Informed Speculation

…just to get the week started right… She runs through the streets With her eyes painted red Under a black belly of cloud in the rain In through a doorway she brings me White gold and pearls stolen from the sea She is raging She is raging And the storm blows up in her eyes [...]

Larry Sabato, who you may recall seems to foresee a Mark Warner vs. John McCain 2008 (and it’s certainly possible), now takes a look at 2006, starting with the Senate, and sees the proverbial good news – bad news for the Dems. The good is that he sees them gaining 2 or 3 seats. The [...]

Though thanks to TimesSelect, we can’t read it. Fortunately, Joe Trippi, of all people, saves us the trouble by reprinting most of it (hat tip to Blue State Republican)…

Say it ain’t so…I’ve been assured by everyone that Abramoff only touched the corrupt Republicans…but here come rumors that Harry Reid is in big, big trouble…Chris Wallace caught Howard Dean this morning with a report from the Center for Responsive Politics: WALLACE: I just want to ask you about this question of the Democratic involvement. [...]

Spc. Phil Van Treuren has really done a fine job spotlighting the humanitarian side of the U.S. military with his Camp Katrina blog. He now has categories on the sidebar covering everything from kids and schools, animal care, medical care, infrastructure improvements – it’s a timely, moving, sobering reminder that our men and women in [...]

It’s hard to tell the difference these days between the ‘paper of record’ and some low-budget, no-circulation leftie progressive rag. Today’s Gail Collins special is yet another (!!!) broadside at the administration’s eavesdropping program, and it’s every bit as dishonest as it claims the Administration is. Case in point: Bush officials have said the surveillance [...]

A simple one, really; I think a fair one, as well, and a particularly relevent one as various groups are asking Israel and the West to give Hamas a chance to govern: Do you still abide by your charter? The 9,000-word Hamas charter, written in 1988, is explicit about the struggle for Palestine as a [...]

‘World News Tonight’ anchor Bob Woodruff has been seriously wounded by an IED while in Irag. Our prayers and best wishes are with him for a speedy recovery…

I’ll sic my legions of potty-mouthed miscreants on you – er, don’t look behind the curtain, don’t look behind the curtain! Jeez, you had to look, didn’t you? Prediction: Steve Elmendorf is on his way to more success than he ever dreamed of…that’s what seems to happen to those who get on the bad side [...]

One of my first regulars, and a great blogger in her own right, has got new digs…congrats to Nettie on making the WordPress plunge…I’ve never regretted it, and I bet you won’t, either (now if only I knew for sure that I could upgrade to WordPress 2.0 without screwing this blog up!)… Enjoy your new [...]

The initial signs of the ascension of Hamas continue to be horrible. Today, we are greeted with this: Hamas suggested Saturday that the Islamic group could create a Palestinian army that would include its militant wing _ responsible for scores of deadly attacks on Israelis _ in the aftermath of its crushing victory in parliamentary [...]

The author of this blog and many others gave Hillary Clinton proper respect as the leading Democratic candidate for 2008, and most of us acknowledged her relative moderation and strength on Iraq as welcome surprises. I’m beginning to reconsider. Recent signs, such as her incredibly offensive race-baiting on MLK Day, point to a Hillary who [...]

Jim VandeHei, writing in the Washington Post, notes a dynamic that will be no surprise to readers of this blog: Democrats are getting an early glimpse of an intraparty rift that could complicate efforts to win back the White House: fiery liberals raising their voices on Web sites and in interest groups vs. elected officials [...]

The Left Coaster presents a comprehensive guide to the NSA story for the anti-Bush crowd; the Justice Department gives us a handy little cheatsheet to the Administration position here (hat tip to AJ, who has more thoughts here)…

Try this on for size…now THAT’s some very good news indeed…

Ready? Here goes: Judge Alito has an extensive paper trail documenting the right-wing political agenda that he has actively advanced, not only as a high-ranking official in the Reagan Administration, but also as a judge. He has publicly supported the “Unitary Executive” theory, a radical notion that the President holds exclusive and inherent authority to [...]

From the LA Times: Despite persistent disillusionment with the war in Iraq, a majority of Americans supports taking military action against Iran if that country continues to produce material that can be used to develop nuclear weapons, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found. The poll, conducted Sunday through Wednesday, found that 57% of Americans [...]

From the organization’s own website (and this is the English translation – who knows what the Arabic one says…): Occupied Jerusalem – Mushir al-Masri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said, during an interview with al-Arabeyya satellite station, that Hamas was open to relations with every country in the world including Europe, but not with the Zionist [...]

Oh, MoDo, how we miss the glorious days of hilarity you provided us before retreating behind the TimesSelect wall! Fortunately, there are still enough sites out there that illegally post Dowd’s columns for us to get an occasional taste (and really, that’s more than enough). Case in point: They’re slipping and sliding in the same [...]

Since the Alito vote has been postponed (until Tuesday, in all likelihood), our good friend AJ has extended the deadline for the submissions for the Carnival of the Chillin’, Alito Style. Remember, it’s open to all and we’d love to hear from you (and with Kerry’s latest escapade, there’s plenty to write about) . Here [...]