorium, which expired last fall. Now, he's calling on Congress to pass legislation that would extend the moratorium to broadband and make it permanent.

The House has passed a moratorium on user taxes levied against consumers who subscribe to broadband; the Senate is scheduled to address the issue this week.

Democrat Outrage!

“It could have been worse,” Watson added. “Pete could have been identified as John Kerry.”

Chris Gates, chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party, demanded an apology.

Pro-Abortion March

"It doesn't matter if you're Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, male or female, black or white, ... north or south, east or west, all that matters is your respect for the claim of every life," Cheney said in a 10-minute speech to the National Right to Life Committee Educational Trust Fund.

"To be part of this cause is to believe that every mother carrying a life, that every child waiting to be born deserves understanding," he said.

Ahmed Chalabi

The greatest team in baseball this season

Sox Win! Sox Win! Red Sox win 2-0!

The Bronx Infidels™ have been defeated again!

Thus, the Boston Red Sox have swept the Bronx Infidels for the first time in the Bronx since 1999!

Time to get out the brooms to sweep the Bronx Infidels™ (and their fans) away!

Yankees Suck!

They Chat on TW

Steph talks to Lahkdar Brahimi

"There's a lot of hatred because the very violent and repressive security policy of the Israeli government as well as this determination to occupy more and more Palestinian territory."

The Rightsided Newsletter is Posted

Bandar on Clarke on MTP

Russert hassled Bandar about the 150 Saudi relatives of bin Laden who flew out of the United States after 9-11. Russert insisted that this occurred when Americans were still under the flight ban. Bandar said that they were not. Bandar explained that he had called the FBI to ask if it could be arranged to fly these people out lest they be the victims of natural hostility. The FBI put him in touch with an Administration official named Richard Clarke, who saw no problems with the request. Russert did not follow up at all on Dick Clarke's role in this.

But Bandar characterized the books that have been written about the Saudis flying out of the United States: "In French, it's 'hogwash.'" Pardonnez-moi?

The President Becomes Articulate

With skillful use of language and images, President Bush and his aides have kept the American public from turning against the war in Iraq despite the swelling number of U.S. casualties there.

Political strategists and public-opinion experts say a good part of this resilience of public support for Bush and the Iraq war stems from the president's oratory. They say Bush has convinced Americans of three key points that strongly influence overall support for the war: that the United States will prevail in Iraq; that the fighting in Iraq is related to the war against al Qaeda; and that most Iraqis and many foreign countries support U.S. actions in Iraq.

The Sunday Morning Talk Shows

To whom does the world look?

[Palestinian cabinet member Dr. Saeb] Erekat is a moderate figure and claims to remain hopeful, but even he admitted that without a commitment from the United States for renewed negotiations -- few Palestinians I spoke with during the month I recently spent in Israel and Palestine said they believed the European Union or the United Nations could play a central role -- neither Israelis nor Palestinians would get any closer to peace.

New on the blogroll

New Column on RSN site

Remember Pat Schroeder? She was a congresswoman from Colorado during President Ronald Reagan's administration.

What she is best-remembered for is her frustration at the inability of Democrats to make charges of misconduct against Mr. Reagan stick.

"He's the Teflon President!" she lamented.

Well, Bill and Hillary Clinton definitely are not Teflon-coated. They are just the opposite: Lots of stuff sticks. What distresses is that so little comes of it. [MORE]

Kerry's Health

Senator Kerry visited Dr. Zarins at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Saturday morning, as a follow-up to his shoulder surgery. Campaign staff claimed to be unaware of Kerry's appointment earlier today, but spokesman David Wade now says he had "an appointment" and insists Kerry's shoulder is "doing great."

Doctors have assured me that after treatment for prostate cancer, the recovery rate is 98 percent. But I believe Coloradans deserve a 100 percent guarantee of service."

Kerry and Church Law

Some Catholics argued that Kerry must live to the letter of church law, in public and in private, supporting the prohibition on abortion — or lose the right to Communion and other church privileges. Others accused church leaders of taking too narrow a view of Christian values, saying Kerry proves his faith in other ways, including his support for the poor.

Socialists who dislike taxes

Teresa Heinz's tax records

Kerry's Anti-War Record

Kerry Carries Shrapnel

Woodward says Bandar lies

Brahimi's problem

"There's a lot of hatred because the very violent and repressive security policy of the Israeli government as well as this determination to occupy more and more Palestinian territory," said Brahimi, a U.N. undersecretary-general and Annan's top envoy on Iraq.

Brahimi stressed that an eventual solution to Iraq was tied to the situation between the Israelis and Palestinians.

"The problems are linked," he said. "There is no doubt that the great poison in the region is this Israeli policy of domination and the suffering imposed on the Palestinians as well as the perception of all of the population in the region, and beyond, of the injustice of this policy and the equally unjust support ... of the United States for this policy."

The U.N. spokesman was pressed several times on whether the United Nations believes Israel is spreading "poison" in the region.

"It's a politically complex issue," Eckhard said. "Mr. Brahimi was expressing his personal views. ... The secretary-general's views, as expressed over the last seven years, do not contain the word `poison.'"

Israel's deputy U.N. ambassador Arye Mekel said his country was "very disturbed" by Brahimi's statement which "puts the objectivity and fairness of the top U.N. officials in question and increases Israel's suspicion about the motivation of the United Nations."

Flag Draped Coffins

From the Weekly Australian

WITH large areas of Iraq in chaos, more than 700 US troops dead, and intense criticism of his failure to do more against al-Qa'ida in the first months of his presidency, George W. Bush might have expected to see his re-election campaign take at least a temporary hit.

Instead, Bush appears to have weathered one of the worst periods of his presidency with aplomb, and even increased his margin over Democrat challenger Senator John Kerry, according to two polls this week.

"Conservatives attack Arlen Specter"

Many conservatives have attacked Mr. Specter for voting against the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, against the nomination of Robert H. Bork to the Supreme Court, against school vouchers and against some tax cuts. He has also angered conservatives by supporting abortion rights, opposing a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and pushing for what they consider wasteful spending.

Many liberals have attacked Mr. Santorum for voting for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, supporting ANWR, supporting President Bush's conservative judicial nominees, favoring the lives of the unborn, and voting for the President's tax cuts.

The War is Kerry's Conundrum

Leaders of progressive [liberal] groups who are backing Kerry despite reservations about his Iraq stands say they doubt Nader will peel away significant support from Kerry in the fall election.

A Dichotomy of War

Catholic Kerry maintains pro-abort stance

"Yes," he replied. "If the person should not receive it, then it should not be given. Objectively, the answer is there."

Toomey vrs. Specter - let's do this

The ban on Ba'athists

A call for Gorelick to testify

Al Felzenberg, spokesman for the commission, said Ms. Gorelick's recusal applies to the time she was deputy attorney general at the Justice Department, so she is free to take part in the investigation and drafting of the report for anything that happened after she left.

Kerry Crashes Pool Party

Looking out at the audience as Edwards stood several paces behind him, Kerry offered up some humor as well: "What a gathering of talent, good looks, brains ... I'm just talking about John Edwards and me."

John Kerry's SUV

"I don't own an SUV."

"The family has it. I don't have it."

"We're going to keep jobs in America and help the industry be more competitive with foreign manufacturers that are building those cars today."

New to blogroll: Café Hayek

Cafe Hayek is run by two lecturers from the Economics Department at George Mason University in Virginia: Prof. Russell Roberts and Prof. Don Boudreaux
.
Their blog is topical, covering topics like how the market will correct overzealous offshoring [outsourcing], and why with trade policy why we should avoid Keynes's phrase: "In the long run, we're all dead."

Dem's know: no one knows Kerry

But so far he [Kerry] has yet to articulate a message and get into rhetorical fighting shape.

If I were running the Kerry campaign, I would simply show over and over again Bush's response at his news conference about why he insists on appearing at the Sept. 11 hearings with Vice President Cheney. Bush had no answer -- none whatsoever -- and even a follow-up failed to get a response. (My follow-up would have been to ask if they were going to dress identically.) The look on Bush's face was both telling and scary. He simply had no acceptable answer.

A new column on the RSN Web site

John Kerry's speaking style has all of the excitement and appeal of listening to electric egg beaters. While Mr. Kerry's supporters may call his style "nuanced" (meaning if you do not like it, you lack intelligence), everyone else who has been forced to sit through one of his sleeping pills of a presentation calls it boring. However, when Mr. Kerry speaks of the United Nations, he gets so enthusiastic that he will actually break from his normal droning monotone, and show some verbal inflection! It sounds something like this, "Bzzzzzzzzzzz The U.N. is good, and America sticks! Bzzzzzzzzzzzz." Another fine speech, Senator. [MORE]

Bush and Missouri

About that NYTimes Editorial

Senator John Kerry's two tours of combat duty in Vietnam should have prepared him well for the political firefight…

One of the few sources of comfort for voters in this endless presidential campaign is that there is time to learn what they need to know about the candidates before the conventions in late summer. As the newcomer to the national election stage, Mr. Kerry has more to tell, and more to lose by not doing so early enough that any questions can be asked and answered before his nomination. Why delight critics, and irritate supporters, with a bout of stonewalling that's hardly worth the fight?

Mary McGrory: R.I.P.

Happy Earth Day!

Sierra Clubs Survives, Still Goofy

New column on the RSN site

THE DIFFERENCE between liberals and lemmings is becoming increasingly unclear. Left-wing columnists, especially, have a mysterious gift for writing exactly the same things as their colleagues. If one writer decides to start shrieking about a certain issue, so will all the others. It is a perpetually hilarious phenomenon.

For the past few weeks, the liberal argument has consisted of calling President Bush and members of his Administration "neocons," or, "neoconservatives." Neoconservatism, of course, is the movement which calls, in part, for an activist foreign policy aimed at spreading freedom throughout the world. (Just from that definition, you can see why liberals don't care for it.) [MORE]

Specter and Electoral Myths

Who will be the Dem nominee?

Bob Woodward's Novel

Rumsfeld: Okay, a couple of things before we start. I am not great with dates or times and I don't have a lot of notes that can be helpful. The last time we met you asserted things, saying, "You did this or you said that," as though you knew what I did, and you were wrong a lot.

Woodward: I apologize for that. It was based on NSC notes and what other people said.

Rumsfeld: Other people, exactly. And your assumption is, if somebody says that to you, that it is correct. Therefore you assert it to me. That causes me a lot of problems, because then I have to stop and say, "No, that's not right." Almost everything you asked me was premised with an assertion that was either incomplete or wrong, and it changed the whole nature of it. You'd be better off with me if you asked those questions about the premises in the question you want to ask.