Awful news out of Little Rock, Arkansas… A man with “political and religious motives” killed a soldier just out of basic training and wounded another Monday in a targeted attack on a military recruiting center, police said. The shootings were not believed to be part of a broader scheme. [...] William Long, 24, of Conway, [...]

His name is Scott Roeder and it looks like he’s involved with Operation Rescue in some way. Obviously that doesn’t mean they’re to blame, but if you convince your followers that somebody is a mass murderer and is doing it legally…you think something bad might happen? Here’s the comment he left at Operation Rescue’s site, [...]

npr link to music torture…

It was must see TV yesterday, but I’m just getting around to it now. Ultimately, I think this did little to change any minds, but it did position Obama more firmly in the center of this issue and made Cheney seem further off to the right since he offered nothing new except justifications. Because he [...]

The logic of how we’ve handled terrorism and terrorists in the post 9/11 world has always been flawed, but one of the more obviously incorrect arguments has been the claim that we don’t want these people serving time on American soil. Why? Not sure really. We just don’t. They’re incredibly, crazy dangerous for some reason [...]

The FBI has foiled another terrorist plot, this one in New York and involving the planned bombing of synagogues and the shooting down of a military plane. The FBI was apparently all over this, following the would-be attackers for quite awhile and even supplying them with fake C-4 through an informant. In fact, while the [...]

So, Dick Cheney has been going around telling everyone that President Obama is making us less safe by daring to change some of the Bush era national security policies. But Jack Goldsmith at The New Republic says Cheney’s criticisms don’t hold up. Obama has actually changed very little outside rhetoric and packaging. Goldsmith details eleven [...]

Afghanistan’s President Hamad Karzai and Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari meet with David Gregory to talk about the problems in their countries. Question: can the problems in Pakistan and Afghanistan be solved or will this be Obama’s Iraq? Discuss…

First, let me say that I respect Sonny Bunch. A lot. I rarely agree with Sonny, but he is clearly and genuinely interested in engaging those with whom he disagrees. That said, the posts (and subsequent responsive comment) with which E.D. and Mr. Schwenkler take issue is emblematic of something that has been particularly frustrating [...]

This was definitely troubling, so it’s good to see that some real action was taken after the report was revealed. From McClatchy: JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Highway Patrol this week retracted a controversial report on militia activity and will change how such reports are reviewed before being distributed to law enforcement agencies. The [...]

Looks like President Obama isn’t the reactionary pacifist some of his critics (and supporters) thought he was. Tomorrow, the administration is expected to announce a major increase in forces in Afghanistan. Confronting an inherited and faltering war, President Barack Obama plans to dispatch thousands more military and civilian trainers to Afghanistan by the fall on [...]

If you’re in Missouri, it might be better to take that old Ron Paul or Bob Barr bumper sticker off your car. A February 20 report to help Missouri law enforcement identify domestic terrorists has some alarming advice. The report is put out by the Missouri Information Analysis Center, which is a “public safety partnership [...]

More fun from the neo-conservatives. Here’s the transcript… MATTHEWS: The polling that took place before we attacked, conducted by “Time” and CNN, showed that 72 percent of the American people, nearly three quarters, believed it was likely that Saddam Hussein was involved in the attack on us 9/11. How do you think they got that [...]

In Sri Lanka… This has to be one of the most terrifying and haunting images I’ve ever seen. It takes a tragic place right alongside the Vietnamese children who are running down the road near Trang Bang after they got hit with napalm. (credit: Telegraph)

Really the only way to guarantee a ceasefire is to wait until your enemy runs out of bullets. So it’s baffling what the nutcake negotiators from Israel and Hamas are trying to achieve with these “temporary” ceasefire proposals. The latest scoop from Israel’s Haaretz newspaper: “Hamas’ Gaza spokesman Ayman Taha, meanwhile, has said recently that [...]

Yesterday afternoon, a Muslim family with nine members including three children was ordered off an AirTran flight from Reagan National to Orlando. Passengers claimed members of the family had made suspicious remarks. The family claims they were just discussing the safest place to sit on the plane. The FBI cleared the family and helped them [...]

A new report from the Senate Armed Services Committee places significant blame for abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay on former Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld The report’s executive summary, made public by the committee’s Democratic chairman Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan and its top Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, said Rumsfeld contributed [...]

After last week’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai, many feared India would respond by using its military to escalate tensions with Pakistan. Now, reports indicate India will take a diplomatic approach. Because there is not substantial proof that Pakistan coordinated or sponsored the attacks, India does not want to make a move that could put the [...]

Al Qaeda has purportedly released a new message addressing President-elect Barack Obama: In the video, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s No. 2, castigated Obama’s foreign policy stances on Afghanistan and Israel and ridiculed the president-elect’s worldview. Al-Zawahiri compared Obama unfavorably to the late Malcolm X, an African-American militant who adopted Islam. [...] Al-Zawahiri can be heard [...]

No sooner did I write this post about the two memes I think will be the Republicans’ bread and butter for the next four years, than I see this editorial from UK’s The Spectator. Melanie Phillips attempts to make the “America Is Losing Its Superpower Status” argument against Obama… The impact of the financial crisis [...]