A Telling Slip of the Tongue? Something that Bush said during a press conference with the President of Indonesia today struck me as a bit odd. I just went and checked the transcript, and discovered what it was about Bush’s phrasing that seemed slightly unsavory to me: Bush: Americans hold a deep respect for the […]

Politicians Making Ethics Decisions Can someone explain to me why some politicians feel that it’s their place to make the decision in cases like this? TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Oct. 21 — Six days after the feeding tube of a brain-damaged woman was removed in a case that pitted her husband against her parents, Gov. Jeb Bush […]

Reproductive Freedom A “partial-birth” abortion ban, without exceptions for the health (there’s an exception for the “life” of the mother, but an amendment to add “health” failed to pass), passed 64-34. I put “partial-birth” in quotes because what was really banned was a specific dilation and evacuation procedure that is similar to one used in […]

Is the Democratic Party in Decline? Here’s what Fred Barnes has to say about the subject in this week’s Weekly Standard: AFTER THE 1972 AND 1980 ELECTIONS, Republicans said political realignment across the country would soon make them the dominant party. It didn’t happen. Now, despite highly favorable signs in the 2002 midterm elections and […]

White Collar Flight… to India Today’s Guardian contains a provocative commentary by George Monbiot on a theme that we’ve touched on before here. The piece begins: If you live in a rich nation in the English-speaking world, and most of your work involves a computer or a telephone, don’t expect to have a job in […]

In Fairness to the TSA… …I probably would let this guy through with minimal screening, too. A bit of advice to Tucker Carlson: you may want to start arriving at the airport a bit earlier. AB

Food for Thought And lot’s of it, from Matt Stoller over at the ClarkSphere. It starts as a jeremiad, as Matt recounts his interactions with political consultants and the experiences that took him from Kerry to Dean and then to Clark, but he ends upbeat and very pro-Clark. Also noteworthy are the numerous positive things […]

Another Treasury Gaffe The record of ineptitude by Bush’s Treasury secretaries continues. Yesterday, Snow said that he’d be “frustrated and concerned” if interest rates didn’t rise next year. For a short list of reasons why it’s really, really bad for Treasury secretaries to make statements about future interest rates, visit Brad DeLong’s blog. So today […]

Gen. Boykin I came across this article, titled “FIRST-PERSON: Stabbed in the back.” It’s from something called BP News, which appears to be news for Baptists, and it’s a defense of Gen. “My God is bigger than yours, idolator” Boykin. Here’s the thrust: Gen. MacArthur and Gen. Patton and multiple others called on God, prayed […]

Addendum on the Deficit As AB mentions below, the final tally of 2003’s budget deficit was $374 billion. Yes, that’s a lot, and yes, it’s a record deficit by far. The next closest deficit in US history was $292 billion, under Bush 41. However, it is lower than the White House’s mid-year estimate of $455 […]