Why You Could NEVER Convince Me to Support the Death Penalty (1)
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Michael D. (0)
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4 days, 23 hours
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Cases like this: Innocence Project client Steven Barnes was released from prison Tuesday morning, nearly two decades after he was wrongfully convicted of rape and murder in Oneida County. New DNA test results support Barnes’ longstanding claim of innocence in the 1985 rape and murder of a high school student for which he was convicted in 1989.19 years behind bars for something he didn’t do. What a waste of a life. We are not perfect. ...
For the Horde (1)
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The Intellectual Depth Of A Wading Pool (1)
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Tim F. (0)
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6 days
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Via Steve Benen, read James Joyner complain that the right ran out of current ideas some time around Iran/Contra. Part of the reason I’m drawn to the center-left blogs, including those cited above, Kevin Drum, Steve Benen, and others despite disagreeing with them while finding it increasingly difficult to find center-right blogs worth my time is that the former are much more likely to get beyond the debates of the 1980 election. There’s almost no ...
Patriotism (2)
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6 days, 1 hour
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Right here: Marine Cpl. James Dixon was wounded twice in Iraq—by a roadside bomb and a land mine. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, a concussion, a dislocated hip and hearing loss. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Army Sgt. Lori Meshell shattered a hip and crushed her back and knees while diving for cover during a mortar attack in Iraq. She has undergone a hip replacement and knee reconstruction and needs at least ...
Take It Patiently (2)
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1 week
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Even if you support prosecuting the entire damned Bush administration for torture and any of ten thousand other crimes, a 9/11-style commission is clearly the right thing to do. A decision this consequential could make the country practically ungovernable if the administration imposes it on the nation from the top down. Actually, let me correct myself. A well-meaning administration might lose control if it tried indicting half of the previous one without giving the public ...
Society Without God (1)
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1 week, 1 day
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Turns out, societies that have more non-believers murder and rape each other on a much lower level than we here in America: In his new book, Society Without God, Phil Zuckerman looks at the Danes and the Swedes—probably the most godless people on Earth. They don’t go to church or pray in the privacy of their own homes; they don’t believe in God or heaven or hell. But, by any reasonable standard, they’re nice to ...
Excellent Source (1)
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1 week, 1 day
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This is pretty rich: Media bias was more intense in the 2008 election than in any other national campaign in recent history, Time magazine’s Mark Halperin said Friday at the Politico/USC conference on the 2008 election. “It’s the most disgusting failure of people in our business since the Iraq war,” Halperin said at a panel of media analysts. “It was extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage.” If there was a journalist out there who you wanted ...
All In The Family (2)
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1 week, 1 day
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Candace Gingrich goes after her brother: Dear Newt, I recently had the displeasure of watching you bash the protestors of the Prop 8 marriage ban to Bill O’Reilly on FOX News. I must say, after years of watching you build your career by stirring up the fears and prejudices of the far right, I feel compelled to use the words of your idol, Ronald Reagan, “There you go, again.” *** Then again, we’ve seen these ...
Late Lunch (1)
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1 week, 1 day
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As some of you guessed, I am in San Diego. I just got done attending a few panels, and since all I had for breakfast was some yogurt and a coffee, and I have a party with finger food to attend at eight, thought I would have a late lunch ocean side. I ended up having ceviche tostada, a half-dozen raw oysters, and two mojito’s. It was, without question, excellent. I have some pictures, but ...
The Most Important Book of 2008 (2)
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1 week, 4 days
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Currently half-way through The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism by my old CO Andrew Bacevich, and I have to say it is quite the eye opener. It is a short read, so I will finish it tomorrow on the flight and give a fuller review later, but one thing is worth a quick comment right now. Bacevich revisits the Carter “Crisis in Confidence” speech (aka the “Malaise” speech), and that prompted me ...
Why We Have Comments (3)
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1 week, 4 days
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A lot of websites have chosen not to have comments, but here is why you should- often times the commenters are better than the posts. Case in point, this Culture 11 piece about Kathleen Parker, in which Ericka Andersen declares the Parker piece is “icky,” and the quotes Jonah Goldberg extensively. The very first commenter: If the best rebuttal you can offer comes from Jonah Goldberg, then you’ve pretty much conceded that Parker is right. ...
A Helpful Tip (1)
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2 weeks, 1 day
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This is pretty amusing. After actively campaigning to end the right to marriage for a large group of people, including donating money, blackmailing businesses, and turning the issue into a religious crusade, people are absolutely mortified to find out to be publicly associated with the cause. There is, after all, a reason the Klan wears hoods. Here is a pro-tip: If you do not want to be called a bigot or to be associated publicly ...
The Big Three Automakers (1)
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2 weeks, 2 days
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Quote: They are not car companies any longer. They are benefits distributors that happen to also make vehicles on the side. (via) For what it’s worth (probably not much) I am not in favor of a bailout for the automobile industry. Having said that, if there is going to be a supermassive infusion of tax money into the industry, I say give it to Toyota, Honda, Nissan and other companies who are much farther along ...
You Say Horny, I Say Reproductive Vigor (1)
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2 weeks, 2 days
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We now learn why Derbyshire was silent during the election. He was even more unhinged than McCarthy, but was smart enough to not blog, and apparently is still seeing the Palin sparkles: Hmm. As the parent of two teenagers, I come out in hives when someone tells me something is “cool.” As for “sexually repressed bigoted” etc.; I thought Sarah Palin kicked that pretty decisively into the ditch, as an emblem — I hope she ...
I Suppose This Is What It Will Take They Just Need Another Friedman Unit (1)
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2 weeks, 2 days
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Via Atrios, this: It would be easy to dismiss today’s rant (however spot-on it might be) by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman as yet another ideological tirade against the U.S. automobile industry. But based on the bad news coming out of shopping-mall owner General Growth Properties [GGP], it is no wonder Friedman is feeling crankier than usual. That’s because the author’s wife, Ann (née Bucksbaum), is an heir to the General Growth fortune. In ...
That Probably Settles That (1)
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2 weeks, 2 days
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Leahy comes out against Holy Joe: We now have our first Dem Senator who has come on the record and called for Joe Lieberman to be booted from his plum spot on the Homeland Security committee. In an interview with Vermont Public Radio today, Senator Patrick Leahy left no doubt whatsoever: He believes Lieberman should be given the push. “Every Senator will have to vote the way he or she believes they should,” Leahy said, ...
Attn: Wanker (2)
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2 weeks, 5 days
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Yes, you, BTD: The Cult will not because it can not. No such posts exist. I remind my dear readers and the Cult of two words that I used – “shoo-in.” Before most. Those who actually can read and actually read my posts know precisely what I wrote. Start with a search at the Talk Left archives with the words Unity + Ticket. Work backwards. This one is kind of fun: Obama’s GE Margin Of ...
Great Moments in Movement Conservatism (1)
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2 weeks, 6 days
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And the violations of Godwin’s Law begin: A Republican congressman from Georgia said Monday he fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist dictatorship. “It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he’s the one who proposed this national security force,” Rep. Paul Broun said of Obama in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. “I’m just trying to bring attention to the fact ...
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rzklkng said:
Godwined already, pre-Inauguration.
Why? (2)
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2 weeks, 6 days
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I think I disagree with Obama on this one: The struggling auto industry was thrust into the middle of a political standoff between the White House and Democrats on Monday as President-elect Barack Obama urged President Bush in a meeting at the White House to support immediate emergency aid. Mr. Bush indicated at the meeting that he might support some aid and a broader economic stimulus package if Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats dropped their ...
Back To The Future With BoBo (2)
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2 weeks, 6 days
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David Brooks, with a perceptive piece on the future of the GOP: Finally, Traditionalists own the conservative mythology. Members of the conservative Old Guard see themselves as members of a small, heroic movement marching bravely from the Heartland into belly of the liberal elite. In this narrative, anybody who deviates toward the center, who departs from established doctrine, is a coward, and a sellout. This narrative happens to be mostly bogus at this point. Most ...
