tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61947892011-08-16T06:08:22.448-04:00"It's a difficult thing to be right all the time." Rummy, 5/9/2006publiusnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-65743800647177851322007-01-11T22:06:00.000-05:002007-01-11T22:10:27.283-05:00

__________Well, I have some good news and bad news (or vice-versa, depending on your perspective I suppose). The bad news is that I’m closing up shop here at Legal Fiction. The good news is that I’ve been graciously invited to join Obsidian Wings and will join Hilzoy and the gang as of today. So for the foreseeable future, I’ll be posting over there.I’m very excited about joining Obsidian

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-31773122764873883202007-01-11T09:40:00.000-05:002007-01-11T09:59:08.492-05:00

_________I'm busy at work, but here are some very quick thoughts on the speech.First, I agree with Kevin Drum that there's nothing new here. We have, after all, been clear-and-holding, training Iraqis, and promising to build stuff for years.Second, the biggest substantive gripe with Strategy 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 is that it depends a lot on the Iraqi government, military, and police. I mean, take a

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-91613168620630282492007-01-10T11:23:00.000-05:002007-01-10T11:37:21.754-05:00

__________I'll have more to say about the "surge" and the constitutionality of Kennedy's bill, etc., later. But for now, I just want to draw everyone's attention to these passages in today's Post, which are just mind-boggling.In going for more troops, Bush is picking an option that seems to have little favor beyond the White House and a handful of hawks on Capitol Hill and in think tanks who

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-25311930425565120332007-01-09T11:59:00.000-05:002007-01-09T12:04:29.238-05:00

__________You know, the audacity of this line is suprising even considering it's coming from Michael "N'er Right" Ledeen ("The Surge and Its Critics"):[Another] excellent recommendation is to dramatically increase the number of embedded Coalition soldiers. . . . Note that an increase in embeds doesn’t necessarily require an increase in overall troop strength. We’ve got lots of soldiers sitting

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-84404545140431104172007-01-08T23:58:00.000-05:002007-01-09T09:30:58.682-05:00

__________As I hope everyone knows, Memeorandum is a blog aggregator (and an excellent one). The way it works is that it displays a prominent story or blog post and then lists all the blogs that are linking to that story. Inevitably, there’s a story or post that the Pajamas Media bloggers cluster around (e.g., Malkin, Protein Wisdom, Powerline, etc.). I generally skip over the Pajamas cluster

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-20224680003142734412007-01-08T00:01:00.000-05:002007-01-07T23:46:35.368-05:00

__________As expected, the Israel-Iran post stirred up some strong objections in the comments. So let me try to spell out my views on Iran policy in a little more detail and with a little less snark.Lots of people have their pet Iran theories. America and/or Israel should do this, or threaten that. They should discuss this, or bomb that. And so on. But before we can entertain any of these

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-24654122297804683892007-01-06T23:52:00.000-05:002007-01-07T00:53:32.720-05:00

__________Hmm, I've been out of pocket for a couple of days, but this Times of London story seems potentially, um, newsworthy:Israel has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons.Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-89939454774075942322007-01-04T15:02:00.000-05:002007-01-04T15:33:29.219-05:00

__________Via LGM, I see that the Rehnquist files have been opened and it appears that the Chief enjoyed the 70s. Here's an excerpt from the Legal Times (quote slightly amended):The late Chief Justice William Rehnquist's Senate confirmation battles in 1971 and 1986 were more intense and political than previously known, according to a newly released FBI file that also offers dramatic new details

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-91855836918762865152007-01-04T00:59:00.000-05:002007-01-04T01:13:42.721-05:00

__________I started two posts tonight, both of which I disagreed with by the end (one was virtually complete). Thats how de bloggin goes sometimes.So instead, I'll just direct you to Eric Martin's excellent post elaborating on Dominique Moisi's Foreign Affairs article, which discusses the role of shame in the Muslim world (cross-posted at American Footprints). Eric astutely views the hanging of

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-60190926463053588972007-01-03T16:23:00.000-05:002007-01-03T23:45:39.671-05:00

__________I just read the Decider’s op-ed today in the WSJ, and this sentence in particular caught my eye:It is also a fact that our tax cuts have fueled robust economic growth and record revenues.Note the word “record.” Given the massive tax cuts we’ve had over the years, I began wondering how exactly Bush could justify using that word. I mean, I knew it was wrong, but I was curious about what

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-64709386089879215422007-01-02T23:39:00.000-05:002007-01-02T23:47:49.282-05:00

__________NRO's Andy McCarthy, 2007:I think the Iraqis can be deemed to have botched Saddam's execution only if we continue to indulge the fantasy that the popular elections the Iraqis have held signal the adoption of a modicum of Western democratic culture. When we do this, we are engaged in wishful thinking and the projection of our values. By this, I don't mean to denigrate or provoke a

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-80210799830555041392007-01-01T23:22:00.000-05:002007-01-01T23:53:39.330-05:00

__________Looking at the year in books, Claire Messud’s Emperor’s Children got a lot of hype (NYT book review here). On balance, I liked it though I had problems with it. It's definitely worth the read though, even it's ultimately unsatisfying. It was almost a really good book, so I applied tougher standards to it. For those interested, Slate has a pretty good podcast of three critics

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-42454897575241211452007-01-01T13:16:00.000-05:002007-01-01T13:18:35.192-05:00

__________Happy New Year everyone.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-6317385238611769212006-12-29T10:56:00.000-05:002006-12-29T11:14:23.681-05:00

__________There are many reasons to dislike Joe Lieberman. Some of them are good reasons, some aren’t. But his op-ed in today’s Post illustrates the fundamental problem with the Last Honest Man — he is and always has been dishonest about Iraq. The other criticisms of Lieberman — his vanity; his gratuitous party-bashing for the benefit of Tim Russert — are all annoying, but they don’t really

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-38160125200743860172006-12-29T01:44:00.000-05:002006-12-29T02:03:30.287-05:00

__________I haven’t followed the news all that closely over the past few days, but I did notice this NYT article explaining that a bipartisan immigration bill is currently being drafted. To that, I say “good.” It’s the right policy and the political stars are aligned (however briefly) in its favor. So it’s now or never on that front. But what’s interesting is that several key Republicans view

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-18948296741109368962006-12-28T00:09:00.000-05:002006-12-28T00:12:48.084-05:00

__________I'm out of DC for the holidays and my Internet access has been, shall we say, less than ideal. Posting will hopefully pick up starting tomorrow, but will be sporadic until after New Year's.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-45831708429727023332006-12-24T00:25:00.000-05:002006-12-24T00:32:39.683-05:00

__________I've been on the road for Christmas and haven't been online for a couple of days. And when I got on, I saw to my shock and horror that Feddie was packing it up. Feddie is a long-time friend of this blog and gave me one of my very first "intro" links, so I've always considered him the Dre to my Snoop Dogg.My hope is that he finds quitting as tolerable as I did and is back online in a

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-17887622079525120802006-12-21T01:43:00.000-05:002006-12-21T01:53:09.863-05:00

__________In debating the wisdom of “the surge,” people should remember that real lives are at stake. These are not poker chips or blackjack wagers, but real people who will die. That’s the first point. But there is — as always — a political point here too. Putting aside the question of whether the surge is good military strategy, it’s shaping up to be disastrous political strategy for the

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-64849191767448615472006-12-20T23:47:00.000-05:002006-12-20T23:56:26.239-05:00

__________After a hiatus of a couple of years, I made a concerted effort this year to get back into music. I was at least semi-successful, but there are lots of albums I just didn't listen to either out of laziness (Built to Spill) or because they weren't on Rhapsody (Joanna Newsom). But anyway, here it is, the Legal Fiction Top 10 of 2006:1) Yeah Yeah Yeahs Show Your BonesBecause Phenomena

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-17089831384365364512006-12-20T01:07:00.000-05:002006-12-20T01:17:25.149-05:00

__________NYT:The idea of sending reinforcements to Baghdad is not a new one. The United States dispatched a Stryker brigade and several Army battalions to the capital in August as part of a joint American and Iraqi operation to improve security there. Those additions brought the number of American troops involved in the Baghdad operation to 15,000.Sectarian killings initially declined, only to

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1663331592555495082006-12-19T11:10:00.000-05:002006-12-19T11:12:51.414-05:00

__________For those of you interested in the Genarlow Wilson case (described below) and its appeal, here's the website that includes case information, online petitions, etc.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-86015156197768363512006-12-19T01:11:00.000-05:002006-12-19T17:54:50.663-05:00

__________When I was in law school (circa 2000-2003 — the Pax Bushana), it had become unfashionable to embrace the Warren Court. Guilty liberals like me thought the Court’s hearts were in the right place, but we were contemptuous of its means. With forty years distance, we were embarrassed by the results-oriented jurisprudence, and more than a little convinced by some of the old Bork/Scalia

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-91221618064673769082006-12-18T22:08:00.000-05:002006-12-18T22:20:38.992-05:00

__________The Georgia statutory rape law is back in the news. This time, a 17-year old is going to jail for 10 years for consensual oral sex with a 15-year old. Eugene Volokh has an good rundown of some of the legal issues surrounding the conviction.He does leave out one important detail though. The 17-year old is black, and the prosecutor is white. And what's more, white defendants have

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-31392919147273954172006-12-17T11:41:00.000-05:002006-12-17T11:48:55.425-05:00

__________In light of everything we’ve seen over the past three-and-a-half years, I’d like to amend the Constitution so that the executive can be impeached for “high crimes, misdemeanors, and adopting war strategies from Weekly Standard writers.” Fred Barnes says:Now Bush is ready to gamble his presidency on a last-ditch effort to defeat the Sunni insurgency and establish a sustainable democracy

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-76263782531705829722006-12-15T23:47:00.000-05:002006-12-16T00:01:54.217-05:00

__________I’ve had a strange back and forth on Obama over the last few months. I obviously loved the 2004 keynote speech and thought he had great potential. But I was also annoyed by what I perceived as his latent Liebermanism on some issues. I’ve come back around though and now I think he’s the guy. And though I had been trending that way anyway, the New Hampshire speech — or at least one

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-75658547022808543782006-12-15T00:15:00.000-05:002006-12-15T00:58:30.964-05:00

__________Senator Johnson’s illness got me thinking about succession this week. There are few political issues more fascinating — and consequential — than succession disputes. Succession (i.e., the replacing of one official with another) is democracy’s soft underbelly — the most vulnerable point on its body. It is at these junctures that the rule of law and legitimacy are most likely to give

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-54523944083577046732006-12-14T22:12:00.000-05:002006-12-14T22:23:33.043-05:00

__________I've decided that I want Obama to be the nominee. I thought about writing a long piece outlining the pros and cons, but it's unnecessary. That's because there's a very simple reason to support him -- everyone else sucks.You'll see a lot of commentary in the months ahead about who is supporting whom and why. But you won't need to read any of that because I just told you everything you

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-16501241046596358622006-12-14T01:50:00.000-05:002006-12-14T02:08:20.806-05:00

__________To follow up on the last post, although I think basing war strategy on a blackjack concept is - how to put this - criminal, the "Baghdad Double Down" is also terrible blackjack strategy.As I understand it, the point of doubling down is to take a bigger risk (i.e., put more on the line) when the probability of winning is the highest. The casino overall has an built-in edge of X%. When

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-85762018120552392362006-12-14T01:33:00.000-05:002006-12-14T01:46:29.482-05:00

__________LA Times:As President Bush weighs new policy options for Iraq, strong support has coalesced in the Pentagon behind a military plan to “double down” in the country with a substantial buildup in American troops[.]. . . . “I think it is worth trying,” a defense official said. “But you can't have the rhetoric without the resources. This is a double down” — the gambling term for upping a

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-48159297975364089692006-12-13T10:52:00.000-05:002006-12-13T11:01:12.757-05:00

__________LA Times:As President Bush weighs new policy options for Iraq, strong support has coalesced in the Pentagon behind a military plan to "double down" in the country with a substantial buildup in American troops, an increase in industrial aid and a major combat offensive against Muqtada Sadr, the radical Shiite leader impeding development of the Iraqi government.Lyndon Johnson, 1965:In

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-6053790864948161142006-12-12T00:36:00.000-05:002006-12-12T00:38:48.716-05:00

__________I've been busy with a monster brief due this week, but it's almost over. Regular posting should resume tomorrow.Question of the day: Is the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Show Your Bones the best album of 2006? I'm preparing my top ten, so feel free to share your lists.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-52536341745224730372006-12-09T14:27:00.000-05:002006-12-09T14:30:24.139-05:00

__________I'm out of town this weekend - and working - so posting will be limited. But (and this is the last time I'll mention it), the voting link is now up for the Weblogs. Again, I have the ambitious goal of not coming in last, which I appear to be right now.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-51081790565119312292006-12-07T21:08:00.000-05:002006-12-07T21:11:55.970-05:00

__________Via JPod, I see that one of my favorite movie scenes of all time is on YouTube. Ladies and Gentlemen, from the seminal classic Back To School, the late great Sam Kinison:

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-64182544638403821512006-12-07T00:57:00.000-05:002006-12-07T11:23:04.614-05:00

__________As regular readers know, I’ve been pretty skeptical of the Baker Boys over the past few weeks. But in reading over the actual text, I found it more interesting than I thought I would. And though it’s been getting a chilly reception across the blogomasphere, I think people are missing the point. Yes, you can carefully analyze and critique the individual policy recommendations. But

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-45059065336345824112006-12-06T19:53:00.000-05:002006-12-06T20:16:02.789-05:00

__________After reading the first four paragraphs of this Ruth Marcus op-ed on a future Social Security Commission, I thought for sure that I was reading an April Fools' Day column. But when I got to the end, I didn't see "April Fools!" anywhere. And then my eyes glanced up and saw "December 6, 2006" in the top right-hand corner of the newspaper.And so the best explanation of Marcus's op-ed is

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-4954714115414596052006-12-06T18:07:00.000-05:002006-12-06T18:20:05.812-05:00

__________So I was over at Lindsay's place and I saw that she had been named a finalist for the 2006 Weblog Awards (Best Individual - and congrats). And so, for kicks, I followed the link and did a control-F for me and, lo and behold, the cursor stuck on Best Liberal Blog. So a hearty thanks to whoever out there nominated me. And if it was a typo, tough luck. I get to keep the image. But

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-13227444787343901202006-12-04T21:57:00.000-05:002006-12-05T20:34:23.496-05:00

__________I’m getting killed at work right now, but I wanted to make a couple of quick points about the school desegregation cases currently before the Guardians of our Republic. Specifically, I want to riff off of this post by Scott Lemieux:The problem is that it's almost impossible to justify striking down affirmative action programs in "originalist" terms . . . . And the reason for this is

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-37559587018827713472006-12-04T01:16:00.000-05:002006-12-04T01:31:32.611-05:00

__________Via Lindsay Beyerstein and Steve Benen, I see that my old friend St. Paul Travelers is pulling out of the commercial property insurance market in New Orleans. As both of them explain, the lack of commercial property insurance would have a devastating effect on an already-devastated area. For that reason, it seems like an excellent place for Third Way, market-based “big government” to

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-82081606540697335202006-12-01T15:58:00.000-05:002006-12-01T16:39:12.529-05:00

__________Wow - Glenn Greenwald pretty much drives a stake through the heart of Thomas Friedman. Yes, I probably would have toned down a sentence here or there, but not by much. And the substance of the critique is dead on. As they say, read the whole thing.I hope to write more on this later, but I get the sense that the November 7 election has done far more than throw out the GOP from

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-53777909925210175692006-11-30T10:53:00.000-05:002006-11-30T10:59:04.303-05:00

__________Here's Chuck Todd (via Andrew Sullivan) writing about the difficulties Hillary Clinton would face in a primary. The argument seems right to me, but that's not what annoyed me. This passage annoyed me:Iraq: She's been far more critical of the war recently, but fundamentally she's still a hawk, and the Democratic primary electorate (especially in Iowa) is full of doves. I propose that

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-11787589888310451502006-11-30T00:34:00.000-05:002006-11-30T01:46:30.318-05:00

__________The Corner’s Andrew McCarthy grows restless under the despotic yoke of the First Amendment. Praising the Gingrich theory that the First Amendment is dangerous pre-9/11 thinking, he writes:Captain Ed says, “The remedy for bad speech is more speech.” This, effectively, is the Holmesian “marketplace of ideas” trope that is just an excuse for not thinking. If someone’s bad speech is a

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-53515239533571065792006-11-29T16:22:00.000-05:002006-11-29T16:28:21.287-05:00

__________I just looked over the "Hadley memo." If we're seriously relying on this proposal for salvaging Iraq, then we've got bigger problems than I thought:If it is Maliki’s assessment that he does not have the capability — politically or militarily — to take the steps outlined above, we will need to work with him to augment his capabilities. We could do so in two ways. First, we could help

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-85451048548438386622006-11-29T01:02:00.000-05:002006-11-29T01:12:39.837-05:00

__________In reading over some of the conservative praise for Pelosi's rejection of Hastings, I'm beginning to wonder if Pelosi's early "defeat" was actually the best possible way to begin her reign. After all, the storyline post-Murtha was that Pelosi was incompetent, not ready for prime time, same as the old boss, etc. But in painting that picture, the pundits created very low expectations

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-83313775374484472102006-11-29T00:01:00.000-05:002006-11-28T23:28:36.181-05:00

__________Ladies and gentlemen, our President:There's a lot of sectarian violence taking place, fomented, in my opinion, because of these attacks by al Qaeda, causing people to seek reprisal. And we will work with the Maliki government to defeat these elements.It’s fairly revealing of where we find ourselves these days when the best we can hope for is that our President is telling a bald-faced

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-21111648002589588592006-11-28T21:51:00.000-05:002006-11-28T22:02:53.499-05:00

__________Ok - I got enough vehement comments from people who generally know what they're talking about (and Dr. Biobrain) that I'm willing to consider reconsidering my view of film. The main critique was that I hadn't been watching the right movies, and that may well be true.So, I open the floor to recommendations of how I can jump into this field in a somewhat systematic way. I know there

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-72440200904002314592006-11-28T01:22:00.000-05:002006-11-28T01:33:02.958-05:00

__________The Great Trilogy of hipster yuppie hobbies is film, music, and fiction. To be a hipster yuppie, you generally need – at minimum – to be proficient in one and conversant in another. As for me – a longtime aspiring hipster yuppie – it’s really the lack of proficiency in any of these (among other things) that keeps me from being a true hipster yuppie. I consider myself a “conversant”

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-52767280434785903292006-11-27T00:00:00.000-05:002006-11-27T00:13:17.155-05:00

__________In catching up on the news, I see that the blogosphere has lost the services of the Bull Moose, who signed on to be the communications guy for Lieberman. I don't know about you, but if Lieberman had explained that his victory would lead to the removal of Wittmann from the blogosphere, I would have put a Connecticut for Lieberman bumper sticker on my car.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-80494937303753627892006-11-26T22:11:00.000-05:002006-11-26T22:16:46.740-05:00

__________I should be back on a regular schedule starting tonight. I appreciate all the emails and kind comments. The bottom line is that a family member had a serious stroke, and so that's where I've been the past week. I don't plan on discussing it anymore here - I just didn't want to disappear for a week without any explanation. So thanks again to everyone.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-32468331361768315152006-11-19T19:25:00.000-05:002006-11-19T19:33:52.534-05:00

__________I generally avoid dragging my personal life on to the blog. But a family medical issue has come up that demands my full attention right now. I'll explain more later, but it may be several days before I post again. I appreciate your patience. If it's too long a period, I'll try to recruit a guest writer in my absence.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-44484811766204773752006-11-16T23:44:00.000-05:002006-11-16T23:52:29.485-05:00

__________I'm busy with work, but I do want to call upon the collective wisdom of the Internets to help with a question that's been nagging me. What's the proper usage of the words "Shia" and "Shiite."My understanding is that "Shia" is a collective noun, whereas "Shiite" is an adjective. So, it's incorrect to say things like "Shiites" or "Shias" or "the Shia militias." Is that right? And

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-76397948111009326792006-11-16T14:58:00.000-05:002006-11-16T15:05:52.717-05:00

__________No great insights here, but I do think it was a good outcome for the Dems. For one, and as I mentioned earlier, I'm inherently skeptical of over-centralized leadership because it often leads to bad decisions. Second, Murtha would have given us a steady stream of gaffes and stupid statements over the next two years. Finally, and oddly enough, the attacks on Murtha (particularly from

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-72333509949362379722006-11-16T01:34:00.000-05:002006-11-16T01:50:06.802-05:00

__________It’s hard for me to express just how ridiculous the Baker Commission is. The Kinsley column captures the absurdity nicely, but the mere fact that it exists is itself a reflection of cowardice and dysfunction. It’s a sign of dysfunction because fact-gathering from experts about the war is something that our executive branch should be doing — and should have done in the first place.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-55263677903172872012006-11-15T00:35:00.000-05:002006-11-15T00:47:36.696-05:00

__________Boy, it’s a good day to be a Legal Fiction reader. We’ve got a great post for you tonight. First, through our extensive Washington connections, we’ve managed to get an interview with the James Baker, current Chairman of the Iraq Study Group, which is a collection of Middle East policy experts such as Ed Meese and Vernon Jordan. Second, we’re bringing you the interview [dramatic chord

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162668306511034142006-11-14T16:11:00.000-05:002006-11-14T22:27:54.139-05:00

__________Kos:Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will be the Senate Minority Leader, and a prime target when he runs for reelection in 2008.Um, no he won't. I grew up in Kentucky and keep an eye on things. For one, the Democratic Party is in absolute shambles and there's no one on the bench who can run a viable state-wide campaign. Second, even if there were, Kentucky Democrats are scared to death of

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-81039554226120143692006-11-14T00:15:00.000-05:002006-11-14T00:29:10.598-05:00

__________I’ve never gotten all that worked up about earmarks, or the great Obama-Coburn bill. My view has always been that it’s much ado about nothing given that earmarks are a drop in the bucket of the federal budget. More precisely, I had thought that staking out anti-earmark positions deludes the public into thinking legislators actually oppose “big government.” To me, opposing earmarks

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-61334215154760027192006-11-13T22:14:00.000-05:002006-11-13T22:24:43.273-05:00

__________I don't have much to add here. My preference for Majority Leader is "None of the Above." And though I'm certainly no fan of Hoyer, Murtha would be worse. To me, Iraq is his only redeeming characteristic. But anyway, my opposition has little to do with issues. First, Murtha says a lot of stupid things on TV and would be a loose cannon more generally. Second, I like Pelosi a lot,

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-67662112732804717812006-11-13T22:01:00.000-05:002006-11-13T22:04:10.917-05:00

__________After receiving much hate mail on the subject, I've updated (finally) my blogroll. All the links should be right now. Note that I now (about a year late) have the proper name for American Footprints. I've also removed some dormant blogs (Julie Saltman), but do hope they come back one day. I've also added Glenn Greenwald.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-43317676999760947892006-11-13T00:16:00.000-05:002006-11-13T00:29:37.647-05:00

__________I’ve been reading several posts lately from people like Kaus and Drum and Yglesias on whether the Dems should push for “comprehensive” immigration reform. This is an extraordinarily difficult question politically speaking, and it raises a dizzying range of game theory calculations. But if forced to pick, I’ll say “yes,” but only if Bush and McCain take the lead. From a purely

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-13468307412418146542006-11-12T14:35:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:49:39.100-05:00

__________Of all the things annoying George Bush this week, I think this one (via HuffPost) probably takes the cake:One thing that comes through pretty clear in the recent Suskind and Woodward books is that Junior is not very close with Pappy. And he doesn't much care for Bush 41's policies or his "Arab buddies." So I suspect it's silently infuriating him that he's having to call Daddy's people

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1163212872315493702006-11-10T21:16:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:56.811-05:00

__________A lot of bloggers I really like have been attacking the “victory for conservatives” argument that people like Kudlow and Limbaugh and Krauthammer have been floating since Tuesday. Limbaugh, for instance, says:[I]t wasn't conservatism that lost. Conservatism won when it ran as a Democrat. It won in a number of places.And of course the press has completely swallowed the narrative that

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1163136754588698222006-11-10T00:20:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:56.584-05:00

___________There’s been a lot of back and forth on what the election means for McCain’s presidential prospects. The conventional wisdom has been that McCain would benefit from GOP losses. The idea is that Republicans’ fear of losing the White House would overcome their general distaste for him. The emerging anti-conventional wisdom, however, is that the public’s repudiation of the war makes

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1163050762776431422006-11-09T00:18:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:56.350-05:00

___________It’s been difficult to organize my thoughts on the election coherently, so I’ll probably just rattle off a series of posts over the coming days examining what it means, subject by subject. And so let’s start with the biggie – Iraq.This election was about Iraq. Period. The exit polls may have listed corruption pretty high. Mike Pence may think that Republicans lost because they didn

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1163010914729743112006-11-08T13:31:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:56.134-05:00

__________The Hotline offered this helpful overview of the major Senate committee chairs:Ag Cmte: Tom Harkin (IA). Outgoing Chair: Saxby Chambliss (GA).Approps Cmte: Robert Byrd (WV). Outgoing Chair: Thad Cochran (MS).Armed Services Cmte: Carl Levin (MI). Outgoing Chair: John Warner (VA).Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Cmte: Chris Dodd (CT). Outgoing Chair: Richard Shelby (AL).Budget Cmte:

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1163004550124067522006-11-08T11:35:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:55.897-05:00

__________I have about a million different thoughts on the election, but I have a few deadlines this morning, so I won’t have time to write much until later today. But one thing that I did want to point out is that winning changes not just reality, but perceptions. One of the biggest hurdles Democrats had to being taken seriously by the public, the chattering classes, and the world was their

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162966958126950302006-11-08T01:21:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:55.660-05:00

__________Well, I wanted to do some more general commentary, but things were too close and I couldn't stop watching TV. And so I'm done for the night. Be back with a lot more tomorrow.One quick point though: The happiest man in America tonight - John McCain.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162961224087075402006-11-07T23:45:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:55.418-05:00

___________This Virginia race is torture. Right now, it's a 5K gap with Webb closing. The remaining areas are either washes or Webb areas, so this thing may be a literal tie. Dems obviously have no shot at the Senate without Virginia.[UPDATE: Webb just pulled ahead according to CNN. Ugh, I've got a long night ahead of me.][UPDATE 2: I'm too wrapped up in the Virginia race to list all my

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162949899043165542006-11-07T20:36:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:55.186-05:00

__________I guess K-Lo's sources on the ground were off.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162948649932929762006-11-07T20:13:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:54.977-05:00

___________Well, it looks like Yarmuth is going to knock off Anne Northup in Kentucky. If that holds (and it looks like it's going to), then the GOP is going to have a very long night. This is the Louisville district, and it's Democratic. But Northup is well-liked. She's not polarizing, and she's done a good job reaching out to the Louisville black community.And for that reason, she's been

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162937758369743252006-11-07T17:14:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:54.770-05:00

__________Well, the damn things are supposed to be released at 5:00. So any minute now. I'm not going to get too worked up either way in light of the 2004 debacle, but feel free to comment on, or point out, anything you're seeing.Much more to come tonight obviously.[UPDATE: Hmm, what to make of the "high turnout" reports in the big Senate states. Although this is pure speculation, I would

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162921516704955432006-11-07T12:40:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:54.575-05:00

__________I'll spare you K-Lo-style hearsay-based extrapolations from single precincts that illustrate massive Santorum enthusiasm. But in Alexandria (in the deep blue communist part where I live near the river), the concerns about Webb's name being cut off are overblown. On my machine, his full name was listed when you actually select the candidate. It's only on the summary page that it's cut

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162885020530491622006-11-07T02:19:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:54.373-05:00

__________At the risk of premature chicken-counting, one thing I’m most looking forward to tomorrow night is the post-mortems from the political geniuses on the cable networks on where Republicans went wrong. Of the many things that annoyed me in the aftermath of 2004, the one that stands out is listening to pundits on TV explain how extreme and out-of-touch Democrats had become (despite winning

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162872175260623532006-11-06T22:59:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:54.181-05:00

__________The thing — well, one thing — maddening about these robocalls is that it’s one of those practices that lacks even a plausible defense. Even things like illegal wiretapping or torture at least have a plausible defense — one that people might conceivably believe in some alternate universe.But this is just straight-up fraud and vote suppression, systematically targeted at NRCC races.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162837915431611182006-11-06T13:30:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:53.975-05:00

__________Kos:There will be a full accounting after the election. Whether [Lieberman] wins or loses is irrelevant. Democrats made a choice between the grassroots/netroots and Joe Lieberman. That choice will haunt them for a long, long time.I'm prepared to let this thing die. Bigger fish and all that.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162780492939528222006-11-05T21:24:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:53.746-05:00

__________Well the new USA Today/Gallup poll is finally out, and and it answers Kaus's question. At least three major polling outfits are showing last-minute movement toward the GOP in the generic congressional poll (ABC/WP, Pew, and now Gallup). What this shows, I think, is base consolidation rather than persuasion of the public at large. I doubt it's enough to hold on to the House, but it

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162750310008610882006-11-05T13:04:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:53.354-05:00

__________Well, I certainly have no objections to Saddam being hung hanged. But this sentence, coming two days before the election, is a pretty apt metaphor for the entire war. Actually, the true metaphor would be if the sentence (timed for the U.S. elections) caused widespread riots that ultimately caused more political harm than benefit.I hope it doesn't happen that way, of course. But if it

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162530199757035532006-11-02T23:59:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:53.162-05:00

__________Too much going right now to post, but feel free to make your election predictions below. For the House, I'm going +24 and Speaker Pelosi. For the Senate, I'm going +5, so no change of control. I'm guessing Ford loses, Webb wins, and McCaskill goes down after a bitter recount dispute.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162398672709058152006-11-01T11:29:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:52.976-05:00

__________George Will:But Allen, who makes no secret of finding life as a senator tedious, is fighting ferociously for another term, a fate from which his Democratic opponent, Jim Webb, is close to rescuing him. As a result, Allen is dabbling in literary criticism. He has read, or someone has read for him, at least some of Webb's six fine novels, finding therein sexual passages that have caused

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162352159381712532006-10-31T22:33:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:52.772-05:00

__________I'm going to say one thing about this and one thing only. It was refreshing to see that Kerry did not, like Dick Durbin, walk out and cry on the Senate floor. And this concludes my commentary on the Kerry Howl.UPDATE: Ok, one last point. The best defense of Kerry is simply that his remark is so mind-bogglingly stupid that he couldn't have possibly meant it. Thus, the sheer

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162276102187961732006-10-31T01:14:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:52.573-05:00

__________Although they should never be counted out, things obviously aren’t looking good for the Grand Old Party at the moment. And so I’ve been wondering how the Republican caucus will react if they actually lose. You could imagine a couple of different scenarios. They might, for instance, rally back with renewed focus and unity, Gingrich-style. Or, they might turn on each other. I

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162189111673308242006-10-30T00:14:00.000-05:002006-11-12T14:15:52.385-05:00

__________As regular readers know, I’m no fan of Joe Lieberman, but Matt Stoller seems to have gone off the deep end a bit with this post:[T]here are a number of reasons [why Lamont is losing], but among the most prominent is the total abandonment of Lamont by the party establishment. . . . The Democratic Senate leaders will sell us out at every opportunity be it torture, Iraq, Alito,

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162015192029992972006-10-28T01:51:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:15:52.187-05:00

__________NYT:Corporate America is already thinking beyond Election Day, increasing its share of last-minute donations to Democratic candidates and quietly devising strategies for how to work with Democrats if they win control of Congress. . . . [T]he prospect of a power shift is leading interest groups to begin rethinking well-established relationships, with business lobbyists going as far as

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1162013946672260772006-10-28T01:09:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:15:51.964-05:00

__________I just watched Harold Ford on Bill Maher (and have been seeing several of his interviews lately). I certainly disagree with a number of his stances, but he is the smoothest, most gifted public speaker on the circuit right now. I haven't seen anyone like that since, well, the Big Dog. But Ford is that good and that quick and that smart. And if he wins, there's literally no limit to

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1161919626977760452006-10-27T00:14:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:15:51.771-05:00

___________I hate this election. It’s making me sick and I want it to be over. Ok, had to get that out.It’s been a weird month for me. I didn’t join the bloggysphere until the beginning of 2004 when the Iowa primary was in full swing. And so I’ve always had a bit of 2002 envy — i.e., I wish I had been online for the 2002 midterms where so very much was at stake. I have visions of myself

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1161757273075242812006-10-25T01:10:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:15:51.350-05:00

__________I’m a little late to this, but I want to add my two cents on Jonah Goldberg’s “Iraq was a Worthy Mistake” column. Aside from its juvenile tone, I think his column exemplifies a much deeper — and darker — problem that America faces regardless of how the election turns out. While Goldberg’s column grudgingly concedes that Iraq was a mistake, it makes it crystal clear that one of the

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1161660867965946582006-10-24T00:20:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:15:51.124-05:00

__________To take a quick break from politics (for almost one paragraph), I saw (via Volokh) this study, which found that people who read more fiction are more empathetic. Of course, correlation is not causation (maybe empathetic people read more novels, as the study concedes). But just for kicks, let’s assume it’s right – reading fiction makes you more empathetic. I’m going to take a crack at

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1161629250690150532006-10-23T14:44:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:15:50.828-05:00

__________Dick Morris, NY Post ("Best GOP Hope: Scare 'Em Silly"):[T]he GOP base is the best informed group of voters in the nation[.]

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1161583807318765092006-10-23T02:08:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:15:50.621-05:00

__________Sorry to be AWOL lately. I'm almost over the hump with a bunch of deadlines, so I should be back to normal tomorrow. Err..., today.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1161308117574260622006-10-19T21:24:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:15:50.376-05:00

__________So you may have read John Yoo’s “op-ed” celebrating the new military commission law. I use quotes because it’s more of a rant than a op-ed - and one that's heavy on visceral, emotional contempt for judges.Anyway, there’s lots to say about it, but for now I just want to point out that the central argument of his op-ed is just completely wrong. Yoo writes:Hamdan was an unprecedented

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1161235557805153912006-10-19T01:16:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:15:50.148-05:00

__________Yglesias beat me to this (again), but it's an important point I think:It seems to me that the odds are good that faced with aggressive investigative efforts [the administration will] respond with a strategy of total noncompliance -- simply refusing to hand over documents or make officials available for testimony -- pleading the need for wartime secrecy and seeking to provoke a

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1161147731466343992006-10-18T00:42:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:14:15.717-05:00

__________Wash. Post editorial, "Mr. Brownback's Litmus Test":If you thought that fights over judicial nominations couldn't get any worse, consider the case of Janet T. Neff, whom President Bush has nominated to a federal district judgeship in Michigan. Judge Neff[.] . . . For Judge Neff, it turns out, once attended a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple -- and that has Kansas Sen. Sam

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1161060772117560522006-10-17T00:48:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:14:15.528-05:00

__________Brendan Nyhan, "Kerry calls N.K. nuke 'the Bush bomb'":On Friday, John Kerry [said]: . . . When George W. Bush turned his back on diplomacy, Kim Jong Il turned back to making bombs, and the world is less safe today because a madman has the Bush bomb.Chris Wallace was right to challenge the formulation "Bush bomb" in an interview this morning with Kerry on "Fox News Sunday." Regardless

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1161056430299443152006-10-17T00:27:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:14:15.297-05:00

__________Although there’s tough competition for first prize, one of the most annoying aspects of the Cheney/neocon foreign policy worldview is what I call the “wussification” of international law and diplomacy. Maybe ‘twas ever thus, but respecting internationalism has been successfully caricatured as weakness within the American political arena (particularly among America’s chattering classes

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1160976211936314302006-10-16T01:08:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:14:15.090-05:00

__________I have no idea if AdNags’ information in this article is accurate, or whether he’s being played, but if it's accurate, then man oh man, it’s huge:Senior Republican leaders have concluded that Senator Mike DeWine of Ohio, a pivotal state in this year’s fierce midterm election battles, is likely to be heading for defeat and are moving to reduce financial support for his race and divert

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1160889457803447112006-10-15T01:01:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:14:14.905-05:00

__________Damon Linker and Ross Douthat had an interesting debate at TNR last week about the proper role of religion in American politics. I was (as usual) impressed by Douthat who illustrated that it’s much trickier than you might think to argue that religion is harming American society. Like Douthat, I’m skeptical of the claim that religion is antithetical to secular, liberal government. But

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1160798066777240032006-10-13T23:36:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:14:14.717-05:00

__________Don't know if any of you watch Bill Maher, but it's worth TiVo-ing just to see the meltdown of AEI's Danielle Pletka (roughly 20 minutes in). And the exchange below is great. They're discussing the Lancet study by those dumbass epidemiologists from the rinky-dink Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health:MAHER: A report came back this week that said we've killed 655,000 . . .

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1160709972930142942006-10-13T00:09:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:14:14.532-05:00

__________Gotta say that I’m pretty bummed about Warner’s exit. Barring a Gore entry, he was my guy. And I don’t really like any of the major players in the field. But the real question among junkies is who benefits most from Warner’s exit. The early consensus seems to be coalescing around Bayh, though I agree with others that it actually helps Edwards the most. (I think it's a mixed bag for

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1160633171136373232006-10-12T01:48:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:14:14.318-05:00

__________(Via Feddie) MSNBC: "Book Says Bush Just Using Christians":“Tempting Faith’s” author is David Kuo, who served as special assistant to the president from 2001 to 2003. A self-described conservative Christian, Kuo’s previous experience includes work for prominent conservatives including former Education Secretary and federal drug czar Bill Bennett and former Attorney General John Ashcroft

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1160452334742162822006-10-09T23:50:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:14:14.099-05:00

__________I just got back from vacation and so I'm catching up on news, work, etc. I expect to resume posting tomorrow.

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1160184328890741482006-10-06T21:16:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:14:13.789-05:00

__________Via Digby, I see that one of the new GOP Foley strategies is to, yes, accuse the Democrats of being complicit. Republican House members, for instance, wrote a letter to the Democratic leadership stating:[I]t must also be determined whether any Democrat Members or political operatives were aware of, and attempted to conceal these same activities.Although it’s absurd, this

publiusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6194789.post-1160173391284373472006-10-06T18:15:00.000-04:002006-11-12T14:14:13.605-05:00

__________Hindrocket, today:If the Democrats have known for some time about Foley's transgressions but failed to act until now, they endangered more boys--and why? Solely to advance their partisan political interests. . . . Is it possible that the Democrats deliberately delayed disclosure of Foley's transgressions, thereby endangering the security of current Congressional pages and other

publiusnoreply@blogger.com