A quick look at what the smart, reasonable voices on the left side of the blogosphere are saying. We usually don’t agree with these views but they’re well worth reading.
Loyal Opposition
MyDD: Ensign's parents gave $96,000 to family of senator's mistress
When Governor Mark Sanford's soap opera pushed Senator John Ensign's infidelity out of the news, I thought the senator from Nevada was in the clear. However, via Swing State Project I saw this story from Roll Call that should eventually lead to Ensign's resignation. In April 2008, each of Ensign's parents gave $12,000 gifts to Cindy Hampton (who had been ... [Link]
Unqualified Offerings: Secrets of Eric Martin
Revealed, at last! Note: Disabled the Digg plugin to see if today’s Google Reader problem goes away. This post brought to you in the spirit of research by the We Kid Because We Love Foundation. [Link]
The RBC: Adam Schiff Betrays His Constituents
In 1998, Democrats scored a coup by persuading state Senator Adam Schiff, a former federal prosecutor, to run again incumbent Republican James Rogan in a hotly-contested Congressional race here in Los Angeles. At the time, it might have been the most expensive Congressional race in history. And it was bitter: I know, because I walked precincts for Schiff and maxed ... [Link]
TalkLeft: Thursday Night Open Thread
We're grilling tequila lime chicken and watching Weeds (tivo'd from Monday) tonight. For the one or two readers who watch The Bachelorette, don't miss Reality Steve’s interview of Wes Hayden (podcast link here). He's not the villain ABC has portrayed him to be. What are you all doing and thinking about? This is an open thread, all topics welcome. [Link]
Unqualified Offerings: Need for Feed
digg_url = “http://highclearing.com/inde~ = “Need for Feed”;digg_bgcolor = “#FFFFFF”;digg_skin = “normal”;digg_url = undefined;digg_title = undefined;digg_bgcolor = undefined;digg_skin = undefined; I discovered today that Google Reader began running only excerpts instead of full posts in the Unqualified Offerings feed. I had nothing to do with this. As longtime readers know, our approach to site maintenance here could best be described as ... [Link]
The RBC: Bleg: work on military leadership
In my first-ever RBC bleg, I'm wondering if anyone knows of a first-rate, systematic work on military leadership. I need it for a class on leadership and coordination that I'll be teaching next fall. I have other kinds of leadership mostly covered. I'm looking for work on leadership narrowly understood: techniques for getting groups of soldiers to move, quickly, in ... [Link]
MyDD: Senator Burris to Step Aside in 2010
The news is just breaking but Senator Roland Burris, who was appointed by Gov. Blagojevich to fill the seat vacated by Barack Obama under bizarre circumstances, will announce on Friday that he will not seek election in his own right to the seat. The story from Congressional Quarterly: Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) "will not run for election in 2010 -- ... [Link]
TalkLeft: Bernie Madoff Will Not Appeal His 150 Year Sentence
Bernie Madoff's lawyer has confirmed that Bernie won't appeal his 150 year sentence. He thinks any sentence Bernie would get, even under the guidelines, would be a life sentence. Can someone remind me what Bernie Madoff's lawyers' accomplished for him? He could have stayed with his wife in his apartment on bond for another year or two while fighting the ... [Link]
The RBC: Lawful and unlawful combatants: what the law of war actually says
My mail continues to run heavily against my position on detaining al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. There's a tendency to attribute the crimes of BushCo to the American government as an institution, and therefore to assume that any power that was abused from 2001-2008 will continue to be abused under the new management. That seems to me an anjustified assumption. However, ... [Link]
TalkLeft: Supermax Won't Allow Inmates to Read Obama's Books
This is pretty funny. Officials at Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado have turned down an inmate's request to read the two books written by President Obama. Why? The federal government's most secure prison has determined two books written by President Barack Obama contain material "potentially detrimental to national security" .... What standards did the use to make the determination? Ones ... [Link]
Talking Points Memo: Bob Reich on Green Shoots
Reich: When will the recovery begin? Never. [Link]
Talking Points Memo: Rallies and Tear Gas in Tehran
On the 10th anniversary of a student uprising, anti-government demonstrators took to the streets again in Tehran today where they were met by riot police. Pictures. [Link]
Matthew Yglesias: Endgame
Wait: Michael Jackson died? How come nobody covered that? — In defense of street cleaning tickets. — The famous soda/pop/coke map. — All about race, roommates, and prejudice. — Fun with seasonal adjustment of labor market statistics. — Pros and cons of the House Democrats’ surtax proposal. Song of the day, Sunset Rubdown “Idiot Heart”. [Link]
Talking Points Memo: The Deeper Questions
There's a lot of salacious back and forth today about the Ensign scandal. But beneath the tabloid headlines there's a critical question that needs to be asked: Which is more emasculating? Getting paid a hundred grand by the guy who screwed your wife? Or being a fifty-something United States senator and still needing mom and dad to cut the check ... [Link]
Talking Points Memo: Presented By:
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Talking Points Memo: Coburn: Philandering Senators Don't Tear Families Apart--Media Do
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) lashed out at reporters on Capitol Hill who were asking him questions about his role in the Ensign affair: You've got two families that are back together and you guys are going to help tear them apart. What do you think their kids think about what you're writing right now? You're helping tear two families apart ... [Link]
Washington Note: Guest Post by Monica Baer: Baby Steps Towards a Nuclear-Free World
Monica Baer is a research intern with the New America Foundation's American Strategy Program. President Obama is one small step closer to his vision of a nuclear-free world. On July 6, he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the Joint Understanding for the START Follow-on Treaty in Moscow. The agreement is the first move towards creating a new treaty that ... [Link]
Julian Sanchez: The “M” is for “Marketing”
Your daily emetic: Try to make it through this load of pap–a “manifesto” for “Generation M”—without bringing your lunch back up. A tiny sample: Dear Old People Who Run the World, My generation would like to break up with you. Everyday, I see a widening gap in how you and we understand the world — and what we want from ... [Link]
Talking Points Memo: The Day in 100 Seconds: Viagra and Candy
Full-size video at TPMtv.com. [Link]
Political Animal: Thursday's Mini-Report
THURSDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * Iraq: "Attacks in Baghdad and a city in northern Iraq killed at least 41 people and wounded dozens more on Thursday, the worst violence since Iraq celebrated the withdrawal of American troops... [Link]
