August 31, 2005

8/31: How High's The Water, Papa?

Although Pres. Bush had already been taking some criticism from liberal bloggers re: Hurricane Katrina since the time it hit, in the past 24 hours the floodgates (so to speak) opened wide and many assign him a great deal of blame for the flooding and slower-than-expected response efforts. But there is also a split among them, as some pointedly decline to add their voice to these claims. Conservatives defend him against the myriad charges. Beyond Bush, there is criticism of the media's coverage from both the right and left, plenty of discussion about the merits of looting.

In other news, bloggers are disagreeing about what an uptick in the poverty rate means, anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan's NPR interview raises eyebrows, and the Able Danger story continues to simmer.

KATRINA I: Twenty Feet High And Rising

Kevin Drum at Political Animal: "On Monday it looked like New Orleans had escaped the worst of Hurricane Katrina. Now it looks like the worst just took an extra day to happen." Conservative Michelle Malkin has been covering Katrina non-stop (with a single detour for a post about Cindy Sheehan) and calls it the "worst natural disaster in American history."

Conservative Glenn Reynolds posts links to a number of charitable orgs. which are providing hurricane relief. Reynolds posts a reader suggestion: "I would suggest people donate through their companies whenever possible. Most major corporations offer matching funds to the dollar for charitable donations." Truth Laid Bear creates a page specifically for bloggers donating to charities, with a list of "suggested charities" and info about each. Volokh Conspiracy's Orin Kerr asks for a group of readers willing to match his donations dollar-for-dollar up to $1K.

Liberal Reed Hundt, at TPM Cafe: "The National Guard members from Mississippi and Louisiana in Iraq ought to be brought home immediately. That isn't a "cut and run" strategy: it is an act of necessity as well as compassion.

Times-Picayune-associated NOLA.com hosts a variety of amazing photos of the flooding and damage; its NOLA View blog is sharing readers' stories.

Libertarian Megan McArdle, on long-term effects: "The gulf area produces about 10% of our crude oil, and an even bigger percentage of our refined petroleum products. Right now, both are shut down. Expect $3 gas over labor day (urp . . . I just moved my holiday camping trip two extra hours away from the city) and if facilities are seriously damaged, a sizeable impact on consumer spending in the months ahead.

Ex-N.O. resident SobekPundit posts photos from his last visit to the city: "I'm glad I had a chance to see it when I did, because I may never again get a chance to see it like it was." N.O.-based Ernie The Attorney, who had written late 8/28 that he was going to ride out the storm in the city (see 8/29 Blogometer), eventually got out to Jennings, LA, and posts via e-mail: "Now I'm able to see TV and the devastation. I can't process this information. That's it. I'll try to figure out how to deal with this in the morning."

KATRINA II: Well, Don't We Feel A Little Silly For Complaining About The Slow August News ...

BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis asks in a headline: "Should New Orleans be rebuilt?" He writes: "Having visited the city often in my last job, I was always struck by its poverty and its lack of a workable economy. Tourism is pretty much the only industry. The food is great. The attitude is fun. But big companies had left." He suggests: "Perhaps it should go with its strengths and be rebuilt as a tourist destination before all its restaurants have branches in Vegas. Perhaps it should be smaller and rather than investing in rebuilding, the money should in some cases be spent on relocation."

L.A. Cowboy criticizes N.O. Mayor Ray Nagin: "We should all be asking -- after all this time -- why have buses and trucks not been commandeered to get the poor out of the city? Why are the residents of New Orleans not being told HOW to get out of the city instead of just being told that they must get out of the city? And when Mayor Nagin announced the new flooding of much of the rest of New Orleans in his latest interviews - why did he not offer any plan to get those with no resources of their own -- to get out of the city?"

A diarist at Daily Kos makes an alarming prediction: "What I am going to say now is that there are thousands who are dying and dead. There will be scandal and rioting and rightly so in my opinion as the "Negroes" of New Orleans and tourists were left to drown. And that's what happened to a lot of people but the news media and the public is slow to announce and realize the obvious." The title of the post -- "Put the Ni--ers in the Superdome: Part II" -- draws immediate criticism from some commenters, but others argue it's fitting: "Remember David Duke? Leave the title."

Liberal Eve's Apple quotes from a pro-life e-mail she received: "The image of the hurricane above with its eye already ashore at 12:32 PM Monday, August 29 looks like a fetus (unborn human baby) facing to the left (west) in the womb, in the early weeks of gestation. ... Louisiana has 10 child-murder-by-abortion centers - FIVE are in New Orleans."

Right Wing News, in the 2nd of 2 posts about pro-looting liberals at Democratic Underground: "Just because I find this line of thinking to be surprisingly perverse, even for a bunch of liberals at the DU, here are more quotes from patrons of the Democratic Underground who've spoken out in favor of looting." He links to the relevant discussion threads, and quotes some of the more outrageous comment. Liberal Atrios: "New Orleans is being destroyed. Looting, especially by those who are obtaining food, water, and other necessities, is about number 589 on the list of things which matter right now." Conservative Instapundit: "[I]t's one thing for desperate people to help themselves to bottled water, food, or diapers from abandoned stores, and another to just sack those places for valuables. People doing the latter should be shot."

KATRINA III: Forget Plamegate -- Now There's Blamegate

Among Bush's critics, all on the left:

• Will Bunch at Philadelphia Daily News' Attytood collects reports which suggest the Bush admin. failed N.O., including a 9/04 report from the Times-Picayune, which states, "the cost of the Iraq war forced the Bush administration to order the New Orleans district office not to begin any new studies, and the 2005 budget no longer includes the needed money, he said."
• Swing State Project: "Bush can't handle an unexpected event. After 9/11, he kept reading My Pet Goat and then hid on Air Force 1. After the Tsunami, he did almost nothing until the entire world community's outrage forced him to act. After the worst distaster ever, Bush took a break from his vacation to try and swindle seniors -- but not to help victims."
• Liberal Amanda Marcotte defends politicizing the hurricane: "I'm always puzzled by people who want to somehow depoliticize things because they are important -- politics are those things that are most important. Granted, the politics should be pertinent to the discussion at hand and not just tacking your pet project onto the latest story, like making a hurricane about abortion."
• Markos Moulitsas posts a photo of Bush holding a guitar with the presidential seal on it, and comments: "There will be a time for a full accounting of what went wrong, both preparing for this thing and relief efforts afterward. I don't know if the time is now or later. ... I just wish that the president gave a damn about what's happenend. Unfortunately, he's too busy playing 'country rock star.'"
• AMERICAblog: "People are trapped and dying, the president is still on vacation, and the Democratic party is silent about Bush's deadly vacuum of leadership during a time of crisis. Where the hell is the Democratic party?"

Among his defenders, all on the right:

• Balloon Juice's John Cole, at RedState: "So obvious was the need for immediate action that President Bush declared Louisiana a disaster area several days prior to the Hurricane hitting the region. ... Bush will eventually visit the region, when his presence will not be a distraction, just as he did in 2004 when Florida was ravaged by four hurricanes. Not that any of that matters to those who are motivated only by hatred for the man."
• At The Corner, Byron York responds to rumors, spread in part by Air America's Randi Rhodes, that Bush played golf yesterday: "The only problem is, according to the White House, the president didn't play golf yesterday. He took part in a Medicare event at" a country club in AZ "during which he made some remarks about the hurricane -- but there was no golf." Ankle Biting Pundits points out that Cindy Sheehan repeated this rumor as well.

Among those pursuing a third way, both from the left:

• Matt Yglesias reserves his finger-pointing for later: "Awful as this all it, it wasn't in any way unpredictable, and looking at what's going on it's hard to escape the conclusion that the relevant officials don't seem to have done the proper planning. I suppose the full-scale finger-pointing can wait for a while (I, for one, have no real idea who the relevant officials are)..."
• Kevin Drum: "At the risk of sounding overly righteous every time disaster strikes, can I please suggest that Katrina is really not an appropriate subject for partisan jabbing right now? That goes for both left and right."

BLOGS VS. THE MSM: It's All Geraldo's Fault!

Righty Hugh Hewitt writes, TV coverage "can and does communicate invitations to lawlessness which are acted on by people who realize that there is no threat of police arriving and arrest." He argued this point during the '92 L.A. riots, and makes the point again. "The government cannot enforce such a ban, but it is very much in the interest of the people in the devastated region these media outlets purport to serve to downplay civil unrest." He adds, "moderators at bulletin boards have to be careful to avoid allowing fear mongers to post junk without any sources whatsoever," linking to a Free Republic post about 1000s of bodies discovered floating in Gulf Port, MS. Hewitt: "There's enough dire news as it is."

Lefty Duncan "Atrios" Black has another criticism of MSM coverage: "It's a shame that from what I've seen in the media they don't seem to understand the importance of maps. Disaster footage is flashed randomly on the screen, devoid of any genuine geographic context. Maps appropriately scaled for the location of the footage would provide actual useful information. Otherwise, it's mostly just disaster porn."

TV Newser posts the transcript and a link to video of CNN meteorologist Chad Myers flipping out at anchor Carol Costello, throwing his papers to the floor.

SHEEHAN: NPR Move

A number of conservative bloggers are talking about Sheehan's NPR interview, in which she hung up on NPR's Neal Conan. At The Corner, Jonah Goldberg reported hearing that "when the questions got a bit pointed -- not hostile, but not catering to her publicity script for upcoming events -- she basically bailed on the interview." PoliPundit's Lorie Byrd: "I have read many of the outrageous Sheehan quotes, but had not heard them come out of her mouth. I heard it in this interview, though, and it was not pretty. Listen for yourself."

According to a release, declared Iraq vet/WV SEN candidate Hiram Lewis (R) has said he "will travel to Crawford, Texas, to demand a meeting with Cindy Sheehan. 'If she refuses to meet with me there, I will follow her on her bus tour and continue to demand a meeting until she agrees to talk with me face-to-face.'" Blogcritics: "[T]his charade takes Mr. Lewis out of serious contention for the US Senate."

RedState: "Cindy Sheehan is going to protest the performance of the Blue Angels at the Brunswick, Maine, Airshow on September 10. I really don't what more to add to this. I don't know that it is even possible to add anything to it."

NRO's Eric Pfeiffer reports that Gary Qualls, father of a soldier killed in Iraq, is upset with Sheehan's supporters for putting his son's name on a cross: "Some of Sheehan's supporters claim they only created one cross, like they have for all the other fallen soldiers in Iraq. However, Qualls told me that in fact three crosses and one Texas flag 'memorials' were created. He's taken back each one and continues to hold them in his possession." Qualls: "It's disrespectful. They have these crosses is a ditch. That is not honoring fallen soldiers."

SENATE '06: Get Bucked

Swing State Project's Tim Tagaris is quite impressed that the 1st e-mail he's received from MT SEN candidate Jon Tester (D) is a call to help victims of the hurricane. MT-based liberal Spun and Spinning posts a photo of Tester moving hay bales: "When I see some one pick up a bale, I can tell ya right away if'n they have moved a little hay before. This guy has bucked a few in his day....right hand back, left hand forward."

ABLE DANGER: John Q. Dangerously

Captain's Quarters picks up on an AP story indicating that data-mining programs have run afoul of privacy laws, and comments: "Without a doubt, data mining will cause problems with privacy, but rather than toss out the technique -- which appeared to work pretty well for the Able Danger team -- we should instead move to limit its application." A report from DC's WTOP station suggests Able Danger may have been similarly problematic: "A Pentagon spokesman now says 'there's no reason to doubt the specific recollections' of the growing number of team members" who said they had identified several eventual 9/11 hijackers in '00. JustOneMinute: "I can not find an actual Pentagon statement. And it is certainly possible that WTOP is hyping an out of context quote. For example, a spokesperson may have said "there's no reason to doubt the specific recollections... but we can't find any support for it."

BOLTON: Not Making Amends By Making Amendments

Left-leaning Democracy Arsenal criticizes U.N. Amb. John Bolton's move to add hundreds of pages of amendments to the mostly-completed U.N. Millennium Development Goals: "If his goal was to build support for American positions, Bolton would have worked to quietly build consensus around a handful of the issues considered most important. Instead he's launched a broadside against the whole enterprise of reform, targeting head-on matters that are hot-buttons to most of the membership."

ECONOMY: Poor, Poor Pitiful Us

AP reports: "Even with a robust economy that was adding jobs last year, the number of Americans who fell into poverty rose" to 12.7%, or 37M, up 1.1M from '03.

• Right-leaning ParaPundit, in a post titled "It's The Immigration, Stupid": "Lower class whites are getting their incomes kept down by the Hispanic influx. Plus, the number of Hispanics is growing and their poverty rate is much higher than the white poverty rate. So even if the Hispanic poverty rate does not grow the growth of the Hispanics as a percentage of the total populaton increases the percentage of the total population living in poverty. One cause of rising poverty is therefore obvious."
• Conservative Jayson Javitz: "The poverty meme. Ah, yeah, that annual rite of passage -- when Republicans occupy the White House, that is."
• The Left Coaster's Steve Soto: "Congratulations George W. Bush: under your watch, and with your recipe of three rounds of upper income and corporate tax cuts to spur along a pathetic number of new jobs over the last four years, the poverty level has now gone up all four years you have been in office."
• Liberal Newshog: "That George is sure good for us po'folks ain't he?"

NAM exec Pat Cleary, blogging at RedState: " On the eve of Labor Day 2005, organized labor has sunk to a new low. Last week, two workers were shot in a Wal-Mart parking lot," and in response, the union-run Wake-Up Wal-Mart blog asked readers: "Have any of you experienced any problems in Wal-Mart parking lots?" Cleary: "In other words, we are very sorry for these people who were shot -- but hey, if it helps further our own ends, what the hey?"

OBIT: Hey Jude

Reason's Jeff Taylor eulogizes "supply-side economics" coiner Jude Wanniski, who died 8/29 "The popularizer of supply-side economics, and to hear him tell it, a great many other things as well, has died suddenly of a heart attack. Jude Wanniski was an idea man to his core. Big ideas, small ideas, brilliant ideas, silly ideas. Talking to him, or better still watching him work a room of power brokers, was a series of declarations and questions. "You should do this," "have you tried that?" Ideas careened out of the man."

IN THE STATES: Is Meat What's For Dinner?

Conservative South Dakota Politics highlights a minor controversy about how the SD Dems' comm. dir. is a vegetarian, considering the state is heavily agriculture-based: "Everyone can eat whatever they want, there should be no debate on that issue. The issue is whether this is smart in terms of politics given the facts of our state." Both parties have issued statements about the flap. From the Rapid City Journal's Mount Blogmore sorts it out: "Some GOP bloggers learned that one of the new hires might be a practicing vegetarian -- one who questioned an anti-animal-activist billboard -- and devoted some space to that, er, situation. Then the official SD Repub Party joined the act, although they could only muster that the new Dem staffer 'implied' a position."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Upon Review

Mickey Kaus: "I just installed the highly-touted Google Desktop search engine because a friend of mine told me that it will change my life. It will. My computer is now running about half the speed it used to and I'm going to lose my job! I think I will now uninstall Google Desktop."

LEST WE FORGET: Zombies Who Need Robots

The Poor Man presents: "Barbra's All-Star Tribute to New Media."

Posted by at 12:12 PM

August 30, 2005

8/30: The Day After Tomorrow ... Er, Yesterday

Whenever there's a big story out there, at the Blogometer we look to the front page of Technorati to see whether the posts we read correspond to what people are looking to read about. Earlier this a.m., as many 6 of the top 10 searches were hurricane related, including the top 2. Along with variations of the hurricane's name there were searches for "New Orleans," "Biloxi" and "Superdome."

Anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan remains a big story -- though well below her previous Technorati dominance (see 8/18 Blogometer) -- as her supporters work to get the word out about the upcoming move out of Crawford, expanded campaign and bus trip for what's expected to be a large anti-war rally DC next month. Meanwhile, a few conservative blogs try to stir up some controversy about VA GOV candidate/Dem LG Tim Kaine's authenticity as a sportsman, relating to comments he'd made to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Iraq, Judy Miller, Ann Coulter, Jonah Goldberg and various WH'08 contenders all find themselves debated in today's edition as well.

Plus, the Blogometer looks at where all the John Roberts coverage has gone, and we present our latest Blogger Spotlight.

HURRICANE KATRINA: When The Levee Breaks

CNN.com's report about levee break and subsequent flooding gets plenty of coverage, as blog automated aggregators BlogsNow and Memeorandum show. Brendan Loy and others post a Google Maps image of where the breach occurred. Loy: "Long story, but I never really ended up going to bed. Argh. Anyway, it's very difficult to tell how serious the situation with the levee breach is. The tone of the media coverage certainly doesn't suggest that this is the beginning of the inexorable lost-city-of-Atlantis flood that we've been fearing all along, but then again, I'm not sure I trust the tone of the media coverage."

Daily Kos' regular "Cheers and Jeers" contributor Bill in Portland Maine dedicates the above-the-fold section of his post this morning to posting the Red Cross' website and phone number.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune's home page announces: "Today the paper is being distributed electronically only." The Times-Picayune's NOLA View hasn't been posted yet today, but last p.m. put up an eerie photo of the Superdome, taken from T-P HQ.

Univ. of Chicago's Daniel Drezner calls attention to an '03 post at A Perfectly Cromulent Blog decrying TV news' coverage as "hurricane porn." A Small Victory's Michele Catalano agrees, posting images of news websites calling the hurricane "our tsunami" (see 8/29 Blogometer) and New Orleans the next "Atlantis." Instapundit and others reply that Katrina was "worth the hype." Drezner updates: "Valid arguments.... except I've been so inured to prior hurricane porn that it's now tough for me to distinguish between a genuine menace to mankind vs. some weathermen breathlessly claiming that some tropical depression could be huge." Below the Beltway: "I think its fair to say that nothing like this has ever happened in a major American city and it may be a long time before things are back to anything approaching normal."

CAP's Think Progress coins a phrase: "The Superdome Society": "In New Orleans, many ... low wage earners have congregated at the Superdome. Their stories reveal the conditions faced by the poor in America," including "Fending For Themselves" and "Families Dependent on Gov't Assistance." Both points are illustrated with excerpts from a story in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Liberal Chris Bowers sees a different effect at work: "Is it just me, or was the subject already thoroughly changed from the war to the hurricane? The news seems to have changed dramatically over the past two days, and I am having difficulty finding things to write that are related to politics."

WHITE HOUSE '08: They Could Be Contenders

Conservative Ace of Spaces HQ argues that ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) being pro-choice won't kill his chances with social cons: "That was in New York. He will not bring a pro-abortion agenda to the federal level." Plus, Pres. Bush is "well-liked by social conservatives, but he is not the most forward-leaning on the pro-life position. Alan Keyes is strongly pro-life, and he has no chance of winning." More: "It's just not true that social conservatives do all the compromising. If it feels that way, it's largely just because people of course are most aware of when they're not getting what they want, and less aware of when others aren't getting what they want."

Starting 8/29, ret. Gen. Wesley Clark is blogger-in-rotation at TPM Cafe's Table for One. From his first post: "Not only do I disagree with the premise by which this Administration started the war in Iraq, I also disagree with their current strategy of urging American 'resolve' and fighting in Iraq in an open-ended manner. Simply 'staying the course' is not an option, and neither is cutting and running. Too much is at stake. ... I'd like to read some more of your ideas here at the TPMCafe, so don't be shy." In the 24 hours since the post went up, it has collected 165+ comments.

The Corner's Tim Graham, on VA Gov. Mark Warner's (D) announcement that he won't challenge VA Sen. George Allen (R): "Warner, touted as a Southern moderate despite raising our taxes in Virginia, must be serious about running for president, since he's already hired the obligatory Howard Dean-loving Internet specialist from MyDD to make him look less moderate."

PoliPundit's DJ Drummond takes strong exception to the validity of Patrick Ruffini's GOP-oriented WH'08 poll, for not being weighted, for not guarding against multiple votes, and for listing "several qualified candidates" as "fantasy" candidates. Ruffini replies in the comments, Drummond responds in a subsequent post, and Ruffini eventually files a post at his own blog.

BLOGS VS. THE MSM: Photoshop Til You Drop

Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum compares an AFP photo as it ran in the Los Angeles Times, BBC's website, and New York Times. The NYT's is darker than the rest; the LAT's is definitely the brightest. He compares them against what seems to be the original photo at Yahoo, and concludes the NYT probably "ran it straight."

The Left Coaster rejoices: "It is clear to me that the spirit of True Conservative Barry Goldwater is walking the state whispering into the ears of those conservatives who still have functioning cranial organs. How can I tell? The Arizona Daily Star publicly declared: No more Ann Coulter!" The dropping of her syndie column comes as part of a general overhaul of the op-ed page; the Daily Star's David Stoeffler attributes significant criticism of Coulter to conservative readers. In his first piece for the Huffington Post, Crooks & Liars' John Amato takes on Coulter for calling NYCers "cowards." The Moderate Voice's Joe Gandelman adds: "There is a bigger issue here than an Ann Coulter ... and a Michael Moore ... The issue is the deterioration of public discourse in our country -- and Coulter is symbolic of it."

IN THE STATES: Just Shoot Me

Alexandria Falls Church resident Patrick Ruffini notices VA LG Tim Kaine (D) telling the Richmond Times-Dispatch that "he occasionally takes his two sons shooting while visiting the Greenbrier and Homestead resorts." Ruffini posts links to and photos of the Greenbrier and Homestead, which are expensive and swanky. Ruffini, on this fact and a couple similarly-revealing Kaine quotes: "There's a campaign-ending moment in there somewhere." Commonwealth Conservative: "Even if he were trying, I doubt Kaine could sound like more of an elitist."

ROBERTS: Why Isn't Anybody Picking On Me?

For several weeks, the Blogometer included a dedicated section for coverage of SCOTUS nominee John Roberts. We haven't done one lately because, well, there isn't much controversy these days. This is sure to change as hearings get under way next month, but we thought it might be interesting to check in with several of the SCOTUS-focused blogs, and find the last post where they mentioned Roberts. This isn't to say that nobody is discussing Roberts: clearly some are, but for a few who had hung their shingle on the Roberts fight, they have obviously scaled back their efforts. We've organized them from most recent to least:

• RedState's Confirm Them: 8/30
• National Review's Bench Memos: 8/30
• Washington Post's Campaign for the Supreme Court: 8/29
• Conservative Underneath Their Robes: 8/29
• NWLC's Nomination Watch: 8/26
• TPM Cafe's SCOTUS page: 8/25
• Liberal Balkinization: 8/25
• Goldstein & Howe firm's Supreme Court Nomination Blog: 8/23
• Libertarian Prawfsblawg: 8/17
• CAP's Supreme Court Extra: 8/13

One early salvo in the expected resurgence of the Roberts fight is the new site StopJohnRoberts.com, which is launching an new ad against his nod. One of the organizers announces it in a thank-you post at MyDD: "I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone here for your help in producing this new ad opposing the nomination of John Roberts. The script was developed off suggestions and ideas from feedback from bloggers and netroots activists. We wanted to produce an ad that could be shown in red and blue states and put pressure on Senators around the country to oppose Roberts's confirmation."

SHEEHAN: Cindy Arafat?

Sheehan quotes Lennon/McCartney for the title of her latest cross-posted message to the public. Sheehan includes the text of a letter she will send to all 535 members of Congress, and calls on her supporters: "Now we need your help. We are taking Camp Casey to Congress. We plan to hold rallies and meetings in key Congressional districts (Democrats and Republican alike), where the incumbent is weak on the war."

Liberal BradBlog posts a photo of Iraq vet/Army Spc. Tomas Young (and wife Bree); Young was paralyzed from the chest down in Iraq, and wants to meet with Bush.

Axis of Logic posts details on the 9/24 anti-war protest in DC.

A new BlogAd promoting the Rightalk online radio network -- which counts among its hosts both establishment conservatives and bloggers -- appearing on conservative blogs portrays Sheehan as Yasser Arafat. Liberal Blogtemps posts a partial copy and singles out frequent liberal-target Michelle Malkin, on whose site this ad was found: "Obviously Michelle Malkin supports this advertisement on her blog and mind-boggling demonization of Cindy Sheehan. Shame is the word for such divisive arrogance. Shame on the advertiser, shame on the publisher."

Conservative The Political Teen puts together a montage starting with "all the video I had of Sheehan" and took out clipworthy pieces." And conservative satire blog Huffington's Toast posts an imaginary book cover for an imaginary romance novel.

BACKLOG: The Goldberg Files

Over the weekend, Jonah Goldberg called attention to the neo-Nazi elements who were traveling to Crawford to join Sheehan's protest, writing at The Corner: "GOOD FOR CINDY! She's rallied the Nazis to her cause (obviously unintentionally, but it's interesting how her message resonates in such quarters nonetheless)."

At Daily Kos, Armando called Goldberg's snark "A New Republican Low": "Let's be clear here -- Cindy Sheehan detests Neo-Nazis. Not only will she not embrace them, she will run them off. Republicans, on the other hand, seek the bigots out and make them part of their team. Despicable Republicans. Despicable Goldberg." He also observed that RedState "joins the detestable conduct" for writing: "Ah, White Supremacists and Democrats together again -- they haven't shared the same talking points since when? 1861? 1963?" And Atrios posted an excerpt about National Review from the Chicago Reader on how U.S. periodicals misreported and editorialized against the civil rights movement.

Posts like these apparently provoked a flood of e-mails, and Goldberg posted a clarification: "I think Sheehan has absolutely no sense of proportion or responsibility when she calls Bush a terrorist and a murderer or when she ascribes comic-book-villain motives to the administration. ... If you leave yourself no room, rhetorically speaking, between yourself and the crazies don't be surprised if the crazies respond to your rhetoric."

IRAQ: Running The Time-Tables

At TAPPED, liberal Matt Yglesias considers Sen. Ron Wyden's (D-OR) "Late Edition" appearance this weekend, and observes, it seems he is "creeping toward timetableism": "Obviously, Democrats are looking for some kind of political sweet spot here. Unfortunately, it's not clear that whatever middle ground Wyden's looking for is really there." Armando at Daily Kos: "Maybe a little push for Wyden on this? Senator Wyden, consider blending General Clark's approach in there with yours."

Liberal Juan Cole, at Informed Comment: "Parliament has abdicated its responsibilities toward the constitution and put it in the lap of the October 15 national referendum. Al-Hayat aptly said that the Iraqi constitution has been delivered by caesarian section. It was plucked from the womb of the drafting committee before the latter could give birth to it naturally. Sunni negotiator Salih Mutlak called it 'a minefield.'"

Conservative Betsy Newmark points readers toward a new Weekly Standard piece: "For a while now, Stephen Hayes has been beating the drum of the connections between Iraq and Al Qaeda. He must feel like no one is listening."

ROVE-PLAME-MILLER: Cry For Me, Argentina. Cry?

An 8/29 New York Times editorial titled "Free Judy Miller" drew derision from the left and right. Conservative Tom Maguire snickers at the part where the Times mentions a petition in was signed by "European writers, journalists and thinkers" including filmmaker Pedro Almodovar. Maguire: "Perhaps the Times is under the misapprehension that John and Teresa won last fall." Arianna Huffington, at her Post: "Which do you think is more likely, that" the signees understand the case, or "someone put a petition in front them and said 'The Bush administration is throwing reporters in jail, please sign!'" More Huffington: "[F]ar from rallying support for Miller, today's pitiable plea instead calls attention to how little support for Miller there actually is ... even among the Times' own op-ed columnists. Not one of them has written a single word" about Miller since she was incarcerated." Pandagon's Jesse Taylor: "There's a really simple way to make sure that the continual national embarrassment of having Judith Miller be the longest-imprisoned reporter in the history of the United States no longer continues. Fire her ass."

GREAT DEBATES: Mission Krep

GMU prof Andrew Krepinevich's Foreign Affairs essay "How To Win In Iraq," aka the "oil-spot strategy," suggests the U.S. focus on providing security for Iraqis rather than hunting down insurgents, and then expand those zones over time. On 8/28 it got a favorable mention from the NYT's David Brooks, and it's still being discussed. It's received a cooler response in the blogosphere, from conservatives such as Garfield Ridge to liberals such as Matt Yglesias.

• Neoliberal Eduwonk thinks the strategy has domestic application: "Isn't this basically the same strategy that education reformers should pursue in the cities? Instead of just supporting often isolated politicians who are constantly under attack or fighting hopeless guerilla warfare inside bureaucracies, establishing some oil spots in big cities, winning victories, and establishing some proof points ... seems like a more promising strategy."
• Radical centrists Mickey Kaus and Andrew Sullivan agree, with the latter adding: "I feel the same way about equality in marriage. Let's leave Massachusetts alone, let's build the case for gay marriage by showing how it works in a handful of places and then work from there."

Just as the NYT's Paul Krugman and a number of bloggers have been re-arguing the WH'00 FL debacle (see 8/29 Blogometer), recently other bloggers have been re-arguing an even older debate -- the one over the '98 book "The Bell Curve." The debate comes up as co-author Charles Murray publishes a new essay in Commentary. Titled "The Inequality Taboo," it is largely about the recent controversy surrounding Harvard pres. Larry Summers. The Blogometer isn't going to wade into it, but a few of the pertinent contributions are here: Steve Sailer; TPM Cafe; Brad DeLong; No Speed Bumps; Eschaton; Andrew Sullivan; Lawyers Guns & Money.

BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT: In The Adesnik Of Time

Today the Blogometer talks to David Adesnik, who contributes to the long-running center-right group effort at OxBlog.

What is your full name?

Ariel David Hauptman Adesnik. (I go by 'David' to minimize the gender confusion.)

What is your age?

28

Where did you grow up?

Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Not far from Matt Yglesias, although I never met him until two years ago.

Where do you live now?

Charlottesville, VA. I'm just finishing up a year as a fellow at UVA's Miller Center of Public Affairs and will be moving to Washington at the end of the summer.

What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?

I am looking for jobs right now. If you want to offer me one, please contact me at oxblog@yahoo.com. When I was fifteen, I spent two weeks working on a Senate campaign in New York. In college, I wrote a twice-a-month column for the daily student paper.

When did you start blogging and why?

In September 2002, because I realized how little I knew about current events even though (or precisely because) I was getting a Ph.D in international relations. After 9/11, that didn't seem like an acceptable state of affairs.

What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?

I rarely write about my personal life, but I did post a tribute to my mother after her ordination as a rabbi just over two years ago. That will always be my favorite post.

Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?

In general, I only blog after finishing my day's work on my dissertation. I'd say I put in around ten hours a week on the blog, although that has fallen somewhat as I approach the final stages of my dissertation. My output is unpredictable. Even I don't know what my instincts will tell me to write.

Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?

The answer to the first part of that question is a tie between Dan Drezner and Phil Carter (who joined the 101st Airborne earlier this summer -- I wish him all the best.) As for non-political blogs, I don't read'em.

Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?

Jackson Diehl at the WaPo. He understands democracy promotion as an idea and as a policy better than anyone else I've read.

What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?

I don't have cable and I only watch the networks because they show reruns of "The Simpsons" and "Seinfeld." But my mom has a huge crush on Jon Stewart, so I'll say "The Daily Show."

What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?

My homepage is www.washingtonpost.com. I usually give the Times a look, as well. Then I read blogs.

What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?

My top three are Glenn Reynolds, Kevin Drum and Matt Yglesias.

How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?

I have a subscription to the Washington Post because you can't rest a bowl of cereal on a website.

How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?

I believe in convergence. The first thing is always tell people (especially journalists) is that the blogosphere is not trying to replace or overthrow the established media. With a few exceptions, bloggers provide opinion and analysis, not original coverage. The blogosphere is basically a virtual op-ed page.

Nonetheless, the blogosphere is a threat to the MSM, but only because we insist that it live up to its self-professed standards of objectivity and impartiality. However, I think journalists are pretty open-minded (especially compared to politicians) and have begun to integrate new media approaches into their own work. I expect that this convergence will only increase in coming years. Of course, I may be totally, catastrophically wrong about that. (It wouldn't be a first.)

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Cracking The Code

Picking up on conservative Will Vehrs' attempt at a Blogging Code of Ethics -- inspired by a debate at UVA's Sorenson Institute Summit on Blogging and Democracy in the Commonwealth -- liberal Raising Kaine tries its hand at spelling out a list of good-blogger rules:

1. "Fully disclose," unless there is an "overriding ethical or legal reason."
2. "Do not lie or knowingly disseminate false information."
3. "Properly attribute the source of information, photos, etc. -- do not plagiarize."
4. "Do not attack private individuals, including fellow bloggers. For public officials, make sure that whatever you say is factually based, and ... avoid going ad hominem if at all possible."
5. "Obey Will Vehrs Rule #5. 'If I perform the work of a newsgathering journalist in the course of my blogging, I will endeavor to follow generally accepted codes of journalistic conduct, including shielding sources when the reason is explained.'"
6. "Obey Will Vehrs Rule #6. 'I will not censor or edit the feedback I receive except for foul language or malicious intent. I will endeavor to be accessible to my readers and to respond to their complaints and suggestions.'"
7. "Have fun."

LEST WE FORGET: But It Still Isn't The Dullest Blog In The World

The Agitator's Radley Balko declares 6/27/05 as "The Day Blogging Ceased to be 'Edgy.'" This was "the day the Air Conditioning Contractors of America started its own official blog. I give it another three months before those bastards from the oscillating fan industry start trolling the comments section with snarky rejoinders."

Posted by at 12:41 PM

August 29, 2005

8/29: Katrina And The Waves

The only story that matters this a.m. is Hurricane Katrina. Where many had assumed the city could have been utterly destroyed, it seems clear at this point that it has been spared the worst: there will probably still be a New Orleans tomorrow. But the city has sustained massive damage and flooding already, tens of thousands are riding it out inside the compromised Superdome, and the rest have fled. It's big news today, but the area may be uninhabitable for weeks after the storm passes.

HURRICANE: You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat

A few Katrina-related resources:

• Jeff Jarvis and Michelle Malkin both have impressive round-ups of hurricane blogging.
• New Orleans Times-Picayune has a breaking-news blog, which provides reports from the area.
• In a headline, a Daily Kos writer advises the best way to help out: "Give Money Only, and Give to the Red Cross."
• See Flickr's Katrina page for amateur photos related to the hurricane.
• An apparently still-functional outdoor webcam on the LSU campus.

Blogger reax:

• >> Steve Gregory reports at one of the Weather Underground blogs, the worst has probably been avoided: "Just before heading for some sleep -- I sent an advisory around 2AM indicating that Katrina was going to weaken a bit, and that it would skirt the east of New Orleans. That's has in fact happened, sparing the city of New Orleans from a truly catastrophic event." At the same site, Jeff Masters observes: "New Orleans will not suffer large loss of life from Katrina."
  
  

  >> One of the most popular links has been to the NWS alert, which Poliblog's Steven Taylor calls "so shocking in its language, that even though it can be found on their server, it reads like a hoax." A sample: "MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED." And: "POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS." Viking Pundit calls it "almost hysterical." A CNN report suggested in its headline that "Katrina may be 'our Asian tsunami'" -- as several bloggers quote it -- before apparently being retitled. VodkaPundit's Stephen Green compares Katrina to 9/11.
  

  >> Bloggers in the area write matter-of-factly about the grim situation. N.O. Pundit: "There is a Schroedinger's Cat quality to watching the spinning red ball: does the New Orleans that I know even exist right now, hours before landfall? Surely the buildings are there right now and the people who remained are fine right now. But in a sense, some of those buildings have already fallen and some of those people have already met tragedy." Paul from Wizbang, a New Orleanian: "New Orleanians have a sense of humor... Less face it, to put up with our politicians you need to... But that was on display in the hotel lobby where people were greeting each other, 'So, where did you used to live?' I met a woman who used to live uptown. I told her I used to live in Metairie." NOLA Blogs has a list of bloggers from the area. Rogers Cadenhead: "Looking around New Orleans with GeoURL, I've yet to find a blogger sticking around for Hurricane Katrina." On 8/27, before it was clear how serious the storm would be, Sporked could write: "I'm sure this will be great fun." Drudge Report-like Dead Pelican reported at 6:41 a.m.: "THE DEAD PELICAN MAY BE LOSING POWER SHORTLY. WE WILL STAY ONLINE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. GOOD LUCK TO ALL, AND GOD BLESS." NOLA-based Ernie the Attorney, during the weekend: "So I tried to leave New Orleans today at 12:30 pm but after 4 hours of driving I had only made it 15 miles. I was alone and tired so I decided the safe play was to return. It's kind of sad when the 'safe play' is to go back and wait to be pounded by the gnashing fury of a Category 5 hurricane."
  

  >> For more than a few lefty bloggers, Pres. Bush bears a lot of responsibility for the suffering that is expected. Diarist Patricia Taylor at Daily Kos: "Historically, it is the National Guard, along with other emergency personnel, who attempt to provide emergency services to the community in disaster relief situations like Katrina. And where are these National Guard right now? Iraq." Wampum calls it "A Bush-made catastrophe in the making..." Skippy the Bush Kangaroo and Swing State Project make similar points. So does Steve Gilliard, who writes: "The next closest thing to this is a nuclear explosion." AMERICAblog suggests that New Orleans could get more attention from the Bush admin. by renaming the storm "Hurricane Terri"; a little Photoshop work places Terri Schiavo's face over the eye of the storm. TalkLeft: "One other point: we need to stop destroying the Louisiana wetland which serves as a buffer." Wizbang's Paul picks up the Daily Kos diary, and adds this comment: "Actually if the dumbass used google news they would have known the Guard is in the Superdome." Liberal BooMan Tribune: "It looks like it is time to put partisanship and politics aside. Dealing with this calamity is going to require a unified approach from all Americans."
  

  >> In 5/05, Chris Mooney wrote a piece for The American Prospect titled "Thinking Big About Hurricanes" and eerily subtitled "It's time to get serious about saving New Orleans." But Mooney wasn't the only one to write such a piece, as several bloggers link to an '02 Science World article, and then a few others to a public radio report, both addressing the possible destruction of New Orleans by hurricane. At his personal blog, Mooney raises other issues not being discussed: "Sea Level Rise," "Coastal Wetlands Losses, and "The Hurricane-Global Warming Link."
  

  >> Brendan Loy stayed up all night blogging the storm, and is back at it again now. LA-based Josh Britton has been blogging around the clock. And others around the country are paying close attention as well. Just a few among the many: Daily Inklings; Yippie-Ki-Yay!; Lean Left; Phog Blog; The Jawa Report; Politickal; Michael Totten; People Get Ready; Donklephant; California Conservative; Angry Bear; Backcountry Conservative; Blogs of War; Baldilocks; Talking Points Memo.

SHEEHAN: The Road Ahead

As mentioned above, Sheehan's protest is not the major story it once was, but it still rates a mention on the front pages of Eschaton and Daily Kos this a.m. Liberal radio talker Brad Friedman of BradBlog, has been in Crawford with Sheehan and her fellow protesters all weekend, broadcasting multiple special shows. At Democrats.com, David Swanson shares his experience of going down to Crawford. Big-name visitors to "Camp Casey" this weekend included Al Sharpton and actor Martin Sheen.

NRO's Eric Pfeiffer reports from Crawford: "Cindy Sheehan has admitted she will only travel for two days on her own 24 day bus tour to Washington DC after protesters leave Crawford" on 8/31, heading to DC for a planned anti-war demonstration on 9/24. More: "Sheehan cited 'previous speaking engagements' as her reason for not being able to travel with the proletariat protesters. The first day of her tour which is "not political" will target" House Maj. Leader Tom DeLay.

Little Green Footballs posts 2 photographs of the same event -- Sheehan kneeling before crosses -- which are wildly different in effect: "Here's a touching scene, featuring Cindy Sheehan and the Reverend Al Sharpton, in front of crosses, looking solemn and sad. Now let's zoom out and see the media swarm around this manufactured event..."

Mimicking taunts from liberal bloggers about pictures showing few protesters on the pro-Bush side, conservative blog round-up GOPINION posts photos of Sheehan sitting alone, with the headline: "Where Are All The Protesters?" GOPINION links to a Right Wing Nut House post arguing that the protest is rather small: "It's like this 'mass movement' exists only on a Hollywood sound stage. When the cameras are turned off, it disappears like smoke from a fog machine wafting up into the rafters."

Liberal radio talker Taylor Marsh criticizes Sheehan's call for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq: "An immediate pull-out of troops is simply not a moral, or to put it more bluntly, an American interest option. So, it's with all due respect that I say to Cindy Sheehan ... What part of catastrophe don't you understand?"

WHITE HOUSE '08: Step By Step

Conservative Baseball Crank argues, as per the post's header: "How A Social Moderate Can Win The GOP Nomination In Six Easy Steps" The steps are: "1. Don't Run Against The Social Right"; "2. Federalism, Federalism, Federalism"; "3. Promise to Appoint Conservative, Pro-Democracy Judges"; "4. Show Some Backbone In Other Areas"; "5. Do No Harm"; "6. Nominate A Conservative Running Mate." He concludes: "[M]aybe Rudy Giuliani is the guy who can do it, and maybe he's not. ... But I do believe that, by following the road map laid out above, a candidate who, for example, personally supports legal abortion could nonetheless win the GOP presidential nomination, and do so with his or her principles more or less intact."

Left-libertarian Arthur Silber: "As the Bush foreign policy self-immolates and disintegrates more with every day that passes, we are witnessing a political and moral vacuum. ... In this atmosphere, the politician who stepped up ... could become a national leader with an enormous following in record time. It could make him or her the next President. Except for Feingold, no one has even tried to rise to the challenge -- and all the rest of them affirmatively avoid it."

SENATE '06: Hackett Talk

At MyDD, Chris Bowers posts a map of ex-House candidate Paul Hackett's donors -- they are spread all across the country -- and writes that Hackett would be the "crowning jewel" in the DSCC's recruitment for SEN '06. Cleveland-based liberal hawk Democracy Guy disagrees: "I've never seen a rationale for a US Senate campaign that forgets to actually discuss the state in question, let alone that the candidate hasn't won a single race higher than city council. Worse yet, as with every single other utterance from the liberal blogosphere, there is no mention of the post 9/11 dynamic in the electorate, which will be the very first hurdle any US Senate candidate from Ohio will have to clear."

IRAQ: Double-Take

New York Times has a full translation of the Iraqi constitution. Power Line: "I'm still working my way through it, but it generally looks good, despite being a little 'liberal,' in the American sense, in places." Captain's Quarters, on the constitution going forward above Sunni complaints: "Had they voted in the last election, they could have had their own representatives in the negotiations to tell them that [supporting the constitution is for the best]. Hopefully Sunni voters will have seen the idiocy of their boycott and what they lost as a result, and will not make the same mistake twice."

New York Times reports, Army contracting official Bunnatine Greenhouse, who in '03 criticized some of Halliburton's Iraq contracts, has been demoted; although she once had "stellar" performance ratings, her reviews "became negative at roughly the time she began objecting" to the contracts. Rising Hegemon: "Just in time to be ignored because of a Hurricane and the so-called Iraqi Constitution..."

On 8/25, independent journalist Michael Yon posted "Gates of Fire," an account of a firefight in Mosul, in which he temporarily stopped reporting and started fighting, against a terrorist who had been caught and released previously. Technorati counts 260+ links to the specific post and BlogPulse counts 180+. Conservative Day By Day cartoon compares the hotel-bound AP reporters in Baghdad unfavorably with Yon.

Blackfive reports that Army CoS Peter Schoomaker is setting forth new guidelines for dealing with soldiers' blogs, and quotes the message in full. The Army is concerned that terrorists are reading the soldiers' blog entries to try and determine weaknesses.

Right-leaning Gregory Djerejian writes a post titled "The Flypaper Fallacy: 10 Reasons Not To Believe the Hype" Number one: "It assumes a finite number of jihadis willing to die."

THE MARCH OF BLOGS: A Blog Named Sue

SEO Book blogger Aaron Wall is being sued by Internet marketing company Traffic-Power.com over comments made by others at his blog. The Blog Herald reports: "If successful the case has the potential to cause major upheaval in the blogosphere as comments would need to be filtered in cases where there was even the slightest chance someone might sue or find the comment offensive or disagree with it."

Pajamas Media, the yet-to-debut news service/ad agency by Roger L. Simon and Charles Johnson, announces a name change. They write, the name originated as a response to now-CNN/then-CBS exec Jonathan Klein's Memogate-era dismissal of bloggers, but "as we have gone forward putting together this company, it has become clear to us that we do not wish to be defined merely as gadflies in opposition to mainstream media." The About Us page also mentions: "Key details of the plan are still under wraps. For now, the co-founders will say only that there will be a significant unveiling in the fall of 2005."

BlogAds founder Henry Copeland announces, in an e-mail: "The current Blogads logo is terrible -- I can say that because I drew it in March 2002, expecting the scribble to last two days. So please tell your designer friends about our need for a brilliant new logo. Winning designer gets $1000."

Over the weekend, UVA's Sorenson Institute held a Summit on Blogging and Democracy in the Commonwealth, which was attended by several high-profile VA bloggers. In attendance were bloggers from Raising Kaine, Commonwealth Conservative; The Red Stater; Shaun Kenney; Bacon's Rebellion; Waldo Jaquith. Inspired by discussion at the conf., Will Vehrs at Bacon's Rebellion attempts a "blogger code of conduct." QandO's Jon Henke doesn't see the point: "I've managed to make it 30 years so far without writing down my formal code of ethics. I'm certainly not going to do it so I can petition the legislature for the right to speak freely."

In an attempt to head off disruptive posters, Daily Kos', Hunter proposes that readers rate posts that are "pointlessly ad hominem" or "unintendedly sexist" a 2 on a 5-point scale. Not so low as to suggest the poster for banning, but low enough to send a message; he calls it the "Hunter 2." He polls readers for their opinions of the idea; over half the respondents approve, but over a third doubt it will work.

BLOGS VS. THE MSM: Re-Fighting Florida

This weekend, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman appended to his column a correction to a previous column, where he had cited evidence that then-VP Gore would have won the WH under most counting scenarios. His initial column had set off a round of complaints from conservative bloggers, and this correction only brings more complaints. Patterico's Pontifications has a lengthy post attempting to rebut Krugman's claims. Michelle Malkin and Tom Maguire join in, although after a series of updates, Maguire makes a partial defense of Krugman.

At NRO's Media Blog, Stephen Spruiell disputes Washington Post online columnist Dan Froomkin's assertion that no war critics are calling for an immediate withdrawal. "I normally avoid going into Froomkin in detail, because that daily chore would leave room for little else on the Media Blog. In the interests of my sanity, I will leave it to somebody else to start a FroomkinWatch blog. Any takers?"

BACKLOG: Vincent

Univ. of MI prof Juan Cole defends his comments on the murder of journalist Steven Vincent in Iraq, in light of fierce criticism by Vincent's widow, Lisa Ramaci-Vincent (see 8/23 Blogometer). Writes Cole: "I am clarifying my remarks because Vincent's widow is circulating a misleading characterization of them. I understand the grief of a bereaved widow, and I am not interested in arguing with her. But Vincent does not get a pass on being criticized simply because he is dead." Cole: "His death was most unfortunate, and I felt it. He was a colleague of sorts. But he behaved foolishly and frankly ignorantly." But lefty UCLA prof Mark A.R. Kleiman is incensed by Cole's response, writing a 10-point reply: "Perhaps you can explain how you square your contemptuous dismissal of Ms. Ramaci-Vincent with your criticism of George W. Bush's treatment of Cindy Sheehan? ... The main difference I can see between the two cases is that Mr. Bush hasn't insulted Ms. Sheehan's dead son, while you have insulted Ms. Ramaci-Vincent's dead husband." More: "In the course of criticizing Mr. Vincent's conduct ... you never find occasion to criticize the conduct of his murderers ... It's fair to ask whose side you take: that of the victims, or that of the perpetrators?"

INTRODUCING: Chancellor Of The Chequer

Righty Pejman Yousefzadeh has closed up shop at Pejmanesque, and moved his primary blogging efforts to A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days, which is a group blog at which he is the primary contributor. Others include QandO's Henke, Patrick Frey from Patterico's Pontifications, and Leon H from Macho Nachos and RedState, to which Yousefzadeh also contributes. The title comes from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Honey, I Shrunk The President

Liberal BAGnewsNotes posts a photo of Bush walking out in front of a blue curtain in a hangar, looking a bit small in comparison: "Often, a news image will lead the wire because it captures some underlying truth about the political moment at hand. ... Because the meeting took place in Bush's aircraft hanger in Crawford, it seems the photographer's vantage worked substantially to the President's disadvantage. If Bush's policies are shrinking in popularity, this image might well serve as visual documentation."

LEST WE FORGET: Regrettably Pro-War?

Liberal Fafblog "interviews" several top Senate Dems about the situation in Iraq:

FAFBLOG: So what's up, Democrats?
JOE BIDEN : What's up is the war in Iraq, which is terribly mismanaged, Fafnir.
FB: Oh wow! Are you guys against the war, too?
JOE LIEBERMAN : Oh no, we're not AGAINST the war!
HARRY REID : We're all FOR it!
BIDEN: It's the best worst idea in the world, and we're gonna run with it to victory!
HILLARY CLINTON : Watch me eat a bug!
FB: So we can actually win the war! That's great news!
LIEBERMAN: Yes!
REID: Sort of!
BIDEN: Maybe!
CLINTON: I can wrestle a buffalo!

Posted by at 01:01 PM

August 25, 2005

8/25: Isn't It Labor Day Yet?

Note: Because The Hotline is is taking off Fridays in August, the next edition of the Blogometer will be posted on Monday the 29th.

Pres. Bush takes a hammering in these last 24 hours, arguably more so than in recent weeks. Liberal blogs have criticized his Iraq strategy as adrift or worse for nearly 2 years now, but the generally-acknowledged unease about the war's progress -- the uncertain Iraqi constitution, Bush's basement-dwelling poll numbers, Cindy Sheehan's widely-covered protest in Crawford -- gives them more confidence, perhaps more cohesiveness, and certainly a more receptive audience. Meanwhile, conservative bloggers seem to be having more doubts, or at least are feeling more comfortable expressing them, than in months past. While plenty are willing to attribute this to the doldrums of the late summer news cycle or the temporary confusion over the unresolved constitution, no one can say for sure what this will mean in 2 months, let alone 2 weeks. The liberal blogs hope to sustain the momentum they've picked up; conservatives hope that Iraq -- and Bush's approval rating -- starts looking up.

In other news, or what there is of it, the Pat Robertson flap is sticking around for another day, one liberal lays out a sweeping strategy for the anti-war movement; one conservative argues the libertarian nature of many blogs hurts its WH'08 predictions, plus a few WH and GOV rumblings rate mention. What's not news? The CIA leak probe, Able Danger, the SCOTUS nod of Judge John Roberts, and pretty much everything else.

BUSH: Are You There, Competence? It's Me, Margaret

At his NRO blog, ex-Bush speechwriter David Frum argues that Bush is using his bully pulpit "very badly indeed." For example, Bush "will agree to give what is advertised in advance as a major speech. An important venue will be chosen. A crowd of thousands will be gathered. The networks will all be invited. And after these elaborate preparations, the president says ... nothing that he has not said a hundred times before." Frum also makes the point: "Supporters of the war can argue that the public is mistaken, overly influenced by biased news reporting. Yes, yes. But mistaken public opinion is just as powerful as sound public opinion."

Bush-supporting conservative The Anchoress writes, she's "gettin' antsy": "Does anyone remember April and May of 2005? And the months preceding them? The Orange Revolution? The Arab Springtime? The Cedar Revolution of Lebanon -- all of them seeming to have a fire lit under them, a wonderful fire of liberty. It's very troubling. Worrying. People seem to be running out of energy here, and W is simply not rallying them ... The momentum has stopped. Everything has come to a screeching halt. Is there something he's not telling us?" On a more optimistic note, she adds, "he always comes back from his August vacation with a surprise, with something unexpected. ... I hope I see something, come September. I really hope so."

Liberal BOPnews' Stirling Newberry: "Bush is one more upward bounce of gas prices from being in the depths of his Presidency. This is where most Presidents are in the second year of their first term: they've put an economic plan in place, they don't have much more wiggle room, and it is just going to take time to work. However, Bush isn't near the beginning of his economic cycle -- he's near the peak of it. If people aren't happy now, they aren't going to be getting any happier any time soon."

IRAQ I: We Went Through Hell ... Just To Get To Hell?

Lefty Needlenose poses the rhetorical question, just how "brazen a liar" is Bush re: our Iraq commitment? A 6/19 John Burns NYT story quotes a "senior Marine officer" in DC saying: "Look for covering phrases like 'We need to start letting the Iraqis stand on their own feet, and that isn't going to happen until we start drawing down.'" Needlenose finds an 8/24 Financial Times story reporting that "significant numbers" of U.S. troops will be withdrawn over the coming 12 months, and quoting a Centcom official saying: "We believe at some point, in order to break this dependence on the ... coalition, you simply have to back off and let the Iraqis step forward." Needlenose connects the dots: "It's only been two months, and we're already hearing those 'covering phrases,' even as the president lies ever more frantically to distract the public."

Righty Wizbang guest-blogger Rob Port, of Say Anything, takes a different approach to the FT report: "Excellent news. I never understand why stories like these don't get more attention. While the anti-war left demands that the troops be brought home there is light at the end of the tunnel in Iraq." Pro-war but recently-skeptical Belgravia Dispatch comments on same: "The President today gave another hard-hitting 'stay the course' speech. But there continues to be a sense of drift and muddle on the future direction of Iraq policy. I wonder if this explains some of the downward movement in the polls?" Hullabaloo's liberal Digby, on Bush's speeches and travel: "He must be thrilled to be back in the saddle, running for president, which is the only thing he knows how to do."

Iraqi blog The Mesopotamian: "There are rumors in the air about an impending massive terrorist campaign -- massive number of car bomb attacks, mortar attacks, and sabotage of the basic services, water, electricity etc. This threat of possible escalation must be taken seriously; because in the present situation on the ground it is not difficult to carry out ... Although we don't like to compare with Vietnam but it is Tet-Offensive style of thinking." Conservative Junk Yard Blog considers the possibility: "On the one hand, attempting a Tet might result in catastrophic losses for the enemy, which would be to the good. But on the other hand, such a broad and lethal series of attacks would probably kick up the anti-war movement here and dishearten our allies in Iraq."

Bush critic Peter Galbraith was quoted in the latest David Brooks NYT column praising the Iraqi constitution. Liberal Daily Kos' Armando: "Galbraith may think this is a good deal for the Sunni, and maybe it is, but it is pretty clear the Sunni don't. And excuse me Mr. Galbraith, on this their opinion matters a whole hell of lot more than yours. Cuz they are the ones who might bring the violence, not intelligent rational you. Sheesh." Conservative JustOneMinute is skeptical as well.

IRAQ II: The War At Home

Liberal Street Fighter: "The new antiwar movement is no mirage," but the "impact of Camp Casey may yet prove to be a blip if antiwar activists fail to develop strategic principles to guide our action." Therefore LSF introduces a planned series of posts starting with "The Antiwar Pragmatist, Part I" where the "primary" goal is to "End the US military occupation of Iraq." Toward that end, LSF lists 6 intermed. goals, including: "Provide means of meaningful political interaction between progressives and the half of America that is politically disengaged/disenchanted/disempowered." LSF then assesses the "Current Orientation of Forces," including "Bushco," the Dem Party, the "antiwar movement," "general public" and "netroots." One tangible suggestion: "[W]hat if thousands of us each sent a pen to the Rummy. ... Saul Alinsky's first rule of tactics is this: Power is not only what you have, but what your opponent thinks you have. 10,000 pens in the Pentagon mailroom would be an awful lot of 'thinks we have' in DC."

Michelle Malkin, Ace of Spades and others post video stills from a report by KOMO-TV in Seattle from a 7/31 incident in which 2 Iraq vets were beaten unconscious by attackers who had allegedly "groped" their dates at a nightclub. Police have released certain images, hoping to identify the men. Ace: "Let's John Walsh 'em."

SHEEHAN I: On Hallowed Ground

As of late last p.m., Cindy Sheehan is back in Crawford, TX.

Liberal blogger/radio talker Brad Friedman went live with a special edition of his show last p.m. to provide "uninterrupted coverage" of the Joan Baez concert and Sheehan's return: "Following Joan Baez' performance, Cindy Sheehan made her first public statements since returning to Camp Casey in Crawford, TX. She spoke about the media attacks on her, and at length about Casey. Both moving and at times, funny." Friedman has posted the show as an MP3.

At NRO's The Buzz, Eric Pfeiffer reports from the scene of "Camp Casey II," the larger campsite that has gone up in the time Sheehan was gone: "It was an emotional moment for the protesters and Ms. Sheehan. About 10 supporters encircled Sheehan quite literally fanning her with protest signs, while others brought her catered food and refreshments. ... After having a bite to eat, Sheehan joked with her supporters, mocking the Bush supporters standing outside 'Camp Casey II.'" He posts photos of a smiling Sheehan, and adds: "Most of the photos I have seen in the media today reflect the moment where Sheehan was crying. I do think this is somewhat misleading. While she is certainly entitled to her grief, most of the scene was quite jovial, which is not reflected in the mainstream media's coverage." Earlier in the day, Pfeiffer posted photos and narration of scenes from around the Crawford campsite.

Liberal BrainShrub reports on the pro-Bush "Camp Reality" nearby: "I've noticed that the conservatives on the other side of the ditch are losing the terminology they have used to justify their agenda. They no longer use 'We support our troops' without the caveat 'and President Bush.' I've noticed that the flag waving has subsided a bit, and they've started using the Presidential Seal a lot. There are more crosses and Jesus references than ever, it's as if they have realized that patriotism is no longer their exclusive domain, so they are retreating to the fundamentalism where they know they are safe."

SHEEHAN II: The Legacy Project

Conservative milblog Blackfive posts a short bio of Casey Sheehan, including a summary of the events that led to his death, and lists the names of other U.S. soldiers killed along with him, on the Palm Sunday he died. Title of post: "Army Specialist Casey Sheehan -- Someone You Should (Have) Know(n)." The Great Satan quotes Sheehan saying of her son, "he's always going to be my hero, and I'm not going to let anyone exploit and call him a hero because he was a war victim." TGS responds: "No one that is except myself. Is that right? ... He joined the military out of integrity. He re-enlisted out of integrity, and volunteered for a rescue mission out of integrity, yet you want to play him as a victim?" More: "I can't speak for all veterans, I can't speak for Casey Sheehan, but I can speak for myself when I say there is no other greater honor than to be buried in your uniform, with a military ceremony. This noble gesture is something that the 'anti-war' zealots loathe..."

For awhile we've been noting Sheehan's updates at various locations, without much rhyme or reason. Yet clearly her letters are being hosted on multiple sites at a time; while we can't say the following list is exhaustive, we can say definitively that her latest, "Camp Casey, Day 18" is hosted at Daily Kos, the Huffington Post, Truthout, and Michael Moore's site. Conservative Politicalities responds to her latest message in the form of a point-by-point commentary on an AP story. Politicalities congratulates her on "learning the art of the fisk," then proceeds to fisk her. Politicalities, on Sheehan addressing Bush as "George": "Just go ahead and address him as Chimpy McBushitler; you know you want to."

AMERICAblog: "Interesting that Bush and the White House had to make major travel and logisticial arrangements so he could travel to Utah and Idaho basically just to bad-mouth Cindy Sheehan. All he has to do is walk down the road and he could talk to her face to face. ... It's really creepy that he has gone to such lengths to trash the woman. Major presidential speeches in the reddest of red states. Amazing, but not surprising that the MSM lets him get away with this crap."

WHITE HOUSE '08: Why The Blogosphere Won't Predict The '08 Nominees

Conservative Ankle Biting Pundits reported on 8/24, "a high level GOP source" said Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) "is privately meeting with his top advisors and political contributors to discuss the prospects of an independent bid" for WH'08.

Mike Huckabee President 2008 reports, AR Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), "already scheduled to be the keynote speaker at New Hampshire's largest GOP gathering this weekend, has agreed to fill in at another GOP event after Governor Mitt Romney abruptly cancelled. ... Folks, I can tell you now that Mike Huckabee will charm the pants off of these people and he will make the most of this opportunity."

NYC conservative Karol Sheinin argues that neither the Dem-oriented straw polls at Daily Kos and MyDD nor the GOP one by Patrick Ruffini are useful predictors of the '08 primary elections. Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark tops both Dem polls; ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sec/State Condoleezza Rice top Ruffini's. But none of them have "anything resembling a prayer to win." To start, "the blogosphere is ... much more libertarian that the general population." Giuliani is pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and "on his third marriage," while Rice has never run for office, is single, and "no woman, much less a black one," is viable. She also opines that conservatives lean toward Giuliani and Rice because they "like and support them," whereas the left "seems to have chosen Clark for the same 'winnable' reasons they chose Kerry the last time around."

MIDTERMS '06: Coleen All Cars!

At Talking Points Memo, guest Michael Crowley notes that "Sheehan-aligned" FBI whistleblower/House candidate Coleen Rowley (D) seems to advocate a "pronto" withdrawal from Iraq, and considering her opponent is "Establishment Man" Rep. John Kline (R), the race "promises to be an intense culturo-political flashpoint." He writes: "The caliber of Rowley's political skills remains to be seen. But Republicans like Kline must be in a cold sweat over the war, and over Bush's flailing attempts to shore up public opinion."

IN THE STATES: Why Exactly Does Weld Want To Be Gov Again?

Fired Up! Missouri reports, MO Gov. Matt Blunt (R) is "scrambling to cover his own lawbreaking tracks" after the MO Ethics Commis. "found probable cause to believe that Blunt accepted and did not report an illegal in-kind contribution from" Hwy Commish Mike Kehoe. Since July, Blunt has tried to "dodge the ethics case" by making 2 payments to Kehoe, but the Ethics Commis. nevertheless recommended the case to the MO AG. With OH Gov. Bob Taft (R) having just pled no contest to similar charges, "just yesterday, Blunt quietly amended his ethics reports for a third time and made another" $6.7K payment to Kehoe.

The Moderate Voice's Joe Gandelman, who supported now-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) in the '03 recall campaign, now looks at a Los Angeles Times story reporting that Schwarzenegger's $6K/mo. Sactown hotel suite is paid by a lobbying interest; gov. spokesperson Rob Stutzman explains the money is disclosed and "pays little attention to who donates," "in any case." Gandelman isn't impressed: "That won't be a good enough explanation for the independents and moderates who supported him who didn't want to keep the existing incompetent and fund-raising-crazy Democratic administration in power. ... You don't hear much anymore about changing the constitution so foreign born American residents can run for President, do you?" Schwarzenegger was a guest on Hugh Hewitt's nat'lly syndicated radio show yesterday; the transcript is available at Radio Blogger.

MA-based Soxblog writes, although "not an admirer" of ex-Gov. Bill Weld (R), he predicts Weld's "quixotic quest will be successful," and he will defeat AG Eliot Spitzer (D) for NY GOV. While Weld was "mostly as unprincipled a politician as you could find, he did amass a solid record in two areas: He ardently opposed taxes and he ardently supported progressive social issues." Plus, Weld also has a "thick rolodex" and he "understands" something important: "Spitzer is a little bit creepy. There's something about his headline chasing and Javert-like intensity that will likely unnerve the electorate in a high profile and competitive race."

BLOGS VS. THE MSM: You Stay Classy, Cable News

NRO's Media Blog keeps tabs on the latest contretemps between CNN and FNC, with an assist from TV Newser, which points out that CNNHN has started showing "lowbrow" FNC-style car chases. Media Blog's Stephen Spruiell sums up: "Last summer when I saw 'Anchorman' for the first time, I could only dream that one day, real anchormen like 'Wolf' Blitzer and 'Shepard' Smith would battle it out in the streets, like men. Today, that dream is one step closer to reality."

ROBERTSON: Only In August Would This Be A Three-Day Story

Robertson's remarks continue to be a popular story. Memeorandum-ish algorithm-based blog aggregator Unpartisan counts "32 News Stories, 69 Liberal Blogs, 24 Conservative Blogs" for Robertson's apology since 8:00 p.m. last night. As a testament to the Robertson story as well as the fact that nothing else is going on, its #2 headline is about his initial remarks, from the night earlier, counting "25 News Stories, 34 Liberal Blogs, 13 Conservative Blogs."

• And at Ragged Thots, conservative Robert George noted the irony of Jesse Jackson passing judgment on Robertson, asking: "Would sending both reverends to Cuba to hash out Caribbean basin policy be a violation of the embargo? I mean -- assuming that they have to stay there?"
• Earlier in the day, Robertson drew skepticism by trying to explain that "take him out" didn't have to mean "assassinate." Liberal DC Media Girl asks, "why can't our liberal media call this man an 'extremist cleric'? I think he's worked hard for that upgrade."

9/11: Thankless Work If You Can Get It, And You Can Get It If You Try

Captain's Quarters' Ed Morrissey takes issue with the 9/11 Commis.'s timeline for Mohammed Atta, and "the trip to Spain that Atta undertook" in 7/01" "creates new problems," and addresses complicated, disputed speculation about Atta's whereabouts. He writes: "It also highlights the real possibility that Iraqi intelligence had connections to the plot and the plotters in at least some support capacities."

THE MARCH OF BLOGS: Get It? No? Still Searching For A Better Slug Than 'Blog News In Brief' ...

We noted a milestone of sorts last week when DC Mayor Anthony Williams started his own blog on his city website. But then last a.m., the Washington Post reported that Williams had not updated the page since his initial entry, and the 40+ commenters were getting restless. Post header: "Mayor Punctuates His New Blog With Silence." Williams was spurred to add his latest entry, which makes multiple references to Yoda and addresses his readers' concerns. After that post went live, the AP wrote a follow-up.

• News to us: The Christian Coalition has a blog. It has multiple contributors, covers various DC issues, and has RSS and trackbacks but has not enabled comments.
• Also new: Peter Daou, creator of Salon's blog-watch, The Daou Report, launches News Unfiltered; it hosts press releases courtesy the U.S. Newswire. The blogroll includes "Blogs of the Left," "Blogs of the Right," and "Blogs of the Middle & More."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Questions Without Ready Answers

Steven Den Beste, author of the late, great, much-lamented USS Clueless, wrote in 4/03 about Iraqis: "We won't make them into copies of us. (We couldn't if we tried, and we don't really want to anyway.) But we must now use our control over Iraq to implement Arab Civilization 2.0. By creating a prosperous, democratic, secular, liberalized nation there, we now can show the Arabs by example what is wrong with their culture which seems to give them 'failure after failure after failure,' by showing them an alternative which is more successful, and showing them that example in an Arab nation." Conservative Daily Pundit's Bill Quick quotes this and asks: "Is this what we have accomplished with the new, federalized, tripartite, Shia-dominated, oil-dependent Iraq? Is this the ideological, religious, and economic model that will shake the Sunni world to its core, while at the same time shattering the towers of Shiite Iran and defeating the Saudi Wahhabist wellsprings of terror? A prosperous, democratic, secular, liberal Iraq? Is this what we're creating today? Really?"

LEST WE FORGET: ... The Aristocrats!

Well, it's not that obscene. But tread carefully as you read the latest post at The Gaping Maw, a blog run by "Scott" -- Maxim UK editor/Huffington Post contributor Greg Gutfeld's "roommate" -- who finds out the awful truth: "Please sit down, if you aren't already seated. My Greggie is STRAIGHT! Straight, unlike his manhood. And married. Married? To a woman no less." Scott sadly changes the "About" line on the blog to "Formerly the official unofficial Greg Gutfeld fan blog," and announces a new subject is needed. The Blogometer suspects this may be the last entry.

On a marginally less-ribald note, at the Huffington Post, Max Blumenthal's latest attack on Christopher Hitchens compares Hitchens' recent Slate articles to S&M: "Reading Hitchens' attempted take-down of Sheehan was to watch him wander into his own, personal intellectual leather dungeon, lie on his back, and surrender his soft belly to the sharpened stilleto heel of a peacenik dominatrix he fabricated in the liquidized recesses of his mind."

All right, that's quite enough.

Posted by at 12:35 PM

August 24, 2005

8/24: Keep Iraq-ing In The Free World ...

Today it's quieter in the blogosphere than it has been for a few weeks, evidenced by the fact that Pat Robertson and Cindy Sheehan remain top figures of discussion, though not much has changed with either in the past 24 hours. However, news that Sheehan will return to Crawford does set up the question of whether she can attract anything approaching the same level of interest in coming days as she has recent weeks. But that hasn't happened yet.

Nor is much going on with Able Danger, Air America, or the all-but-dormant Rove-Miller-Plame case. Arguably the biggest subject for debate is the Iraqi constitution, the text of which was released yesterday. Minor controversies floating around include the recent practice of including military operation names on soldiers' gravestones and the firing of conservative radio talker Michael Graham. For once, it feels like August in the blogosphere.

IRAQ: Constitution Unconventional

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

• The AP provides partial text of the proposed Iraqi constitution, and among bloggers left and right, the response is decidedly mixed. Much of the discussion focuses on whether the language regarding Islam means Iraq will become a theocracy or another Iran. But there's more to it than that, and we still haven't seen the whole thing -- to say nothing of a completed version.
  
  

  >> Among the optimists... Conservative Bill Roggio: "It is unreasonable to assume Islam will not play a role in influencing the society of Iraq, or any other predominately Muslim nation. ... The real test of Iraq's commitment to democratic principles under the influence of Islam will come with the implementation of the constitution by the next elected assembly. But to state an Islamist regime has been created based on the text of the constitution is unfounded." Publius Pundit: "One of the more interesting phrases I'm hearing on all the talk shows is how the two principles of not being able to legislate against Islamic standards and not being able to legislate against democratic standards are inherently contradictory. That's an interesting word for it, and a view that is definitely false. Think of the restrictions on lawmaking as overlapping rather than contradictory, like a boolean graph. Only those laws that comply with both can be made, so don't expect women to be strung up and hung execution style."
  

  >> And the pessimists... Liberal hawk Michael Totten is not pleased with the religious aspects: "There is no silver lining here, no 'bright side' to look on. It's bad news, period. At least it's a draft." TalkLeft: "So Iraq will become a Theocracy, [Pres.] Bush will declare victory, and the troops will begin coming home. Except for the 1,900 of them that died. If our Government told you in 2003 it wanted your son to go to war in a foreign land to topple a regime and ensure that Islam had its proper place in the replacement government, what would your reaction would have been?"
  

  >> Falling somewhere in the middle... Conservative Troy prof Steven Taylor writes, "part of the overall problem is that Iraqi society itself is not one in which gender equity is the norm -- and it is foolish to assume that a new constitution will be able to impose such practices onto the population. However, I do concur that clear statements of equal rights are needed -- more so, perhaps, than will be included." Kausfiles takes issue with assertions by Slate's Fred Kaplan and Univ. of MI Juan Cole that Islam being 'a fundamental source' for legis. in the Iraqi constitution is the same as 'the fundamental source': "I'd say a) by buying off the mullahs with the weasel-word 'fundamental,' this provision looks on its face like a win for the anti-clerics; and b) Kaplan and Cole are so eager to find fault with the constitution (and, by implication, the war) that they've lost touch with logic."

>> Other thoughts:

• Power Line's Paul Mirengoff: "It's premature to assess with any confidence the strengths and weaknesses of the draft constitution."


• Liberal Matthew Yglesias, at TAPPED: "The other thing is that the text I've seen doesn't address, well, any of the topics you expect to see in a constitution. Which powers do the different branches of government have? You won't find out here. Will there be a judicial system? Who sets it up? Who knows." Liberal prof Cole says the AP's version is leaving out some relevant parts of the constitution.


• Right-leaning Balloon Juice: "I was under the impression that the real need for compromise was that in order for the Constitution to be ratified, it had to have approval by numerous different regions within Iraq. I don't see how this version will meet that standard, as the Sunni bloc is vehemently opposed."


• A diarist at Daily Kos speculates that the section regarding Iraq's oil was crafted by "everyone's favorite Iraqi neocon crook," Ahmed Chalabi, and that he stands to get very rich off it.


• Conservative Damian Penny points out, "the text of the constitution won't matter one bit if Iraq's future government doesn't hold itself to the provisions and limits therein."

IRAQ II: No Slogan

An AP headline causes a stir: "Troops' Gravestones Have Pentagon Slogans"; the names of U.S. military operations -- Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom -- can be placed on the stones free of charge, if the family wishes. TalkLeft points out one problem: "The Pentagon claims to give families of the fallen approval over the contents of the gravestones, but that hasn't always happened." Desert Storm vet James Joyner: "To the extent this is controversial, it is that we are using silly propagandistic names to begin with. But that is not an invention of the Bush Administration." Conservative Say Anything: "These aren't 'slogans.' Calling them that makes it sound as though this were some sort of crass political maneuver." Liberal Ugga Bugga: "This White House politicizes everything."

Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum: "Judging by his recent public performances, [Defense Sec. Donald] Rumsfeld has no clue what's going on in Iraq. He doesn't know where the insurgents are coming from, he doesn't know how well our training operations are coming along, he has no idea how long we're likely to stay, and now he doesn't know why casualties are up from roadside bombs. I had a guy working for me once who, after several months on the job, continued to show this level of cluelessness in his area of expertise. You'll be unsurprised to learn that I fired him."

BUSH: How Long Before This Guy Gets A Segment On "Hardball"?

Making the rounds on liberal blogs these past 24 hours: a photo of 73-year-old veteran Bill Moyer wearing a cardboard tab over his ear that says "Bullshit Protector" while listening to Bush speak in Donnelly, ID. Currently, Technorati counts 555 posts with Moyer's name. Crooks and Liars invites readers to write their own caption. Swing State Project determines he likely hails from the KY-02 CD, and half-jokingly suggests he challenge Rep. Ron Lewis (R): "Another undoubtedly straight-talking war veteran. Perfect!"

SHEEHAN: Waiting For Cindy

Early this a.m., Sheehan announces at the Huffington Post: "I'm coming back to Crawford for my son. As long as the president, who sent him to die in a senseless war, is in Crawford, that is where I belong." She reiterates her planned questions for Bush, adding: "The answer to that question will not bring my son back. But it may stop more meaningless deaths." Arianna Huffington herself writes about meeting Sheehan, and posts a photo of the 2 standing together.

Liberal Paul Van Heden, who is blogging from Crawford, argues: "IMHO bloggers are getting to much credit for covering the event. The only hard-core bloggers I've meet here so far are myself, TruthOut and BradBlog. There are rumors that Markos Moulitsas from the Daily Kos is here, but I haven't seen him. The real force behind the media coverage are the common citizens here who are writing letters, urging friends to contact their congresspeople, and taking telephone calls from media organizations to lazy to send a reporter to do it in person. Case in point: The only major publication I've meet in the six days I've been here is Eric Pfeiffer, a columnist for the National Review. Let me repeat what I just wrote just in case you think I'm kidding: A columnist for The National Review. What this means is that resistance to the Iraq war is not being driven by progressive media or by bloggers. It's organic and much more mainstream than anyone cares to admit."

Liberal AMERICAblog quotes Bush's response to reporter's questions about Sheehan, and comments: "Think about that. Not so much what the bonehead said, but the fact that Bush is now having to deal with Cindy. She's under his skin... and ruined his vacation."

At NRO's The Buzz, Pfeiffer interviews Sheehan supporter/hippie songstress Joan Baez.

ROBERTSON: He Talk Crazy One Day

A number of conservatives complained that the MSM went overboard in its Robertson coverage. NRO's Stephen Spruiell: "CNN's Your World Today is covering Pat Robertson's comment that the U.S. should assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as if Dick Cheney had said i