Sierra Club Blog

I forget where I saw this, but Carl Pope of the Sierra Club has a blog up. Visit it here.

The Case Against Fighting Moderate Republicans

I've seen some talk around the blogosphere this morning that if RI Republican Senator Linc Chaffee votes to approve John Bolton as America's "man" on the U.N., then Dems must work very hard to defeat them.

OK, well, I'm not much of a party loyalist. I don't like corruption when it comes from Dems anymore than I do from GOPers.

But I would actually hate to see the few so-called moderate GOPers on the Hill picked off. In this case, we would be doing exactly what the rabid wing would like to do because they don't want anyone in Congress who is not beholden to either Tom DeLay or the Whacko Wrong.

I don't believe it's an accident that almost all the moderates are New Englanders. I think those of us up here do not see parties and party politics quite the same way as the rest of the country. Our tradition speaks of what's best for America as a whole rather than for small people or small parts of the U.S.

I also think these moderates represent more of a majority of the GOP's real people rather than politicos than do people like Tom DeLay, John Cornyn, and George Bush. I don't believe the majority of normal Republican Americans want violence toward judges, want the party to jump on the body of a brain dead woman like Terri Schiavo to ride her to glory, want Tom DeLay telling the rest of the country and world what to do, or want to see elections stolen.

Earth Day, Then and Now

Haven't heard much talk about Earth Day this year, but Ray Garraud reminds us of the original in 1970 (I participated as an eager fourth or fifth grader) and links us to planned observances this year.

Silly Carnival

You know, this whole white smoke-black smoke thing isn't working out too well. Now - for the 2nd or 3rd time, the light smoke isn't darkening but the bells have not run in Rome.

How many Catholics are in the U.S. and why are they giving this such coverage?

But I could ask that of Oklahoma City, too. I tend to think our system of endless, endless, endless grieving there and elsewhere tends to lead perhaps to more who would do what was done in OK City a decade ago. And yet we have no understanding of what angered Tim McVeigh so much to do this, and only platitudes and anger about why 19 terrorists on 9/11 killed so many.

Rats. There is a new pope they say. And my phone's not ringing. I hope it's not this Ratz fellow.

Oh How the Cookie Crumbles

Psssst... Judge Scalia.... You're an Activist Judge Too

Indeed!

Conservatives claim that they are rising up against "activist judges," who decide cases based on their personal beliefs rather than the law. They frequently point to Justice Antonin Scalia as a model of honest, "strict constructionist" judging. And Justice Scalia has eagerly embraced the hero's role. Last month, after the Supreme Court struck down the death penalty for those under 18, he lashed out at his colleagues for using the idea of a "living Constitution" that evolves over time to hand down political decisions - something he says he would never do.

The idea that liberal judges are advocates and partisans while judges like Justice Scalia are not is being touted everywhere these days, and it is pure myth. Justice Scalia has been more than willing to ignore the Constitution's plain language, and he has a knack for coming out on the conservative side in cases with an ideological bent. The conservative partisans leading the war on activist judges are just as inconsistent: they like judicial activism just fine when it advances their own agendas.

Justice Scalia's views on federalism - which now generally command a majority on the Supreme Court - are perhaps the clearest example of the problem with the conservative attack on judicial activism. When conservatives complain about activist judges, they talk about gay marriage and defendants' rights. But they do not mention the 11th Amendment, which has been twisted beyond its own plain words into a states' rights weapon to throw minorities, women and the disabled out of federal court.

Stagflation=The Bush Economy

Read Paul Krugman.

Texas' John Cornyn (Mr. Let's Hurt Judges) Tied to DeLay/Abramoff Ethics Scandal?

Not that we can't smell Cornyn's stench from here but...

Earlier today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed Texas Public Information Act requests with both the Texas Office of the Attorney General and with the Texas Governor’s Office. CREW has asked the Attorney General’s Office for information regarding contacts between former Attorney General (now U.S. Senator) John Cornyn and Jack Abramoff, Michael Scanlon and Ralph Reed as well as for all documents related to the Tigua Tribe of El Paso, Texas. CREW also asked the Governor’s Office for information documents generated and received regarding the Tigua Tribe.

CREW filed its requests in response to a statement by Sen. John Cornyn that, while working to close down the Tigua’s Speaking Rock Casino, he never met with Ralph Reed, who had been paid by the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana to close down the Tigua’s casino. E-mail correspondence between Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed, however, suggest otherwise.

Skippy Points Out The Obvious in a Letter to Time Magazine

Skippy was one of the first to catch an obvious goof in the Time Ann Coulter cover girl piece and to write them about it. Here's part, but I encourage you to read it all:

in your current cover article on ann coulter, you make the incredibly bone-headed gaff of offering up a picture of the obviously conservative satirical group "communists for kerry" with the caption "protesters blast coulter at the g.o.p. convention in new york city last year."

are you really so ignorant, so infused with conservative propaganda, so devoid of humor, that you can read one of the signs in the picture that says "liberating iraqi children from tyranny is costing too much" and actually believe that any american would put together such a patently self-defeating phrase in a manner that was anything but tongue-in-cheek?

Atrios Responds to Time Mag's Love Affair With Ann Coulter

One of the most egregious passages in Time's Ann story, because it demonstrated just how either lazy or dishonest* the reporter is was this one:

Coulter has a reputation for carelessness with facts, and if you Google the words ‘Ann Coulter lies,’ you will drown in results. But I didn’t find many outright Coulter errors.

Think Progress helps the reporter out.

*I'm going with dishonest, for the record. Either he or his editors wanted a love letter to Ann, and that's what he produced.

Help Write the Book, "GOP Lies"

Brendan at GOP Lies invites people to visit the blog and help write the book based on information posted there.

OK, Homegrown Vermont Blog List Up

OK, it's there. Corrections and additions are welcome.

Vermont Originated Blogs

At least once a week, someone sends me mail asking for a comprehensive list of Vermont blogs - not just Vermont political blogs. I usually refer these good folks over to Cathy Resmer's very comprehensive 802 Online.

But I also decided to put together my own fledgling collection for a Vermonsters blog roll which I'll have up - way down on the right - later. These are the blogs _I_ know about and I culled blogs with no entries in months.

However, if I happen to miss a Vermont-based blogger (and that's my only criterion besides "updates this millennium" and yeah, I have to admit I didn't include any kiddies' blogs where the predominant conversation was what they had at lunch or how many fights they had ongoing on AIM), give me a shout and I'll add you after I come visit.

Surprisingly - or not - most of my visitors here are not Vermonters. I have a couple of VT regulars but PA, TX, CA, and the Wash Metro area account for most of my traffic. But I'm very pleased to see that with each passing week, the number of international visitors rises.

Say Hello to

Name That Thing!

Open Kvetching Thread

I'll leave one of these here and no, I won't be surprised if it stays empty. Open threads seem to represent a challenge.

Posting is Apt to Be Either Light to Nonexistant Today

Of course, this could change but right now, the way my phone is ringing and my pending list is going... I don't know.

Polly Want a Cookie?

Wow, Matt Drudge Not Gay AND He Has a Full Head of Hair

(I dunno. I've seen Matt without his hat and his hair wasn't that great. And I don't know anyone of any gender or orientation who would be interested in pursuing a ::cough:: relationship with Drudge. I suspect Matt's reflection in the mirror cringes from contact with him.)

From Roger Ailes:

Good news for the ladies:

"So are you a gay right-wing Republican?" I ask.
"No, I'm not gay. I was nearly married a few years ago."

And he's not bitter either:

"There's a danger of the internet just becoming loud, ugly and boring with a thousand voices screaming for attention." He is no fan of the blogging phenomenon (weblogs linking sites): "I don't read them. I like to create waves and not surf them. And who are these influential bloggers? You can't name one because they don't exist."

I must not be a lady because I do not take news of Matt's heterosexuality gladly. Actually, I wouldn't wish Catty Matty on anyone. Not even my sister.

Also, Matt's often wrong, so he may be wrong about his orientation, too.

Finally, as for "almost married", hell, so is Arthur Finkelstein, the great GOP legend maker who loves setting hateful agendas against gays and others but happens to be gay (if not merry) himself. He and Mr. Finkelstein just had their first party together as a married male couple.

Having Watched 15 Minutes of "Revelations" (Time in My Life I Will Never Get Back, Let Me Add)

I've decided that this pacifist would really like to kick the teeth of that hysterical nun who sees everything as "A SIGN FROM GOD!"

Oh Goodie. Now she's ordering a medical team around to forcibly bring back a person who has coded in a coma.

I'm not even sure the red states can stomach this, and probably more of them are tuned into something salacious like "Deadwood" or "Desperate Housewives".

Serious speculation is one thing. Where you look at things with some perspective. But nut festivals rarely do more than produce a lot of empty shells.

So Let Me Get This Straight: Iran is Evolving and We're Headed in the Opposite Direction

From Praktike at Washington Monthly:

I'm surprised that this hasn't been commented upon more widely:

The Iranian parliament has voted to liberalise the country's abortion laws.

Under the law approved on Tuesday, a pregnancy can be terminated in the first four months if the foetus is mentally or physically handicapped.

Both parents must give their consent and three doctors to confirm that the foetus is damaged.

The law was approved by just over half of the conservative-dominated parliament, and still has to be approved by the Guardian Council.

The council is an unelected supervisory committee which vets all bills to see if they are in line with Islamic law.

Previously, abortion was only allowed if the mother's life was proven to be in danger.

Middle East Online reported that illegal abortions are rising rapidly in the Islamic Republic to the tune of at least 80,000 per year.

According to Scott Peterson of the Christian Science Monitor, moreover, Iran is loosening its social strictures across the board as it seeks to accomodate its youth bulge.

Well, gosh, I'm sure Bill Frist, Tom DeLay, Denny Hastert, George Bush, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have ZERO problem with the aborting of those "Godless Muslim brownish babies".