Updating the Blogroll…

… which will not be normally subject to such fanfare. Actually, maybe it will be; we’re all making this up as we go along. Tonight’s additions are Sacred And Inane, Matthew J Stinson, A Fistful of Euros and James Casey. Alphabetization will commence… apparently not until somebody lets us do that. Moe PS: Von, old … Read more

40 years on

It’s after midnight. So, as we know from the parade of TV specials this week, John F. Kennedy was killed forty years ago tomorrow. Obviously, I was not alive. It had a profound effect on my parents, especially my mother, the liberal Irish Catholic college freshman. My father went through a (fortunately brief)* Goldwater phase … Read more

Bring me the head of….

I thought I’d continue the tradition of bloodthirsty late night posts, in this case combined with junior high journalism class: WHO: Tom Daschle of South Dakota WHAT: should resign as majority leader, or be voted out WHEN: at his earliest convenience WHERE: in the Capitol building WHY: 1. Because with the exception of Jeffords’ party … Read more

No Canyoneros in Canton

China is about to impose more stringent fuel economy standards for new cars, and especially for light trucks, minivans, and SUVs, than the United States. This is good news, but the contrast makes metaphorical smoke come out of my ears. We have abdicated, so completely. The world has given up on us, and decided that … Read more

Obligatory Music Post

Harley wants a Democrat in the White House! Harley wants to see Karl Rove frog-marched from his subterranean lair! Harley demands a music post!* Well, one out of three ain’t bad. “Death Cab for Cutie,” high-pitched emo-rockers that they are, have always found a soft spot in my heart. But I fear they’re starting to … Read more

Gay marriage, ctd.

First, I may have been mistaken about Baker. The general counsel of the Massachusetts Bar Association thinks the ruling does not allow civil unions as a solution, via the NY Times: “The court essentially stayed its order for six months “to give the Legislature a chance to respond to regulation of same-gender marriage in terms … Read more

Gay marriage decision

Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court has finally decided their gay marriage case. AP story here. The headline is somewhat misleading; they leave the remedy to the legislature with a 180 day deadline, much like the Baker court in Vermont. This is probably bad for Dean’s campaign. I don’t care. It’s the right thing to do, and … Read more

Spinmeister hat ON

One of the Democrats’ main critiques of Bush’s foreign policy is “unilateralism.” I have a suggestion for a better word to use: isolation. Not isolationism, but isolation.

Three problems with “Unilateralism”:
1) It is technically not true, as a reporter can point out by asking “What about England”? Denouncing “bilateralism” doesn’t work as well.
2) It is very wonky sounding.
3) It will not automatically be regarded as bad–“We’re not letting the French be the boss of us.”

Instead, you phrase it in these terms:

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Clark on Rwanda

As a follow up to my post Saturday about the Democrats and genocide, I’ve found some quotes from Clark. From the Meet the Press transcript that von just linked to: “But I’d been on the Joint Staff, Tim, when we sat by and we let happen the slaughter of 800,000 people in Rwanda, hacked to … Read more

It’s all about impressin’ the Russ.

by von General Clark had a strong appearance on Meet the Press yesterday. Russ asked the right questions, and Clark mostly answered them the right way. I’m increasingly likely to support Clark over Bush, should he make it past the primaries. Unfortunately, my saying so may be the kiss of death for Clark, because my … Read more

Young people today

Two unrelated items: 1. This young marine and adopted New Yorker is just a wonderful writer. Read it. 2. I watched Howard Dean’s speech at the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Dinner last night (right after they auctioned off Tom Harkin’s tie and passed around buckets to raise money–politics is so unbelievably hokey sometimes.) It was a slightly … Read more

Identity Crisis

to prove I can write a short post: According to this survey, I am Charles Kennedy. My British relative approves. According to this one, I am “red” Ken Livingstone, which he says is “all right, if you don’t mind being completely f—— insane.” According to this, I write like a man. (It’s not close, either.) … Read more

Another cheery topic

There’s an interesting interview with the director of Amnesty International in Salon today. It’s mainly a critique of the anti-war movement (or at least its most visible members). But rather than start Iraq Debate Round 8072 I want to discuss these lines from the interview: “Certainly I have argued within Amnesty that in the face … Read more

Selective Prosecution

This is ridiculous. The Justice Department is prosecuting Greenpeace for boarding a ship to protest illegal trade of mahogany. What Greenpeace did was illegal, and they were arrested by the Coast Guard, as is routine in a non-violent civil disobedience protest like this one. What is not routine is that: 1) the Justice department is … Read more

You always hurt the ones you love.

I’m von, I’m the third poster on the site, and I’m currently consumed by the following question: What the hell has going on at Daily Kos? I used to read Daily Kos. He was an insightful commentator on the Iraq war, and it didn’t hurt that his politics and mine have certain similarities. But what … Read more

from the left…

Hi. I’m Katherine , host #2. The liberal one. I try not to froth at the mouth, and to paraphrase my mother, I don’t hate Bush, I just hate the way he’s acting. I’ve been volunteering for the Howard Dean campaign on and off since last March, which should give an idea of both my … Read more