Archive for 2007

SOME POLITICAL scare tactics.

DOG BITES MAN:

Just like so many reports before it, a joint survey by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and Harvard’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy — hardly a bastion of conservative orthodoxy — found that in covering the current presidential race, the media are sympathetic to Democrats and hostile to Republicans.

Democrats are not only favored in the tone of the coverage. They get more coverage period. This is particularly evident on morning news shows, which “produced almost twice as many stories (51% to 27%) focused on Democratic candidates than on Republicans.”

The most flagrant bias, however, was found in newspapers. In reviewing front-page coverage in 11 newspapers, the study found the tone positive in nearly six times as many stories about Democrats as it was negative.

It’s pointing out the obvious, but sometimes to see what is in front of one’s nose requires a constant struggle.

166,000 NEW JOBS: Much better than expected. Larry Kudlow is gloating.

SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY SPEECH CODE enjoined.

porkbustersnewsm.jpgPORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Bush vetoes pork-laden water bill:

President Bush just added another resident to Vetoland, this resident being the water projects bill that got saturated with pork-barrel projects in conference. Despite having enough votes to override his veto, Bush sent the bill back as a protest against its escalating earmarks . . . .

The reason for the veto seems rather obvious. The House approved a $14 billion waterworks bill, and the Senate approved a $15 billion companion bill. Rather than split the difference and approve a $14.5 billion bill, or even go with the Senate’s $15 billion, the conference committee reported out a $23 billion bill that proves that when pork multiplies, it’s because taxpayers are getting screwed.

Seriously — how did an extra $8 billion get added to the bill in conference? That’s an increase of over 50% from the Senate bill, in conference. The larger embarrassment is that our elected representatives didn’t see this greedy manipulation of the conference process as any big deal and overwhelmingly supported the results.

That’s what pork does to corrupt the legislative process — it buys votes. It’s a bribery system that helps cover up another bribery system. One porcine paw washes the other, and the resulting appropriations grow on grotesque scales almost overnight.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Of course, if Bush had been willing to veto pork-laden bills a couple of years ago, Republicans might have held onto the Congress. Still, better late than never, I guess.

NORWAY’S VERY OWN Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

daringbookcov.jpgFirst, it was the Dangerous Book for Boys, and now it’s the Daring Book for Girls. We talked to Daring Book authors Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz about girls, the outdoors, and the shockingly large number of fun activities that don’t involve cellphones, televisions, or videogames.

There’s lots of talk about hopscotch, building forts, the virtues of Swiss Army knives and scooters, and the importance of doing things out in the world. Plus, the surprising virtues of boys. And is Hillary Clinton a daring girl?

You can listen directly (no downloading needed) by going here and clicking on the gray Flash player. You can download the file and listen at your leisure by clicking right here. And you can get a lo-fi version, suitable for dialup, cellphones, etc. by going here and selecting lo-fi. A free iTunes subscription is available here, and you can visit our show archives at GlennandHelenShow.com.

This podcast was brought to you by Volvo Automobiles. Music is by Audra and the Antidote.

TURNING THE ETHICS TABLES: “Senate Republicans said Thursday they would invoke new ethics rules to block Democratic efforts to send to President Bush the first appropriations package of the 110th Congress. . . . Under the new ethics law, which was enacted in September, sustaining a point of order would strike the offending language, in this case the Veterans Affairs measure. The bill without the offending language would then be sent back to the House for reconsideration. Before the law, sustaining the point of order under Senate Rule 28 would essentially kill the bill. Congress changed the rules to make it easier for members to strike language inserted during the penultimate stage of the legislative process. When they regained their majority at the beginning of the year, Democrats vowed to make conference committee action more transparent after complaining for years that Republicans had abused the process by inserting provisions in the dead of night.”

GOOD NEWS ON IRAQ: See Page 18. “Well, it couldn’t very well displace this Page 1 scoop: ‘Schumer Stays Mum on Mukasey.’ After all, when was the last time Chuck said nothing about anything?” Now that is news!

PRO-TORTURE DEMOCRATS: “Clinton, Clinton, Obama and Schumer. They have all, to a greater or lesser degree, embraced the concept of coercive interrogation (some, even torture — which is unquestionably illegal), and they have all underscored the excruciating complexity of this issue. Somehow, they are fit to lead the Democratic Party but the suitability of Mukasey — who has taken a more measured stance — to be attorney general is in doubt? What am I missing here?”

I dunno. Maybe that the “torture” debate is a political tool, and otherwise unserious?

UPDATE: Reader Patrick Cullen emails:

Simply a politocal tool? Really!?

I just cant stay with you on this one, Glenn. I don’t care what party is in charge or who’s zooming who on this. Its become an awful stain on our reputation. We need to maintain as much high ground as possible, and you seem to still be looking through the foggy glasses on this issue.

This is America. Surely we do not need to resort to the tactics of Stalinist Russia or the Khmer Rouge to preserve democracy. I am a two-time Bush voter who is embarrased by this Administrations power grab and lawleessness in the face of danger. I keep waiting for a glimmer of sanity from you on this…

I’ve been consistently against torture. The Democrats have been inconsistently against torture. If I’m looking through “foggy glasses,” it’s because I’ve failed to appreciate how much the Dems have been allowed to get away with this inconsistency.

Given that only three people have been waterboarded in interrogation, though, the discussion seems a bit overheated:

For all the debate over waterboarding, it has been used on only three al Qaeda figures, according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials.

As ABC News first reported in September, waterboarding has not been used since 2003 and has been specifically prohibited since Gen. Michael Hayden took over as CIA director.

So is this an issue now because it matters, or because it’s a partisan political tool? I think I know the answer. And I was entirely serious when I suggested that Mukasey volunteer to be waterboarded along with any interested members of Congress. I’ll be happy to do it too: Me, the AG, and Chuck Schumer. Let the cameras roll.

ANOTHER UPDATE: “Waterboarding as performance art.”

CORRUPTION IN ROMANIA, involving sausages and plum brandy.

It’s takeout lobster around these parts.

VIDEO ON THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE’S CLIMBDOWN ON INDOCTRINATION, at Hot Air.

MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: “Scientists at Case Western Reserve University have genetically engineered mice that outrun, outlive, and out-eat ordinary mice while staying lean, light, and fertile well into old age. Chalk it up to a change in a single gene.” This isn’t quite Aubrey de Grey’s Methuselah Mouse, but it’s a move in that direction.

THUMBS DOWN ON COLBERT from South Carolina Democrats. They’re afraid of the Colbert juggernaut. But since the reason they gave was that he’s not a national candidate, there’s only one thing to do — go national!

HILLARY SUPPORTER: Tim Russert should be shot. “Another said Russert ‘should be shot,’ before quickly adding that she shouldn’t say that on a conference call.” Er, no.

DEPTH-CHARGING THE CANDIDATES: Mickey Kaus observes:

Rosenbaum’s post seems to be functioning as a sort of depth charge that threatens to bring all the various rumored scandals about all the candidates to the surface. It would be funny if they all turned out to be true! And then Rosenbaum’s initial report–that the LAT is sitting on something–turned out to be not true! … I’m not saying that’s the case. I’m just saying that would be funny.

Indeed. Meanwhile, David Zincavage observes: “Can’t one just imagine all the things that could come out in a Giuliani vs. Hillary election campaign?”

MEGAN MCARDLE:

Every single time I write about health insurance, commenters and emailers flock to tell me that I wouldn’t feel this way if I, or anyone I know, had been sick and uninsured.

I’m afraid the empirical evidence indicates that you’re wrong. I was uninsured, with asthma and an autoimmune disease, for years as a freelancer. I was then, if anything, more opposed to national health insurance than I am now.

Read the whole thing.