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Neocon Mea Culpas
Feb 20, 2006 Francis Fukuyama, one of the leading neocon intellectuals who argued the case for the Iraq war, admits in a blockbuster N.Y. Times Magazine essay that it is "very hard to see how [the removal of Saddam Hussein, and a few spillover benefits] justify the blood and treasure that the United States has spent." Andrew Sullivan, another leading pro-war conservative, echoes Fukuyama's comment and points out three areas where neocons were tragically wrong.Earth on Fast Track to Warming
Feb 20, 2006 Greenhouse gases are being released into the atmosphere at a rate 30 times faster than the rate of emissions that caused a period of intense warming in the Earth's past, concludes a scientific panel in St. Louis.Guess Why Cheney Came Out of Hiding
Feb 20, 2006 It apparently wasn't the vice president's sense of duty to the country that precipitated his sit-down interview with Fox News. It was the president, no dummy when it comes to PR, who made Cheney sit down in front of the cameras, according to Time magazine.
Today in the Media War Against Al Qaeda
Feb 20, 2006 Rumsfeld says that we're losing the media war against Al Qaeda, on the same day a militant website posts a new tape by Bin Laden, in which he vows never to be taken alive. In perhaps unrelated Al Qaeda media war news, Batman cartoonist Frank Miller says that the caped crusader's next foes will be Bin Laden's henchmen.
Surprise, Surprise: Ethics Reform Stalling
Feb 20, 2006 Figuring that public indignation over the Jack Abramoff scandal will soon dissipate, Republicans in Congress are dragging their feet on promised reform measures. Unfortunately, this will probably work--because an indignant populace is sort of like a villain in a James Bond movie: We vow to stamp out a source of aggravation; we put the machinery in place for doing so; we flip the switch; and then we leave the room on the nave assumption that our plan is escape-proof. It'd be funny if this weren't, like, our government we're talking about.Deadly Cartoon Protests Roil the Globe
Feb 19, 2006 The cartoon-fueled hysteria continues unabated: In Libya: 10 die in the bloodiest protests yet In Russia: Authorities shut down a newspaper that printed a tame cartoon of Muhammad, along with other religious figurescom/2006/02/18/nyregion/18protesthtml" title="In Manhattan:">In Manhattan: 1,000 protesters rally in front of the Danish consulatecom/2006/02/19/international/europe/19cartoonhtml?_r=1&oref=slogin" title="In Italy:">In Italy: An official quits after wearing a T-shirt with the controversial Muhammad cartoons Update: 16 Killed in Nigerian cartoon protests, along with five this week in Pakistan Hey, Muslim centrists/moderates, if you want to do something to quell this insane violence, now would be a pretty good time to do so.U.S. Plans $7-Billion Royalty Windfall to Oil Companies
Feb 19, 2006 On the heels of Exxon Mobil's record-setting $10-billion quarterly profit, the "federal government is on the verge of one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history, worth an estimated $7 billion over five years." It's nice being an oil baron when two oilmen head the government.
Cheney Hunting Story Filled With Discrepancies
Feb 19, 2006 The Associated Press (not exactly an ultra-liberal organization) says the account of the vice president's hunting accident is full of inconsistencies. Newsday points out that the medical diagram in Cheney's accident report is incorrect.Dodging Responsibility While ‘Taking’ It (a perspective from the left)
Feb 18, 2006 Officials' media spin shouldn't be confused with anything genuine.The Shooting Party (a perspective from the right)
Feb 18, 2006 As I understand the profound concern of the ever-alert White House reporters, they smell a constitutional crisis because the shooting party failed to alert the media of the accidental shooting down in Corpus Christi, Texas.