Month: May 2004

Smiles never quite reaching the eyes…

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…Senator John Kerry and Ralph Nader had a meeting. WASHINGTON – John Kerry (news – web sites) met with independent Ralph Nader (news – web sites) Wednesday, but didn’t ask the third-party candidate to quit the presidential race despite widespread Democratic fears that his candidacy could ensure President Bush (news – web sites)’s re-election. Big … Read more

Gee, thanks, Kate.

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Blabbing like that. Well, might as well admit it… yeah, folks, it’s all true. Every bit of it. In fact, it’s worse than you think. I’m part of the whole sorry conspiracy, too. In fact… Well, not to put too fine a point of it, I don’t actually exist. Not physically – or more accurate, … Read more

This was nearly a Darwin Award post.

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Powder bombs at Blair trigger security fear at British parliament Britain’s parliament was evacuated for more than an hour after harmless purple powder was hurled from the public gallery at Prime Minister Tony Blair in a dramatic breach of security. Two men were arrested on the spot and taken into custody Wednesday, police said, as … Read more

Good is good policy.

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From the Paratrooper of Love: Iraqi media, almost unbelievably, have in recent days begun to editorialized astonishment at how the United States has responded [to the prison scandle]. No covers ups. No denials. The President of the United States, the world’s most powerful man, formally apologized to the people of Iraq. The U.S. Congress grilled … Read more

Ohio, Ohio, Ohio

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Howard Fineman calls it the “Mother of All Battleground States” and there’s a growing concern that it’s not looking so good for the incumbent there: It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that if [Timken,] follows through on the plan [to close its nearly century-old manufacturing plants in its hometown of Canton]— which will cut … Read more

Cold War Lessons

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Kevin Drum writes an interesting post about Cold War lessons as he (and apparently Wes Clark) think that they ought to be applied to the War on Terror. He draws the wrong conclusions, but he is dealing with the right issues: Clark’s point is a simple one: Neither Reagan nor any of the seven Cold … Read more

Wheel of morality, turn turn turn…

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Amygdala (run by Constant Reader Gary Farber, who I believe is still looking for work, if you’ve got any) linked without real comment to this NYT article about the newer, hipper Christianity (Christian Cool and the New Generation Gap). As I recall, this sort of thing comes in waves, about every 20 years or so; … Read more

And now it’s apparently 1988.

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Or not: James Pinkerton (the author of this article) is presenting arguments both for and against the notion that this election will repeat 1988. On the whole, I’m going to say ‘Not’; you can link up any two events or concepts if you try hard enough, and human eyes are often quite good at seeing … Read more

Seeing as…

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…all the good domestic political stories got taken*, let’s look at an international one. India’s surprising results went more surprising: Gandhi ‘Humbly Declines’ India Leadership. NEW DELHI – Stunning her supporters, Sonia Gandhi announced Tuesday she would “humbly decline” to be the next prime minister of India, sidestepping Hindu nationalist outrage over the prospect of … Read more

Yup, that’s about right.

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I think Matt Yglesias (who’s 23 today*) has got it ’bout right regarding gay marriage: It’s generational and it’s inevitable.

Some social conservative types have speculated to me that the overwhelming pro-gay sentiment among young people can be counteracted by the natural conservatizing effects of aging. Folks who think that are, I think, seriously underestimating the extent of the young-old disjoint on this topic.

Support for gay marriage isn’t something that one’s likely to outgrow, because it’s essentially founded on the notion that gay marriage is a matter of civil rights. If you don’t buy that proposition, then you probably can’t be convinced to support gay marriage. (Some libertarians among you might be convinced that marriage in general is none of the State’s business, but that’s merely an extreme version of the “civil rights” argument.)

Once you buy the proposition that gay marriage is a matter of civil rights, however, it’s not easily discarded. You don’t wake up one day and say, hmm, now that I’m 35 (or 45 or 55), it’s time for me to outgrow my youthful notions of “civil rights.” This isn’t like, “man, I used to like the kine bud, but now I got a job, a house, and two kids in school, so you knowwwwww.” This is a world-view issue, not a life-style issue.

Thus, I predict that within 30 years laws permitting gay marriage will be the rule, rather than the exception.

von

P.S. So you can judge your messenger’s bias, know that I strongly support gay marriage (though I believe it should be accomplished by legislative means, not lawsuits). Know also that, just because I’ve framed the debate as a civil rights issue, I do not believe that those who oppose gay marriage are necessarily homophobic; nor are they evil; nor are they bigots. Many base their opinion on deeply-held religious beliefs that root themselves in the highest and kindest aspirations of humanity, and which we would all do well to respect.

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www.soxaholic.com

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Being an Indians fan (and therefore having enough of my own problems) I’ve never quite appreciated the whole Red Sox vs. Yankees thing, but in the interest of supporting a good friend who’s built this website http://www.soxaholic.com/ I thought I’d pass this along. That’s him in the Martinez t-shirt in the bottom photo. He used … Read more

Reliving 9/11

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I guess its fitting that today, as the 9/11 Commission begins hearings in NYC, my office building had a full evacuation rehearsal today. There was a time when such drills met choruses of groans and saw people hiding in conference rooms to avoid having to file down the staircases and out into the streets. Now, however, there’s a much less grudging compliance, accompanied by stories of friends and relatives who escaped one of the WTC towers and how these drills are not so bad after all.

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Bad Connection Politics Open Thread

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Intermittent connection problems all evening, and sleeping sounds good right now. So, here’s a couple of fresh threads to post to. I hope that they post…

Heavy Handed Headline

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It screams at you on the FoxNews.com site homepage: U.S. Confirms WMDs Found in Iraq But it’s not very likely the discovery that an IED exploded today contained sarin (and another was found to contain mustard gas) will justify that editorial choice. From MSNBC.com Two former weapons inspectors — Hans Blix and David Kay — … Read more

When you get right down to it…

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…this has got to be the best commentary of the blogosphere ever. (via Backward) UPDATE: Oh look, it kinda works for other sites too! sample 1 sample 2 Sorry…had a bit of a flashback to the second grade there for a moment.

A Unity Ticket

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Calpundit Guest blogger, commedian Jay Jaroch, offers a lighthearted look at some of the top news stories, including what’s perceived in some quarters as the Democrat’s inability to find a Kerry runningmate among themselves who’s half as appealing as John McCain. All this McCain talk sets too high a standard for a running mate. If … Read more

The Garage Is Open

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Why do we let Chalabi get away with this? Council member Ahmad Chalabi said terrorists are using the insurgent Sunni stronghold of Fallujah, where U.S. Marines stopped patrols last month and allowed an Iraqi security force to oversee security, to prepare car bombs like the one that killed Saleem. “The terrorists are free to roam … Read more

For the record, I don’t disapprove, either.

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Short Hope Unfiltered has an interesting anecdote up that might illuminate some hithero overlooked connections between Social Security, immigration and outsourcing one’s retirement. Or not. It may just be an anecdote about a guy with a pretty clever idea on how to stretch out his retirement income. I find that I am especially tired tonight, … Read more

Good news. Symbolic?

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It would appear that the American bald eagle will be taken off the threatened species list, thanks to a thirty year program of careful breeding, legal protection and the continuing nonusage of DDT. This is, of course, excellent news. The bald eagle will continue to enjoy federal protection, but apparently being taken off the list … Read more

Hey, does anybody here…

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…not spit at hearing the words “Agricultural Subsidies”? (pause) Thought so. This should be cheering news, then: In U.S., Cotton Cries Betrayal. Sumner, an agricultural economist at the University of California at Davis, played a key role in an international trade case that is shaping up as one of the most significant defeats the United … Read more

Piker.

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James Joyner let that pollster off the hook waaaaay too easily; in my house we treat one of their calls as an opportunity to practice our improv skills. In my day I’ve: *Start babbling mid-sentence, then just as stopped just as rapidly; * Randomly adjusted the volume control while talking; * pretended that the volume … Read more

I saw a cicada today.

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On our way back from IKEA (too hot and muggy for my dad to do the tourist thing; he decided to stay home and watch 3,000 Miles to Graceland in a nice, dark, air-conditioned room). It was on the sidewark to our house; it had the weird eyes and wings, so it was definitely a … Read more

ACLU and religious expression.

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The American Civil Liberties Union just won a Michigan court case involving religious expression in a school (in this case, a high school yearbook). At issue was whether a high school valedictorian would be allowed to use a Bible verse as a special quote for the yearbook (not the regular quote under her picture; one solicited by the school itself); the ACLU won an overwhelming victory. Quotes Kary Moss, ACLU head for Michigan:

“There are reasonable limits the schools can place, and potential for disruption is one reason a school might be able to limit certain speech,” Moss said.

Are my Righty colleagues annoyed, yet?

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Life, meet the Onion.

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The Onion: 34 Congressmen Arrested In D.C. Cockfighting Crackdown WASHINGTON, DC—Washington police seized 22 members of the House of Representatives, 12 members of the Senate, and more than 100 fighting cocks Monday night, in the latest crackdown on blood sports at the highest levels of the U.S. government. Life: Scorpion panic as Colombia election bill … Read more

Ye gods. Maybe trolls have uses after all.

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I have my parents visiting*, so posting may be light this weekend. If you haven’t checked out Kevin Drum’s analysis on the strengths of blogging, do so: it’s pretty comprehensive, although I think that he’s ignoring one in particular. Not fact-checking – he’s aware; he just doesn’t think that it’s all that important – but … Read more

And it keeps getting stranger

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Bizarre New Link In Berg Murder CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports U.S. officials say the FBI questioned Berg in 2002 after a computer password Berg used in college turned up in the possession of Zacarias Moussaoui, the al Qaeda operative arrested shortly before Sept. 11 for his suspicious activity at a flight … Read more

May 17th, 2004

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I’ve been scouring the news and comics all morning for something to shake this melancholy that’s got me in its grasp at the moment. Not sure if it’s my allergies, or the relentless barrage of images of horror, or just the drain of the current political climate, but give me a guitar and I’d make … Read more