Politics

RON ZIEGLER….The Luckenbachs eulogize Nixon press secretary Ron Ziegler: Ron Ziegler’s death now makes Ari Fleischer the most mendacious press secretary alive. Yep, Ron was the prototype, all right.

WAR AND SACRIFICE….And speaking of the Bush administration’s delicate tap dance about the war, Paul Krugman notes today that Bush is apparently afraid that public opinion would collapse if he so much as breathed a word about sacrifice in the cause of war. For evidence of this, look no further than budget director Mitch Daniels […]

ISN’T IT TIME FOR GEORGE BUSH TO SHOW SOME LEADERSHIP?….It’s not clear ? especially at this point ? whether anything would budge European opinion about invading Iraq, but surely a number of their objections could be dealt with fairly easily: It’s all about oil. Why doesn’t George Bush clearly and forthrightly promise to put Iraq’s […]

CATCHING CROOKS VIA MINDREADING….TalkLeft has a story today about a guy who has a technique for peering into someone’s thoughts to find out if they’ve committed a crime: A technique called “brain fingerprinting,” which seeks to probe whether a suspect has specific knowledge of a crime, could become a powerful weapon in national security, its […]

URL UPDATE….Jeff Cooper has a new address and a new look: http://www.jeffcoop.com/blog/ Adjust your bookmarks.

SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS….This is ridiculous. Apparently there’s going to be a movie out this summer called Pirates of the Caribbean and another one called Haunted Mansion. Are they just going to go through the whole list of rides at Disneyland? What’s next, Autopia: The Movie?

OSAMA BIN LADEN STILL ALIVE?….According to an AP dispatch, Osama bin Laden is alive and talking: The Al Jazeera Arab satellite station confirmed it received an audio statement from Osama bin Laden which it said will air later Tuesday. Chief editor Ibrahim Hilal told The Associated Press the 16-minute tape was a message to Iraqis […]

BUSH AND EUROPE….Turkey has asked NATO to provide help in case it is attacked in a war with Iraq. France, Belgium and Germany have vetoed the request. George Bush is incredulous: I don’t understand that decision. I am disappointed that France would block NATO from helping a country like Turkey prepare. Those perfidious French, preventing […]

ALAN GREENSPAN DISAPPOINTS THE REPUBLICANS….Paul Krugman wondered aloud last week if Alan Greenspan would keep a bit of dignity when he testified before congress today, or whether he would simply confirm that he’s nothing but a shill for the Republican party. Apparently, he decided he’s had enough and rubbished the Bushies’ claim that economic growth […]

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER AND ALL THAT….Jesse thinks the Republicans have had a bad week. I dunno, seemed pretty normal to me….