Summers: Addressing the Evidence

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Sunday February 27, 2005 · 1:08 PM PST

2005/02/27 · 13:08

In the uproar over Lawrence Summers' remarks on the comparative abilities of men and women, one element was conspicuously absent: Evidence.

An AP article published today under the headline, "Summers' Remarks Supported by Some Experts" notes that Summers' view, while far from a proven fact, is supported by (at least some) evidence and by (at least some) experts in psychology and medicine.

Anyone with an opinion about Summers' comments should read this article. It doesn't answer all the questions. For instance, it doesn't settle whether Summers was speaking out of turn for a university president schooled in economics, regardless of supporting evidence.

But the best opinions are educated ones. More from the article below. Read More

South Dakota Digging Roe v. Wade's Grave

Spiral Stairs

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Thursday February 17, 2005 · 6:37 AM PST

2005/02/17 · 06:37

For now, Roe v. Wade still protects a woman's right to choose. Should that right be abolished by a future Supreme Court constituted differently, South Dakota is getting ready to spring into action. But not in a good way.

Last week, the State Affairs Committee of the South Dakota Senate unanimously approved a bill that would "make it a felony to do abortions if Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, is overturned." The only exception in the bill is if the woman's life is at risk.

What an odd thing: Legislation whose effectiveness is conditioned on a Supreme Court decision that hasn't occurred, in a case that doesn't yet exist. They're really chomping at the bit here.

More below. Read More

Driving Mr. Kerry

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Sunday February 13, 2005 · 10:11 AM PST

2005/02/13 · 10:11

Like thousands of Democrats, my car still sports a John Kerry sticker. (We got ours before Edwards was named to the ticket, so it's just a Kerry sticker.) And also like many others, we haven't been able to take down the Kerry signs in our windows and on our walls. We said we'd take them down after the inauguration. But we haven't. Taking them down would feel like admitting a defeat we still cannot face; admitting a truth we still cannot confront.

In today's Washington Post, Risa Sanders, a resident of conservative Great Falls, Virginia, explains why she hasn't taken her sticker off either: "They reassure us that we are not alone and that our sturdy army is mending."

She put words to a feeling I've been nurturing. The 2004 was not a war; it was a battle in a larger war. I still want the company of others who wear the scars -- and the uniform -- of that battle. My bumper sticker is my uniform, and it's no time to take it off.

More on what my sticker means to me below. Read More

More Dirt on Guckert: "When it rains, it pours."

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Saturday February 12, 2005 · 6:20 AM PST

2005/02/12 · 06:20

Our favorite ersatz White House Press Corps pavement pounder, James Guckert, is in more trouble than his recent pseudonym-using, credential-manufacturing, journalism-faking, internet porn kingpin experiences would indicate. The Wilmington, Delaware News Journal reports that "James D. Guckert, who reported under the pseudonym Jeff Gannon, failed to pay Delaware more than $20,700 in personal state income tax from 1991 through 1994, according to documents filed in Superior Court in Wilmington."

Said Guckert/Gannon to the newspaper: "When it rains, it pours." According to the article, he would not comment further.

Don't worry, Jim, it's not a criminal offense. But as the article bitingly notes, "if Guckert were to win the state lottery ... , Delaware would collect whatever debt he owed." Good luck!

A little more salaciousness below. Read More

Bush the Methodist: A Compendium of Hypocrisy

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Wednesday February 09, 2005 · 1:17 PM PST

2005/02/09 · 13:17

Bush claims to be a Methodist. His expressed beliefs, however, are in stark conflict with many of his church's stated positions.

The Methodist Church is quite progressive. But its best-known congregant isn't. I've been aware of this issue for a while, through my activity in the anti-death penalty community. (The Methodist Church is squarely anti-capital punishment.) I decided to spend more time with the Methodists' doctrinal statements and come up with more instances of conflict between Bush's politics and his (supposed) beliefs.

My results are below. (Note that I tried to identify only those aspects of Methodist doctrine that directly conflict with something Bush avowedly believes or something he likely believes. I have left out all the wishy-washy stuff about being in favor of "universal rights" and the like, even though we all know there is conflict there as well.) Read More

Condi Rice: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

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Wednesday February 09, 2005 · 8:23 AM PST

2005/02/09 · 08:23

Dick Morris writes in today's Hill News on the prospect of a Condi Rice presidential run in 2008.

His conclusion:

The political fact is that a Rice candidacy would destroy the electoral chances of the Democratic Party by undermining its demographic base.

Acknowledging that "she isn't running -- nor is there any indication that she is harboring thoughts of a candidacy," Morris nevertheless calls for a draft. He says she "is a work in progress. Her rise has been impelled by her merits and achievements rather than any efforts on her part to curry favor in the media. She is still working and still progressing. But keep your eye on this political star. It is rising and may one day be ascendant."

Should we be quaking in our boots? More below.

(By the way, didn't Dick Morris used to be a Democrat?? Sheesh.)
Read More

New Poll: No Private Accounts; Wealthy Should Pay More for Social Security

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Tuesday February 08, 2005 · 1:23 PM PST

2005/02/08 · 13:23

Per CNN.com:

Americans think the wealthy should help bolster Social Security, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll released Tuesday suggests.

More than two-thirds of 1,010 adults contacted from Friday to Sunday said it would be a good idea to limit benefits for wealthier retirees and for higher income workers to pay Social Security taxes on all their wages.

This is great news, and should be a further (fatal?) blow to the Shrub's plans. More below. Read More

Ray Krone's Story (and an Excuse to Watch Trashy TV)

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Monday February 07, 2005 · 9:35 AM PST

2005/02/07 · 09:35

You're ashamed to admit it, but you are occasionally tantalized by the spate of trashy reality shows on TV. You're dying for a legitimate, morally irreproachable ground for watching one. Here's your chance.

Ray Krone, the 100th person to be exonerated from death row, will be featured on this Thursday's "Extreme Makeover" on ABC. (Feb. 10, 8PM/7PM Central)

I happen to have met Ray Krone, an innocent man who spent ten years in prison and two on death row after being tagged the "Snaggletooth Killer" and wrongly convicted of murder. This Thursday's show will be a momentous media event for all who are opposed to the death penalty -- or even opposed to the way the death penalty is administered.

If you are one of those people, please spread the word. People need to hear Ray's story (more of which is below). Read More

Good News From Iraq? Democracy vs. Insurgency

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Monday February 07, 2005 · 6:22 AM PST

2005/02/07 · 06:22

In an article entitled "Iraqis Cite Shift in Attitudes Since Vote; Mood Seen Moving Against Insurgency," the Washington Post reports today that "a relative lull in violence in the capital has fueled the sense that something has fundamentally changed since the vote."

The "fundamental change": "[T]he public mood appears to be moving more clearly against the insurgency in Iraq, political and security officials said."

The evidence is largely anecdotal, and it is very early to draw conclusions about the state of the Iraqi conflict, but it isn't too early to start considering the effects of the Iraqi elections on that nation. Was the Iraqi election, in fact, a watershed event marking a "fundamental" and positive sea change in Iraq?

More below. Read More

Evangelicals Are Being Framed: "Creation Care"

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Sunday February 06, 2005 · 6:22 AM PST

2005/02/06 · 06:22

In a fascinating article today, the Washington Post explores the efforts of certain Evangelicals to reframe the broad issue of "environmentalism" in terms more palatable to Evangelicals: "Creation care."

Such "creation care" should be at the heart of evangelical life, [Reverend Leroy] Hedman says, along with condemning abortion, protecting family and loving Jesus. He uses the term "creation care" because, he says, it does not annoy conservative Christians for whom the word "environmentalism" connotes liberals, secularists and Democrats.

The article raises a couple interesting questions: (1) Is environmentalism -- or "creation care" -- an issue that the Dems could use to reduce the Republicans' Evangelical market share? (2) Even if it won't change votes, can Dems find common ground with Evangelicals on this issue and mount more effective, base-eroding resistance to future anti-environment Republican legislation?

Pentagon Creates "News" Sites to Distribute Propaganda

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Friday February 04, 2005 · 9:32 AM PST

2005/02/04 · 09:32

A surprising front-pager for CNN.com: Pentagon sites: Journalism or propaganda?

The article concerns two sites set up by the Pentagon to appear to be "independent news sites" but which, in fact, are vehicles for Pentagon-sponsored "news" on the Balkans and a region in North Africa.

Says CNN:

At first glance, the Web pages appear to be independent news sites. To find out who is actually behind the content, a visitor would have to click on a small link -- at the bottom of the page -- to a disclaimer, which says, in part, that the site is "sponsored by" the U.S. Department of Defense.

The article also warns that the Pentagon "plans to add more sites on the Internet to provide information to a global audience."

Scary stuff. More below. Read More

Gonzalez: Another Important Reason to Resist a "Foregone Conclusion"

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Tuesday February 01, 2005 · 5:51 AM PST

2005/02/01 · 05:51

Alberto Gonzalez's confirmation hearing, and his nomination, very well may not be the last time Gonzalez appears before the Senate to be confirmed. He is young; he is building a powerful resume. I would not be surprised if a Supreme Court nomination follows.

Resistance now will make that confirmation tougher. Indeed, it may make it impossible -- both for political and psychological reasons. Case in point: Clarence Thomas has reportedly said privately that he is not interested in the Chief Justice position precisely because his first confirmation go-around was so trying.

We can lay the groundwork now for a victory then.

More below. Read More

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