May 25, 2005

5/25: Middling Progress?

It's all about the moderates. Many on both sides of the jud. debate remain displeased with the senators who brokered the 5/23 filibuster compromise, but the blogosphere in aggregate is speculating about whether their relevance will last beyond this episode, on the GOP-controlled House's passage of new stem cell legis. and on a rumored Social Security compromise. Even the notion that they saved the prosperity of the D.C. metropolitan area is floated.

Meantime, conservative blogs are buzzing about a report in the Boston Globe that John Kerry has signed Form SF-180 which would release his military records as he promised on "Meet the Press" earlier this year. The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto describes the Globe story as asking "the question that's on everyone's mind, or at least the mind of everyone who gets his kicks by cruelly tormenting ex-presidential candidates." Indeed, the PoliPundit blog had kept the question current by creating and offering to all takers a "SF-180 Clock." This is day 115.

Plus, the MSM starts to pick up on "EasonGate II," the left goes after ABC's Terry Moran, and the truth about "Blogebrity" comes out.

TRACKBACKS: Will This Report Last A Week?

Where the blog swarm is headed, who's taking part, and what they're saying:

• Only 1 MSM-originating story seemed to spur any more than a handful of posts in the last 24 hours, and that 1 is an a report in BusinessWeek suggesting that Senate Dems, GOPers and the WH are "inching toward compromise." It seems to attract the interest of liberal and conservative blogs about equally, and neither side likes the sound of it: Talking Points Memo; Tapped; Brothers Judd; DailyKos; Angry Bear; The Corner.
  
  

  >> Liberal TX blog Pink Dome: "This is one of those moments that Democrats manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. We had it won. President Bush is still out there touring the countryside and the polls show no one wants private accounts. .. You know, the one time we said "This is all or nothing guys. Just hang in there and we can talk about this after the Bush presidency if you really want to." They couldn't f---ing do it. They couldn't even last 6 months."
  

  >> GOP Bloggers: "Once again, why bother voting Republican if it means blocking originalist judges and raising taxes? If a Republican majority in the House and the Senate follow up a surrender to Democrats on judicial nominations with tax increases, you can mark this day as the day the Republican majority began to disintegrate."

JUDGES: Where The Debate Was Yesterday, Except With More Time To Think Of Clever Put-Downs

Left-leaning Lawyers, Guns and Money: "There are those who are characterizing this a victory for the center. If by center, you mean '14 Senators who self-identify as centrist' than maybe you have a point. But if you mean 'centrist politics' you're dead wrong. Let's be frank about what this deal did: fancy promises with out clauses big enough to drive Mack trucks through aside, this deal did one tangible thing: it sends three judges to the Senate floor ... [and] whatever they represent, it isn't centrism."

Righty Hugh Hewitt: "Slate says 'conservatives are furious' before pointing to my blog entries on the subject. That's not completely true ... I think it is far more accurate to say GOP activists -- of all ideological stripes, including big-tent, Arlen Specter-supporting, party-first folks like me -- are furious because they know what the "deal" does to the NRSC and the effort to build a lasting majority. You can stray on Social Security and private accounts and be a good Republican. You can vote to keep ANWR closed and be a good Republican. You may favor abortion rights or same sex marriage rights (though not their imposition via court diktat), and you can even vote against any particular judicial nominee on sincere grounds, and be a good Republican. But you can't sell out the Constitution. And you shouldn't sell out good people unfairly slimed by extremists of the left. The gang of seven did both."

Liberal Nathan Newman: "This deal is perfect for the moderate GOPers. Filibusters are allowed only on judges that the moderate GOPers say may be filibustered. And those moderate GOPers get to vote against those candidates that are filibustered, playing the double game of keeping their conservative bona fides while claiming to uphold traditions of the Senate. As for the moderate Dems? Nothing. They betrayed other Democrats while gaining no real new power. If the Democrats as a group had decided to go for the deal, it might have reflected a tactical win for the Democratic caucus, but this is just a stab in the back."

Mark Noonan of Blogs for Bush: "All conservatives want to do something about the betrayal by the Spineless Seven; but what to do is the big issue, right? Some want to punish the whole GOP, but I see that as self-destructive; it might even lead to a President Hillary Clinton on January 20th, 2009. Mustn't have that. So, how about we concentrate our efforts on getting rid of the Seven, or at least putting enough pressure on them that they might even think that a laudatory editorial in the Washington Post isn't worth betraying their own Party? We could call it Seven PAC; a political action committee designed to gin up and support primary opponents for each of the Seven as well as helping to support GOP efforts against the seven Democrats involved."

Dem blogger Oliver Willis is selling T-shirts and other apparel mocking through the DIY merchandising store Cafepress. The image used on each one is a picture of Senate Maj. Leader Bill Frist above the word "MEOW."

Late 5/23, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) weighed in at DailyKos, saying: "This is not a good deal for the U.S. Senate or for the American people. Democrats should have stood together firmly against the bullying tactics of the Republican leadership abusing their power as they control both houses of Congress and the White House."

Conservative Slowplay, weighing John McCain's Tradesports WH '08 trading value: "The only thing resolved in this so-called 'deal' is that if John McCain wants to be president he's going to have to win the Democratic nomination. This may be a good time to sell McCain short in his bid."

STEM CELLS: Is It Alive?

Centrist Jeff Jarvis, in a post titled "The moderate revolution": know it's too much to hope for, but how I do hope that we have the stirrings of a moderate revolution against the fringers. The end of the filibuster standoff is a start. We know it worked because it pissed off people on both sides. Next comes an effort to find a middle ground on stem cell research -- following the quite moderate opinions of Americans. ... There is a real opportunity for the middle to take the lead. I believe a moderate candidate who could make it through the primaries would win the White House. The only question is who."

RedState recommends that Bush veto the stem cell bill headed for his desk: "Effectively, this bill directly overturns the President's 2001 policy. Now that it has passed the House, it will inevitably end up at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. ... RedState is a Republican site first and foremost, and we recognize there are those in our party who disagree with this position. We respect their well-intentioned conviction. But we refuse to feign respect for any political ideology that reduces a human life to an object of science, whose value is solely determined by its utility to society. We fundamentally reject that ideology, and we call on President Bush to reject it as well."

Righty Dean Esmay, on vetoes: "Contrary to what some in the comments to our earlier thread suggested, the fact that the President's party controls congress does not explain Bush's incredibly low number of vetos. Presidents FDR, Truman, Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Carter all enjoyed similar circumstances throughout most or all of their Presidencies, and used the veto infinitely more often than this President has."

CAP's ThinkProgress sizes up the bills actually on the floor, writing: "A second bill being offered by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) would provide federal funds to research stem cells from umbilical cords, a procedure that can only reliably produce blood cells. The umbilical bill is a canard, proffered by radical conservatives so that they can say they're supporting something. As Roll Call reports, right-wingers hope the umbilical cord bill will 'give cover to conservatives who oppose federal funding for embryonic research but are wary of getting on the wrong political side of the issue.' ... If Bush vetoes federal funding of embryonic stem cell research as he has pledged, he and other right-wingers should at least be honest with the facts and not provide false hope to an American public seeking true scientific progress."

Conservative Otto Parts, on the House vote: "On the Elephant side: 50 votes in favor of research, and 180 against. 22% and 78%. On the Donkey side: 187 votes in favor of research, and 14 against. 93% and 7%. So you tell me: If you were looking for the political party that demonstrated a greater diversity of opinion on The Big Issues, which one would you choose?"

BOLTON: You've Come A Long Way, Bolton

Liberal think tanker Steve Clemons, who has led the opposition to John Bolton, tracks the developments as the confirmation vote draws closer, writing: "[T]here are rumors that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is actually investigating Bolton's use of this NSA intercept material and attempting to ascertain whether Bolton compromised national security by mishandling and inappropriately using the intelligence information he gathered from these intercepts. It is remarkable that the Senate would consider a vote on any nomination in which there was such a major outstanding concern."

Conservative Mark A. Kilmer writes, Bolton has caused Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) "to wet his pants. He took the unusual step of writing a 'Dear Colleagues' letter to the 99 other Senators," which says in part: "In these dangerous times, we cannot afford to put at risk our nation's ability to successfully wage and win the war on terror with a controversial and ineffective ambassador to the United Nations." Kilmer comments: "This seems to be as much about Voinovich saving face as it is about John Bolton. Voinovich cast his lot early and vocally, and any change now would make him appear to be hypocritical and irresolute. He is."

WHITE HOUSE '08: Kerry's Apparent 180 On Form 180 Has Blogs Doing A 360

Right-leaning Tom Maguire at JustOneMinute: "From the Boston Globe we learn that John Kerry has signed the Form 180, and is now rummaging about for a postage stamp. OK, time to put some money on the table, metaphorically, anyway, and ask the following question -- what are people looking for? ... Our pick -- if we could see one set of records, it would be the application for Kerry's first Purple Heart. We reprise the controversy in more detail here, but briefly, our question is this: Is there a witness statement that resolves the question of who was in the three-man skim boat that fateful night?"

Righty Kevin Aylward: "As with all things related to John Kerry and his military service, the shortest distance between his biography and the truth seems to be a circuitous trip around several different spin cycles."

Righty Ed Morrissey: " It may be the end of summer before any records are produced ... and it could be a cold day in Hell before all or any of it gets released to the media. In fact, Kerry could argue that signing it was all he agreed to do. When, he could say, did I commit to sending it to the Navy? You FOOLS! Mwa-HAHAHAHA! All kidding aside, Kerry only agreed to sign off on the SF-180. He didn't agree to release every document that results from that request. ... Somehow, with Kerry's track record, I suspect he'll find a rhetorical loophole he's left to allow him off the hook once the file arrives from the Navy."

Conservative Michelle Malkin: "Last summer, "Unfit for Command" author John O'Neill said if Kerry signed SF-180, reporters or anyone else could obtain all of Kerry's military records from DoD. 'If he executes Standard Form 180, he would no longer be the gatekeeper, the gatekeeper would be the U.S. military,' he told the Washington Times. ... Either O'Neill was right or Morrissey is right, but not both. I'm sure the blogosphere will quickly figure it out."

Right-leaning Truth Laid Bear: "Here's the question I have: does the fact that he has signed and submitted (when/if he actually submits it) the Form 180 allow those with knowledge of his service to go on-the-record publicly? I refer specifically to the broad hints that we heard right before the election that Kerry may have received a less-than-honorable discharge, and that former Secretary of the Navy William Middendorf might confirm that --- but couldn't because doing so would be a crime. If he signs the 180, does that let Middendorf (or anyone else) talk?"

BLOGS VS. THE MSM I: Foley Artists

Last week the Blogometer pointed out a story originating from the conservative blogs, about newspaper union official Linda Foley, who claimed that U.S. troops were targeting foreign journalists in Iraq. Now the Chicago Sun-Times has a report. JunkYardBlog follows up.

Liberal Mahablog comes to Foley's defense: "Like it or not, Ms. Foley is not pulling these charges out of her butt. [Body and Soul] has documented incidents that look suspiciously like journalist targeting. ... It is clear that either these journalists were deliberately targeted, or the troops involved were being unusually careless even by war zone standards. Certainly, it bears outrage. Investigation also seems in order. And proper investigation was what Ms. Foley requested; last month Ms. Foley sent a letter to President Bush critical of the "investigation" into these incidents so far."

A FoleyGate blog has just opened up for business, similar to the RatherGate blog from late '04. And speaking of, some of the bloggers behind RatherGate have just opened a new blog to follow stories of a similar nature: Media Slander.

Blogger Arthur Chrenkoff writes in an e-mail to Power Line, which John Hinderaker posts: "Ted Koppel will be again reading out the names of American soldiers fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan since last year. I've got a modest proposal to Ted Koppel and 'Nightline': why don't you read one day the names and show the pictures of the 170,000 or so American servicemen and women stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan who every day are working their hardest to ensure that democracy takes root, terrorists are defeated, and these two countries have a chance to build a better future for their people." Hinderaker adds: "Soldiers have been dying in the line of duty for a long time -- even in peacetime, theirs is a dangerous profession. When did the left suddenly start caring?"

In response, lefty Political Report headlines a post "Power Line sucks ass" and proposes: "Any hackers out there wanna take a shot at their site?"

BLOGS VS. THE MSM II: More Newsweek Fallout

Charles Johnson from Little Green Footballs reports: "Newsweek's Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman appeared on Al Jazeera TV on May 19, and told the Arab world that, despite their retraction, Newsweek is 'neutral' on whether any of this happened." He cites a partial transcript, with Klaidman saying: "We are neutral on whether any form of Koran desecration took place. There are allegations out there, but the allegations have not been subjected to the kind of scrutiny or legal processes that normally are."

The 5/20 Blogometer moted that ABC's Moran appeared on Hugh Hewitt's radio show, where he stated that some in the MSM have an anti-military bias. Liberal Eschaton posts his work e-mail address and writes: "Terry Moran has accused his colleagues, some of whom have of course served in the military and some of whom have spent time getting their asses shot off covering war zones of having a 'deep anti-military bias.' Email Terry and ask him just which of his colleages is afflicted with this particular bias. Sounds like something a reporter should let us know about."

Lefty Steve Gilliard: "Terry Moran sits in Washington every day while his collegues run around and risk getting killed by the Iraqi resistance and US Army. And the Army shooting you is a lot better than having your head chopped off. Which is a daily risk. Daily as in when you wake up in the morning, going to bed at night is a gift. ... I think it's a gross insult to say reporters have a bias against the US military."

BLOGS VS. THE WORLD: Murder, He Blogged

Steven Den Beste points out a blog post that helped solve a murder; the final entry to the ToTo247 blog by 19-year-old Simon Sek Man Ng of Queens identifies the man who minutes later, according to police reconstruction, killed him and his sister. The New York Daily News has a report. Ng's final post is here. When we last checked, there were 255 comments on the post, many simply saying "R.I.P."

RELIGION: Pick Your Blasphemy

Little Green Footballs posts the text of a resolution sponsored by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) proposing that the House "recognizes that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as any other holy book of any religion, should be treated with dignity and respect." LGF calls it the "first tentative step toward a blasphemy law in the United States." Blogs for Bush adds: "Pandering to terrorists is the first and worst thing; the enemy propaganda is that our troops desecrate the Quran (Koran, whatever, like I really care how it is spelled...) on a regular basis, so here is Conyers pandering to this enemy propaganda. In addition to that there is the amazing, insulting bit that Conyers (a liberals liberal) is trying to get Congress to protect the Koran while the left routinely insults and slanders the Christian religion."

AmericaBlog's John Aravosis posts a photo and provides an external link "to the US Department of Defense's own Marine Corps Web site. It shows a photo taken May 5, 2005 in Iraq. It's a photo of a US tank dubbed the 'New Testament' -- the name of the tank is written across its barrel. The even funnier part is that this photo MADE IT PAST military censors and the DOD Web page with the photo on it even brags about the name 'New Testament' in the caption. So some jerk at the Pentagon knew exactly what this was about and found it funny enough to put on their Web site, and it passed various level of review. Lovely." Andrew Sullivan adds, "when our own military seems to be advertizing an explicitly Christian identity in Iraq, then it's time the president took action. Whoever in the marines allowed this tank to be defaced in this way needs to be removed from his post. It's an outrage - to both the New Testament and to our mission in Iraq."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY -- Filibuster : Washington :: Microchip : Palo Alto

In a post titled "McCain Saves The Palm," Slate's Mickey Kaus cites a McCain quote in the New York Times, on the right and left jud. lobbies: "Think of all the money they are going to lose." Skeptical, Kaus notes: "Without the filibuster ... senators in the minority party wouldn't be nearly as big a deal. ... Even most majority party senators would see some of their power drain away if the Senate ... majority could exercise its non-filibusterable power. Individual majority senators would be less like princes to be wined, dined and fawned over and more like party backbenchers. Corporations and interest groups wouldn't need to spend a lot of money bribing them either."

More: "The filibuster's infrastructural role has powerful multiplier effect: It means not only that obscure minority Senators attract millions in campaign contributions. while the aides of obscure minority Senators aides find pleasant $250,000 jobs as influencers with vital "access." It means that those Senators can afford to hire well-paid fundraisers to funnel those contributions, while interest groups need direct mail experts to raise the money to make their own "access" producing contributions, and all these people need restaurants like The Palm to feed them and brokers to swap their houses and mechanics to service their Acuras and Audis. Thanks to the Senate's precious right of unlimited debate, a wave of prosperity sweeps over the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area! Funded by the rest of the country. The filibuster is to Washington what the computer chip is to Palo Alto -- the technological basis of prosperity."

LEST WE FORGET: Outbreak

Last week we stumbled across the website Blogebrity, which purported to be a magazine focusing on bloggers-as-celebrities (see 5/20 Blogometer). We speculated then that the site was a promotional tool for another website; it turns out we were wrong, but close. The website is actually an entry in a contest sponsored by liberal-leaning performance artists/activists at Contagious Media, previously known for a well-publicized prank on Nike and the satirical website Black People Love Us. Gawker Media founder Nick Denton, a "Blogebrity" target, is also involved. The contest will award cash prizes to a completely new website that receives the most unique visitors over a 3-week period ending 6/9. Blogebrity is currently ranked third. The contest also produced Autoblogger, which, coincidentally, occupied this space in the Blogometer on 5/20. Other worthy entries include Crying While Eating (in the lead by a substantial margin), 2nd-ranked Ring Tone Dancer!!!, and the Miss Beazley Bush game.

Posted by at May 25, 2005 12:00 PM