"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
by Eric Martin Rob Farley wants to know if Anchorman really is the most quoted comedy of the last decade. I say the question is too restrictive and would rather point out that The Big Lebowski is likely the most quoted comedy ever. At least for the folks I run with. Which isn't saying much. … Read more
by Eric Martin This is just extremely, extremely wrongheaded: A plan by Senate Democratic leaders to reform the nation’s immigration laws ran into strong opposition from civil liberties defenders before lawmakers even unveiled it Thursday. Democratic leaders have proposed requiring every worker in the nation to carry a national identification card with biometric information, such … Read more
by Eric Martin First, noted "libertarian" Glenn Reynolds (not his only such defense of the indefensible of course): A reader says he’s suprised to see me support the Arizona bill. Well, I really don’t — that is, I don’t know if I’d have voted for it if I were in Arizona. I’m mostly reacting to the fact … Read more
by Eric Martin Unremarkably, the Obama administration has not been able to turn around the slide in Afghanistan, and the prospects going forward are bleak: A Pentagon report presented a sobering new assessment Wednesday of the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, saying that its abilities are expanding and its operations are increasing in sophistication, despite recent … Read more
–by Sebastian I don't have much to say on this. I'm mostly just drawing attention to something that I had assumed had stopped under the Obama administration, but apparently hasn't. They are still using sensory deprivation during transport of the Gitmo prisoners: cite Omar Khadr’s pre-trial hearing this morning experienced an unexplained hour-long delay. Court … Read more
by Eric Martin John Cole spotted something interesting in the media's coverage of recent revelations of widespread torture in Iraqi government prisons: the New York Times, Washington Post and NPR all use the word "torture" to, rightly, describe the type of abuse endured by the detainees in question. While that might seem like a mundane observation (media outlets … Read more
by Eric Martin Quelle surprise: A Senate panel investigating the causes of the nation's financial crisis on Thursday unveiled evidence that credit-ratings agencies knowingly gave inflated ratings to complex deals backed by shaky U.S. mortgages in exchange for lucrative fees. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a detailed hearing on Friday, where its … Read more
by Eric Martin May I recommend that the Republican Party run on a promise to repeal the recently passed healthcare reform, what with its provisions cracking down on rescission and denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions: One after another, shortly after a diagnosis of breast cancer, each of the women learned that her health insurance had … Read more
by Eric Martin A recently leaked memo from Defense Secretary Gates has caused a bit of a stir in foreign policy circles due to the arguable "bombshell" lurking in the lede: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has warned in a secret three-page memorandum to top White House officials that the United States does not have … Read more
by Eric Martin The power of the Executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgement of his peers, is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist. — Winston Churchill I believe … Read more