September 19, 2005

9/19: Think Globally, Blog Locally

This was a big weekend in foreign affairs. Easily the biggest topic of discussion is the just-announced nuclear disarmament of North Korea, following the latest round of 6-party talks. Pres. Bush gets a modest amount of grudging praise from the left, and while everyone is greatly encouraged, more than a few express their skepticism.

But that wasn't all: Conservative blogs tend to take a great deal of interest in overseas elections, particularly countries in which the U.S. has recently fought wars, or which had some impact on the '03 Iraq invasion. This weekend there are 2: Afghanistan and Germany. Because the former is seen to have gone smoothly, it doesn't attract much comment. The latter, however, was closely followed and will be as the uncertain situation evolves.

Meanwhile, the left and right are both debating how the country will pay for the large-scale fed'l programs intended to help rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf coast. Liberal bloggers argue that tax increases are necessary and want Dems to be vocal in their agreement; over the weekend, conservative bloggers put together a collaborative project identifying pork in domestic spending.

Plus, the New York Times public editor clashes with the paper's most popular columnist, said paper finally gets around to withdrawing said columnist and other content from free access, and liberals debate whether to support SCOTUS nominee John Roberts.

NORTH KOREA: Terrorist Your Game Is Through 'Cause Now You Have To Answer To ... America, F--- Yeah!

The apparent agreement by North Korea to surrender its nuclear program is a big topic this a.m. on blogs left and right. Centrist Donklephant's Justin Gardner: "I'm not going to put a ton of stock in this until we see some serious movement." DPRK Studies headlines its post "Hell Freezes Over," but adds: "I hate to be a doomsayer, but in the end, North Korea will likely keep some sort of nuclear program, since it has in the past so adamantly spoken of it's 'right' to have one (even if it signed several agreements saying it wouldn't -- just paper, like the current one)."

>> Not a few liberal blogs are willing to give Bush and some (but not all) of his admin. members credit for the accomplishment -- The Left Coaster's Steve Soto: "Props to Colin Powell and now Condi Rice, and yes, Bush himself, for giving negotiations led by China a chance to succeed, and for overcoming the advice of Cheney and others to ignore North Korea and isolate them." Rising Hegemon: "What will the anti-communists core of the GOP do? Is their love of Bush greater than their contempt for the most repressive of Marxist governments?" Liberal Kevin Drum: "If this is on the level, it's great news. It would also be a terrific accomplishment for the Bush administration. They could use one. ... But why did the U.S. finally accede to a nonaggression promise? We've never been willing to agree to that before."

>> The right is both triumphant and apprehensive: Joe's Dartblog: "This is the second major nuclear coup for the Bush Administration, which launched the Iraq War in 2003 which was widely recognized as the impetus for Khaddafi and Libya to voluntarily disarm its nuclear program." Winds of Change: "If this in fact pans out, people who have previously argued that the North Korean diplomacy was a complete failure will now start arguing that this would have happened anyway regardless of what the US did." Conservative Matthew Hoy takes a wait-and-see approach, citing "past behavior by Kim Jong Il."

>> Some consider what this means for negotiations with Iran -- War & Piece passes along a reader's observation: "Iran is also going to explode in the news, with this week's IAEA BOG meeting and the lack of any conciliatory proposals in the Iranian President's speech yesterday." Conservative Captain's Quarters: "The agreement should allow the US to focus much more attention on Iran, once a compliance team gets on the ground in North Korea. We will also find out how good our intelligence on Kim's nukes have been, and that might give us an idea about how we can improve it for Iran."

OVERSEAS ELECTIONS: The 35-35-10-10-10 Nation

Right-leaning Cold Fury: "Whilst political statements in the immediate wake of an election should be taken with as much salt as your blood pressure can tolerate, party leaders' statement on who they will not work with rule out any conceivable coalition at this point, with the remotely possible exception of a CDU/CSU/FDP/Green coalition (and I don't know if the FDP and Greens could stomach each other)." U.S.-centric German blog Davids Medienkritik provides the "official provisional result" by party in terms of %age of the vote and seats in the next Bundestag, and compared with the results in '02. Mid-1/18, Instapundit posted a brief wrap-up, declaring it then a "loss for Schroeder." Jim Geraghty at NRO's TKS: "The really quick recap: It's a big, intensely divided mess." Mark Noonan at GOP Bloggers: "[F]or Germany to have a shot at a good future, it will need to come to the firm conclusion that the left is a failure. That day does not seem to have arrived, so it is better for the right in Germany to just stand aside and let the train wreck continue."

Largely overshadowed were the successful Afghan parliamentary vote: The Indepundit posts photos from the Afghanistan elections, including people holing up ink-stained forefingers, a la the '05 Iraqi election. Power Line: "The dogs bark, but the caravan passes by."

KATRINA FALLOUT: Do You Smell Bacon? Definitely A Pork Product Of Some Kind ...

In the 2nd series partnership this month (the 1st being for Katrina relief) Instapundit and Truth Laid Bear have launched a call for bloggers to identify cong. pork. On 9/16, Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds hopefully but skeptically cited an AP story quoting Bush apparently promising to cut domestic spending in light of Katrina. By 9/18 readers were sending him e-mails detailing more "fat," often from their home states. Later that day N.Z. Bear set up a TTLB PorkBusters page to keep track of this research. As of 9/19. it identifies $8.5B of considered pork, broken down by state, with explanations of each item. Reynolds got the word out.

At his blog, NRO contributor Donald Luskin posts a 1-page OMB document (PDF) showing how $60B will be spent 5 weeks from enactment of fed'l Katrina relief.

Liberal Bad Attitudes let-me-get-this-straights: "We take on an optional war in Iraq, and it is fine to put that on a credit card for the past three years and for years to come; but the minute we need to launch a two-year rebuild of a major region of the United States, we have to find budget offsets such as delaying/gutting the new Medicare drug benefit?"

LiberalOasis argues, Dems need to "get over their squeamishness and make a compelling case for higher taxes. Otherwise, they'll never have the mandate to do what's necessary to properly fund our government's responsibilities and get our fiscal house in order." LiberalOasis notes ex-Pres. Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) on the Sunday shows making comments that help "legitimize discussion" of tax hikes, but laments, "we are still seeing Dems flinch at actually saying we need tax increases, which undercuts their ability to claim they will level with the public and make necessary tough choices."

Ex-Bush econ. adviser Andrew Samwick, at his blog Vox Baby, argues for "an income tax surcharge that funds the rebuilding over a given period": "Taxes may be bad, but deficits are surely worse. What's the explanation for why future generations should have to pay for this one, too?" Liberal Angry Bear credits Samwick for objecting to "Bush's free lunch philosophy."

Conservative Punditeer, on reports that some Katrina victims spent their $2K debit cards at strip clubs and designer accessories: "FEMA should have had a system set up with businesses such as national food chains whereby victims could spend their cards only on certain types of goods at certain places. The lack of planning and obliviousness to opportunities for waste can only be described as stunning."

ROBERTS: If Hillary Votes Yea ...

Centrist Charging RINO evaluates the Roberts confirmation editorials in the Washington Post (pro) and New York Times (con). He praises the Post for "recognizing that Roberts may end up taking positions with which the paper disagrees" and supporting him anyway on the strength of his strengths. Meanwhile the Times opposes Roberts "because he didn't prove himself as having 'qualities to be an excellent chief justice.' I'm not sure what they mean by that, but obviously they weren't watching the same hearings I watched." Jon Last at Galley Slaves attributes the Post's greater insight to editorial contributor Ben Wittes.

Liberal Carpetbagger Report asks readers whether they think the Dems should vote against Roberts en masse or not. Most recommend a "no" vote, but some worry about the "obstructionist" label. At his Bull Moose Blog, DLCer Marshall Wittmann argues that Dems should vote to confirm: "Roberts has shown that he is ... a conventional conservative not a right wing revolutionary jurist. People for the American Way knows this. The American people know this. The Family Research Council knows this. Ted Kennedy knows this. Sam Brownback knows this. And they will all take their predictable side on the question of his confirmation." He laments the likelihood that a majority of Dems will vote against: "Is the Democratic Party merely the sum of its interest groups?"

BLOGS VS. THE MSM: A Krugmanian Calame-ity

• On 9/16, New York Times public editor Byron "Barney" Calame posted a note to his Times "web journal" titled "Columnist Correction Policy Isn't Being Applied to Krugman" criticizing both columnist Paul Krugman and editorial editor Gail Collins. The dispute goes back to Krugman's 8/19 column claiming re: the WH'00 FL fiasco, that 2 of 3 statewide recounts would have favored then-VP Gore in the '00 FL controversy. Conservative blogs including Patterico's Pontifications, Brainster and Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid argued that Krugman had his facts wrong (see 8/29 Blogometer), and communicated this to Calame. When Krugman issued a partial correction on the NYT website only, they took up the matter once again. It seems Calame's post is at least in part the outcome of the resulting criticism.
  
  

  Conservatives and other Krugman critics have a field day: Decision '08's Mark Coffey applauds Calame's judgment, but adds, "nothing will change until Gail Collins is forcibly removed. The columnists of the Times have become national laughingstocks; no one but the most extreme partisan believes anything they read in a MoDo column, to take just one glaring example." Mickey Kaus writes, it's taken Krugman "only four months to alienate" Calame "to such a degree that Calame is taking the argument public ... The previous ombudsman, Daniel Okrent, waited until the end of his tenure to do that." Man Without Qualities: "Given the violent and intemperate reaction of Herr Doktorprofessor [Krugman] to criticisms leveled at him by the Times' prior public editor, how likely is it that this situation is not going to become rapidly and highly inflamed -- with Herr Doktorprofessor resorting to his customary paranoid rants, superheated accusations and apocalyptic doomsaying?"




• As of this a.m., the New York Times' TimesSelect program, which takes its op-ed columnists, sports coverage, and other sections behind a subscription wall. It may come as no surprise that we couldn't find a single blogger who thought the Times would succeeed, and even some with subscriptions had a bit of trouble accessing the paid content.
  
  

  Liberal Blah3: "If you look at the NYT home page today, you'll see a little orange icon next to their op-ed columns. Their long-standing plan to charge people to read their Op-Ed section goes into effect today. ... See ya, New York Times. I get the feeling you're going to lose a lot of traffic over this." Conservative Patterico: "In three days you'll have to pay to read Paul Krugman's lies and Maureen Dowd's trivial nonsense. Me, I say no thanks. I can find lies and nonsense aplenty on the Internet -- for free." Fishbowl NY, on the above controversy and this, asks: "[H]ow will this play out on the pages of the Public Editor? There is already a brouhaha between Byron Calame and Krugman, Daniel Okrent's favorite pen pal, and if the Public Editor is truly to fulfill his mandate ought he not provide access to any contested material?" Gawker points out that "bootleg copies" of Krugman's columns can be found at pkarchive.org. Here's today's column.

BLOGGERS VS. BLOGGERS: The Sidney Wars

In a 9/16 aside, Andrew Sullivan referred to conservative radio talker Hugh Hewitt as "the Sid Blumenthal of the Bush administration." At his own blog, Hewitt decided to take it as a compliment. The crack elicited defenses of Hewitt from Galley Slaves came to Hewitt's defense, as did Power Line, which lists 10 reasons why Hewitt is not like Blumenthal. #4: "Sid demonizes those with whom he disagrees; Hugh invites them on his radio show for a discussion." Sullivan later followed up, responding to the Power Line post and reaffirming his analogy: "I don't think even he would deny that he is one of the last true believers in the administration. Rove would abandon the ship before Hugh would. As with Sid, it's admirable in a strange kind of way."

Tipped by a participant at Free Republic, Michelle Malkin reports that ex-Gingrich confidant/CA GOV candidate/anti-SUV activist/Huffington Post-founder Arianna Huffington was seen riding in a Chevy Suburban to the Sierra Club nat'l summit last weekend. Malkin investigates: "I interviewed Sierra Club national spokesman Eric Antebi by phone yesterday, who confirmed that the group sent the SUV. He blamed an 'outside contractor,' which he declined to name, for the rather dissonant choice of vehicle. ... Curious, I asked Antebi whether any of the staff at the Sierra Club headquarters owned and drove SUVs. He stumbled and said the group didn't keep track of who drove what. It's 'a personal decision,' he explained. 'People drive different cars for different reasons.' Well, um, exactly. Now, wouldn't it be nice if these anti-SUV green busybodies took the same attitude towards the rest of us and left our car choices alone?!"

SHEEHAN: In-Cindy-Ary

Last week, anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan wrote in a recent commentary that Bush should "pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans"; conservative blogs had long moved on from her at this point, but plenty returned to ridicule this. WSJ's James Taranto comments: "Mrs. Sheehan, originally a sympathetic figure, is now merely a pathetic one, and we're inclined to ignore her totally, except that we keep remembering all those Angry Left types who, a few short weeks ago, were declaring that she had "absolute moral authority" and was going to transform American politics. If thinking about that doesn't give you a good, deep, soul-cleansing laugh, nothing will." At RedState's RedHot, Sheehan is mocked for accusing Clinton of being a war criminal. Start here and scroll up.

Erick Erickson from RedState announces Operation Iraq Hope, which aims to help supporters of the Iraq war travel to DC to counter-protest against the big 9/24 anti-war rally. He writes: "Between the homeless, the unemployed, the trust funders, and the hippie college types, the Peace Movement is well stocked with societal rejects and dope smoking FM types. ... It is more difficult for those who support the war effort, the nation, and the troops. We all have jobs, mostly outside the government section, and cannot afford to hop a bus to Washington to counter protest the unemployed and stoned blame America first crowd. Well, it has gotten a bit easier for us."

MISCELLANY: Whatever You Were Doing Before, Just Keep Doing That

• At MyDD, Chris Bowers takes a look at a new Pew poll, in particular the generic ballot showing Dems with a 2-1 advantage with indies. And re: other findings, he titles the post: "Democrats Pissed At Leadership; Ready to Vote For Dems Anyway."
• On 9/17 Little Green Footballs reported: "I've just received a credible tip from an LGF reader that an America West flight out of New York was fired upon by a surface to air missile yesterday, and that the pilot and passengers witnessed it and are now being questioned by the FAA and FBI." Captain's Quarters and Michelle Malkin followed up quickly. Later, Malkin reported in a same-post update that the FAA considered the "SAM" attack a false alarm, quoting an anonymous source: "Turned out to be nothing more than birds, and [a] big game of 'telephone.'"
• Freelance journalist Daniel Radosh writes at his blog, "I have a chart of 'five winning political blogs' in the October Playboy. I'm always reluctant to write about blogs for print magazines ... because it just opens me up to abuse from the blogosphere. I decided to risk it in this case because 1) nobody reads Playboy, so who's even gonna notice, and 2) Playboy pays me, while the blogosphere does not." For more, see 9/15 Blogometer.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Selective Service

OxBlog's David Adesnik: "Take a look at the article about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on page A26 of this morning's WaPo. The article is basically a summary of Ahmadinejad's press conference in New York. Even when he says things that are fairly absurd or insulting, you don't get a counterpoint from any of his critics, domestic or foreign. Why is that? To some degree, I think that when you are a charter member of the Axis of Evil, journalists assume that no one will believe anything you say, so why take up space with a counterpoint?" Likewise, the same edition contains a C1 story that is "95%" Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) arguing that CJ nominee Roberts "isn't fully aware of just how much blacks suffered as a result of Jim Crow." Adesnik: "In this instance, you obviously can't say that readers will know not to trust what Lewis says. To the contrary, his status as a 'civil rights icon' ensures that his argument will carry the presumption of truth. ... Although Lewis comes pretty close to saying that white conservatives can't possibly be fair to black people, I don't care so much about the lack of balance there because the Roberts issue has already been decided. Plus, there are always lower standards for the 'C' section, even though its contents are often the same as the hard news in 'A'."

LEST WE FORGET: Avast! Ye Landlubbing Bloggers

Whether you were aware of it or not, today is Talk Like A Pirate Day. Liberal Pharyngula is participating. So is conservative Pirate's Cove, although it would arguably be a dereliction of duty if they didn't. To make your prose bluster like a scurvy-ridden knave, you can download the proper codehere. Arrrrr!

Posted by at September 19, 2005 12:25 PM