Category: Edgewise

  • Did they spy on Bill Richardson?

    New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson suspects that the NSA intercepted some of his phone calls discussing his negotiations with North Korea (The Albuquerque Tribune: Local / State Government). Richardson’s name often comes up as a possible Democractic presidential or vice-presidential candidate.

  • Kingly prerogratives

    Perhaps I’m humorless or old-fashioned but I’m still not over the cavalier way the President and all of his men are defending their decision to spy domestically without seeking warrants. Last week Christopher Brauchli put it thusly in a post to Spot-On called Presidential Prerogatives: > When asked by Jim Lehrer of “The NewsHour With…

  • Basic Facts as a Wondrous Surprise

    There are so many basic facts about the world that we, as grownups, take for granted, yet to a child are matters of wondrous surprise. Living here with my eight-year-old grandson Seaney has really brought that home to me. The process of opening up the wider world to him has been an inspiration and a…

  • The madness of kinging George

    The capacity for Bush defenders (I can’t call them conservatives — not even sure they’re really Republicans anymore) to argue that up is down and black is white and violating the law is not violating the law has reached a crescendo. Glenn Greenwald explains cogently just how far out of line the defenses of warrantless…

  • An overdue realignment?

    A diarist at Daily Kos asks Will Real Conservatives Become Democrats? and provides some interesting links that suggest that a possibly unexpected realignment may be in the offing. * [Will Real Conservatives Become Democrats?](http://www.partialobserver.com/article.cfm?id=1708) * [Open Letter to Libertarians and Conservatives](http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/18/5724/7930) * [Thoughts from a Libertarian Democrat](http://www.terrymichael.net/home.htm)

  • Osama’s satellite phone

    With so many lies flying around about Bush’s warrantless wiretaps — even the lies have lies — one caught my ear the other day during Bush’s press conference and repeated by 9/11 commissioner Lee Hamilton in an article in today’s Times. The anecdote (much like Reagan’s false – but – still – believed – to…