Tuesday, March 9, 2004

Recommended Reading

Does John Kerry really take both sides of every issue? Here are both sides of that issue: An article that says he does and an article that says he doesn't. Take your pick.

• Posted at 11:21 PM · LINK

Making Nice

Here's the kind of thing that amazes me. I guess it shouldn't but it does. It's the way a seemingly-intelligent human being — in this case, Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson — can leap from one position to the opposite in the blink of an eye. This is from today's episode of Crossfire on CNN, and I cut 'n' pasted this right out of the transcript. Carlson was talking about some allegations that are circling that John Ashcroft stopped flying commercial airliners a few months before 9/11 because he had been tipped that terrorists had a plan to hijack planes and fly them into buildings. Here's the relevant passage...

Strictly speaking, this charge is false. Ashcroft did stop flying commercial, but it was because of domestic, not terrorist threats. But it's worse than that. It is the ugliest possible conspiracy theory and it's a destructive one, too. If you don't like Ashcroft's policy, attack them, critique them. But don't accuse him or any other American of knowing about 9/11 in advance. It's just too much.

Okay, I agree with that. I don't care much for Mr. Ashcroft but that doesn't mean the charge is true. I certainly haven't heard of any evidence that would justify the charge. So good for Carlson. But then, less than 45 seconds later, he says...

...I knew a lot of perfectly decent smart people who actually became mentally ill thanks to Bill Clinton. And you're seeing the exact process happening on the other side...Paul Krugman has become so obsessed with Bush, he actually accused him of causing anti-Semitism in Malaysia. After that column, I have to say...As much as I thought he was smart once upon a time, he's gone crazy.

So much for civility in our political discourse.

• Posted at 8:16 PM · LINK

Recommended Reading

George W. Bush is soon to sit down with the chairpersons of the 9/11 commission to answer questions about what occurred on that horrible day. He has stated that he will only grant them one hour of questioning and he has been criticized for this. So will he allow the questioning to go for more than an hour? Well, let's ask his press secretary and find out.

• Posted at 9:30 AM · LINK

Super History

It's not finished yet but comic book fan/historian Bob Hughes is putting together a wonderful resource — a webpage that tracks the history of DC Comics. Here's what he has up so far and I'll be sending him a batch of additions and corrections (not many corrections so far). And while you're over there, you might want to check out the pages where Bob identifies the Golden and Silver Age artists who drew Superman and Batman.

• Posted at 1:06 AM · LINK