Today’s edition of quick hits. * Bloodshed in Burma: “At least nine people, including a Japanese national, were killed Thursday when Myanmar soldiers fired on protesters…. Tens of thousands defied the ruling military junta’s crackdown by demonstrating for a 10th straight day in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon. Security forces raided several monasteries overnight, beating monks […]
Good arguments vs bad arguments on Bush’s Iraq policy
Kevin Drum had a gem of a post yesterday explaining, in a general sense, one of the principal flaws in the debate over Bush’s Iraq policy — opponents of the war aren’t arguing effectively enough. In a sense, this may seem like a moot point. The Dems’ arguments against Bush’s policy couldn’t be that bad; […]
The flaws in Russert’s ‘gotcha’
It was probably the most memorable portion of last night’s Democratic debate. Tim Russert said a guest on Meet the Press posed a hypothetical about torture: “Imagine the following scenario. We get lucky. We get the number three guy in Al Qaida. We know there’s a big bomb going off in America in three days […]
Limbaugh calls service members who support withdrawal ‘phony soldiers’
In light of the controversy surrounding MoveOn.org’s criticism of Gen. David Petraeus, I couldn’t help but notice that Rush Limbaugh smeared countless U.S. service members — ranging in rank from private to general — who dare to believe that withdrawal from Iraq is a good idea. As Limbaugh described it, those in uniform who disagree […]
Hate crimes bill advances over GOP opposition
If the president plans to sign a massive defense spending bill, Bush will have to make a new hate-crimes bill the law of the land, as well — the Senate added the hate-crimes measure as an amendment today . The Senate attached hate crimes legislation to a must-pass Pentagon spending bill Thursday, but opponents predicted […]
Scaring lawmakers to sell FISA
A couple of years ago, former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge acknowledged that the Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks based on flimsy evidence. “There were times when some people were really aggressive about raising it, and we said, ‘For that?’” Ridge told reporters. The answer, of course, was […]
Bush decides it’s time to talk about talking about climate change
Earlier this week, dozens of world leaders gathered at the United Nations for detailed policy discussions about combating global warming. George W. Bush, who has repeatedly warned against “passing on problems to future generations,” decided to skip the discussions, and refused to send a U.S. delegation to the talks. The Bush gang, unwilling to appear […]
Thursday’s political round-up
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * With the third quarter nearly over, Rudy Giuliani is apparently feeling a little antsy about his financial standing in the presidential race. Yesterday, he fired his chief fundraiser, Anne Dunsmore, who took […]
Verizon disconnects ‘unsavory’ pro-choice message — temporarily
It probably wasn’t what the company had in mind, but Verizon just helped make the case for net neutrality a little stronger. Saying it had the right to block “controversial or unsavory” text messages, Verizon Wireless has rejected a request from Naral Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights group, to make Verizon’s mobile network available for […]
Gen. Pace condemns gays, warns Senate about ‘God’s law’
In recent years, Americans attitudes about gays in the military have changed considerably. A majority of the public, like a majority of those in uniform, believe gays should not be thrown out of the Armed Forces, simply on the basis of sexual orientation. Every Democratic presidential candidate supports scrapping “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and no […]