"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
hilzoy by hilzoy I had all kinds of ideas for things I wanted to write before I left, but between last-minute packing and phone calls from friends and family, it didn't happen. So I'll just say a few things quickly. As I said before, one of the things that led me to start blogging in the … Read more
by hilzoy Here's an interesting catch by Merrill Goozner: "The House bill would create an internet accessible database that includes all health-related payments to physicians by corporations including gifts, food, or entertainment; travel or trips; honoraria; research funding or grants; education or conference funding; consulting fees; ownership or investment interests; and royalties or license fees. … Read more
by hilzoy Glenn Greenwald has had an interesting back and forth with Chuck Todd about comments Todd made on MSNBC's Morning Joe, in which he said, among other things, that the question whether torture should be investigated were "cable catnip" that threatens to distract us from important issues, and that it is "very dangerous" to … Read more
by hilzoy This is not good news at all. "Ninety percent of Pakistan's agricultural irrigation depends on rivers that originate in Kashmir." There is a treaty in place dividing Kashmir's waters between Pakistan and India, and it "has survived three wars and nearly 50 years." But guess what: "The treaty's success depends on the maintenance … Read more
by hilzoy It's nice to get definitive proof that some bloggers really don't bother to do basic research before posting something, and we got some today. Here's a scary article from Investment Business Daily: "It didn't take long to run into an "uh-oh" moment when reading the House's "health care for all Americans" bill. Right … Read more
by hilzoy Fester at Newhoggers links to a set of right-wing bloggers' predictions for 2003. It's pretty stunning. For instance: If we go into Iraq, how many casualties do you expect to see (on the side of the US and our allies) John Hawkins: "Probably 300 or less"Charles Johnson:"Very few"Henry Hanks: "Less than 200"Laurence Simon: "A Few … Read more
by hilzoy Yesterday, Barack Obama repeated his threat to veto the defense authorization bill if it contains money to buy more F-22 fighter jets. He's absolutely right. I hope he prevails over the various Senators who are trying to put the money back in. For one thing, it's not clear that our biggest need right … Read more
by hilzoy First, I'm going to Rwanda this weekend, on vacation. I'm looking forward to it immensely, especially since I discovered that the Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird, which topped my list of Best Bird Names Ever nearly five years ago, lives there. (And did you know that the name 'Watusi' comes from the Tutsi? I didn't.) If … Read more
by hilzoy Good news from the NYT: "The Obama administration announced Monday that it would seek to ban many routine uses of antibiotics in farm animals in hopes of reducing the spread of dangerous bacteria in humans. In written testimony to the House Rules Committee, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner of food and drugs, … Read more
by hilzoy From the NYT: "President Obama is facing new pressure to reverse himself and to ramp up investigations into the Bush-era security programs, despite the political risks. Leading Democrats on Sunday demanded investigations of how a highly classified counterterrorism program was kept secret from the Congressional leadership on the orders of Vice President Dick … Read more
by hilzoy From McClatchy: "Supporters of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor are quietly targeting the Connecticut firefighter who's at the center of Sotomayor's most controversial ruling. On the eve of Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearing, her advocates have been urging journalists to scrutinize what one called the "troubled and litigious work history" of firefighter Frank Ricci." … Read more
by hilzoy From the Washington Post: "Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is leaning toward appointing a criminal prosecutor to investigate whether CIA personnel tortured terrorism suspects after Sept. 11, 2001, setting the stage for a conflict with administration officials who would prefer the issues remain in the past, according to three sources familiar with … Read more
by hilzoy David Brooks wrote a column the other day complaining about the demise of the "dignity code". He expanded on this point on MSNBC Today: "You know, all three of us spend a lot of time covering politicians and I don’t know about you guys, but in my view, they’re all emotional freaks of one … Read more
by hilzoy I was out and about last night, so I didn't get to write about the IG report (pdf). Luckily, publius covered the part about John Yoo; Anonymous Liberal is also very good on this. I want to focus on another bit. To set the stage: Comey and Goldsmith have been read into the surveillance … Read more
by hilzoy From the NYT: "Senator John Ensign's wealthy parents gave almost $100,000 to his former lover and her family, ostensibly out of concern for their welfare and as part of a "pattern of generosity," his lawyer disclosed Thursday. A statement by his lawyer, Paul Coggins, on behalf of the Mr. Ensign, a Republican from … Read more
by hilzoy Yesterday, Sen. Durbin said this about Senate Democrats and the filibuster: "If they will stick with us on the procedural votes, we at least know that we can move forward," he said of his Democratic colleagues. "They may vote against final passage on a bill, they may vote with Republicans on an amendment. That's … Read more
by hilzoy Megan McArdle responds to my last post: "Surely the point of worry is that many millions of people will be forced into the public system, because its existence will encourage their employers to dump their health care plans. Since private systems have so far found it virtually impossible to deny many treatments for … Read more
by hilzoy There's one piece of persistent dishonesty in the debate over health care that I would like to see vanish once and for all. It concerns the word 'rationing'. You can use it in several ways. On the one hand, it can refer to any process that determines who gets some scarce commodity. Here's … Read more
by hilzoy Queen Emily, who is guestblogging at Feministe, hates forms. Why? Because while "my birth certificate says I am male, my gender presentation is female. They do not match. Until I can afford expensive genital surgery, I cannot change the marker on my birth certificate." If you've never had to think about exactly how much … Read more
by hilzoy From MSNBC: "Around Washington and Wall Street they have come to be known as TBTF — too big to fail. It's not just size, though. These companies are so far-flung, so intertwined and so precariously leveraged that a single one's collapse can create systemwide tremors that imperil the finances of millions of Americans. … Read more
by hilzoy Sarah Palin, January 22, 2009: "When I took my oath of office to serve as your Governor, remember, I swore to steadfastly and doggedly guard the interests of this great state like a grizzly with cubs, as a mother naturally guards her own. Alaska, as a statewide family, we’ve got to fight for … Read more
by hilzoy Anderson Cooper interviewed Sarah Palin's spokesperson tonight. He asked what Sarah Palin would be doing next. Here's her answer: "STAPLETON: OH, everything under the sun that you can possibly think of. And what she has said and what she did say in her speech was, just alone, getting out there and working with … Read more
by hilzoy I just watched Sarah Palin's announcement that she will step down as governor, which was surreal even by her standards. It's hard to pick just one favorite moment, though this has to be on anyone's list: "Life is too short to compromise time and resources… it may be tempting and more comfortable to … Read more
by hilzoy As I think I've written before, Andy Olmsted's parents have collected his Rocky Mountain blog posts from Iraq into a book. If you'd like to order it, it's now available at 1-800-882-3273. Andy's parents will use any money they make above the production costs to establish a scholarship in his name at St. John's Academy … Read more
by hilzoy From the NYT: "Banks and mortgage lenders are placing top priority on killing President Obama's proposal to create a new consumer protection agency that would regulate home loans, credit card fees, payday loans and other forms of consumer finance. The Obama administration fired an opening shot on Tuesday, sending Congress a detailed, 150-page … Read more
by hilzoy From the NYTimes: "After nearly eight months of waiting, almost 20,000 pages of legal briefs, and millions of dollars in election costs, Al Franken emerged Tuesday as the next United States senator from Minnesota, ending one of the most protracted election recount battles in recent memory. Mr. Franken, 58, a former comedian and author, … Read more
by hilzoy A few days ago, Barney Frank introduced HR 2981, a new version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which bans employment discrimination against anyone on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Unlike last time, this bill includes protections for transmen and transwomen. That's the good news. The bad news is that, according … Read more
by hilzoy Hendrick Hertzberg has a good piece on the fortieth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. In it, he quotes a 1966 article from Time called "The Homosexual in America". It's worth reading as a stunning reminder of exactly how far we've come in the last forty three years. For instance: "Both [male homosexuality and … Read more
by hilzoy In my last post, I noted the disquieting fact that Nick Gillespie, the editor of Reason, misquotes Carl Sandburg in the same way as Bill Ayers. Using Jack Cashill's methodology, I have now discovered frightening new evidence that Ayers actually ghostwrites Nick Gillespie's blog posts at Reason. Specifically: * As Jack Cashill notes, both … Read more
by hilzoy Of all the bits of lunacy unleashed by the prospect that Barack Obama might actually win the election, my personal favorite was Jack Cashill's claim that Bill Ayers had ghostwritten Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father, based on such stunning evidence as this: "Although there are only the briefest of literal sea experiences … Read more
by hilzoy Daniel Larison says a(nother) wise thing (h/t): "Americanists believe that any statement from the President that fails to build up and anoint Mousavi as the preferred candidate is discouraging to Mousavi and his supporters, because they apparently cannot grasp that being our preferred candidate is to be tainted with suspicion of disloyalty to … Read more
by hilzoy From the New York Times: "The Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, was ousted by the army on Sunday after pressing ahead with plans for a referendum that opponents said could lay the groundwork for his eventual re-election, in the first military coup in Central America since the end of the cold war. Soldiers entered … Read more
by hilzoy From the Washington Post: "Obama administration officials, fearing a battle with Congress that could stall plans to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, are crafting language for an executive order that would reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely, according to three senior government officials with knowledge of White House deliberations. … Read more
by hilzoy From the NYT: "The House passed legislation on Friday intended to address global warming and transform the way the nation produces and uses energy. The vote was the first time either house of Congress had approved a bill meant to curb the heat-trapping gases scientists have linked to climate change. The legislation, which … Read more
by hilzoy Here's an exchange from ABC News' special on Obama's health care proposal: "Q: If your wife or your daughter became seriously ill, and things were not going well, and the plan physicians told you they were doing everything that could be done, and you sought out opinions from some medical leaders in major centers … Read more