HMM. MAYBE BUSH IS AS SMART AS SOME PEOPLE SAY: Just read this report from the non-Bush-suck-up New York Times:

Now that he is finally going to the United Nations as ambassador, John R. Bolton is supposed to “provide clear American leadership for reform” there, President Bush said Monday. But American officials say much of their reform agenda at the United Nations has been accomplished during the months while Mr. Bolton’s nomination languished.

Most of the reforms sought by the United States are well on their way to completion,” said a senior administration official, speaking anonymously to avoid undercutting the rationale for the Bolton appointment. Another said that because so much had been achieved, there was little concern that Mr. Bolton’s combative personality would jeopardize the agenda.

It’s as if there was some sort of cunning plan all along. Nah, couldn’t be.

STEPHEN GREEN: “Next up, Pol’s Pots kitchenware from Krupp.”

Are they oven- and dishwasher-safe?

DENTISTS, on the front lines of civil defense.

THE NEW YORK TIMES’ STEVEN WEISMAN IS REPROACHED by Greg Djerejian:

Over at W 43rd Street, I guess, the Butler Report (PDF) has been consigned to the dustbin of history or, at least, appears to be blissfully ignored. . . .

So when Weisman writes, in a non-opinion hard news story in the leading paper in the land, that “the finding that Iraq had tried to buy raw uranium from Niger for a nuclear arms program…turned out to be based on forged documents”–he’s being, shall we say, a bit economical with the truth. The finding was based on something more than just forgeries, it would seem, at least if you believe the report of a leading independent U.K. jurist. Of course, the NYT has been quite sloppy about this story for at least over a year now (click thru for how Weisman’s piece is poorly worded indeed even if you are just dealing with the SSCI report and the U.S. intelligence side of the fence).

I know I beat on this story a bit like a dead horse. I do so largely because the sixteen words of the SOTU have been used by many as partisan talking point to scream ‘Bush lied’! But if you dig into the weeds of the investigations that have taken place–one must judiciously conclude that he didn’t.

Would that we could say the same for others. Read the whole thing.

A U.S. ARMY SERGEANT elected Sheik in Iraq.

SPACESHIP ONE PICS FROM THIS MORNING: Last night an InstaPundit reader emailed:

Spaceship One touched down earlier this evening at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on its way to its final resting place at the Smithsonian. Employees at Wright-Patt had the opportunity to watch it and White Knight touch down, take pictures, and listen to pilot Mike Melvill speak. Its final flight is tomorrow morning. I have pictures from its touchdown today and will be taking more as it takes off tomorrow.

She offered to send photos. I said yes, of course, so here they are, followed by a report.

The report, condensed from several emails accompanying the pictures, follows in the “extended entry” area. Click “read more” to read it.

UPDATE: Jim Zellmer has video. Cool!

(more…)

I CONFESS that I haven’t paid a lot of attention to the Air America financial scandals. But this roundup of new developments suggests that there may be more to this than I had thought.

SHOCKINGLY, West Virginia’s blog carnival is named after Sen. Robert Byrd. Does that mean it’s federally funded?

LT SMASH has discovered a leaked transcript of an Al Qaeda meeting.

CLIVE DAVIS has an interesting interview with “Jeff Gedmin, director of Berlin’s Aspen Institute, a self-styled ‘marketplace of ideas’ that has been described by Irwin Stelzer as the city’s ‘de facto U.S. embassy'”. Read the whole thing.

BEST OF THE WEB is back from hiatus!

THE CARNIVAL OF THE RINOS IS UP!

And so is this week’s History Carnival.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS now has a blog.

ANN ALTHOUSE compares her review of Electing Justice with mine.

Ann’s piece is better, but then (1) She had more than 500 words; and (2) She’s smarter than me. So it’s not really a fair comparison.

THE CARNIVAL OF TOMORROW is up!

DAVID ADESNIK:

I’m really not sure what’s funnier: that the Urban League is comparing Tim Russert and George Stephanopoulos to South African racists, or that the WaPo considers such a ridiculous report to be newsworthy. What’s next? The WaPo covering a study by the Anti-Defamation League entitled “Monday Night Auschwitz: A Diversity Study of Players in the National Football League?”

It’s Mike Godwin’s world. We just opine in it.

MORE ON STEM CELL POLITICS:

Supporters of legislation to expand federally funded stem cell research expressed optimism Sunday that fresh support from the Senate’s top Republican, Majority Leader Bill Frist, would help them build a veto-proof majority in Congress.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), a key proponent of stem cell research, says at least 62 senators now support his bill to expand federal funding and he hopes to reach 67 — the number needed to override a presidential veto. . . .

Despite opposition from President Bush and antiabortion groups, a growing number of Republicans have said they support the expansion of federal research funding. Proponents say the research offers promise for treating diseases including cancer, diabetes and Parkinson’s. Opponents, who believe that life begins at conception, oppose destroying human embryos to extract stem cells.

Citing his expertise as a physician, Frist withdrew his support Friday for Bush’s stem cell policy, which restricts research funding to cell lines established by 2001.

A veto-proof majority in the House is, I think, out of the question. But will Bush really cast his first veto ever on this issue? And what will happen to the Republicans if he does?

HEH.

THE DISCUSSION OF AGING and anti-aging has heated up again, as posts like this one illustrate.

I recently published a review essay revolving around three books: Henry Aaron & William Schwartz (eds), Coping With Methuselah: The Impact of Molecular Biology on Medicine and Society, Stephen Post & Robert Binstock (eds), The Fountain of Youth: Cultural, Scientific, and Ethical Perspectives on a Biomedical Goal, and Robert Fogel’s The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700-2100 : Europe, America, and the Third World. It was published in the ABA’s law & technology journal, but I’ve put a copy online here.

LIVE SPACEWALK VIDEO: Trey Jackson has the links.

TOM MAGUIRE (he’s not just for Plame anymore!) has thoughts on stem-cell politics and Rudy Giuliani. I note that Giuliani did very well among InstaPundit readers who participated in Patrick Ruffini’s straw poll. Compare the results among those who came from Hugh Hewitt’s site. I suspect that Hugh’s readers are more representative of the GOP primary voters, though.

PUTTING HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST: That’s what we did in Uzbekistan, at some cost.

FX’S NEW SHOW “OVER THERE” gets a rather negative review from J.D. Johannes of Faces From the Front:

Unfortunately, the costume designer is the only person who seems to have actually studied the war, pictures of the war or video of the war.

As someone who has been over there it was easy to see that if Steven Bochco hired a military consultant, he didn’t pay attention to him or, if they did listen to him, that consultant should be fired.

Ouch. And there’s this: “By ignoring reality, they discredit their attempt to create a gripping drama. The reality of the war in Iraq is more compelling and more dramatic than any hollow Hollywood fiction.” Read the whole thing.

THE LATEST CARNIVAL OF THE CAPITALISTS is up!

TIM RUSSO looks at IRA/Al Qaeda comparisons and finds some facile moral relativism.

VIRGINIA POSTREL MISSES GRIDLOCK: “What has Congress accomplished? A pork-filled highway bill (Is there any other kind?) and an energy bill that’s all subsidies plus Daylight Saving Time–everything for which there was an actual policy debate was removed as ‘controversial.’ Who, after all, can be against giving money to constituents?” Nobody, apparently. She also points to another downside: “By jettisoning any pretense to free-market principles, the GOP is defining itself entirely as the party of the religious right.”

Now if only the Democrats weren’t so lame.