I Proudly Endorse...

post from Ezra Klein on 11 December 2006 04:28:00 PM. © Ezra Klein

Eh, these awards are already fucked, and Althouse is being so mean-spirited and vindictive about the contest, I feel no guilt. Go vote for the Moderate Voice -- an actual centrist blog in the centrism category, and a good blog...[...]

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House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

post from Think Progress on 11 December 2006 04:22:00 PM. © Think Progress

is “expected to stand by her decision to permanently remove” Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) from the powerful Ways and Means Committee, National Journal reports. Jefferson is currently under FBI investigation for bribery.

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http://thinkprogress.org/2006/12/11/house-speaker-designate-nancy-pelosi-d-ca/

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Hey, Tony Blair, got any pictures of your wife
naked Want some

post from William K. Wolfrum on 11 December 2006 04:03:39 PM. © William K. Wolfrum

In yet another example of the "Law of Everything George W. Bush Touches Goes to Shit," the crappy year of British Prime Minister Tony Blair just got crappier, as the UK press has jumped on the story that his wife, Cherie, spent some time as a nude model back when ...

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AP's John Solomon: The Story So Far

post from TPMmuckraker on 11 December 2006 04:02:13 PM. © TPMmuckraker

A bit more about John Solomon, the long-time Associated Press investigative reporter who's been hired away by the Washington Post. As we've catalogued here on TPMm and at TPM, Solomon -- a Washington-based muckraker -- likes to do hard-hitting pieces...

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http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002121.php

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More on Emanuel's Non Denial Denial

post from TalkLeft on 11 December 2006 04:01:39 PM. © TalkLeft

A followup to this discussion. In realtime, Bob Somerby and I had similar reactions to Rahm Emanuel appearance with George Stephanapoulos:

Meanwhile, we chuckled a bit when we stopped by The Lake and read this post about Rahm Emanuel. In the following exchange on Sunday’s This Week, Rahm gave a classic non-denial denial when asked if he had known about Foley’s misconduct:
STEPHANOPOULOS (10/8/06): All week long, there have been suggestions by—on talk radio and by Republicans and their allies that this was perhaps a Democratic dirty trick. And I just want to ask you plainly, did you or your staff know anything about these e-mails or instant messages before they came out?
EMANUEL: George, never saw them. And I'm going to say one thing, let's go through the facts right here.

PUTNAM: But were you aware of them? Didn't have to see them.

EMANUEL: Never saw them. Let me go right through the facts. One, Brian Ross, who broke the story on your network, said it came from a Republican source. Very unusual to do that. Fact two, The Hill paper said it came from a Republican source. All the Republicans and staff people are coming forward are Republicans. Mark Foley, who wrote the e-mails originally, at the bottom of this whole problem, Republican. The leadership of the Congress, from Tom Reynolds to John Boehner to Speaker Hastert, who can't come on this show—

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you were not aware and no involvement?

EMANUEL: No, we never saw them. No involvement and she said not anything, George, and what the fact is, this is—

PUTNAM: Was there an awareness? Was there any awareness?
EMANUEL: Never saw them. The first time I ever saw these things, right here when Brian Ross broke this show and when the Post had the story.
On it’s face, that’s a world-class non-denial denial. Putnam kept asking Emanuel if he was “aware” of Foley’s conduct—and Emanuel kept sticking to a narrow, non-responsive reply. (Ditto for Stephanopoulos’ original question, in which he asked if Emanuel “knew anything” about the e-mails before they came out in the press.) That suggests an entirely unsurprising possibility—the possibility that Emanuel did know, in some way or other, that Foley had been misbehaving. He kept saying he hadn’t seen the e-mails. But he kept refusing to say that he hadn’t been aware.

Folks, it is wrong to call this a lie and that is my point here.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/59915173/624

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Falling Up

post from TalkLeft on 11 December 2006 04:01:33 PM. © TalkLeft

John Solomon, the AP reporter whose jihad agaist Harry Reid has proven to be a deep embarrassment for the AP, falls up:

GOP oppo research push-over John Solomon headed from the AP to Washington Post?!?! Apparently they're going to set him up with his own investigative unit. Presumably in addition to the one he has at the RNC.

What a self indictment by the Washington Post.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/59917035/38

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The Wire

post from TalkLeft on 11 December 2006 04:01:29 PM. © TalkLeft

Like many across the blogs, I am a big fan of the HBO show "The Wire." My favorite discussions of the show generally spring from Matt Yglesias' blog, but today I like Ezra's discussion:

It's testament to the overpowering awesomeness of The Wire that despite being a deeply opinionated commentary on social, urban, and economic policy, it's basically beloved by the whole political spectrum. You already know the panoply of lefty bloggers who regularly recommend and rave over the show, but now Cato is recommending it as a stocking stuffer. Meanwhile, my personal Wire-watching group includes lefties, punk rock chefs, and hardcore libertarians. So I think the anecdotal evidence of pan-ideological appeal is ironclad. Which is a bit odd, given that the creators are, as best I can tell, revolutionary socialists. . . . Yet everyone likes the show. That's possibly because it's a masterful story, expertly told, and exquisitely acted. It may also be because it's little kinder to state intervention than personal initiative. While none of the problems would be solved by charter schools, the public schools aren't making progress either. Indeed, it may be the radical apocalypticism of The Wire's vision that makes it so palatable: By offering absolutely no hope, it evades arguments over solutions.

Pessimism is what "The Wire" is all about. For some reason, the drama of futility attracts me. And this is as close to a criminal law post as I will do.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/59922380/108

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Tom Delay's blog

Tom Delay just launched a blog. Really. Apparently the initial comments he received from readers weren't very kind, so he removed them. Fortunately, someone saved them. I can't vouch for these being real, but they sure sound real. And in George Bush's America that's enough justification for going to war, so I figure we've met the blogger credibility threshhold.

A lot of the comments are a bit harsh, but a few are priceless, including this one:

Everyone already assumes bloggers are unemployed losers... thanks for reinforcing that stereotype...

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Americablog/~3/59928013/tom-delays-blog.html

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Talking to Walls

Almost there.

Two more years.

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http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_12_10_atrios_archive.html#116587061194433380

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Hail Fellow Blogger, Well Met!

I suppose everybody's gotta have a hobby, and time no doubt weighs heavy on your hands when you're worried about what an upstanding conservative like Casino Jack might say to save himself from a new career in the prison laundry. Via[...]

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http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/12/11/hail-fellow-blogger-well-met/

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