I have to go to the extended quote with bolds added for this. Newsweek editor John Meacham writing about John McCain at Liberty University: Speaking of Iraq, McCain said: “Should we lose this war, our defeat will further destabilize an already volatile and dangerous region, strengthen the threat of terrorism and unleash furies that will [...]

I hate it when people say about those with whom they disagree, “they just don’t get it.” It’s elitist, arrogant and obnoxious. But, here I go anyway: people just don’t get how dangerous this NSA surveillance of domestic phone calls is. As I demonstrated with the post below, it takes just a few seconds on [...]

At 11:18 pm, March 12, 2006, a person dialing from (202) 224-4521 reached the following number: (760) 471-8418. We have not recorded the content of that call. We don’t know who made the call, or who was called. We only know the number from which the call originated, and the number reached. And the fact [...]

“These netroots types think they are something cutting edge when they are merely McGovernites with modems.” That saucy salvo was issued a few days ago by Marshall Wittman (aka Bull Moose) on RealClearPolitics. Today Tom Bevan takes up the fight, documenting several sudden aggressive advances on the Democratic party chessboard that suggest that centrists, particularly [...]

As expected, the amateur spindoctors of the right (aka rightwing partisan bloggers) are pretending like the news that the NSA is collecting our phone records is no big deal. The always well-written yet routinely vapid Power Line even entitled their post NSA Accused of Protecting Americans from Terrorists. As far as Power Line is concerned, [...]

This is an actual ad that pops up when you visit Newsmax.com. This is NOT a joke. However…this is a joke: “You mean, I can play soldier too? Wicked!!! I’ll take like a dozen for me and my conservative-news-loving posse! Support our troops! Yeah!!!”

Well, I wouldn’t pose the question if the answer was no. From Defense Tech: It’d be one thing if the NSA’s massive sweep of our phone records was actually helping catch terrorists. But what if it’s not working at all? A leading practitioner of the kind of analysis the NSA is supposedly performing in this [...]

MSNBC host and former conservative, Reaganite, GOP congressman Joe Scarborough on the latest unconstitutional travesty: “Big Brother is listening. No, really. . . . Whatever you consider yourself, friends [liberal or conservative] you should be afraid, you should be very afraid. . . this domestic spying program is so widespread, it is so random, it [...]

Let me ask you a question: when Mr. Bush’s term of office is up on January 20, 2009, are you sure he will leave office? 100% sure? Or only 99%? Or maybe some lower number? Absolutely sure, or only very sure? Pretty sure? Kind of sure? We have a president who asserts the right to [...]

I see we’ve already got a couple of posts on the topic, so I’ll keep this short. If you’re interested in some more analysis of the NSA phone-call database, I’ve got a few thoughts over at Midtopia. I’m also pleased to report that my local phone company is Qwest, so I’m off the grid! Well, [...]

(crossposted from Midtopia) It will come as no surprise that the Republicans are in disarray, with even hard-core partisans turning on President Bush. The Gallup polling organization recorded a 13-percentage-point drop in Republican support for Bush in the past couple of weeks. These usually reliable voters are telling pollsters and lawmakers they are fed up [...]

Back in 1999, I went on a seminary sponsored trip to Hong Kong and mainland China. We spent two weeks in Hong Kong and a week in Yunan Province in Western China. The purpose of the trip was to worship with Christians in small villages not far from the provincial capital of Kunming. It was [...]

USA TODAY has reported that the NSA’s domestic spying program is a lot larger than originally suspected. Turns out, since 2001, the NSA has been working with most major telephone service providers to log every domestic call made. One anonymous source says the agency’s goal is “to create a database of every call ever made” [...]

Washegonada. New Arizado. Where are we?

Looks like we need to invade Venezuela! From Reuters: CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) – Taxi driver Jaime Tinoco works the streets of Caracas in a 1976 Chevy Nova that guzzles 19 gallons (72 liters) of gas a day. But he doesn’t worry about fuel efficiency — filling his tank costs just $2.30. While U.S. consumers struggle [...]

It’s time for Centrist Republicans to get busy in taking back the party from the Far Right.

Third Way, a center-left political think-tank has released a plan that they think can help Democrats recapture middle-class votes. Given that Democrats across the board have been losing the middle-class vote by 10-20% points, reconnecting with this large voting segment is a vital step if Democrats want to return to power. First and foremost, the [...]

This “dead” horse is still kicking, even among journalists. Editor and Publisher has more… NEW YORK More than half of newspaper journalists in a recent survey believe an unethical or unprofessional incident occurred in their newsroom within the past five years, while seven out of 10 said they had been accused of bias in the [...]

We will need to adjust our values for a good life to greater expectations that might be more realistic, if not more wholesome.