"Breaking GOP Ranks"
Martin Sieff's observation that "[A]s more Republican senators sour on Rumsfeld's war, John McCain and Chuck Hagel may no longer be the party's lone men of conscience" gives a bit of credence to...
View ArticleBarbara Tuchman on "Wooden-headedness, the source of...
Via Dowd's The Springs of FateWhen Mars rushes into Achilles' soul in his battle with Hector, as Alexander Pope wrote in his translation of Homer's "Iliad,""the springs of fate snap every lock...
View Article"Saving Private England: Sequel to a Hit"
If Frank Rich is any guide, and most times he's perceptive in these matters cum politics and pop culture, we just might want to see the new documentary about Al Jazeera, "Control Room". He claims that...
View ArticleKerry: "Ameria must be America for everyone."
An inspiring speech made with passion: "Kerry Marks Desegregation Anniversary with Warning."We should not delude ourselves into thinking that the work of Brown is done when there are those who still...
View ArticleThere are Courts-Martials and there are Courts-Martials: a view from the...
Deserter cites prison abuses as defenseMajor Players:Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia's - "first public deserter in the war...28, a squad leader in the Florida National Guard who did not return to his unit in...
View ArticleTommy Franks calls this person: "the fucking stupidest guy on the face...
Here are some clues.....Not a single Iraq war screw-up has gone by without someone tagging...as the guy to blame. [Gifted with] purity of neoconservative fervor, he has turned out to be Michael Dukakis...
View Article"Berkeley law students denounce professor for POW memo"
Thanks to TalkLeft"Berkeley Law School Students Protest Professor's Work For Bush Administration"Some graduating University of California law students used their commencement Saturday to denounce a...
View ArticleMore Legalese? U.S. Disputed Protected Status of Iraq Inmates
Were "they" not under oath before recent Congressional Hearings? If so, then tell me why perjury charges against "them" are not appropriate, to wit: Presented last fall with a detailed catalog of...
View ArticleLady liberty Weeps: "Europeans wary of Bush's D-Day visit"
John Kerry, hinted at as much as the press went on and on about....Many leaders `see him as a disaster'LONDON -- In Europe, the legacy of the 9,386 American soldiers who lie buried on a bluff...
View ArticleIrony of Ironies as "Delusions of Triumph"
Paul Krugman notes a couple of ironies for us here.Republicans, we hear, are frustrated by polls showing that the public has a poor opinion of George Bush's economic leadership. In their view, the...
View Article"The FBI is now interrogating the neocon cronies of Ahmed Chalabi."
Washington's Chalabi nightmare - One more headache for the besieged Bush administration....Sidney Blumenthal weighs in here, concluding:Washington, which was just weeks ago in the grip of...
View Article"[T]he straight shooter never existed...To Tell the Truth"
Although we knew Bush wasn't the Real Deal along - People who get their news by skimming the front page, or by watching TV, must be feeling confused by the sudden change in Mr. Bush's character. For...
View ArticleUpdate: Kerry's Campaign Slogan
We vigorously "entertained" this matter via the "Kerry's New Slogan SUCKS!"Diary Today's NYT brings us this headline: In 5 Words by Langston Hughes, Kerry Aides Hear a Likely Campaign SloganIn the past...
View Article"A National Catastrophe" of major proportions although not on...
Whitley's Journal pegs "It": The outing of Valerie Plame.Don't believe for a moment the rantings of lying radio hosts about this case. Valerie Plame was no small fish. The revelation of her name is, in...
View ArticleIs the news of the "Taming of the Blogosphere" premature?
Kevin Drum reports on Billmon's return from sea to "mourn the taming of the blogosphere" in a piece in the La Times with this provacative headline "Blogging Sells, and Sells Out". Drum Highlights these...
View ArticleWe don't need no stinking Drama Critics for these debates....
...wildly paraphrasing Krugman in his piece today, Swagger vs. Substance. He makes this salient point among many others:Let's face it: whatever happens in Thursday's debate, cable news will proclaim...
View ArticleAnd Here's McGruder: "cartoonist with an edge":
Aaron meets Aaron ORNEWSNIGHT meets "The Boondocks":BROWN: All right. Two sentences: who won the debate? You're going to say this.MCGRUDER: Kerry. He got his ass whooped.BROWN: Who did?MCGRUDER: Kerry....
View ArticleABC News Memo: Hold Bush Accountable
Initial Title: Sooooooooooooo, holding Bush accountable is unacceptableAlternative title thanks to Grassroots MomACTION ALERT: ABC News Attempts to Hold Bush Accountable and Right Wing Crybabies...
View ArticleThe Anatomy of the "Balance" Question in the Press
According to Spin Buster, Public Editor Daniel Okrent doesn't quite give the balance question justice in his column today: Political Bias at The Times? Two Counterarguments. As the Campaign Desk points...
View Article"Top 35 Trends that say Kerry will Take the White House in November"
[editor's note, by DemFromCT]Today is a travel day for Kos, so expect to see some supplemental postings as an antidote to jet lag. This one ("Political Strategy' link has more details) is a worthy read...
View ArticleWhat happened to 350 tons of high explosives which were under IAEA seal while...
Probable answer:...these super-high-yield explosives probably being used in many, if not most, of the various suicide and car bombings in Iraq, but these particular explosives are ones used in the...
View ArticleThousands of Chicago voters may be disenfranchised.
The City Colleges of Chicago has over 60,000 students. Each of the 7 City Colleges serves as a polling place. The problem is that the faculty and professional employees are on strike, and in this labor...
View ArticleSpeaking of Mission Accomplished....
Thought is more important than art....To revere art and have no understanding of the process that forces it into existence, is finally not even to understand what art is.Amiri BarakaBut first, the art:...
View ArticleThe enemy within: The Fourth Estate?
Let's begin by defining this would-be enemy:In Carlyle's On Heroes and Hero Worship (1841), he writes, "... does not... the parliamentary debate go on... in a far more comprehensive way, out of...
View ArticleCensorship And Propaganda: anatomy of the neutered media
Alterman and Leary make the case for Censorship: ...'Chilling the Press'. The story is one as old as the political arena itself. When one side feels it wields all the power, it loses a sense of...
View ArticleUnprecedented: The Baltimore Sun Co. vs. Maryland's Governor
As follow-up to Censorship And Propaganda: anatomy of the neutered media comes Sun files suit against Ehrlich. In the former link, Alterman and Leary conclude, in part, that:Hamstrung by its commitment...
View Article"Tactic: Use Google News to Promote 'Unreported' Newsstories"
First let me acknowledge Katerina's work represented in the Diary KOS YAHOO - List for Saturday. This Google idea comes from Tom Ball over at Political Strategy. Google News, a news aggregator that...
View ArticleTop 10 Censored Stories of 2004 as Reported by "The Utne Reader"
January-February 2005 edition (offline)Subtitle: News the mainstream press deemed unfit to printOf interest is that these censored stories, according to Peter Phillips and Project Censored, "...involve...
View ArticleHmmmmmmmmmmm, What about the Irony of it all?
No Kidding: Does Irony Illuminate Or Corrupt?In this piece, dated August 5, 2000, Charles McGrath explores this question. He notes from the outset:One person who was glad when "Seinfeld" ended was...
View ArticleIndeed: "The Gray Lady ... has become a tramp."
Letters to "The Editor" have always been must reads for me but the batch in Salon in response to Andrew O'Hehir's review of two new books on 'The Grey Lady' herself ( The worst of Times), positively...
View ArticleJudith and Ahmad "Together Again": Chris Matthews "Stunned"
What now? Judith on Hardball with a scoop which has failed to make the pages of the NYT - you see, she brings us this news from her vacation spot in Florida, according to Slate's "press box" - Jack...
View ArticleAs mainstream media "keep up the scripted charade", let's look...
Beyond The Headlines: Top 10 Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2004, via Utne Reader February 10, 2005 Issue.Those who work for Doctors Without Borders, a private nonprofit that serves people...
View ArticleThe Arts shall save us? "Cautionary tale of journalistic corruption gets...
And "Pravda" is thy name: ... a play that spilled red hot from the typewriters of British playwrights Howard Brenton and David Hare in 1985 (when it debuted at London's National Theatre) and remains a...
View ArticleGannon knew before you: "Shock and Awe"
BREAKING NEWS: Gannon reportedly knew about "Shock and Awe" four hours before it happenedAccording to John in DC - AmericaBlog:A news producer for a major network just told me that Gannon told the...
View ArticleRaw Story on the missing link: Bruce Eberle?
"Did Bruce Eberle get Gannon top White House Access?"Hmmmmmmmmmm, followiwng the money: Partner of GOPUSA founder has checkered past as Republican moneymanRAW STORY has found a solid connection between...
View ArticleCombat Stress Busters: From Ecstasy to Rap
From The Guardian:American soldiers traumatised by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are to be offered the drug ecstasy to help free them of flashbacks and recurring nightmares. ...Scientists behind the...
View ArticleCalling Georgia10: "More Ohio Election Motions"
BREAKING: Kerry/Edwards File More Ohio Election MotionsWhat to make of this:On February 14, Judge Sargus issued an order granting the motion to dismiss the Delaware County Board of Elections' complaint...
View ArticleWolfowitz: "His womanising has come home to roost"?
No way, yes? Let's see.James P. Rubin Notwithstanding, Daily Mail asks"Will a British divorcee cost 'Wolfie' his job?"The appointment of George Bush's leading hawk as head of the World Bank was heading...
View ArticleBill Bradley: "A Party Inverted"; does his voice resonate?
Ruy Teixeira, a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation and the Center for American Progress, gives him "thumbs up" in this piece on his DonkeyRising Blog: Bill Bradley Deftly Analyses Where the Dems...
View ArticlePlame: In from the cold? Out in the Cold?
There are those "in the know" who take serious issue with the GOP talking points on the issue of "Mrs. Wilson's" CIA status. Thanks to Josh Marshall, we find that 11 former intelligence officers...
View ArticleShould Bolton look over his shoulder for the Inspector General?
Of course there's the question as to whether Mr. Bolton was called to testify before the Plame Grand Jury then lie about it.... But what about this? "Another case", as Steve Clemons calls it. He begins...
View ArticleChurch and State: religious lefties 'meet-up' with progressives of all...
It's Rabbi Michael Lerner "stirring up trouble again". Â In a nut shell:Lerner wants to help forge a new alliance of "religious, secular and spiritual, but not religious, progressives." This alliance...
View ArticleThe Prince of Darkness: "...seems blinded by the light".
Sidney Blumenthal gives us Novak as The Informer. He teases us with what we all know:The tension of possibly being asked an impertinent question about Valerie Plame was unbearable for Robert Novak....
View ArticleHey Mr. Bennett: "it isn't the crime stupid; it's the color."
Let this also in someway "speak to" those among us who think that Mr. Bennett's recent controversial remarks "speak truth to power". I ask that you also consider this from The Black Commentator:While...
View Article"Bush whacked Rove on CIA leak"? Could this be, or....
Is this a "well placed" leak which signifies nothing?THOMAS M. DeFRANK brings us this:An angry President Bush rebuked chief political guru Karl Rove two years ago for his role in the Valerie Plame...
View Article"Senate Judiciary Committee successfully pressured GTECH": Miers Screwed?...
Could this bring us back to the "Rathergate Saga"? Nah.According to TPM, this:Earlier today, World Net Daily reported what it called a big development in the Miers story. That development involved a...
View ArticleJohn Dean on "Plamegate": Curb Your Enthusiasm
Waiting For The Valerie Plame Wilson Grand Jury: The Big Question Is Whether Dick Cheney Was a TargetAll prosecutorial decisions are political. Not necessarily in the partisan sense, but rather, in the...
View ArticleJOHN DEAN: "...Reading Between the Lines of the Libby Indictment"
Dean begins where we left off with him: John Dean on "Plamegate": Curb Your Enthusiasm. Firedoglake calls his latest piece a Barn Burner. Consider this for openers:Indeed, when one studies the...
View ArticleBob Woodward further exposed: Tenet's "Slam Dunk" revisited.
Swopa's blog characterizes it this way, Tenet's "slam dunk" came in garbage time. Following from praktike's blog, Swopa's timeline starts with this fact:...the conversation happened in late December...
View ArticleAnatomy of WH smears: Murtha today, Colin Powell tomorrow?
THE MORONIC INFERNO: not only did Suzy come lately, Jean Schmidt, "essentially call John Murtha "a coward"", the majority party in the House continues their shameful antics with this: "Republicans are...
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