tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115768352011-12-31T23:14:45.135-05:00A centrist voice in a period of extremism.JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.comBlogger14751100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-12197606763098277602009-02-01T09:03:00.002-05:002009-02-01T09:21:59.243-05:00

I snapped this picture a few days ago, and then realized it would make the perfect accompaniment for this post, which I've been meaning to write for a while.As any of you who still stop by this blog occasionally have certainly noticed, the radio silence of late has been deafening. Part of that stems from political burnout: during the post-election period I joined many others in taking a

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-15255398444778697712008-11-20T07:45:00.002-05:002008-11-20T07:54:31.074-05:00

Another nail in the coffin of Daylight Saving Time in today's NYTimes. Sooner or later we'll get rid of this thing for good.And yes, my gripes about DST have now passed the three year mark.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-91168117104190471322008-11-05T13:49:00.003-05:002008-11-05T15:12:48.573-05:00

You'd have thought the Red Sox had won another World Series, or New Year's Eve had come early through some strange fluke of the calendar. At 11 p.m. last night, I opened my apartment's windows to take in the sounds of firecrackers, car horns, cheering and whistling from around the neighborhood. Local t.v. showed a crowd of people making their way into Copley Square and from there to Christian

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-47050015435429507862008-11-03T14:00:00.003-05:002008-11-03T14:20:34.380-05:00

Tomorrow's it, folks. It's all come down to this.Now is our chance. Now is the time when we can either turn the page on the last eight years and start a new chapter, or we can continue listening to the same old song.Back in February when I made my endorsements in the primaries, I wrote that I would be happy with either McCain or Obama in the White House (making clear that Obama was my preference)

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-59893553431670337822008-10-31T10:38:00.002-04:002008-10-31T10:53:53.979-04:00

Former Secretary of State Larry Eagleburger (and a McCain supporter) was on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" yesterday (audio here), and was asked about Sarah Palin's preparedness to be commander in chief.Here's how Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post blogs his response (I agree with his characterization of Eagleburger's answer):"'It is a very good question,' he said. He paused, and then added: 'I'm

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-67073948532123958342008-10-28T09:20:00.002-04:002008-10-28T09:25:11.452-04:00

Senator Chuck Hagel is one of the most sensible, thoughtful people left in today's Republican party. Connie Bruck's profile of him in this week's New Yorker is a must-read. His reservations with what John McCain has come to represent in this campaign are serious, deep, and well-considered; they should be enough to give anyone pause before casting their ballot next week (or today, if you live in

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-73559610944678319452008-10-21T07:41:00.001-04:002008-10-21T07:44:01.979-04:00

(From the Boston Pumpkin Festival, 18 October 2008)

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-28757305275157223382008-10-13T11:29:00.002-04:002008-10-13T11:31:57.705-04:00

Another conservative Christopher for Obama: Christopher Hitchens writes in Slate that the McCain-Palin campaign has lost his support. And in true Hitchens fashion.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-83710391322518365772008-10-10T15:33:00.003-04:002008-10-10T15:34:59.173-04:00

Christopher Buckley, the son of well-known conservative William F. Buckley, endorses Obama. What he says about John McCain certainly rings true for me, as I'm sure it does for others who once held the man in great respect and admiration:"John McCain has changed. He said, famously, apropos the Republican debacle post-1994, “We came to Washington to change it, and Washington changed us.” This

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-13799645828401507122008-10-06T18:45:00.002-04:002008-10-06T19:13:28.490-04:00

Call it Mudsling Monday. What a disgusting display of desperation we're seeing from the McCain-Palin campaign. As their poll numbers sink, out comes every sleazy, dishonest, and offensive attack against Obama and Biden, no matter how tangential, outdated, or just plain stupid. Palin started complaining today about that doggone "filter of the mainstream media," which has apparently kept her from

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-31196300824448731562008-10-03T21:39:00.002-04:002008-10-03T21:57:37.260-04:00

One of Palin's answers that actually came close to impressing me last night was her comment on Darfur (I say 'came close to' because I think we need to do much more than this, as Biden and Obama do). Anyway, here's Palin: "America is in a position to help. What I've done in my position to help, as the governor of a state that's pretty rich in natural resources, we have a $40 billion investment

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-2775919767164960242008-10-03T13:04:00.002-04:002008-10-03T13:52:39.120-04:00

Two debates down, two to go.Sarah Palin survived. She recovered from the disastrous Katie Couric interview by not completely freezing up, falling down, or going completely off the reservation. She exceeded expectations. But when expectations are as low as they were, that's not saying much. She answered no questions directly. She ran out of talking points and started repeating them. She renamed

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-75204546662175287562008-09-27T08:33:00.002-04:002008-09-27T09:08:12.726-04:00

Some quasi-random thoughts about last night's debate:- I wouldn't be surprised if we see the same kind of radio/television split that was observed after the first Kennedy-Nixon debate in 1960 (although obviously the audience last night was much more heavily t.v.-based). McCain's body language as captured by the television pool (which often went to a split screen) was by far the worst element of

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-54146500711853385352008-09-26T15:45:00.004-04:002008-09-26T16:22:50.807-04:00

1. I'm glad there will be a debate tonight, and I will have more thoughts on that after it happens.2. There are several things about Palin's interview this week with Katie Couric that I want to pass along: the withering LATimes review, Hendrik Hertzberg's comments at the New Yorker, and James Fallows' take. And then there's the video. The last response on that clip, where Palin can't come up with

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-15681271234183851072008-09-14T07:57:00.002-04:002008-09-14T08:41:43.538-04:00

- First, let me just say that if you are as uncomfortable as I am with the turns this presidential campaign has taken in recent weeks, take a few minutes to read some coverage of the 9/11 Service Forum held on Thursday night. I haven't been able to find a video, but there's a transcript here. Both McCain and Obama spoke, and both kept the partisan sniping to a minimum while discussing their plans

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-27551186397776547432008-09-11T08:04:00.002-04:002008-09-11T08:23:27.586-04:00

They're at it again. As they did in 2000 and 2004, the Republican presidential campaign operatives trained at the Knee of Rove are doing their level best to distract voters from the issues by throwing up a smoke-screen of personal attacks, manufactured controversies, and complete misrepresentations of fact. To use an old cliché (as if we haven't had our fill of those lately), "Fool me once, shame

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-83926661474165828162008-09-06T07:57:00.002-04:002008-09-06T10:27:35.780-04:00

After we heard that AK governor Sarah Palin had been chosen as McCain's running mate, I wrote that I am "anxious to see how Palin handles the klieg lights of the national media circus." Well, it seems that the McCain campaign may simply see to it that she doesn't have to face the national media anytime soon.Marc Ambinder reports that a "senior McCain campaign official" told him "Gov. Sarah Palin

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-50927390933148491962008-09-05T20:28:00.002-04:002008-09-05T20:42:42.068-04:00

Recent events (combined with my chronic inability to keep my mouth shut about politics, no matter how hard I try) compel me to commit to a much more regular posting schedule here for at least the next couple months. The stakes we face in this election are, quite simply, so high that those of us who feel strongly about the issues facing our country have an obligation, even a duty, to speak our

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-54748793284462053672008-08-31T09:26:00.003-04:002008-08-31T10:01:06.756-04:00

It's been a while, but here are some thoughts about the current state of things.- The Democrats ought to be congratulated on what must be by all accounts considered a wildly successful convention. Aside from a lackluster and completely forgettable keynote speech by Mark Warner, the major speakers did very well (even, I admit grudgingly, both of the Clintons). The moment with Obama's girls on the

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-17536489854738150022008-08-02T15:43:00.002-04:002008-08-02T15:46:15.508-04:00

John Heilemann's New York piece "The Low-Road Warrior" is a very interesting take on the way the campaign has turned over the last week or so. Note particularly the way in which McCain's more - I'll be gentle and say sane - advisors have been/are being sidelined in favor of the '04 rattlesnakes.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-62612876570296116602008-07-30T18:54:00.002-04:002008-07-30T19:00:43.040-04:00

I've been busy lately, and haven't felt much need to weigh in on the political madness for a while. But John McCain's apparent new campaign strategy, is, as his former top aide puts it, "childish." McCain's better than this insipid nonsense, and he should call off the disrespectful and untruthful attacks and focus on the issues like he's repeatedly said he would do throughout this campaign.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-51095014144709656572008-05-16T06:36:00.003-04:002008-05-16T06:53:23.124-04:00

Apologies for the long silence here - nothing had quite gotten me incensed enough to write for a while. But President Bush has managed (it was only a matter of time). The portion of his Knesset speech yesterday which equates diplomacy with appeasement was a shameful display of Karl Rovian-style politics at its worst, and just goes to show just how far off the rails this administration has driven

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1466154203402882322008-03-09T10:49:00.002-04:002008-03-09T11:37:57.250-04:00

Well, the campaign continues. Back in January, I never would have thought that the Obama-Clinton race would have gone on this long. Iowa was a mere eight weeks ago, and there are now about six and a half weeks left before the next big contest in Pennsylvania on 22 April. Seems unbelievable when it's put like that, doesn't it?My discomfort with the Clinton campaign continues to grow more intense.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-91895855839113002612008-02-08T11:13:00.000-05:002008-02-08T11:46:02.070-05:00

- Romney's last campaign speech was his best. It was classy (or at the very least intelligent) of him to read the handwriting on the wall and realize that it was a mathematical impossibility for him to gain the nomination. His withdrawal positions him well for future involvement in the conservative movement.- There's word today that former RI Republican Senator Linc Chafee, now an unaffiliated

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-66150211370611460112008-02-05T09:18:00.001-05:002008-02-05T09:41:56.327-05:00

Last night some friends and I stood in line for three and a half hours, outside, in Boston, on a chilly February night. Why? To hear Barack Obama. The candidate held an election-eve rally at the city's World Trade Center last evening - it was supposed to start around 8:30, but we didn't even get through the doors until nearly 10:30 (or home to bed until nearly 1 a.m.).When we got off the T and

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-6191997319861763082008-02-04T12:02:00.001-05:002008-02-04T12:20:23.046-05:00

Any regular readers (if I still have any) will almost certainly not be surprised that I'm endorsing John McCain and Barack Obama in their respective contests tomorrow. These are the only two politicians who have ever truly inspired me (McCain eight years ago, Obama now), and while I have policy disagreements with each, I would be happy with either of them in the White House.*McCain's counterparts

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-5934719274417354382008-02-03T15:10:00.001-05:002008-02-03T15:10:38.265-05:00

Check it out.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-56750585259336096842008-01-27T00:18:00.000-05:002008-01-27T00:25:07.710-05:00

Barack Obama is almost always a good speaker. But his South Carolina victory speech gave me chills. Watch it. Or read it."... This election is about the past vs. the future. It's about whether we settle for the same divisions and distractions and drama that passes for politics today or whether we reach for a politics of common sense and innovation, a politics of shared sacrifice and shared

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-76918205973614704492008-01-13T13:29:00.000-05:002008-01-13T13:30:22.488-05:00

Hillary Clinton's "Meet the Press" appearance this morning was one of the most overt displays of the old Clintonian attack politics I've seen in this campaign. Her blatant and transparent attempts to blame Obama's campaign for "deliberately distorting" unfortunate remarks she, her husband, and others associated with her campaign have been making in recent days were, frankly, sickening and

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-20026342717711571392008-01-12T17:10:00.000-05:002008-01-12T17:13:36.473-05:00

Centrist Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska has endorsed Barack Obama, National Journal's Hotline on Call reports.In a statement released by the Obama campaign, Nelson said of his colleague:"Those of us on both sides of the aisle who have made it our purpose to set aside partisanship to address some of the important issues of the day want a president that will join the effort, not foil it. Barack

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-89295174557329736422008-01-09T13:22:00.000-05:002008-01-09T13:43:24.394-05:00

Last night was bittersweet for me. It was wonderful to see a man I respect with all my heart and soul win another great and important victory in New Hampshire. I remember the night eight years ago when my grandfather and I - stuck in traffic in Manhattan trying to get to the New York victory party - heard on the radio that we McCainiacs had managed to beat back Bush in the Granite State. Last

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-82737229494365683292008-01-05T17:11:00.001-05:002008-01-05T17:14:23.706-05:00

Listening to the new stump speech Barack Obama's giving in New Hampshire this weekend I'm reminded of one of my favorite poems: "It Couldn't Be Done" by Edgar A. Guest."It Couldn't Be Done"Somebody said that it couldn't be done,But he with a chuckle repliedThat "maybe it couldn't," but he would be oneWho wouldn't say so till he'd tried.So he buckled right in with the trace of a grinOn his face.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-29918825948560648242007-12-30T08:11:00.001-05:002007-12-30T08:28:48.761-05:00

David Broder has a report in today's Washington Post that quickened my pulse and warmed my heart this morning. He reveals that a bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats, along with Independent New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, will meet in Oklahoma next week (7 January) to challenge the major party contenders to create a "government of national unity." Participants, Broder says, are ready to

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-80100499530335113362007-12-22T09:26:00.001-05:002007-12-22T09:28:18.106-05:00

From McSweeney's: "The Lesser-Known Slogans of Political Moderates" by Kate Johansen and Katie Bukowski. Hilarious.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-48119929246118854962007-12-21T12:24:00.001-05:002007-12-21T12:55:55.030-05:00

[I see in things I've been reading since I started typing this post that others are using the same headline, but it has to be done].The Boston Globe confirms today that Mitt Romney did not actually see (with his eyes, anyway) his father march with Martin Luther King, Jr. during the 1960s ... and now in a bit of grammatical contortion not seen since the days of "depends on what the meaning of the

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-91534198523347581042007-12-16T13:11:00.000-05:002007-12-16T14:15:40.712-05:00

On 6 December, Mitt Romney delivered a speech, "Faith in America," in which he tried to allay certain qualms some may have with his Mormon faith and to lay out his own views on the proper roles of religion and religious expression in American public life. He presented what seemed to me an incorrect and frankly dangerous interpretation of those roles, and trotted out selective readings of our

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-47492460006330885702007-12-16T12:58:00.000-05:002007-12-16T13:11:35.708-05:00

Greetings all! I know it's been a long time since I chimed in on anything here - I've had a busy few months. As we get closer to the primaries I may be writing a bit more frequently, but that will depend on how things go. First, I simply want to recommend to everyone Andrew Sullivan's excellent Atlantic piece this month, "Goodbye to All That." Sullivan discusses Barack Obama's presidential

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-49734118122801834282007-10-13T17:10:00.000-04:002007-10-13T20:48:06.940-04:00

In his new book A More Perfect Constitution (Walker & Company, 2007) Larry Sabato, the founder and director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics lays out a series of twenty-three proposals for constitutional revision. These amendments would, he argues, bring the Constitution into the twenty-first century by making the structures of our government more fair, more representative, and

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-44509313623916121172007-08-05T09:44:00.000-04:002007-08-05T10:14:03.610-04:00

The power company responsible for much of the Boston area, NSTAR, recently announced that beginning in January (pending approval by state regulators), 1.1 million customers in Boston and beyond will be able to sign up for NSTAR Green and buy half or all of their "power directly from a wind farm in upstate New York and a second under development in Maine."A report in the Boston Globe notes that

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-78212809851599918192007-06-27T21:46:00.000-04:002007-06-27T21:54:39.537-04:00

I don't even want to mention Ann Coulter here because I hate providing her with even the slightest bit of free publicity, but I do want to point out this "Hardball" exchange between her and Elizabeth Edwards. Mrs. Edwards called into the show to ask Coulter to stop the vicious personal attacks on John Edwards and other political figures, saying "The things she has said over the years, not just

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-27678703248062860572007-06-19T20:13:00.000-04:002007-06-19T20:41:06.790-04:00

He appears on the cover of Time with Arnold Schwarzenegger with the headline "Who Needs Washington?"He's the subject of a BusinessWeek special report, "The CEO Mayor: How New York's Mike Bloomberg is creating a new model for public service that places pragmatism before politics."He's rumored to have recently had a "long, private discussion" with former Dem senator David Boren about the

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-67862795541336668542007-06-12T11:12:00.000-04:002007-06-12T11:24:03.659-04:00

Researchers from the University of Southern California's Annenberg Center for Communication, Annenberg School for Communication, and School of Cinematic Arts have unveiled The ReDistricting Game, a free online tool which "exposes how redistricting works, how it is abused, and how it adversely affects our democracy. It provides hands-on understanding of the real redistricting process, including

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-36682869564157247822007-06-07T16:22:00.000-04:002007-06-07T16:41:28.981-04:00

It's been a while, but now that the new Congress is in place it's time once again to start thinking about reforming the way congressional districts are created.Reps. John Tanner and Zach Wamp have reintroduced the Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act for the 110th Congress; this time around it's H.R. 543. It has already gained 23 cosponsors, with hopefully many more to come. Like last

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-83546839145046677872007-05-14T09:45:00.000-04:002007-05-14T09:49:37.678-04:00

Political Wire reports a very interesting trial balloon being floated by Chuck Hagel; in an interview with CBS, Hagel said "I am not happy with the Republican Party today. It's been hijacked by a group of single-minded almost isolationists, insulationists, power-projectors."Hagel recently dined with NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg, and had this to say about their discussions: "We didn't make any

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-41365397589895661102007-05-06T20:22:00.000-04:002007-05-06T21:05:30.172-04:00

There are currently nineteen announced candidates vying for the Democratic and Republican nominations for president (9 and 10 candidates per party, respectively). The field in both contests can only be described as wide open and very much subject to change. And yet just nine months from now, on 5 February if not before, the two nominees will almost certainly have been decided - months before

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-71999866719495864532007-04-02T19:30:00.000-04:002007-04-02T19:37:29.432-04:00

Waaaay back in August, 2005, I wrote about the decision taken by Congress to extend daylight savings time by two weeks at each end. I said then "This move was billed by its congressional allies as an energy-saving measure. Baloney. It's just an energy-use-shifter, from the morning to the evening. People are still going to have to get up at the same time, they're just going to have to use more

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-7076273997257733082007-03-05T07:01:00.000-05:002007-03-05T07:06:58.211-05:00

If you missed Steve Kroft's interview with Comptroller General David Walker on "60 Minutes" last night, I urge you to read it. Walker, who's currently on what he's calling a "Fiscal Wake-Up Tour," is trying to make an important about about the real state of American fiscal policy. "We suffer from a fiscal cancer," he says, "It is growing within us. And if we do not treat it, it could have

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-82767861063104303832007-02-28T18:54:00.000-05:002007-02-28T18:55:57.024-05:00

In today's Politico, Sam Waterston has another very good essay on Unity08 and its potential.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-80225498526517672942007-02-12T07:45:00.000-05:002007-02-11T17:41:05.990-05:00

I've expounded at some length before on the state of coinage in America, but will comment again using David Margolick's intersting NYT op/ed from yesterday as a starting point (I thought it appropriate to wait until today, Lincoln's birthday, to weigh in).Margolick's piece begins as quite an interesting brief history of the Lincoln penny, discussing well the great clamor its introduction caused

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-7067340512179809922007-02-10T11:42:00.000-05:002007-02-10T00:58:41.870-05:00

In case you missed it, Senator Barack Obama officially announced his candidacy for president this morning from Springfield. It was a good speech; he did himself proud, and he got the crowd fired up on what looked like an awfully cold day out there. The line I liked best, and one I hadn't heard before, was about how it might seem rather presumptuous of him to announce for president after only

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-31565451567477498992007-02-06T14:41:00.000-05:002007-02-06T15:22:27.160-05:00

It's now been almost a week since these guys caused a very edgy few hours in the city I'm currently calling home. Almost all day Wednesday we in Boston got updates of new suspicious devices being discovered at various locations around the city; traffic was snarled; the status of public transportation was unclear - it was a little nerve-wracking. Once it became clear that nothing was actually

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-16074185949691694552007-01-24T20:00:00.000-05:002007-01-24T20:48:55.555-05:00

Some thoughts about a few of the things that have transpired since I last posted.State of the Union: I thought the speech was fairly unimpressive; while I appreciate the president's calls for comprehensive immigration reform, health care coverage and a 20% reduction in gasoline consumption over the next ten years, the proof will most definitely be in the pudding. I'd like to think - as I have

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-5178205935863412692007-01-13T09:28:00.000-05:002007-01-13T09:44:27.561-05:00

Secretary of State Rice told the New York Times on Friday that recent actions against Iranian operatives in Iraq were authorized by a presidential order issued "several months ago." "'There has been a decision to go after these networks,' Ms. Rice said in an interview ... in her office on Friday afternoon, before leaving on a trip to the Middle East. Ms. Rice said Mr. Bush had acted 'after a

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-32738206686988087232007-01-12T08:48:00.000-05:002007-01-12T09:06:08.682-05:00

There is growing buzz and increasing concern that the President's Iraq speech Wednesday night may have signaled an important and - in my view - incredibly troubling stage in the Iraq War (even beyond the "surge"). Steve Clemons reports significant speculation in the capital that Bush recently "sent a secret Executive Order to the Secretary of Defense and to the Director of the CIA to launch

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-76204731374772124922007-01-04T09:25:00.000-05:002007-01-04T09:27:08.881-05:00

Todd Purdum has today's (this week's?) must-read article, a long profile of John McCain in Vanity Fair. It is by far the best piece of writing of its type I've read in a very long time. It will be, I suspect, of lasting importance.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-22410135298852507802007-01-01T09:29:00.000-05:002007-01-01T09:35:21.552-05:00

As we move into 2007 (Happy New Year, by the way), I have concluded that I need to take a break from political blogging for a time. How long that time will be is anyone's guess, I haven't any idea myself. I know that much remains to be done, and we will have many issues to tackle during the new session of Congress that begins this week. Redistricting reform, climate change, earmark reform and the

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-42748938976308793592006-12-23T12:43:00.000-05:002006-12-23T12:55:29.300-05:00

Former Vermont Senator Robert Stafford, a strong voice within the GOP for environmental-protection legislation and support of education (Stafford loans are named for him), has died at age 93. Stafford, who served two years as Vermont's governor, went on to represent the Green Mountain State for eleven years in the House and seventeen years in the Senate; he retired in 1989.A champion of clean air

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1166282447425425772006-12-16T10:12:00.000-05:002006-12-16T10:20:47.590-05:00

Another one bites the dust.Indiana Senator Evan Bayh has dropped his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, just two weeks after announcing the formation of an exploratory committee.Bayh's statement:"During my two terms as Governor and now in the United States Senate, it has always been more about the people I was able to help than the job I held. As you know I have been

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1166100261382305632006-12-14T07:32:00.000-05:002006-12-14T07:44:21.600-05:00

The NYTimes reports today that the incoming House and Senate budget committee chairmen "said they would demand a better accounting of the war’s cost and move toward integrating the spending into the regular federal budget, a signal of their intention to use the Congressional power of the purse more assertively to influence the White House’s management of the war."It's about time! The

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1165722731610965162006-12-09T22:51:00.000-05:002006-12-09T22:52:11.676-05:00

I've just finished reading the Vintage edition of The Iraq Study Group Report, which was printed almost overnight for its public release last Wednesday. It's a fairly short document - just 96 pages of report and another fifty pages of supporting documents - but it's an important one. This bipartisan group of some of the most interesting minds in American political life today managed to reach

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1165326840413041772006-12-05T08:44:00.000-05:002006-12-05T08:54:00.583-05:00

Since I'm about to go into a brief period of hibernation so I can finish my class-work for the semester, I thought I'd pass along a few of my recent book reviews from PhiloBiblos, starting with the most recent (links are to the reviews).- Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography by Janet Browne.- Not Your Usual Founding Father: Selections from Benjamin Franklin, edited by Edmund S. Morgan.- The

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1165251307431664382006-12-04T11:52:00.000-05:002006-12-04T11:55:07.580-05:00

John Heileman has an extensive and well-written piece in New York Magazine about Mike Bloomberg and the chance he'll make a run for the White House in '08 (under certain conditions). I have to say, I remain intrigued ...

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1165244650833937312006-12-04T09:57:00.000-05:002006-12-04T11:23:38.666-05:00

There is some very welcome news this morning: John Bolton, the recess-appointed UN Ambassador, has finally seen that confirmation was not in the cards and will resign. I repeat my call for the nomination of Jim Leach to act as America's ambassador at the United Nations; he is precisely the kind of diplomat we need representing us there at this time.Charles at WeThePeople has more on the Bolton

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1164896331567171772006-11-30T08:49:00.000-05:002006-11-30T09:18:52.136-05:00

A Washington Post this morning reads "Church Is Urged to Disinvite Obama." Apparently Obama (along with some sixty others) is scheduled to speak at a conference on AIDS at a California megachurch this weekend, at the request of prominent evangelical author Rick Warren (The Purpose-Driven Life). However, some of Warren's colleagues don't believe Obama should be allowed to speak at the conference .

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1164819156638762632006-11-29T11:46:00.000-05:002006-11-29T11:52:36.856-05:00

In what may be Bill Frist's first politically-savvy move since becoming Senate Majority Leader, the retiring senator from TN has announced that he will not be running for president in 2008. After managing to somehow alienate just about everyone in the GOP (see Schiavo, stem cells, judges, Bolton, immigration, "blind" trusts, &c. &c. &c.), Frist's niche constituency was approaching zero, so he is

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1164724574410768282006-11-28T09:29:00.000-05:002006-11-28T09:36:14.726-05:00

After almost a year of prodding by Democrats and others concerned by the implications of the president's controversial and extra-constitutional domestic warrantless eavesdrop program, the Justice Department's inspector general announced Monday he is opening an investigation into some elements of the scheme.Glenn Fine, the inspector general, wrote to members of Congress yesterday saying that his

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1164644331519626862006-11-27T10:37:00.001-05:002006-11-27T11:18:51.596-05:00

Given this year's election results you knew it had to happen: the New York Times has printed an obituary for the "Yankee Republican (Republicanus newenglandensis)." Pam Belluck describes the subspecies as "Dignified in demeanor, independent in ideology and frequently blue in blood [how the heck did I miss out on that one?], they were politicians in the mold of Roosevelt and Rockefeller: socially

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1164553775541637722006-11-26T10:05:00.000-05:002006-11-26T10:09:35.663-05:00

Some friends and I watched the recent documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?" last night ... by the time it was finished I was literally shaking with frustration. This is a movie that everyone should see, because it really speaks to the short-sightedness of American industry as well as the complicity of politicians with the oil and auto companies to keep consumers tied to the gasoline pump. I

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1164476996517897352006-11-25T12:12:00.000-05:002006-11-25T12:49:56.993-05:00

The unveiling of the designs for the "Presidential $1 Coin Program" has prompted some thoughts about the state of money in America, so I figured why not throw some random suggestions out there.First, I like the idea of a dollar coin, since it makes so much more sense (not to mention cents) for the government to produce coins rather than dollar bills (they last a bit longer, not surprisingly).

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1164289615184885682006-11-23T08:45:00.000-05:002006-11-23T08:46:55.246-05:00

My best wishes to all of you for a happy, safe and filling Thanksgiving!

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1163854432202713552006-11-18T07:46:00.000-05:002006-11-18T07:53:52.263-05:00

Senator John Warner (R-VA), whose term as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee ends after the lame-duck session, announced Friday that he would like to invoke his seniority on the Environment and Public Works Committee to claim its top GOP slot, currently held by Oklahoma's James Inhofe. Warner would then serve in the 110th Congress as the committee's ranking member (Barbara Boxer,

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1163773334561624892006-11-17T09:07:00.000-05:002006-11-17T09:22:26.816-05:00

In a pair of speeches to conservative audiences on Thursday, Senator McCain laid out an agenda of what he's calling "common sense conservatism." National Journal's Marc Ambinder has some good coverage and analysis of the speeches, and Adam Nagourney from the NYT also weighs in. You can read McCain's speech to the Federalist Society here and the one to GOPAC here.McCain argues in both speeches

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1163622654957933972006-11-15T15:18:00.000-05:002006-11-15T15:30:56.280-05:00

Longtime centrist Republican Rep. Jim Leach's defeat last Tuesday is a great loss for the House of Representatives, but it need not be a loss for the country. There is a diplomatic position for which Leach is not only qualified, but also particularly well suited: Ambassador to the United Nations. I am proud to jump on the Leach bandwagon today by announcing my strong support for his nomination

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1163609045606842872006-11-15T11:36:00.000-05:002006-11-15T11:44:05.810-05:00

Word this morning is that Senator Trent Lott, ousted from the GOP leadership in 2002 (a move which I pushed for then, even way back in my pre-blogging days) has defeated Senator Lamar Alexander to become the Republican Whip in the 110th Congress. The vote, which occurred behind closed doors this morning, was 25-24, according to the AP.What I wrote in 2002 still holds true today - Trent Lott is

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1163166526655047512006-11-10T08:29:00.000-05:002006-11-10T08:48:47.336-05:00

Clearly not learning quite as many lessons from Tuesday's rout as one might have hoped, the Administration has resubmitted unconfirmed UN Ambassador John Bolton's name to the Senate. Apparently Bush hopes that Bolton's confirmation can be somehow forced through before the new Congress convenes in January. This is not only unlikely, but was rather a ham-handed way to deal not only with the

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1163097635979177122006-11-09T13:29:00.000-05:002006-11-09T13:40:37.376-05:00

The Bull Moose (among many others) suggests today that the election results should be seen as a statement by the "immoderate middle" that, in effect, "We're mad as hell, and we're NOT gonna take it anymore!""Perhaps the President's greatest mistake was to fail to forge a new politics after 9/11 and unite the country for the long haul in the war against terror. Instead, in the 2002 midterms, he

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1163008881613537022006-11-08T13:00:00.000-05:002006-11-08T13:01:21.616-05:00

AP is now reporting that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down.Now it is indeed a new day in America!

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1163008364210839732006-11-08T12:46:00.000-05:002006-11-08T12:52:44.306-05:00

The AP is calling the Montana Senate race for John Tester, which means the whole shebang now rests with the Commonwealth of Virginia. There, Webb's built up a lead of just about 8,000 votes over Allen which seems to be holding steady. Word is that provisional ballots are left to be counted there, which the DSCC suspects will trend their way. I've been hesitant to say it for days now, but the Dems

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1162991775591519452006-11-08T07:41:00.000-05:002006-11-08T08:16:16.226-05:00

Well, it's looking pretty interesting out there this morning!The results in the House were largely unsurprising, but there were a few treats to be had. I am particularly delighted in the defeats of JD Hayworth (AZ-5), Richard Pombo (CA-11), Curt Weldon (PA-7) and John Sweeney (NY-20). We lost a fair number of House GOP centrists last night (Hart, Johnson, Bass, for example) and a couple of those

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1162936166648019782006-11-07T16:39:00.000-05:002006-11-07T17:51:09.093-05:00

As yesterday, I'll recommend Political Wire for their coverage tonight; National Journal's Hotline On Call blog is also doing a fabulous job with reports coming in from around the country all the time.There will be live-blogging at Donkleplant tonight, and very frequent updates at The Moderate Voice.Here's the rundown of when polls are set to close (some of these will change, there have been

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1162905115351277472006-11-07T08:09:00.000-05:002006-11-07T08:13:13.406-05:00

Today's the day. Please, if you haven't already, go vote. The only poll that matters is the one taken today by the votes cast, so even if you think your candidate's well ahead, they still need your vote to make it count.If you have stories from the polling places (long lines, rotten machines, vice versa), feel free to put them in comments.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1162828386092957612006-11-06T10:13:00.000-05:002006-11-06T10:53:07.273-05:00

If you're as sick of checking polls, analysis, predictions, &c. as I am, I'm sorry. It'll be over soon. If you haven't had enough yet, I cannot recommend highly enough the great site that is Political Wire. Taegan Goddard has done a spectacular job this election season of providing links to polls, news coverage, and analysis. He has made his site a must-read for every political junkie. I won't

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1162646466343867212006-11-04T08:02:00.000-05:002006-11-04T08:21:06.406-05:00

Last night I had the first of what I hope will be many opportunities to see and listen to Barack Obama as he swooped into Boston for a quick campaign stop with gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick. More than 2,000 people (says the Globe) came out to see Patrick and Obama - it was a very energetic crowd with a great deal of optimism and excitement. After the down-ballot folks had their turns at

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1162480937906090612006-11-02T10:12:00.001-05:002006-11-02T10:22:18.983-05:00

The President's words yesterday say it all. If you had any lingering hopes that this Administration and its leader have learned any lessons from their mistakes in Iraq and beyond (far, far beyond), you may now freely abandon them. In an interview with wire service reporters, Bush praised his Veep and SecDef, saying "both those men are doing fantastic jobs, and I strongly support them." "When he

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1162387114006917192006-11-01T08:09:00.000-05:002006-11-01T08:18:35.870-05:00

One more week. They had to coast along for one more week. And then along comes the big-mouthed senator from Massachusetts and hands Karl Rove the best Halloween treat he could have hoped for.I'm with Don Imus on this one, who addressed Kerry this morning on his radio show: "Please stop it. Stop talking. Go home, get on the bike, go wind surfing, anything, stop it. You're going to ruin this."Yes,

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1162212798666145192006-10-30T07:48:00.000-05:002006-10-30T07:53:18.726-05:00

The WaPo's got a should-read piece today offering up a few more examples of Bush-appointed folks in the Interior Department refusing to listen to the advice of career scientists and specialists in making recommendations for designations of threatened or endangered species. "Staff complaints that their scientific findings were frequently overruled or disparaged at the behest of landowners or

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1162049631443432962006-10-28T10:46:00.000-04:002006-10-30T20:07:49.953-05:00

On Tuesday last, Vice President Cheney was being interviewed by WDAY talk radio host Scott Hennen, operating out of Fargo, ND. Hennen asked Cheney "Would you agree that a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?" The Veep responded "Well, it’s a no-brainer for me. But for a while there I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don’t torture. That’s not what we’re

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1161643700790438272006-10-23T18:27:00.000-04:002006-10-23T18:48:21.420-04:00

Alan's got a great post at Maverick Views outlining all the reasons why he'll be rooting for the Democrats come Election Night. I agree just about entirely with his conclusions:"The Republicans no longer have a real agenda and are focused mostly on adding pork-filled earmarks onto spending bills and trying to get useless Constitutional amendments passed. Even on national security they seem to

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1161261676456528412006-10-19T08:35:00.000-04:002006-10-19T08:41:20.610-04:00

If you read one article today, make it Peter Slevin's WaPo piece "Moderates in Kansas Decide They're Not in GOP Anymore." It examines a very interesting trend that's happened in Kansas this year, where nine former Republican officeholders will appear on the ballot in November ... as Democrats. This includes the former chairman of the state Republican party, who's running for lieutenant governor

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1160835556742980892006-10-14T09:47:00.000-04:002006-10-14T10:19:17.563-04:00

Sorry about that unscheduled disappearance, which was due to a combination of factors, including my inability to find the words to express the disgust and revulsion I felt about the Mark Foley mess, but mostly because my non-blogging life's been a little (okay, a lot) busier than I expected it would be this fall. At any rate, I've got some things that I want to discuss, and I do intend to post

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1159717574322312522006-10-01T11:37:00.000-04:002006-10-01T11:46:14.416-04:00

The New York Times reports today that back in June, 2005, then-acting deputy defense secretary Gordon England and State Department counselor Philip Zelikow jointly wrote a 9-page memo calling on the Administration to ask Congress for approval of its detainee treatment policies. England and Zelikow also "called for a return to the minimum standards of treatment in the Geneva Conventions and for

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1159448223429039572006-09-28T08:43:00.000-04:002006-09-28T08:57:03.626-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords (I) made his valedictory speech before the Senate prior to his retirement at the end of this session. The text is available here. Jeffords took the opportunity to decry the current fiscal insanity with which this Administration and Congress have saddled our country, saying "It seems to me the very least we should do is pay today for the fiscal

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1159361859364614132006-09-27T08:46:00.000-04:002006-09-27T08:57:39.613-04:00

Sorry for the slow-posting, it's been busy and yesterday all Google sites were on strike for me so when I finally did have time to write, I couldn't. Anyway, here are some links I've read lately that I thought might be of interest:- In today's New York Times, it sounds to me like the Administration's shenanigans continue on the detainee treatment bill; there were some mysterious "technical

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1159020782851768532006-09-23T09:47:00.000-04:002006-09-23T10:13:02.903-04:00

Well it was really only a matter of time. While my initial feelings about the deal struck between the Rebellious Trio and the Administration were positive, it has been made abundantly clear by White House and other executive branch officials that the whole negotiation process was little more than a charade on the part of the Bush team. I should have known: so much for hope springs eternal, not

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1158927311785445282006-09-22T08:03:00.000-04:002006-09-22T08:15:12.276-04:00

Sticking to my theme of the past week or so I'm going to discuss McCain-Warner-Graham again, but this time to note that the agreement they've reached with the Administration seems almost a total win for the rebellious senators. Now, because I'm taking that only from news reports that have been published so far, I could be way off base here ... and I'm also assuming (as I should never do) that the

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1158759640261633202006-09-20T09:25:00.000-04:002006-09-20T09:40:41.793-04:00

As the end of this congressional session nears, it's growing increasingly likely that the Administration will have to blink or sink on the detainee trials legislation they'd like to have passed before the fall elections. We saw the first indications of this Monday night with a new proposal from the White House in which the Administration "dropped its insistence on redefining the obligations of

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1158501215229887772006-09-17T09:37:00.000-04:002006-09-17T09:53:35.296-04:00

The NYT has a very interesting article today (team-reported by Carl Hulse, Kate Zernike and Sheryl Gay Stolberg) on the McCain-Warner-Graham rebellion, and how they came to put a halt on Bush's plan to ram through a bad detainee trials policy. They report that the number of Senate Republicans now backing the bill approved by the Armed Services Committee "was widening beyond the 8 or 10 they had

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1158323554420229662006-09-15T08:14:00.000-04:002006-09-15T08:32:36.150-04:00

It seems like I've written this post before ... but once again, I must give credit to Senators McCain, Warner and Graham for standing up to the Administration on terror detainee policy. The three, joined yesterday by former SecState and CJCS Colin Powell, are pushing back against proposed legislation from the White House which would, they say, effectively gut the Geneva Conventions. Yesterday the

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1158150074160191802006-09-13T08:09:00.000-04:002006-09-13T08:21:15.016-04:00

Well it was a divided night last night for centrist candidates, both incumbents and those running for open seats. In Rhode Island, senator Lincoln Chafee held off a strong challenge from Stephen Laffey, winning with approximately 53% of the vote in an election that saw turnout records smashed (more than 63,000 votes were cast, beating the previous high of 45,000).However, in AZ's 8th CD,

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11576835.post-1158065941101289072006-09-12T08:57:00.000-04:002006-09-12T08:59:01.153-04:00

Blogging for Political Wire, CQ's Greg Giroux has an excellent preview of all today's primary matchups.

JBDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11257708021174187675noreply@blogger.com0