Bush v. Clinton on the Economy
By Rand Fishkin06/30/2004
This graph shows the measure of employment as a ratio of population. Although the swings aren't huge percentages, with 300 million people in the US, 2% is a monstrous swing.
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Abortion's Selective Pressure on the American Electorate
By Jay Manifold06/29/2004
Currently tied for #11 on Blogdex, we find this statistical analysis of the effect of abortion on elections, which appears to be a relatively straightforward case of different reproductive rates. Republicans may have already increased their share of the electorate by 4%, and Democrats decreased theirs by 5%, as a result. And by 2020, those numbers may have tripled, giving Republicans a nationwide edge of nearly 3:2 (please note that this is an extrapolation, not a paraphrase from the article).
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Judge Robert Schnider
By Michael Hussey06/29/2004
Judge Robert Schnider is the Democrat judge who might have just lost the election for John Kerry.
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HBO "Celibacy" distorts rather than informs
By Marcos Rodriguez06/29/2004
The latest HBO venture into documentary making ("Celibacy", by director and producer Antony Thomas), not only misses a wonderful opportunity to objectively inform and shed light on a very complex subject, but also echoes the position that many --most prominently on the Left-- have embraced as the "hidden cause" behind the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in recent years.
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Mixed Results for the Worst Treated Prisoners in the US
By Rand Fishkin06/28/2004
The Supreme Court ruled today that Bush's government has the right to come to your home, arrest you without charges, take you to Guantanamo Bay and hold you there. The only caveat is that they must designate you as an 'enemy combatant', a complicated process that involves Donald Rumsfeld looking at some paperwork about you and saying - "this guy's an enemy combatant".
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Judge Calabresi Raises an Interesting Point about the Bush Presidency
By Rand Fishkin06/25/2004
In a speech to the American Constitution Society Conference this past Saturday, Guido Calabresi, a judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, made an interesting point about the 2000 election.
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Anonymous CIA Official Tears Apart US Anti-Terrorism Policies in new book
By Rand Fishkin06/23/2004
The New York Times has received an advance copy of a book due to be published later this month written by an anonymous CIA official who still works for the agency. In the book, the author harshly criticizes both the Clinton and Bush administrations for their failure to prevent terrorist activities, including the September 11 attacks.
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Democrats challenge Nader bid in Arizona
By Editor06/23/2004
The Democratic challenges to presidential candidate Ralph Nader have started, at least in Arizona. Today, two Democratic Arizonians filed a challenge against Nader's November bid in the western state, citing fraudulent activities by Nader supporters collecting signatures for an appearance on the state ballot.
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Polarization and its discontents
By Charles Sanson06/22/2004
It is quite clear from the fact that only half of eligible voters regularly turn out to vote in presidential elections, that the so-called fifty/fifty split does not divide Republicans from Democrats, but rather Republicans and Democrats, on the one hand, from people who would rather not vote Republican or Democrat, on the other.
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A Study on Media Bias
By Damon Dimmick06/22/2004
The topic of media bias evokes instant polarization in most conversations. To the average citizen, bias in all of its forms is obvious, but the real question is whether or not the bias is systemic or incidental. Recently, UCLA and Stanford teamed up to do a scientific study of media bias and came up with some interesting results.
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Rowland's resignation no surprise
By Mike Thomas06/21/2004
The resignation of Connecticut Gov. John Rowland was probably inevitable and therefore not surprising. If anything, I was mostly surprised that he held on for so long in today’s media culture where the hint of a scandal can sometimes produce a feeding frenzy.
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House Ethics Charges – Ending A Bad Truce
By Jeff Myhre06/21/2004
Congressman Chris Bell (D-TX) has brought an ethics complaint against Congressman Tom DeLay (R-TX), the first such charges the House of Representatives has seen in about 7 years. Many commentators have called the complaint “the end of a truce.” There has been an armistice of sorts, and it merely proves that the Incumbent Party’s Democrat and Republican wings have gotten along despite the Clinton impeachment, the 2000 election farce and the wars against terror and against Iraq. Bipartisanship, however, in the matter of ethics, is un-American and wrong.
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How John Kerry Lost My Vote
By Damon Dimmick06/20/2004
How can it be that a political advertisement by the Kerry campaign finally crystallized my voting decision? According to politicos, only goobers change their minds based on political advertisements. The theory goes that if you are making decisions about whom to vote for based on 30 second marketing spots, then you probably don't know much about politics or the news to begin with.
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Stop or I'll Issue a Strongly-Worded Statement
By Marc C. Johnson06/19/2004
The IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution on Friday in which they "deplored" Iran's insufficient cooperation. In section L, subparagraph 2:
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U.S. versus Sweden
By I.J. Reilly06/18/2004
Well, making fun of France is fun, but nonetheless fruitless. No one really considers them to be the paragon of a system that works. On the other hand, a lot of people tout Sweden as some sort of progressive paradise. Let's take a look, shall we?
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What’s up with the Bush – Clinton Love fest?
By Michael Hussey06/18/2004
"Over eight years, it was clear that Bill Clinton loved the job of the presidency," recently remarked President Bush upon Clinton’s return to the Whitehouse to see his portrait unveiled. "He filled this house with energy and joy. He's a man of enthusiasm and warmth, who could make a compelling case and effectively advance the causes that drew him to public service."
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Commission Bias Meets Media Bias
By Stephen Macklin06/17/2004
The 9-11 Commission has been a side show for left wing partisan attacks against the Bush administration since its inception. Any one who expects a fair balanced and well reasoned report from the commission probably decided to vote against Bush before he finished taking the oath of office for this term. When the bias of the commission meets the bias of the media the result can only be described by editing the ia out of bias.
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U.S. and them
By I.J. Reilly06/17/2004
The CIA World Factbook for 2004 just came out today, and a side-by-side comparison of the U.S. and France is worth a look:
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Al-Qaeda and Iraq
By Jeff Myhre06/17/2004
Yet another pretext for the war against Saddam Hussein has bitten the dust. The 9/11 Commission has said that there is “no credible evidence” that the Saddamite regime in Baghdad helped Al Qaeda in its attacks against the US. Moreover, contacts between the two “do not appear to have resulted in a collaborative relationship.” And “Bin Laden is said to have requested space [in Iraq] to establish training camps, as well as in procuring weapons, but Iraq apparently never responded” [emphasis added].
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Former diplomats align against Bush
By Mike Thomas06/16/2004
A group of 26 former diplomats and military officials have joined forces to oppose Bush's reelection campaign.
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Gullibility and Mediacracy: A conflict of disinterests
By Charles Sanson06/15/2004
The results of a recent Pew survey, which found that "news audiences are increasingly politicized," showed also that the US public is increasingly skeptical of the media mass.
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Supreme Court shirks Pledge decision
By Editor06/14/2004
You'd think that in a case set up to decide once and for all the constitutionality of the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, the Supreme Court would have cleared up whether the separation of church and state extends to religious references in general.
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New polls have Kerry leading big, tied with Bush
By Editor06/11/2004
A new Los Angeles Times poll has President Bush trailing Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry by seven points, 44-51. That was yesterday. And from the LA Times. We should know better.
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Church and state, together again
By Charles Sanson06/10/2004
As the Center for American Progress prepares to launch a "new project on faith and progressive policy" to overcome the "gap" that separates the Democratic Party from potential voters among regular church-goers, differently minded liberals and Democrats are working to prevent House Republicans from easing penalties on tax exempt religious organizations that wish to come out of the political closet from time to time to organize for a party or candidate.
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Kerry’s Reagan Problem – And Opportunity
By Jeff Myhre06/10/2004
The passing of Ronald Reagan will give the Republican Party a fine opportunity at their convention to relive past glories. The convention (just a few miles uptown from Ground Zero) was always intended to be a theatrical event wallowing in the symbols of patriotism. Now, President Bush has the chance to wrap himself in the mantle of Reagan’s ideological successor, and possibly to inherit the votes of those who liked “Dutch” Reagan even if they aren’t so sure about GWB.
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Reagan I, Bush I - Different Men, Similar Worlds
By Marc C. Johnson06/08/2004
At first glance, President Bush would seem to be the Republicans’ anti-Reagan — Bush, often ill at ease speaking, is from privileged roots, and works with (some would say alongside) a strong vice president. Though Bush is clearly guided by his beliefs and is unrepentantly ideological, his ideology doesn’t emit the warm glow Reagan’s did; Bush sometimes seems to be missing what GHW Bush called “The Vision Thing.” Where Reagan was relatively old when he took office, Bush is still in his sprightly fifties.
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Reagan passing sparks dime and bill push
By Editor06/08/2004
Even though it's been a while in the making, proposals concerning getting Ronald Reagan's mug on United States currency have resurfaced following the former president's passing over the weekend.
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Political parties politicize Reagan death
By Editor06/07/2004
According to Adam Nagourney of the NYTimes, Ronald Reagan's passing over the weekend has Republicans relishing in the circumstances; he stops short only of suggesting a high-five circus in the Oval Office by Bush staffers upon hearing the news.
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Reagan Attacked by UK Guardian
By Mike Pechar06/06/2004
Probably no more than 24 hours after the death of Ronald Reagan was announced, long before any funeral arrangements had been finalized, when admirers were still in a confusion of shock and sadness and loss, the UK Guardian launched a snide attack on his memory. Peter Preston writes of Ronald Reagan as an old dunce of a man unworthy of praise since he didn't do anything to change the world. He wasn't bright, he wasn't brilliant. He just happened to be around when the world changed.
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Poll shows Americans don't know Kerry
By Editor06/04/2004
Although it shouldn't surprise anyone, the latest poll about Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry shows that more and more Americans don't know what to think about that ol' Massachusetts liberal.
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Tiananmen, 15 Years Later
By Amy Phillips06/04/2004
Nicholas Kristoff considers growing western engagement and the government's increasing tolerance for capitalist activity to constitute a victory over Communism in China. While I agree that reforms have taken place and that many Chinese are better off than they were a decade ago, I somehow doubt that those still suffering under the "fraying" Communist dynasty would agree that meaningful changes have occurred.
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It's too much for CIA Director George Tenet
By Editor06/03/2004
So CIA Director George Tenet has called it quits. Anyone who knows anything about the the flack he's taken over 9/11 and the accusations of major intelligence failures could have seen this coming.
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Kerry's Foreign Policy: Identifying and Reducing Threats IS Foreign Policy
By Michael Bryan06/02/2004
This is, at least in part, a response to Marc Johnson's "Internationalist Tendencies Do Not a Foreign Policy Make." I intend to take issue with his jejune characterization of Kerry's foreign policy.
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Internationalist Tendencies Do Not A Foreign Policy Make
By Marc C. Johnson06/01/2004
Sen. John Kerry has been on the stump for the last few days pushing his foreign policy/national security "message" as if it were the flavor of the week, a tried and true method of rousing the base. Although he has briefly turned to Russian nukes, the general message has been "let the United Nations do its good work."
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