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Friday, October 27, 2006
Peggy Noonan and the rotting pundit class
One of the more corrupt pundit phenomena is the way in which the most loyaland worshipful Bush followers, who spent the last five years praising thePresident and doing everything possible to enable his most radical policies,are now suddenly pretending to be so deeply dissatisfied with his rule. Nowthat the Bush movement is collapsing, they all want to pretend that theyknew all along that things weren't going well and that the President wasdeeply flawed. Suddenly, they're not a part of any of it and bear noresponsibility for it because, all along, they felt the President wasn'tdoing the right thing and, besides, he was never really loyal to theirpolitical beliefs.
Here is Peggy Noonan in The Wall St. Journal today, trying to demonstratehow objective and intellectually honest she is by claiming that evenwell-connected Republicans think that Republicans deserve to lose thiselection. For this, Noonan blames the President: "They want to fire Congressbecause they can't fire President Bush." When trying to explain whyRepublicans are dissatisfied with the President, this is what she says:
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/us/politics/29bush.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
October 29, 2006
A Warm Welcome for Bush the Campaigner, in Indiana
By JIM RUTENBERG
SELLERSBURG, Ind., Oct. 28 - In an appearance that amounted to his firsttraditional campaign rally of the election season, President Bush onSaturday told wildly cheering supporters here that Democrats did not want toinvestigate, prosecute or even detain terrorists and had no plan for Iraq.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701485_pf.html
It's Not the Economy, Stupid
By Jacob S. Hacker
Sunday, October 29, 2006; B01
In the final days of this fall's campaign, Republicans have turned to anunexpected issue: the economy. President Bush touted the nation's prosperitylast week, insisting that "a strong economy is going to help ourcandidates."
And why not? The Dow is soaring. Unemployment is low. Inflation is tame. Gasprices are falling. And the overall economy has been growing steadily. IfAmericans practice what political scientists call "retrospective voting"(captured by President Ronald Reagan's famous question: "Are you better offtoday than you were four years ago?"), then one would think that incumbentpoliticians should be cruising to victory.
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The Independent Gay News
From: PHarris825@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2006 12:17 AM
Theatre Club Offer
By Paul Harris
PHarris@ourindy.com
This is an offer you would be a fool to miss, and that's no joke! LaffingMatterz, the comedy club restaurant, at 219 South Andrews Avenue is offeringa terrific deal to readers of The Independent as they launch their newWednesday night show this Fall. The Independent Theatre Club evening is onWednesday, November 1 at 7pm. Instead of paying the normal $45 for salad,entrée, beverage and show they are offering readers of The Independent ahalf price deal - $22.50 plus tax and gratuity. If you wish to orderappetizers or desserts from the menu in addition you can. There is also afully stocked bar and extensive wine list. You are not going to find abetter deal in town. Trust me.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701478_pf.html
How to Spot a Terrorist on the Fly
By Paul Ekman
Sunday, October 29, 2006; B03
The man in the cheap brown jacket stood slumped in line, staring at theground. His hands were fidgety, reaching repeatedly into his inside jacketpocket, or patting it from the outside. A momentary look of anguish, just1/15th of a second or so, occasionally flashed across his face -- the innercorners of his eyebrows would go up, so that his brows sloped down from thecenter of his forehead, his cheeks would rise, and the corners of his lipswould pull down slightly. He was exhibiting what I call a micro-expression,a sign of an emotion being concealed.
The question was: What was he concealing? And why?
To the behavior-detection officers I was with at Boston's LoganInternational Airport, his combination of mannerisms -- themicro-expression, the slumped posture, the pocket-patting -- was unusualenough to raise a red flag.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701312_pf.html
Can Bush Cross The Aisle?
By David S. Broder
Sunday, October 29, 2006; B07
With all the parsing that was needed to make sense of President Bush'sconvoluted explanations of his Iraq policies during last week's lengthy newsconference, it's not surprising that another question -- on another topic -- received little notice.
It was, in the president's judgment, "a tricky little question" that StephenDinan of the Washington Times asked -- one that seemingly caught him bysurprise.
"With a Republican Congress," Dinan said, "you failed to achieve three majorgoals of your second term: Social Security reform, a tax code overhaul and acomprehensive immigration bill. Why shouldn't Americans give Democrats achance to work with you on those issues, especially when divided governmentseemed to work in the late 1990s on the budget?"
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701482_pf.html
Where We Went Wrong
By Dick Armey
Sunday, October 29, 2006; B01
Somewhere along the road to a "permanent majority," the RepublicanRevolution of 1994 went off track. For several years, we had confidence inour convictions and trusted that the American people would reward ourefforts. And they did.
But today, my Republican friends in Congress stand on the precipice of anelectoral rout. Even the best-case scenarios suggest wafer-thin majoritiesand a legislative agenda in disarray. With eight days before the election,House speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi has already begun her transitionplanning.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701308_pf.html
Who Needs to 'Help' America Vote?
By George F. Will
Sunday, October 29, 2006; B07
The hoariest jest in conservatism's repertoire is that the three least credible assertions in the English language are "The check is in the mail,""Of course I'll respect you as much in the morning" and "I'm from thegovernment, and I'm here to help you." Which brings us to the exquisitelynamed Help America Vote Act.
Having fixed Iraq and New Orleans, the federal government's healing touch isnow being applied to voting. As a result, days -- perhaps weeks -- mightpass after Election Day without the nation's knowing which party controlsthe House or Senate. If that happens, one reason might be HAVA, that 2002bit of federal helpfulness.
For over two centuries before Congress passed HAVA, Americans voted. Really.Unlike today, those who were elected -- Clay, Webster, Lincoln and lesserlights -- often were more complex and sophisticated than the votingmachinery.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701474_pf.html
5 Myths About Turning Out The Vote
By Michael McDonald
Sunday, October 29, 2006; B03
If you're an upstanding U.S. citizen, you'll stand up and be counted thisElection Day, right? Well, maybe not. Just because Americans can votedoesn't mean they do. But who shows up is what decides the tight races,which makes turnout one of the most closely watched aspects of everyelection -- and one that has fostered a number of myths. Here are five,debunked:
1. Thanks to increasing voter apathy, turnout keeps dwindling.
This is the mother of all turnout myths. There may be plenty of apatheticvoters out there, but the idea that ever fewer Americans are showing up atthe polls should be put to rest. What's really happening is that the numberof people not eligible to vote is rising -- making it seem as though turnoutis dropping.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701475_pf.html
Limbaugh Outfoxed
By William Saletan
Sunday, October 29, 2006; B02
I once had a friend who listened to Rush Limbaugh three hours a day. He wasa Republican operative. He sat in my apartment, wearing headphones, while Iworked. He swore that if I put on the headphones for 10 minutes, I'd behooked. So I put them on.
Inside the headphones was another world. Everyone in this world thought thesame way, except for liberals, and they were only cartoon characters, to bedefeated as though in a video game. In the real world, my friend wasunemployed and had been staying with me, rent-free, for two months. Butinside the headphones, he could laugh about welfare bums instead of poundingthe pavement.
I thought about that last week when Limbaugh went after his latest target:Michael J. Fox. The actor, who has Parkinson's disease, has been appearingin ads for candidates who support government-funded embryonic stem cellresearch. The ads promote such research as a potential cure for Parkinson'sand other diseases.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/world/africa/29ghana.html?hp&ex=1162184400&en=3e6b6aaf7693f1ad&ei=5094&partner=homepage
October 29, 2006
Africa's World of Forced Labor, in a 6-Year-Old's Eyes
By SHARON LaFRANIERE
KETE KRACHI, Ghana - Just before 5 a.m., with the sky still dark over LakeVolta, Mark Kwadwo was rousted from his spot on the damp dirt floor. It wastime for work.
Shivering in the predawn chill, he helped paddle a canoe a mile out fromshore. For five more hours, as his coworkers yanked up a fishing net, inchby inch, Mark bailed water to keep the canoe from swamping.
He last ate the day before. His broken wooden paddle was so heavy he couldbarely lift it. But he raptly followed each command from Kwadwo Takyi, thepowerfully built 31-year-old in the back of the canoe who freely deals outbeatings.
"I don't like it here," he whispered, out of Mr. Takyi's earshot.
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The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-abush29oct29,0,6282531.story
Bush hits the campaign trail
President rips rulings on gay marriage
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske and James Gerstenzang
Los Angeles Times
October 29, 2006
SELLERSBURG, Ind. · At his first campaign rally this election season,President Bush on Saturday galvanized supporters in a packed high school gymby pledging to oppose gay marriage, a theme Republican candidates haverevived in the wake of a New Jersey court ruling in favor of gay couples.
"Activist judges try to define America by court order," Bush told the crowdof 4,000 at Silver Creek High School, flanked by local Rep. Mike Sodrel,R-Ind., who is running for re-election. "Just this week in New Jersey,another activist court issued a ruling that raises doubt about theinstitution of marriage. We believe marriage is between a man and a woman."
At that, the raucous crowd went wild, shouting "USA," stomping their feetand shaking dozens of red, white and blue pompoms.
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The Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-sbdivorce29oct29,0,7336900.story
Ford takes a chance on divorce-themed ad
Unconventional relationships typically off-limits
By Susan Chandler
Chicago Tribune
October 29, 2006
A mom and dad joke with their kids as their Ford Freestyle winds throughscenic terrain. They stop at a roadside stand for a snack. They frolic on abeach at sunset.
They look like the perfect happy family until the Freestyle pulls into acondo complex and Dad gets out. "Thanks for inviting me this weekend," hetells his ex-wife. Dad gives his kids a heartfelt hug and waves as theFreestyle crossover vehicle pulls away. A voiceover intones: "Bold moves:They happen every day."
The daring move here really belongs to Ford: showing a divorced couple in anadvertising campaign.
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The Miami Herald
October 29, 2006
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/15876632.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
CONGRESS
Democrats have a plan, but will it work?
'A New Direction for America/Six for '06,' Democrats' one-page plan on whatthey would do after the first 100 days if they win the House and Senate, hasits critics.
BY MARGARET TALEV AND KEVIN G. HALL
mtalev@mcclatchydc.com
WASHINGTON - When Republicans took over the House of Representatives in1995, ending four decades of Democratic dominance there, they followedmarching orders they had laid out in their 1994 Contract with America.
But if Democrats pull off the biggest shake-up of Congress since then, byregaining control of the House and Senate in the Nov. 7 election, they willhave no comparable document to guide them, and thus may have a smaller claimto a mandate from the voters.
The Contract with America included draft legislation for budget, tax,military and social policies. It was a road map for what the new majoritywould do starting Day One through their first 100 days.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/opinion/29dooling.html?pagewanted=print
October 29, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Sweet Home Omaha
By RICHARD DOOLING
Omaha
HOUSING prices are falling on both coasts, and bubble panic is around the
corner. The financial magazines are already grabbing their readers by the
throat and taunting them with headlines like: "U.S. Housing Crash
Continues!" "Where Will Housing Prices Fall the Most?" "Is It Time to Cash
Out?"
What if it is time to cash out? Where do you go? If you sell on eithercoast, then you need to find real estate somewhere that the housing bubblemissed. Guam? American Samoa? Wait, how about eastern Nebraska? Downrightfrothless when it comes to housing: the median home price here usually chugsalong at the annual rate of inflation and never goes down (up 4 percent lastyear, up 22 percent over the last five years).
Before you recoil in horror at the thought of living in Omaha, a city of414,000 souls, consider that this year Money magazine ranked it seventh ofthe nation's 10 best big cities to live in, ahead of New York City, whichranked 10th. O.K., now you may recoil in horror.
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The Miami Herald
October 28, 2006
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15875262.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
O'Reilly, Letterman rekindle feud
DAVID BAUDER
Associated Press
NEW YORK - Bill O'Reilly walked out for his appearance on David Letterman's"Late Show" with a plastic shield. He could have used it.
"That's cute, that's nice," Letterman said on Friday night's show. "You comeout with toys."
Letterman and the Fox News Channel talk show host renewed their pricklyconfrontation from January, when Letterman told him "I have the feelingabout 60 percent of what you say is crap."
Before O'Reilly even came out, Letterman made his feelings clear.
"I'm secretly hoping when Bill O'Reilly comes out here, I'll have theopportunity to call him a bonehead," Letterman said.
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/opinion/29brooks.html?pagewanted=print
October 29, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Political Theater and the Real Rick Santorum
By DAVID BROOKS
Every poll suggests that Rick Santorum will lose his race to return to theU.S. Senate. That's probably good news in Pennsylvania's bobo suburbs, wherefolks regard Santorum as an ideological misfit and a social blight. But it'scertainly bad for poor people around the world.
For there has been at least one constant in Washington over the past 12years: almost every time a serious piece of antipoverty legislation surfacesin Congress, Rick Santorum is there playing a leadership role.
In the mid-1990s, he was a floor manager for welfare reform, the mostsuccessful piece of domestic legislation of the past 10 years. He thenhelped found the Renewal Alliance to help charitable groups with funding andparents with flextime legislation.
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The New York Times
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/opinion/29kristof.html
October 29, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
If Not Now, When?
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of Darfur isn't that gunmen on theSudanese payroll heave babies into bonfires as they shout epithets againstblacks. It's that the rest of us are responding only with averted eyes andpolite tut-tutting.
This past week alone, Sudan expelled the U.N. envoy for Sudan and sent aproxy army to invade eastern Chad. Those moves underscored both the audacityof Sudan's leaders and the fecklessness of the rest of the world's.
In fact, there's plenty we can do. The international community has focusedon getting U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur, but Sudan refuses to admit them.The stalemate drags on; the slaughter continues - but here's what we can do:
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/opinion/29sun2.html
October 29, 2006
Editorial
The Senate Race in Connecticut
The Congressional elections are very much about America's problems in Iraq.But the campaigns have shed little light on exactly what should happen next.Nowhere is that more true than in Connecticut. The two leading candidates,Ned Lamont and Joseph Lieberman, have clear disagreements over whetherinvading Iraq was a good idea in the first place, but grow much fuzzier whenthe question of future strategy comes up.
Mr. Lieberman, a three-term Democratic senator now running as anindependent, talks about the threat of Islamic terrorism. Mr. Lamont, whobeat Mr. Lieberman in the Democratic primary, reminds voters what a mess theinvasion created. When it comes to the next step, Mr. Lieberman seems tomimic the Bush administration's proposal to stay the course (while no longermentioning that toxic phrase) with new tactics. Mr. Lamont is close to theSenate Democrats (minus Mr. Lieberman) who demanded a timetable forwithdrawal without being too firm on what that ought to entail.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/opinion/29sun1.html?pagewanted=print
October 29, 2006
Editorial
Future Tax Shock
One of President Bush's be-very-afraid lines this campaign season is thatDemocrats, if elected, will raise taxes. What he doesn't say is that if youare one of tens of millions of Americans who make between $75,000 and$500,000 a year, your taxes are already scheduled to rise starting nextyear - because of laws that Mr. Bush championed and other actions he failedto take.
The higher taxes stem from the alternative minimum tax, a levy that issupposed to snare multimillionaires who would otherwise get away with usingexcessive tax shelters to wipe out their tax bills. But these days, thealternative tax is snaring many upper-middle-income filers.
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The Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15873577.htm
Political experts don't expect GOP to win control of Legislature
BOB JOHNSON
Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Political experts say a combination of powerfulDemocratic incumbents and a lack of money by Republican challengers willmost likely prevent the GOP from reaching its goal of winning control ofeither house of the Alabama Legislature in the Nov. 7 general election.
But GOP wins in two or three hotly contested districts could allow acoalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats to gain control of thestate Senate, said Jess Brown, political scientist at Athens StateUniversity.
"I would imagine Republicans will pick up a few seats, but I do notbelieve they will have an absolute majority in either chamber," Brown said.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/business/29corporate.html?ei=5094&en=2ec2d4863e073b97&hp=&ex=1162094400&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print
October 29, 2006
Businesses Seek Protection on Legal Front
By STEPHEN LABATON
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 - Frustrated with laws and regulations that have madecompanies and accounting firms more open to lawsuits from investors and thegovernment, corporate America - with the encouragement of the Bushadministration - is preparing to fight back.
Now that corruption cases like Enron and WorldCom are falling out of thenews, two influential industry groups with close ties to administrationofficials are hoping to swing the regulatory pendulum in the oppositedirection. The groups are drafting proposals to provide broad newprotection to corporations and accounting firms from criminal cases broughtby federal and state prosecutors as well as a stronger shield against civillawsuits from investors.
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