Al Qaeda summer attacks beg for retaliation

By Editor
05/27/2004

The news yesterday about a possible al Qaeda attack in the coming months on American soil signifies al Qaeda's dying wish. And if these newest reports bear true, and al Qaeda seeks to offer up an election surprise of their own, they will truly have awoken a sleeping giant--one that has been sidetracked in Iraq for the past year.


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Another blemish on our "good guy" reputation

By Mike Thomas
05/26/2004

Here is another disturbing story relating to alleged U.S. abuses of power in Iraq. My jaw just drops everytime I read stuff like this and I have to wonder if we can even still legitimately claim to be “the good guys” if this is how we go about it.


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Pew Report On Bias Among Journalists

By Tadlow Windsor II
05/25/2004

Editor & Publisher reports on a Pew Research Center poll which supposedly shows an inordinate liberality among media correspondents.


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John Kerry Yanks GOP's Chain

By Sean L.
05/25/2004

John Kerry has been floating a trial balloon (or would that be "running something up the flagpole") about the upcoming Democratic convention in Boston. In an effort to find loopholes in their very own, brand new, campaign finance "reform" laws, top Dems have been kicking around the idea of delaying Kerry's acceptance speech in order to continue spending money that lawfully would be denied them after the convention.


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Iraqis to Have Veto over Coalition Forces

By Jeff Myhre
05/25/2004

Anyone who has studied politics for more than a week knows about the law of unintended consequences – that is, in taking any action, a political leader creates results that he never meant to achieve. So it is with a sovereign Iraq. It appears that US and other coalition troops will provide security for Iraq, as and how the Iraqi government feels it is appropriate. As Prime Minister Tony Blair put it, "If there's a political decision as to whether you go into a place like Falluja in a particular way, that has to be done with the consent of the Iraqi government, and the final political control remains with the Iraqi government.”


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The Importance of Convention Scheduling

By Stephen Macklin
05/23/2004

In the 2000 Election Florida Fiasco a Democratic Party hack designed a butterfly ballot for the voters of Palm Beach County. Unfortunately (for the Democrats) the ballot design proved confusing for Gore voters who inadvertently cast their vote for Pat Buchanan. The Democrats did not like the way their ballot design decision turned out. So they tried everything they could to try to change the results into something they liked. Little details like fairness and election law mattered not.


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Few hopes when older workers lose jobs

By Andante
05/21/2004

Let's say you're 45 to 60 years old, employed in a non-union factory which pays a barely decent wage.


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The UNSCAM Sham

By Charles Sanson
05/20/2004

We are by now all familiar with the right wing's tirades against the United Nations, notably on radio and in their opinion pieces. The UN is alternately described as a democracy of dictators, a debating society for paper pushers and technocrats, a corrupt global bureaucracy, a precursor to world government and global tyranny, etc. Really, they're quite upset with the multinational body.


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Prison Abuse Is No New Scandal

By Amy Phillips
05/20/2004

As we all know, the United States has a problem with prisoner abuse. Reported abuses of prisoners by American personnel include:


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Oregon Primary Election

By Mike Pechar
05/20/2004

For those who missed the results of this week's Oregon primary election:


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What is - and is not - a weapon of mass destruction

By L. Berty
05/18/2004

Wade through Eric Margolis' usual anti-American blather and you'll discover some very pertinent facts to keep in mind about the now-token term "WMD." Important to know, when "OH NO, SARIN GAS IN IRAQ" is being sported at FoxNews Main right now.


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Bold Prediction: Michael Moore Will Win at Cannes

By Damon Dimmick
05/16/2004

Call it going out on a limb, but I think Michael Moore has the Palme d'Or all sewn up at Cannes.


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Republicans angry over lack of coverage, not outrage

By L. Berty
05/16/2004

Today, Colin Powell expressed that he "would like to have seen a much higher level of outrage throughout the world, but especially in the Arab world," to the now-controversial Nick Berg beheading video tape. The "high" right-wingers of the blogosphere have expressed similar disdain; take Paul at Wizbang, who composed a partisan list of "all the right wing blogs who straight-linked the video" versus "lefties who won't even mention it." As a Libertarian, I have more than enough dissent with staunch members of either major party, but I assure you there is no lack of outrage over the beheading of an American citizen from either side of the aisle.


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Berg's death not recorded in video

By L. Berty
05/15/2004

Venomous Kate, lawyerblogger extraordinaire, has let out list of very significant reasons to believe that the actual killing of Nicolas Berg appeared nowhere on the recording that has inspired so much controversy in the Blogosphere. Instead, it appears that the tape's two major scenes — the Arabic address ending with Berg's scream, and the actual holding down and decapitation of Berg's body — took place 11 hours apart.


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John Kerry's Number Problems

By Stephen Macklin
05/14/2004

John Kerry has a significant problem with numbers. Not just his poll numbers. Not just the number of SUV's he or his family does or doesn't own. Not just the number of different versions of the medal tossing story he has told.


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Fake prison torture photos leaves editor jobless

By Editor
05/14/2004

In this world of Photoshop and other image-altering tools, what you see is not necessarily what you get. Once the absolute harbinger of truth, we're all now learning to be just a little bit suspect, one doctored photo after another.


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Prevention and Responsibility

By L. Berty
05/14/2004

Many, including President Bush himself, have been asking an important question over the last three months — "During these recent years of political uncertainty, what could we have prevented?" All elements of this questioning have been spun to one way or another, from "Bush is America's flawless, steady champion" to "this disastrous neocon war will spark World War III." Much of the proceedings were either partisan rot (from both sides, dear Republicans), or became such once they entered the realm of public media. There are a few things, however, which can now be distilled with near-certainty.


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Kerry blames Bush for Iraq abuse

By Editor
05/11/2004

In the latest installment of the "Let's Blame Bush" game, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry all but accused President Bush of leading American troops to demean and degrade Iraqi prisoners held by American forces in Iraq, much as he had in invading Iraq.


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Army Times Blames "Top Leaders" for Prisoner Abuse

By Jeff Myhre
05/10/2004

I don't have very much to add to that headline. The editorial is here. I can't think of anything more distressing than the obvious pain that comes from this particular sentence published today, "But while responsibility begins with the six soldiers facing criminal charges, it extends all the way up the chain of command to the highest reaches of the military hierarchy and its civilian leadership."


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The Vietnam Syndrome

By Bill Wallo
05/10/2004

Much has been made of John Kerry's involvement in Vietnam, both as a soldier and subsequently as an anti-war activist. Admittedly, he has brought some of this attention on himself; while he criticizes his opponents for "using" his Vietnam-era activities against him, he simultaneously announces his status as a war veteran at virtually every appearance. Regardless, Vietnam remains a flashpoint for many Americans, and the wrangling over his behavior (or the behavior of the President, for that matter) during that time is very personal to a large cross-section of the populace.


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Religious Bias

By Mike Pechar
05/09/2004

In Chicago, Emergency Medical Technician Stephanie Adamson, 30, has filed suit against her former employer claiming religious discrimination because she was fired after refusing to transport a woman to an abortion clinic. Superior Ambulance Services in Elmhurst dispatched Adamson to Mt. Sinai Hospital to pick up a patient for transport to a nearby clinic for an elective abortion.


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Michael Moore Vs The Truth

By Stephen Macklin
05/07/2004

Like the War on Terror, filmmaker Michael Moore's War on the Truth has been a long and complex campaign fought on many fronts. And like all great conflicts you win some battles and you lose some battles.


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Fight for Your Right to Have Sex for Money

By Amy Phillips
05/05/2004

Jonathan A. Knee makes an interesting point: it's inconsistent to make it illegal for me to pay someone to have sex with me, yet allow me to pay someone to have sex with someone else and let me film it. But rather than coming to the obvious conclusion that it's also inconsistent to make it illegal to pay for something that it's legal to do for free, he decides to go the other direction. Knee wants to ban pornography by making it illegal to pay anyone to perform a sex act.


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Disney censoring Michael Moore

By Mike Thomas
05/05/2004

Good news for Michael Moore, the Academy Award-winning documentary film maker, best-selling author and leftist rabble-rouser.


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Dispatches from Absurdistan: The battle for Adjara

By Marc C. Johnson
05/03/2004

In the entropic post-Soviet world of screwed-up nations and politico-geographic mitosis, at least one place is perennially screwed up: the Caucasus.


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Iraq war veteran criticizes Bush on radio

By Editor
05/03/2004

A veteran of the Iraq war over the weekend voiced his concerns about how things seem to be falling apart in Iraq. His message was part of the Democratic radio address, aired weekly as a rebuttal to President Bush's own address.


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No Way to Run a War

By Bill Wallo
05/03/2004

Last Wednesday, Opinion Journal's editorial page featured an examination of the Supreme Court's decision to review the Bush Administration's treatment of the so-called "enemy combatants," and questioned whether the Supreme Court knows how to "run a war." The editorial opinion was that the Court should defer to the "elected chief executive" on matters of national security and, yes, warfare. Recent news from Iraq, however, makes one wonder whether the military knows how to run a war either.


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Rights and Risks in the European Union

By Damon Dimmick
05/02/2004

The greatest fundamental difference between the constitution of the EU and the constitution of the USA is the notion of rights. Whereas the US Constitution addresses rights as natural states of freedom, which the government cannot strip from individuals, the EU Constitution regards rights as government services that must be granted to all citizens. The difference between these two points of view is staggering.


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Welcome to the EU

By Marc C. Johnson
05/01/2004

M e m o
To: New East European EU Members
From: “Old Europe”
cc: Malta, Cyprus
Re: Rights and Responsibilities


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