The Brookings Institution’s Michael O’Hanlon caused quite a stir a couple of weeks ago with an NYT op-ed, co-written with Ken Pollack, on U.S. “progress” in Iraq. The piece immediately became The Most Important Opinion Piece Ever, at least as far as Bush and his supporters are concerned. The two, who recently returned from an […]
Shredding the Fourth Amendment
In describing the resent FISA “revisions,” Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter gets shrill. I hate to sound melodramatic about it, but while everyone was at the beach or “The Simpsons Movie” on the first weekend in August, the U.S. government shredded the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, the one requiring court-approved “probable cause” before Americans can be […]
Waiting for the return of Thompson’s old red truck
The LAT had an interesting item today, speculating about whether presidential candidate Fred Thompson will follow Senate candidate Thompson’s style, and campaign in his favorite prop. Thompson was the front runner for the GOP nomination [in the late spring of 1994], but Rep. Jim Cooper, his presumed Democratic opponent, had a big lead in the […]
Feel like you’re being watched?
More U.S. cities will soon have more cameras watching more Americans. The Department of Homeland Security is funneling millions of dollars to local governments nationwide for purchasing high-tech video camera networks, accelerating the rise of a “surveillance society” in which the sense of freedom that stems from being anonymous in public will be lost, privacy […]
Sunday Discussion Group
George W. Bush openly mocked the very idea of “nation building” as a presidential candidate in 2002, but after 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan, Bush seemed to appreciate the importance of his responsibilities and the task at hand. He was aware of the fact that Afghans had been abandoned by the West before, and […]
Ames Straw Poll results
So, how’d things turn out in the Ames Straw Poll? The final tally was delayed after a voting-machine error (insert sly joke here), but here are the results, by way of IowaPolitics.com: 1. Mitt Romney 2. Mike Huckabee 3. Sam Brownback 4. Tom Tancredo 5. Ron Paul 6. Tommy Thompson 7. Fred Thompson 8. Rudy […]
Gonzales to ‘help’ Iraq’s legal system?
Given his track record, Alberto Gonzales probably isn’t the best person to be giving anyone, better yet Iraqis, advice about the rule of law. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, under fire at home with calls for his resignation, is spending some time in Iraq. The Justice Department said that Gonzales arrived in Baghdad on Saturday for […]
A not-quite-shining city on a hill
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) recently told Glenn Greenwald that the United States’ legal system — with its respect for the rule of law and citizens’ civil liberties — has been the envy of the world for years. But as we’ve departed from our principles, others are following suit. “[T]here has been an erosion in the […]
Ames Straw Poll — playing the expectations game
The Ames Straw Poll is a pretty big deal, with the potential to shake up the GOP race quite a bit. With that in mind, it’s worth taking a closer look at. With McCain, Giuliani, and Fred Thompson sitting this one out, the results of Straw Poll are fairly predictable — Romney’s going to come […]
‘He had his own elevator’
Wayne Barrett has done the political world a great service with a devastating piece in the Village Voice on Rudy Giuliani and the “five big lies” surrounding the former mayor’s claim to fame: his performance on 9/11. The entire piece — which, if read, should effectively end Giuliani’s presidential ambitions — is important, but there’s […]