Category Archives: Current Events

Gotta admit: I'm very confused on what the Republican/Conservative position is on embryonic stem-cell research. According to this, the 2008 G.O.P. platform calls for a total ban on it. It's not to be tolerated anywhere for any reason, even when privately funded. But the Bush administration and many Republican leaders have promoted many embryonic stem-cell research programs, especially if they were privately funded.

Okay, so Bush and his guys are in favor of some and it says over here that John McCain, who will pledge to run on that platform, has said he supports it…or at least he did, earlier this year. Now, I know no one ever follows the platform of their party, and McCain may not even bother to read it. But if it's so immoral to some that it warrants an outright, no-exception ban, shouldn't there be a little discussion when their party leaders disagree? I mean, I assume that's in the platform to appease some faction but why would that faction be appeased in the slightest by a meaningless gesture? Has anyone asked McCain lately if he still feels that way?

Michael Kinsley on how Republicans manage to win elections.

Joseph D. Tydings is a lawyer with mucho experience in Death Penalty cases. He thinks our court system is too fallible and that innocent people do get executed. This possibility doesn't seem to matter to some people but it should.

For a change, I think I'll link to an article by Fred Kaplan. It's about Condoleezza Rice's latest odd declaration.

Tim Rutten on the new Jerome Corsi book about Barack Obama. I think Rutten has it exactly right. You wanna know what it's all about? Just follow the money.

Peter Wehner, who has impeccable credentials as a Conservative, slams the new anti-Obama book by Jerome Corsi.

My buddy Bob Elisberg fills us in on the problem with so-called "reality shows" and the Writers Guild. Bob knows of what he writes.

Recently, I linked to an article by Charles Van Doren in which he confesses (sort of) to his role in the quiz show scandals of the fifties. Stanley Fish doesn't think it was much of a confession.

Is it true that allowing offshore drilling would bring down the cost of gasoline significantly in the near future? This article says no and explains why not.

Fred Kaplan on the Russian invasion on Georgia. And if you need more background on what this is all about, James Traub supplies some.

Ben Stein has lately written some very bizarre articles about Creationism and how a nasty thing called Science must be ignored if we are to live our lives properly. But when the man's right, he's right and I think he is about the Bush/McCain approach to the economy.

Joe Conason, whose reporting and analysis I'm inclined to trust as much as I trust anyone's, thinks there's something to the charge that we're in Iraq partly because the Bush administration had a memo forged in order to get us there. I'm not ready to assume this is true but it looks like there's enough evidence that it oughta be the subject of investigations and hearings and all those things we used to only do in this country when someone thought they would bring down Bill Clinton. I think what's being alleged here is a wee bit more serious than having an affair with an intern.

One of the arguments for the Death Penalty has always been that it provides a sense of justice and closure to the loved ones of the victim of a murder. This article which claims otherwise is by Donald A. McCartin (a Conservative Judge) and Mike Farrell (a Liberal actor) who happen to be friends. They used to debate the issue but now are on the same page.

Farhad Manjoo reviews the growing conspiracy theories regarding the post-9/11 anthrax attacks.

For what it's worth, I am not a big believer in most conspiracy theories. I'm convinced Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman. I'm convinced O.J. Simpson was a lone knifeman. I'm convinced the 9/11 attacks were just what they appeared and not some controlled demolition arranged by Dick Cheney. But what's been released so far to prove that Bruce Ivins was the anthrax attacker (and the only one involved) strikes me as pretty flimsy. He may well be exactly what they say but the FBI statements have a strong air of "Hey, we say he did it, the case is closed, stop asking questions!"

Jonathan Alter on how the John McCain who's running for president is not the John McCain he knew…or thought he knew.

I don't have an article to link to about this but let the record show that I'm not too wild about Barack Obama's new-found interest in off-shore oil drilling. As a friend of mine notes, drilling off our coasts has nothing to do with our need for oil and will never do much to impact oil prices or reduce our dependency on foreign petroleum. It's mainly about slapping down the environmental movement.