Does anyone see a teensy, tinsy, minor error in the last paraggraph of this EDITORIAL 9Note, NOT an op-ed, but an actual, this is what our best and brightest think, EDITORIAL)?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/30/opinion/30thu3.html?ex=1346212800&en=5771d1b2efbc93eb&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Whenever someone starts with "I'm not just..." and follows that clause with "but," you know they are lying.

Today, my colleague, RA, uttered the blog post title during a conversation with me today. She's politically aware and says she supports Hillary. I asked her why and she wasn't able to articulate Hillary's position on anything (other than she's married to Bill Clinton and he's the smartest and best advisor a president could ask for - to which I agree).

So I kept pushing her and trying to see where she agreed with Hillary because this woman is rabidly anti-war and Hillary isn't. read more »

I was reading my local paper and came across this article about broadband access and cost in Japan versus the US.

Apparently, "Broadband service [in Japan] is eight to 30 times as fast as in the United States -- and considerably cheaper. Japan has the world's fastest Internet connections, delivering more data at a lower cost than anywhere else, recent studies show."

How did this happen? Well, two things contributed to this rapid improvement in internet infrastructure. read more »

Here's my excuse for the past month's radio silence.

I've finally recovered from jet lag and am full of European travel tips for anyone who wants them.

The highlights: Delft, Holland; Salzburg and the Zillertal, Austria; and Florence. The lowlight: the ordeal getting home, due to mechanical difficulties and other snafus.

I'm watching the Atlanta Falcons pre-season game tonight on Monday Night Football and not surprisingly much of the discussion is about Michael Vick. One of the commentators, Tony Kornheiser, just made one of the more ridiculous statements I have heard in a long time that betrays his inflated view of his profession.

Tony noted that the Atlanta Falcons organization has asked the media not to ask any of the players about Michael Vick during the game tonight. Tony said that this is censorship and that the journalists have the right to have access to the players and ask them anything they want.

Well Tony, it takes two to tango. Journalists certainly have the right to ask anything they want. But people (and organizations) have the right to not answer. We (non-journalists) don't owe you anything. We don't have to provide you with a sound clip. We don't have to answer questions we don't want to. We don't even have to acknowledge you. read more »

Can we agree yet that there is significant military AND political progress in Iraq?

And even if you answer "no" (and I don't see how you could), can we agree that this is a good thing (from frontpagemag.com):

IRAQIS REACH AGREEMENT ON REFORMS

By Ed Morrissey

It looks like the Iraqi political leadership remained on the job during their August recess. Representatives of all main sects in Iraq announced agreement on the most contentious issues, including a deal to initiate revenue sharing on oil production that concerned the American Congress most (via Power Line):

Iraq's top Shi'ite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political leaders announced on Sunday they had reached consensus on some key measures seen as vital to fostering national reconciliation. read more »

I have just received breaking news that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned. Of all of the missteps and disasters of the Bush Administration, allowing Gonzales to remain this long has got to be one of the most egregious.

At what point does loyalty become stubborn pride? Bush's loyalty is the stuff of legends. But blind loyalty, especially to incompetence should not be celebrated.

I believe that Gonzales has gotten off too easy. At minimum he should have been fired from his position rather than being allowed to voluntarily resign.

Update: Here is the response from Bush:

President Bush on Monday said he reluctantly accepted the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose "good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons."

After months of standing by his top prosecutor and "close friend," Bush spoke briefly in Texas to praise Gonzales, saying the attorney general endured "unfair treatment that has created harmful distraction at the Justice Department."

Bush said it's "sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person" is impeded "from doing important work."

That is pathetic! "Good name dragged through the mud"? An "honorable person"? There are only two ways to view Alberto Gonzales in regards to the US Attorney scandal. Either he deliberately lied about his involvement or he was remiss in his job and didn't know what the hell was going on. Take your pick but I can't see that there are any other options.

This week I interviewed Aaron Krowne of The Mortgage Lender Implod-o-meter. We discussed the current housing crisis, his legal efforts to defend his freedom of speech on his website, and the future of Web 2.0 as it relates to financial markets. (Sponsored by The Market Traders)

(if you have problems playing the interview above, try this link)

To get you in the frame of thinking about the current housing crisis, let me recommend this article by Stephen Chapman:

In the old days, financial institutions that refused to lend to people with low incomes or imperfect credit were accused of victimizing the needy. Today, financial institutions that make many loans to those same people are found guilty of the same crime.

read more »

As a geography major and former teaching assistant, I can't say that I am surprised at this. As the father of two girls, I am amazed at how low the bar has been set.

HT: Ross Douthat

Care to join me on a Sunday night thought experiment?

I learned in PoliSci 101 that a basic difference between conservatives and liberals in America is the underlying belief about the nature of mankind. Conservatives tend to think that man is inherently bad/evil in nature, while liberals tend to think that man is basically good. This, of course, underpins policy actions and belief in legislation. And regardless of how you view mankind, both sides have long arrived at the idea that forcing two animals to fight for human enjoyment shouldn't be allowed in a civilized society.

However, what has long confused me is the position that libertarians take. They generally don't take a position on mankind's inherent nature and instead focus on private property and maximizing freedoms. It isn't too much of a stretch to say that "you can do anything you want as long as you don't infringe upon me" is the libertarian motto. As far as I can tell, libertarians don't have a position on animal fighting, other than people should be allowed to do with their property as they see fit without government infringement. read more »

I found myself watching President Bush on television this week during my vacation and thinking that he was a modern-day Don Quixote fighting a battle that has long since moved on. It would be sad, if I was talking about my uncle, but I'm talking about the leader of the free world. I'm talking about the leader of the most powerful nation on Earth. It isn't sad, it's downright embarrassing.

What am I talking about specifically? I'm talking about President Bush's speech to the VFW this week. In it, he compared Iraq to Vietnam. There was so much that was wrong with the speech that I don't have time or energy to break it all down. Let me highlight the most factually inaccurate part. read more »

At the risk of re-igniting Expat's passions on the subject, I'll point out that National Review has an interesting analysis today of Richardson's campaign to date.

As a side note, maybe Expat will respect NR a bit more now that he's been called a "tuned-in Democratic activist" in its (e-)pages (see penultimate graf). Ha!

President Hugo Chavez has announced plans to change to Venezuela's constitution, allowing him to remain in power indefinitely.

I don't have much insight on this except to say that I remember when President Bush was pushing democracy promotion as the keystone of his foreign policy. It seemed like such a wonderful departure from the "my dictator" realpolitik of the 20th century. However, like everything this President has touch, it has become an utter failure.

Can the next President continue with the Bush doctrine of democracy promotion? read more »

Apparently, Giuliani is against illegal immigration this week (last week he was in favor of amnesty) and said, "We can end illegal immigration. I promise you, we can end illegal immigration."

Does he not know that illegal immigration has been a problem for America since those white folks showed up at Jamestown. As long as America is the beacon of freedom or the land of opportunity, people will come here, legally or illegally. read more »

I am not a huge fan of football, but I do watch a little during the regular season, and most of the playoffs. The Steelers have been my favorite team for a long time. Hearing "the Steelers", until now always lead my thoughts to names like Swan, Stallworth, Franco Harris, Mean Joe Greene, Bradshaw, Noll, Cowher. Now, the first name that will leap to mind will forever be Steely McBeam, sure, I will say that again, STEELY McBEAM!...what a pity. As one commenter stated (see link), I think some of my friends too will find Pat Patriot a lot easier to bear now. read more »

For years, The New Republic stood out for me as a place to go to hear reasoned, reasonable, well-articulated discourse from those to the left of me that I could respect. And until recently, Franklin Foer was nothing more to me than the author of an immensely enjoyable and educational, if slightly mistitled book, How Soccer Explains the World.

But I won't be buying any of Foer's books anymore. And as for The New Republic...well, they've now been consigned, in my book, to the heap of sources I now must discount as questionable (although they'd probably call the company good in that heap, since they're there with fellow fabricators the New York Times, CBS News, and NBC news). read more »

This time it's noted Bush-worshippers Dick Durbin, Bob Casey, Jack Reed, and Carl Levin:

Democrats praise military progress

By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer Wed Aug 8, 7:33 PM ET

WASHINGTON - One senator said U.S. troops are routing out al-Qaida in parts of Iraq. Another insisted President Bush's plan to increase troops has caused tactical momentum.

One even went so far on Wednesday as to say the argument could be made that U.S. troops are winning.

These are not Bush-backing GOP die-hards, but Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Bob Casey and Jack Reed. Even Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, said progress was being made by soldiers. read more »

Here is the latest from Eric...

Day #260 for Eric in prison

Dear Friends,

Out of concern for my safety, my defense team and I have been extremely passive and gracious to those responsible for this injustice. Some might be surprised to know that despite the overwhelming evidence proving my innocence and a growing network of global support, the indicators and nuances we are getting here tell us that my freedom is not getting any closer.

As I enter into my 9th month in prison with no word from the appellate court and with the authorities increasingly violating my rights to defense (see Appendix 1), it has become obvious that an adjustment to our approach is needed. I have waited as long as I can to write this letter, but as a man fighting for his life, I’m left with no other choice. read more »

The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto has been mercilessly hammering John Kerry recently for his statement that there was no bloodbath in Southeast Asia after the US exited Vietnam. On Saturday, the Journal (and its opinion website, opinionjournal.com) published a letter from Kerry defending his statement (http://opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010427). And today, Taranto, in a brilliant stroke, has allowed readers to respond, line by line, to Kerry's letter (http://opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110010435).

The responses themselves are striking, for the most part, in both their clearheadedness and in their civility (though a couple are a bit combative in tone). I wonder if these characteristics are due to Taranto's choices, to the demographics of WSJ readers, or due to constitutional differences between thinking conservatives and thinking liberals. I have long held that while unthinking noisy gongs on both sides are obnoxious, that the thinking conservatives tend to be much more reasonable and accommodating than their liberal counterparts (present website company excluded, of course). At any rate, I don't think the editors of The New Republic or The Nation (or The New York Times/LA Times/other major papers, or CBS/NBC/ABC/MSNBC/CNBC/PBS/NPR) would have gotten the quality of responses shown here. More tellingly, I'm not sure it would have occurred to them to seek those responses. read more »

Last week, republicans called for a bill to amend FISA, and demanded that the bill be enacted into law before Congress took its summer recess. Republicans claimed that the move was "necessitated" by a still secret FISA court ruling that declared George Bush's electronic surveillance program unconstitutional.

Think about that for a moment: A judge declares the undisclosed practice unconstitutional so instead of abandoning the practice, the response is to change the law to 'authorize' the practice deemed unconstitutional? read more »