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December 29, 2005
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Sunday's Links
Activism
The Open Voting Consortium. A political office is a public trust. Our elected officials are entrusted by those who elect them to use the levers of power in defense of our society and its basic principles. It all starts in the one place we are all theoretically equal: the ballot box. What makes our society great is the chance for every single one of us to have a voice, a say in what goes on between elections. If that process cannot be above even the appearance of reproach, then the results will always be the subject of contention. This is hurting us, because it's a distraction from the larger problems of what some of our politicians are doing after they're handed the keys. With open source voting, everyone can see how it works, and the chances of somebody tampering with it are greatly reduced. The head of Diebold, a major corporate provider of electronic voting machines and software, was quoted in 2003 as saying he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." Any guesses on which state decided last year's election?
News
Further US-N Korea Private Talks. If you'd pulled George Bush's string around the time of his debates last year with John Kerry, he'd have said: "It is naive and dangerous to take a policy that [Kerry] suggested the other day, which is to have bilateral relations with North Korea." I guess he's changed his mind, because in recent talks with North Korea, the other four countries have been slowly pushed to the sidelines as the US intensifies its own negotiations to disarm North Korea. Pyongyang wants security guarantees, a peace agreement, economic help, and diplomatic relations with the US. Washington wants concessions on North Korea's ballistic missile programs and its human rights record. With the US tied down battling insurgents in Iraq, North Korea may feel its own position is stronger and therefore be less willing to back down. The current, nearly three-year-old, crisis has stalled diplomatic progress, and it seems both sides are waiting for the other to blink first.
What the Federalist Society Stands For. Much has been made of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' former membership in the Federalist Society. The White House originally claimed that Roberts had never been a member, a claim that was later disproved when Roberts was found to have served as a member of the Washington chapter's steering committee. Many conservatives seem baffled by the administration's disavowal of the organization, which has played a key role over the last couple of decades in the legal forefront of advancing a conservative agenda. Although the Federalist Society has been closely identified with conservative politics, its supporters point out that the organization neither lobbies government nor litigates cases. It's interesting that Bush would want to downplay his nominee's association with a group that has ties to many conservative (and even a few liberal) attorneys, clerks and judges.
Bush Plans to Bypass Senate, Appoint Bolton. Controversy has swirled around John Bolton, even before Bush nominated him as UN Ambassador. Rumors of Bolton's abrasive leadership have resulted in an unbreakable filibuster in the Senate, especially in light of the White House's refusal to release documents that Senate Democrats say are critical in determining his eligibility for the post. It's long been expected that Bush might install Bolton by way of a recess appointment, and now that Congress is officially out of session White House insiders are saying (off the record, naturally) that appointment is all but guaranteed. On Friday, thirty-six Senators (all Democrats and one independent) sent a letter to President Bush, urging that he not bypass their concerns over Bolton's record by making the recess appointment. Although no Republicans signed the letter, even the staunchly conservative Senator Trent Lott said it would be a bad idea for Bush to make the sixteen-month recess appointment. Given this President's history of "steadfast" and "resolute" leadership, it will surprise no-one if he ignores all advice and appoints Bolton anyway.
Editorials
Judy Miller: How Deep Do Her Connections Run? Much has been made of why, exactly, reporter Judith Miller continues to protect her sources in the Rove/Plame case. Sentenced to jail for civil contempt in refusing to reveal those sources, Miller's role in the case has been the subject of much speculation. Time magazine chose to protect its reporter, Matt Cooper, and in the time since they turned over their files to the investigation a lot of info has come out about who other reporters had talked to and what was said. Arianna Huffington pieces together a scenario in which Miller, who was among those beating the drum for war in Iraq, sits plays a key role in the plot to punish Joseph Wilson by blowing his wife's CIA cover. Miller has friends in very high places, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Ahmed Chalabi, former leader of the Iraqi National Congress and a figure many now blame for feeding the US bad intelligence to strengthen the case for war in Iraq.
You Can't Fight Terrorism With Racism. Paul Sperry, a Hoover Institution media fellow, is among those endorsing the use of factors such as ethnicity, national origin and religion in determining whom police should regard as possible terrorists. This practice is called racial profiling, and essentially assumes guilt until innocence is proven. Here in America, we pride ourselves on exactly the opposite process - or do we? The Post's Charles Krauthammer wrote that London police did the right thing when, without giving warning or asking any questions, they killed a Brazilian electrician who was later found to have been an innocent bystander. Krauthammer also writes that security officers should focus on "young Muslim men of North African, Middle Eastern and South Asian origin" in their search for terrorists. According to this way of thinking, which is popular among conservative proponents of Bush's War on Terror Struggle Against Violent Extremism, fear of attack should supersede the rights that we in the US take for granted. No word yet on how to reliably identify Violent Extremists merely by sight; I guess if you get enough of the bad guys, it makes it okay to trample the rights of a few everyday citizens.
Bush's Jane Fonda-esque Mistake. "Hanoi Jane's at it again!" Conservatives are gleefully eyeing Jane Fonda these days, after her declaration she's touring Iraq in an anti-war bus running on vegetable oil. During the Vietnam War, Fonda became America's most despised anti-war activist due to her staunch anti-war stance which included statements that soldiers were guilty of war crimes; she's still an object of conservative disgust. Rosa Brooks argues that the Bush administration's actions in prosecuting the war in Iraq are undermining the troops, and the public's trust in this military action, in much the same way others say Jane Fonda's actions did thirty years ago. Disregarding law (both your own and international) in pursuing your goals weakens allies' support and provides a bounty of propaganda to your enemies. Jane Fonda has apologized for being photographed sitting on an enemy anti-aircraft gun in Vietnam; is there any chance Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft and Rice might someday feel bad for the mistakes they're making today?
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December 29, 2005
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Sunday's Links
Activism
The Open Voting Consortium. A political office is a public trust. Our elected officials are entrusted by those who elect them to use the levers of power in defense of our society and its basic principles. It all starts in the one place we are all theoretically equal: the ballot box. What makes our society great is the chance for every single one of us to have a voice, a say in what goes on between elections. If that process cannot be above even the appearance of reproach, then the results will always be the subject of contention. This is hurting us, because it's a distraction from the larger problems of what some of our politicians are doing after they're handed the keys. With open source voting, everyone can see how it works, and the chances of somebody tampering with it are greatly reduced. The head of Diebold, a major corporate provider of electronic voting machines and software, was quoted in 2003 as saying he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." Any guesses on which state decided last year's election?
News
Further US-N Korea Private Talks. If you'd pulled George Bush's string around the time of his debates last year with John Kerry, he'd have said: "It is naive and dangerous to take a policy that [Kerry] suggested the other day, which is to have bilateral relations with North Korea." I guess he's changed his mind, because in recent talks with North Korea, the other four countries have been slowly pushed to the sidelines as the US intensifies its own negotiations to disarm North Korea. Pyongyang wants security guarantees, a peace agreement, economic help, and diplomatic relations with the US. Washington wants concessions on North Korea's ballistic missile programs and its human rights record. With the US tied down battling insurgents in Iraq, North Korea may feel its own position is stronger and therefore be less willing to back down. The current, nearly three-year-old, crisis has stalled diplomatic progress, and it seems both sides are waiting for the other to blink first.
What the Federalist Society Stands For. Much has been made of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' former membership in the Federalist Society. The White House originally claimed that Roberts had never been a member, a claim that was later disproved when Roberts was found to have served as a member of the Washington chapter's steering committee. Many conservatives seem baffled by the administration's disavowal of the organization, which has played a key role over the last couple of decades in the legal forefront of advancing a conservative agenda. Although the Federalist Society has been closely identified with conservative politics, its supporters point out that the organization neither lobbies government nor litigates cases. It's interesting that Bush would want to downplay his nominee's association with a group that has ties to many conservative (and even a few liberal) attorneys, clerks and judges.
Bush Plans to Bypass Senate, Appoint Bolton. Controversy has swirled around John Bolton, even before Bush nominated him as UN Ambassador. Rumors of Bolton's abrasive leadership have resulted in an unbreakable filibuster in the Senate, especially in light of the White House's refusal to release documents that Senate Democrats say are critical in determining his eligibility for the post. It's long been expected that Bush might install Bolton by way of a recess appointment, and now that Congress is officially out of session White House insiders are saying (off the record, naturally) that appointment is all but guaranteed. On Friday, thirty-six Senators (all Democrats and one independent) sent a letter to President Bush, urging that he not bypass their concerns over Bolton's record by making the recess appointment. Although no Republicans signed the letter, even the staunchly conservative Senator Trent Lott said it would be a bad idea for Bush to make the sixteen-month recess appointment. Given this President's history of "steadfast" and "resolute" leadership, it will surprise no-one if he ignores all advice and appoints Bolton anyway.
Editorials
Judy Miller: How Deep Do Her Connections Run? Much has been made of why, exactly, reporter Judith Miller continues to protect her sources in the Rove/Plame case. Sentenced to jail for civil contempt in refusing to reveal those sources, Miller's role in the case has been the subject of much speculation. Time magazine chose to protect its reporter, Matt Cooper, and in the time since they turned over their files to the investigation a lot of info has come out about who other reporters had talked to and what was said. Arianna Huffington pieces together a scenario in which Miller, who was among those beating the drum for war in Iraq, sits plays a key role in the plot to punish Joseph Wilson by blowing his wife's CIA cover. Miller has friends in very high places, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Ahmed Chalabi, former leader of the Iraqi National Congress and a figure many now blame for feeding the US bad intelligence to strengthen the case for war in Iraq.
You Can't Fight Terrorism With Racism. Paul Sperry, a Hoover Institution media fellow, is among those endorsing the use of factors such as ethnicity, national origin and religion in determining whom police should regard as possible terrorists. This practice is called racial profiling, and essentially assumes guilt until innocence is proven. Here in America, we pride ourselves on exactly the opposite process - or do we? The Post's Charles Krauthammer wrote that London police did the right thing when, without giving warning or asking any questions, they killed a Brazilian electrician who was later found to have been an innocent bystander. Krauthammer also writes that security officers should focus on "young Muslim men of North African, Middle Eastern and South Asian origin" in their search for terrorists. According to this way of thinking, which is popular among conservative proponents of Bush's War on Terror Struggle Against Violent Extremism, fear of attack should supersede the rights that we in the US take for granted. No word yet on how to reliably identify Violent Extremists merely by sight; I guess if you get enough of the bad guys, it makes it okay to trample the rights of a few everyday citizens.
Bush's Jane Fonda-esque Mistake. "Hanoi Jane's at it again!" Conservatives are gleefully eyeing Jane Fonda these days, after her declaration she's touring Iraq in an anti-war bus running on vegetable oil. During the Vietnam War, Fonda became America's most despised anti-war activist due to her staunch anti-war stance which included statements that soldiers were guilty of war crimes; she's still an object of conservative disgust. Rosa Brooks argues that the Bush administration's actions in prosecuting the war in Iraq are undermining the troops, and the public's trust in this military action, in much the same way others say Jane Fonda's actions did thirty years ago. Disregarding law (both your own and international) in pursuing your goals weakens allies' support and provides a bounty of propaganda to your enemies. Jane Fonda has apologized for being photographed sitting on an enemy anti-aircraft gun in Vietnam; is there any chance Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft and Rice might someday feel bad for the mistakes they're making today?
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December 29, 2005
The Open Voting Consortium. A political office is a public trust. Our elected officials are entrusted by those who elect them to use the levers of power in defense of our society and its basic principles. It all starts in the one place we are all theoretically equal: the ballot box. What makes our society great is the chance for every single one of us to have a voice, a say in what goes on between elections. If that process cannot be above even the appearance of reproach, then the results will always be the subject of contention. This is hurting us, because it's a distraction from the larger problems of what some of our politicians are doing after they're handed the keys. With open source voting, everyone can see how it works, and the chances of somebody tampering with it are greatly reduced. The head of Diebold, a major corporate provider of electronic voting machines and software, was quoted in 2003 as saying he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." Any guesses on which state decided last year's election?
News
Further US-N Korea Private Talks. If you'd pulled George Bush's string around the time of his debates last year with John Kerry, he'd have said: "It is naive and dangerous to take a policy that [Kerry] suggested the other day, which is to have bilateral relations with North Korea." I guess he's changed his mind, because in recent talks with North Korea, the other four countries have been slowly pushed to the sidelines as the US intensifies its own negotiations to disarm North Korea. Pyongyang wants security guarantees, a peace agreement, economic help, and diplomatic relations with the US. Washington wants concessions on North Korea's ballistic missile programs and its human rights record. With the US tied down battling insurgents in Iraq, North Korea may feel its own position is stronger and therefore be less willing to back down. The current, nearly three-year-old, crisis has stalled diplomatic progress, and it seems both sides are waiting for the other to blink first.
What the Federalist Society Stands For. Much has been made of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' former membership in the Federalist Society. The White House originally claimed that Roberts had never been a member, a claim that was later disproved when Roberts was found to have served as a member of the Washington chapter's steering committee. Many conservatives seem baffled by the administration's disavowal of the organization, which has played a key role over the last couple of decades in the legal forefront of advancing a conservative agenda. Although the Federalist Society has been closely identified with conservative politics, its supporters point out that the organization neither lobbies government nor litigates cases. It's interesting that Bush would want to downplay his nominee's association with a group that has ties to many conservative (and even a few liberal) attorneys, clerks and judges.
Bush Plans to Bypass Senate, Appoint Bolton. Controversy has swirled around John Bolton, even before Bush nominated him as UN Ambassador. Rumors of Bolton's abrasive leadership have resulted in an unbreakable filibuster in the Senate, especially in light of the White House's refusal to release documents that Senate Democrats say are critical in determining his eligibility for the post. It's long been expected that Bush might install Bolton by way of a recess appointment, and now that Congress is officially out of session White House insiders are saying (off the record, naturally) that appointment is all but guaranteed. On Friday, thirty-six Senators (all Democrats and one independent) sent a letter to President Bush, urging that he not bypass their concerns over Bolton's record by making the recess appointment. Although no Republicans signed the letter, even the staunchly conservative Senator Trent Lott said it would be a bad idea for Bush to make the sixteen-month recess appointment. Given this President's history of "steadfast" and "resolute" leadership, it will surprise no-one if he ignores all advice and appoints Bolton anyway.
Editorials
Judy Miller: How Deep Do Her Connections Run? Much has been made of why, exactly, reporter Judith Miller continues to protect her sources in the Rove/Plame case. Sentenced to jail for civil contempt in refusing to reveal those sources, Miller's role in the case has been the subject of much speculation. Time magazine chose to protect its reporter, Matt Cooper, and in the time since they turned over their files to the investigation a lot of info has come out about who other reporters had talked to and what was said. Arianna Huffington pieces together a scenario in which Miller, who was among those beating the drum for war in Iraq, sits plays a key role in the plot to punish Joseph Wilson by blowing his wife's CIA cover. Miller has friends in very high places, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Ahmed Chalabi, former leader of the Iraqi National Congress and a figure many now blame for feeding the US bad intelligence to strengthen the case for war in Iraq.
You Can't Fight Terrorism With Racism. Paul Sperry, a Hoover Institution media fellow, is among those endorsing the use of factors such as ethnicity, national origin and religion in determining whom police should regard as possible terrorists. This practice is called racial profiling, and essentially assumes guilt until innocence is proven. Here in America, we pride ourselves on exactly the opposite process - or do we? The Post's Charles Krauthammer wrote that London police did the right thing when, without giving warning or asking any questions, they killed a Brazilian electrician who was later found to have been an innocent bystander. Krauthammer also writes that security officers should focus on "young Muslim men of North African, Middle Eastern and South Asian origin" in their search for terrorists. According to this way of thinking, which is popular among conservative proponents of Bush's
Bush's Jane Fonda-esque Mistake. "Hanoi Jane's at it again!" Conservatives are gleefully eyeing Jane Fonda these days, after her declaration she's touring Iraq in an anti-war bus running on vegetable oil. During the Vietnam War, Fonda became America's most despised anti-war activist due to her staunch anti-war stance which included statements that soldiers were guilty of war crimes; she's still an object of conservative disgust. Rosa Brooks argues that the Bush administration's actions in prosecuting the war in Iraq are undermining the troops, and the public's trust in this military action, in much the same way others say Jane Fonda's actions did thirty years ago. Disregarding law (both your own and international) in pursuing your goals weakens allies' support and provides a bounty of propaganda to your enemies. Jane Fonda has apologized for being photographed sitting on an enemy anti-aircraft gun in Vietnam; is there any chance Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft and Rice might someday feel bad for the mistakes they're making today?
