But one is hardly reassured by ABC's statement that these people were spared because the names ABC learned weren't "big" enough to be "news.

Upon perusal of the list in question, ABC news has learned that the names contained therin are indeed "members of the club", and as such are hereby granted immunity from the damaging effects that the release of their nemaes would entail.

Apparently mambership in the cocktail circuit requires the discretion to avoid discussing what might take place in the hospitality suite.

But one is hardly reassured by ABC's statement that these people were spared because the names ABC learned weren't "big" enough to be "news.

Upon perusal of the list in question, ABC news has learned that the names contained therin are indeed "members of the club", and as such are hereby granted immunity from the damaging effects that the release of their nemaes would entail.

Apparently membership in the cocktail circuit requires the discretion to avoid discussing what might take place in the hospitality suite.

In short, the revenue model is to divert several million dollars a year of the rive of lobbying money which has been partly dammed and which is now seeking a new outlet. The money has gotta flow

Where an extra zero slipped into a bill that no one actually reads can make a difference of billions of dollars for the likes of ADM, the funds channeled through Politico is chump-change.

They can function as an early warning system, providing insight into who's falling out of favor from the circle, BEFORE their outed by ABC as a prostitution customer....

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/05/washington_post_4.php

ay 3 Page One article about negotiations between President Bush and congressional Democrats over a war spending bill said the Democrats offered the first major concession by dropping their demand that the bill it include a deadline to bring troops home from Iraq. While Democrats are no longer pushing a firm date for troop withdrawals, party leaders did not specifically make that concession during a Wednesday meeting with Bush at the White House.

document how we got to this state. Was Gulf war I the actual turning point? Was the change gradual? Was there some particular event that suddenly redefined journalism as not involving advocacy or adversarial reporting? Is it Geraldo's fault. What the Hell happened?

Because the only word that describes our current situation is pathetic!

The market would work great if people weren't such idiots.

OK... maybe that isn't Mona's position but it's a reasonable distillation of mine.

Protecting people from themselves impairs freedom.

Giving them what they want impairs intelligence.

No one ever said it would be easy!

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/staff/email/howard+kurtz/

A small point by I suggest when discussing evolution we use the phrase "acknowlege evolution" as opposed to "believe in evolotion"

"Believe in" makes it easier to conflate a known fact with a religious belief. Evolution, of course doesn't give a fig what we beleive (except of course when those beliefs interfere with our reproductive success).

Living on an island is rather similar to living in a commune. Or at least a very small town!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phd9/sets/72157594565763211/

Because it usually causes everyone to examine their core assumptions. During the Viet Nam era, I was too young to be subject to the draft, but it certainly profoundly affected my attitude toward the coercive power of the state. When you peel away all the pretty words, what remains are people with blue uniforms and guns who reserve the right to shoot you if you don't come quietly. The rest is simply arguing over who deserves to be on the receiving end of such treatment.

Get A Grip!

Your a smart guy and I respect your opinion but I'm afraid you're knee-jerk liberalism is interfering with your reading comprehension.

First off, I made no claims, that my own experience was universal and that everyone should share my beliefs as a result. I would never be that presumptuous (unlike some other particapants here.)

Second off, my description of men with blue uniforms with guns is not a fantasy but simply a description of what it is to be arrested.

The way we as a society enforce our desires is by writing legislation. The legislation usually includes a description of the penalties invoked for failure to abide by the law in question. The tools used to enforce these penalties include guns, handcuffs, jail cells, courtrooms and prisons.

There's nothing magical about the process - it happens every day!

http://letters.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/05/07/olbermann_hume/permalink/99dfa0c38d5508be48ff8157594e7b4a.html

other than Paul R sensed a libertarian in the room and started firing on anything that moved ( sorta like Dick Cheney on a bird hunt.)

For the record my political compass scores are

Economic Left/Right: -2.88

Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.74

I noted that its interesting when libertarianism gets discussed.

Based on the fact that there are now over 372 comments on this thread, I'd sat that my interest is justified.

So why the personal attacks?

The mind reels.

have been shown to create plausable explanations for behavior that is initiated by their non-verbal halves, I think many ideological perspectives are arrived at in a similarly backward manner. The actions comes first and the principles underlying it are arrived at after the fact. If one has a reasonably consistent personality and is a reasonably descent person, then this usually causes no problem. One can arrive at a moral or philosophical position that is consistent with one's behavior. If on the other hand one is a power-hungry sociopath, the principles put forth to justify the behaviors usually run somewhere between convoluted and mangled.

This in turn usually results in perfect entry points for one of Glenn's posts.