The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Saturday, November 17, 2007

17 Nov 2007 08:10 pm

Trusting Government With Torture

, Torture">

A reader writes:

Your discussion about torture is at once thought provoking and troubling. For this conservative it used to be a "slam dunk" for me. People like Khaled Sheik Mohammed got what they deserved and I couldn't care one wit. The "Jack Bauer" method of Intel was good enough for me.

But torture policy in the hands of a faceless government bureaucrats without accountability gives me real pause. Especially incompetent bureaucracies! (Has the CIA got anything right in the last 15 years?) Your post about the death of innocent people under our government authority questioning seems no better on the face of it than those poor souls disappearing in the subterranean haunts of Tehran.

Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus and many other civil liberties during the crises of the Civil War but his greatness was, I think, in the fact that he realized it was an "abnormal", reluctant and extraordinary condition to be righted when the emergency, i.e., the war was over. Cheney/Bush seem to think this is a perpetual state, a ceaseless war.

Continue reading "Trusting Government With Torture" »

17 Nov 2007 06:43 pm

Christmas Shopping On The Web

, Web/Tech">

Yes, the holiday season is at our throats once again. But be of good cheer and follow these helpful tips to maximize savings online. My favorite nugget: "clean your cookies."

17 Nov 2007 05:58 pm

Why The GOP Is All But Begging For Clinton

, Current Affairs"> , Politics">

A reader writes:

Sure, there are all the obvious reasons. But I think what it comes down to is this. The one thing the GOP can't abide is being knocked out of its comfort zone. And they know HRC doesn't have a prayer down South. With the possible exception of Romney (Mormonism), any of the main GOP guys will effortlessly sweep the South vs her. And FLA will probably come fairly easily too. That basically leaves OH as everywhere else will likely stay about the same as in 2004 (though McCain could put a state like MI or PENN into play).

Throw Obama into the mix and that dynamic changes. He'd present them w/ some curveballs down South they'd probably rather not deal with. And with Edwards, it'd be similar.

17 Nov 2007 05:00 pm

The View From Your Window

San Diego, California, 8 am.

17 Nov 2007 04:40 pm

Measuring Online Video

Harder than it might appear.

17 Nov 2007 04:18 pm

Clinton and Free Trade

The usual bullshit from one of the masters of the art.

17 Nov 2007 03:55 pm

The Denial Endures

, Politics">

Greenwald simply gapes at the fact that president Bush can give a speech with these words in it:

When the Founders drafted the Constitution, they had a clear understanding of tyranny. They also had a clear idea about how to prevent it from ever taking root in America. Their solution was to separate the government's powers into three co-equal branches: the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. Each of these branches plays a vital role in our free society. Each serves as a check on the others. And to preserve our liberty, each must meet its responsibilities -- and resist the temptation to encroach on the powers the Constitution accords to others.

One has to ask: is the president an idiot or just shameless? I truly can't see a third option, except such clinical denial of reality that he should be removed from office for incapacity.

17 Nov 2007 02:41 pm

Obama A Natural Republican?

, Politics"> , Republicans">

A reader writes:

I have always thought that Barack is a natural conservative and that he might do well in the Republican party, albeit the sparse Rockefeller wing. I think his conservative trait manifests itself in both his foreign and domestic policies as well as his personal style as a politician.

On foreign policy, I will describe Barack as a rational hawk in the mold of the elder Bush and Powell. The way he has handled his opposition to the Iraq war speaks to this. Even though he opposed the war from the start, he has been careful not to sound stupidly anti-war like the folks on the far left and has given the military and the commander-in-chief the benefit of the doubt by mostly funding the war. His position of appropriately escalating the conflict in Afghanistan is also consistent with this view.

On domestic policy, I think Barack struggles to fit into the big government wing of the Democratic party. His experience as a community organizer informs him about the limits of what government can do.

Continue reading "Obama A Natural Republican?" »

17 Nov 2007 02:16 pm

End Of Gay Culture Watch

, Gay Rights">

A Dallas institution is closing its doors.

17 Nov 2007 01:35 pm

America's New Energy Source Update

I mentioned some promising new bio-energy research here. Kentucky Fried Movie was ahead of the game:

17 Nov 2007 01:16 pm

Fact-Checking Ron Paul

This Michael Dobbs column strikes me as a fair exposure of the fiscal consequences of abolishing the federal income tax. It's the kind of criticism Paul should welcome and respond to.

17 Nov 2007 12:45 pm

Novak has some troubling inside scuttlebutt. There's no way to know if it's legit, bluff or just another attempt by Clinton to intimidate her way to the nomination. But if I were Hillary Clinton, I don't think I'd be eager to start a media war over the details of people's personal lives, if that's what this is about. When you are married to Bill Clinton, and when the world has decided to ignore, for now at least, the details of his personal life since he left office, best to leave the dirt alone, don't you think?

17 Nov 2007 12:32 pm

Pundits For Rudy

, Giuliani"> , News and Commentary"> , Politics">

Ponnuru counts them:

The Giuliani bandwagon includes conservative commentator John Podhoretz, New York Post columnist Ryan Sager, American Spectator reporters Philip Klein and Jennifer Rubin, and the editors of the New York Sun. Several writers affiliated with NR or National Review Online are also on board. David Frum and David Pryce-Jones are formally affiliated with the Giuliani campaign. Richard Brookhiser has endorsed the former mayor’s run, as has Lisa Schiffren. Deroy Murdock regularly turns out supportive commentary.

Murdock is the columnist who argues that Americans should be proud - proud - of torturing prisoners. Just an appetizer for next year if Giuliani wins the nomination. it will be a campaign, I predict, whose central pillar will be deporting immigrants, waging war, and torturing prisoners. And it will have a powerful resonance for the Fox News base.

17 Nov 2007 12:32 pm

Why We Need The Laws Of War

, War">

Norm Geras makes what is increasingly a minority case among Americans:

The intentional targeting of civilians is a war crime, and not just the use of nuclear weapons against them. That is why terrorism is a criminal act. So is the carpet-bombing of population centres. I also agree that one shouldn't treat international law as if it were a system without blemishes, imperfections, problems - to be remedied and improved upon….

On the other hand, to dismiss the concept of crime from the conduct of war would amount, in effect, to allowing that war may be lawless - fought without moral restraints of any kind, only strategic ones. …Whatever the deficits of international law may be at present, the world would be a different, and a worse, place if there were no laws of war and no concept of war crimes.

Norm is responding to this.

17 Nov 2007 12:08 pm

Required Reading

, History">

These book covers cracked me up. "Let's Go To Iraq!" They're all supposed to be taken seriously, or were at some time or other. You can buy the book here. Hat tip: Paper Cuts.

17 Nov 2007 10:04 am

A $222 Pack Of Cigarettes

, Health">

How to price a product and account for its health costs at the same time.

17 Nov 2007 09:08 am

"Victory" In Iraq Update

, Politics"> , War">

An unsettling nugget from this week's New Yorker:

"I asked Zaidan what sort of deal had led to the Sunni Awakening. 'It’s not a deal,' he said, bristling. 'People have come to realize that our fate is tied to the Americans’, and theirs to ours. If they are successful in Iraq, it will depend on Anbar. We always said this. Time was lost. America was lost, but now it’s woken up; it now holds a thread in its hand. For the first time, they’re doing something right.'

Zaidan said that Anbar’s Sunni tribes no longer had any need to exact blood vengeance on U.S. forces. 'We’ve already taken our revenge,' he said. 'We’re the ones who’ve made them crawl on their stomachs, and now we’re the ones to pick them up.' He added, 'Once Anbar is settled, we must take control of Baghdad, and we will.' There would have to be a lot more fighting before the capital was taken back from the Shiites, he said. 'The Anbaris will take charge of the purge. What the whole world failed to do in Anbar, we have done overnight. Baghdad will be a lot easier.'

Kevin Drum points to three pieces worth absorbing this weekend: from Tom Ricks, John Lee Anderson (above) and a post by Marc Lynch. Check this post out also - noted by Matt, by Brian Katulis. I have a feeling that this war is not "drawing to a successful close".

17 Nov 2007 07:09 am

An Ikea Catalog Without The Furniture

, Pop Culture">

From the work of Jason Salavon, courtesy of Kottke, who adds:

You may remember Mr. Salavon from his composite photographs and videos of blowjobs, late night talk show hosts, and Playboy centerfolds.

Friday, November 16, 2007

16 Nov 2007 07:13 pm

Throbbing Fox News

A brief tour through the raciest right-wing programming out there:

Hat tip: Nerve.com.

16 Nov 2007 06:54 pm

Help Bangladesh

The West has a duty and an opportunity right now: we need to do all we can to give assistance to those Bangladeshis whose lives have been destroyed by the recent cyclone. It's at moments like these that we can push back against Islamists and help bolster support for and fondness of the US. Of course, we should help because it is just the right thing to do. But it is also strategically shrewd - a useful reminder that strength does not always means bombs and soldiers; it can also stem from clear moral standards and humanitarian care.

16 Nov 2007 06:50 pm

Why I Don't Go To The Movies Any More

, Pop Culture">

We just got "Ratatouille" from Netflix. That's on the agenda for tonight chez Sully. Beats parsing Nixon in a pant-suit on CNN. Part of me is curious enough to want to go see "Redacted" in the theater, but Aaron has come to hate something he once loved: the grimy, sticky floors, the rip-off munchies, the idiot with the cell-phone, the non-stop chatterers, the poky, ill-ventilated multiplex rooms, and on and on. John Patterson sums up my feelings pretty well:

I didn't have to rob any banks to fund my massive TV and thundering sound system. It wouldn't kill me to save up for a customised DVD projector with a 12-ft canvas screen and perfect clarity; I have a quote on one for just over $2,000. This would transform my living room into a private screening salon just like any studio mogul's, except that my guests can smoke, drink, make out, pause the picture and yell at the screen. NetFlix enables me to programme my bills as perversely as I wish without even leaving the house. And since I'm the boss-feller, the DVD dictator, the moviehouse Mussolini, I can unilaterally ban popcorn, which to my nostrils has a far more offensive odour than fags or vomit, and immediately eject idiots who leave their cellphones on.

Honestly, with all that available, why should I ever hit the multiplex again?

He means cigarettes, by the way.

16 Nov 2007 06:08 pm

Jesus In The Ghetto

In stencil anyway. More here.

16 Nov 2007 05:13 pm

Downward Mobility For African Americans?

, News and Commentary"> , Race">

Some brutal data:

Overall, family incomes have risen for both blacks and whites over the past three decades. But in a society where the privileges of class and income most often perpetuate themselves from generation to generation, black Americans have had more difficulty than whites in transmitting those benefits to their children.

Forty-five percent of black children whose parents were solidly middle class in 1968 -- a stratum with a median income of $55,600 in inflation-adjusted dollars -- grew up to be among the lowest fifth of the nation's earners, with a median family income of $23,100. Only 16 percent of whites experienced similar downward mobility. At the same time, 48 percent of black children whose parents were in an economic bracket with a median family income of $41,700 sank into the lowest income group.

But Booker Rising blogger Shay has some methodology questions.

16 Nov 2007 04:54 pm

Those Anti-Mormon Calls

Weirder and weirder. They appear to be coming from a company based in ... Utah. And that company, according to Liz Mair, has at least two employees, including a senior VP, who have actually donated to Romney. Romney is blaming McCain-Feingold - and you can allow your own head to do a Linda Blair on that one. So a dirty trick? Or some self-inflicted self-hate crime? Well, we'll almost certainly find out soon ...

16 Nov 2007 04:41 pm

The Poor and Groceries

Dallas News wonders why there are so few grocery stores in poor neighborhoods. Econobloggers pounce: AWOL store executives? Lack of cars? More discussion here.

16 Nov 2007 04:25 pm

Paris Hilton: Numb and Number

, Science">

Finally, a use for stupid spoiled you-know-whats:

Neuroscientists have found that a cardboard cutout of the ubiquitous Hilton Hotel heiress has a painkilling effect on mice. But don't expect clinical trials to begin anytime soon: Paris works only for males, and it may be only because she stresses them out.

Hat tip: Bookforum.

16 Nov 2007 04:10 pm

Obama and Clinton In Iowa

, Democrats"> , Politics">

It seems as if it's becoming a two-person race.

16 Nov 2007 04:04 pm

The Red Cross At Gitmo

, Politics"> , Torture">

They were barred from even confidential access to some prisoners in Gitmo, we now find. This is the defense:

A spokesman, Lt. Col. Edward M. Bush III, said, "I am in no position to speculate about what happened in 2003 ... All I can tell you is what we do today. And the absolute policy now, today, is that the I.C.R.C. is granted access to everything."

Why were some prisoners withheld from Red Cross access - and in writing, a sign of the confidence some had that the Bush administration was very comfortable flouting international law? You know and I know. They were being tortured.

16 Nov 2007 03:50 pm

Face of The Day

A young boy plays with a bird coated in sludge by the Black Sea shore on November 15, 2007 near the Krasnodar Region in Russia. A severe storm broke a small Russian oil tanker in two off the Ukrainian port of Kerch on Sunday, spilling up to 2,000 tonnes of fuel oil in what a Russian official said was an 'environmental disaster'. By Igor Garin/Epsilon/Getty Images.

16 Nov 2007 03:37 pm

That Cyclone In Bangladesh

, Science">

I can't believe I beat Drudge on this one. The Islamists are poised to move in for a p.r. coup in helping the victims. We need to counter swiftly. Latest death count? Up to 500. Over half a million in shelters. More Sidr updates and news here.

16 Nov 2007 03:23 pm

The Right vs Ron Paul

, Republicans"> , Ron Paul">

A remarkably weak column from Mona Charen. Bottom line:

No, Ron Paul is not my candidate. Not for president. He might make a dandy new leader for the Branch Davidians.

The anti-Semitic slur is repeated.

16 Nov 2007 03:16 pm

Covering Up The Arar Case

, Law and Government">

Scott has some new, and deeply disturbing details, about the torture of an innocent man, thanks to the Bush Justice Department:

[Inspector General for Homeland Security] investigators were astonished particularly by what transpired in the first ten days of Arar’s detention. Well-defined procedures were not followed. The State Department was consciously kept out of the loop. Steps were taken to circumvent Arar’s rights, and particularly to guard against the prospect that a lawyer for Arar would challenge his highly dubious treatment through a habeas corpus proceeding. Who was at fault in this process? A group of very senior figures, mostly in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Hence the attempt to quash the report.

16 Nov 2007 02:59 pm

If Starbucks Is Faltering ...

... is the broader economy next?

16 Nov 2007 02:56 pm

Dolchstoss Right Watch

, Politics">

"If America is forced to withdraw by the Democrats and civil war erupts, it will be Cambodia 2.0, and the American left will own a second genocide in a single generation," - Hugh Hewitt.

Aren't we being forced to withdraw next spring because we have reached the outer limit of what the current military can sustain? Is that the responsibility of the Democrats as well? Is Bush ever responsible for anything?

16 Nov 2007 02:46 pm

Republicans and Obama

, Obama"> , Politics"> , Republicans">

An interesting nugget from Continetti:

Recently I've come across more than a few conservative Republicans who are open to voting for Obama should the Republicans nominate a polarizing figure like Giuliani. I asked one of them why they would vote for someone whose ideological leanings would result in policies with which conservatives disagree. "Well," this person said, "You've got to remember: the idelogical stuff never gets done."

16 Nov 2007 02:37 pm

Quote For The Day

"Political campaigns can be actually taken over by the 'public relations' experts, who tell the candidate not only how to use TV but what to say, what to stand for and what 'kind of person' to be. Political shows, like quiz shows, can be fixed--and sometimes are... Whether TV improves or worsens our political system, whether it serves the purpose of political education or deception, whether it gives us better or poorer candidates, more intelligent or more prejudiced campaigns-the answers to all this are up to you, the viewing public.

It is in your power to perceive deception, to shut off gimmickry, to reward honesty, to demand legislation where needed. Without your approval, no TV show is worthwhile and no politician can exist," - John F. Kennedy, TV Guide, 14 November, 1959.

(Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty.)

16 Nov 2007 02:11 pm

America's New Energy Resource?

, Science">

Fat.

16 Nov 2007 02:08 pm

Why Belgium Matters

, Politics">

No, seriously:

Belgium may indeed be held together only by "the king, the football team, and a few beers" as would-be prime minister Yves Leterme has said, but I'll take that over a country held together by race and religion any day. Bonne chance and veel geluk to those working to keep the place together.

16 Nov 2007 01:54 pm

I Love My Bike

But not this much. Seriously, leave the perv alone.

16 Nov 2007 01:42 pm

Santa's Hos

, Politics">

The p.c. police are coming.

16 Nov 2007 01:20 pm

Going Back To McCain

, Giuliani"> , McCain"> , Politics"> , Republicans">

This story on John McCain's campaign is telling, it seems to me. It's also deeply depressing:

At a celebration Saturday of the 232nd birthday of the Marine Corps, in Bedford, N.H., as veterans from five wars over the last century looked on, Mr. McCain said that any candidate who joked about sleep deprivation, as Mr. Giuliani had done several days earlier, should talk to his fellow prisoner of war and supporter, Orson G. Swindle.

Mr. McCain described how Mr. Swindle was “chained to a stool for 10 days, then let off that stool for one day, and then chained to that stool again for 10 more days.” ...

But Milt Mattson, standing outside the cafe after Mr. McCain left, said he thought the United States needed to take any measure it deemed necessary. “This is a war for our life,” Mr. Mattson said. “These are people that chop heads off. I don’t care what we have to do to stop them.”

The reason McCain still matters, it seems to me, is that he is the sole Republican able to be respected for his position on the war - and deserves credit for being more confident about the surge's tactical potential than most others - while retaining the honor that marked America's war-making for two centuries. I truly fear the potential of dumb machismo warping the United States into being something it really isn't and mustn't allow itself to become. McCain's insistence on this core issue is both courageous in the current Republican climate and absolutely right. He is also capable of projecting strength while not pandering completely to fear.

Compare him with Giuliani.

Continue reading "Going Back To McCain" »

16 Nov 2007 01:14 pm

An Iowan Independent On The Vegas Debate

, Democrats"> , Obama"> , Politics">

More sympathetic to Obama - especially on social security. CafeHayek gives Krugman the boot here. Obama won the Kos vote too, for what it's worth. But Kucinich was a close second. A Las Vegan blogger has this take:

Obama's strongest moment was when he unpacked the disingenuousness of Clinton's Social Security triangulation by noting that only 6 percent of households have income of more than $97,500, so raising the cap on earnings that are taxed for Social Security would not touch the middle class, but the upper class. In the spin room later, Nevada state Sen. Steven Horsford, an Obama guy, predicted that the Social Security issue could become a "centerpiece" of the campaign going forward. That's probably a tad optimistic. But Obama is clearly right.

I still think he had a mediocre night. His drivers' license answer was beyond stupid. But I guess it's a sign he actually thinks he can win.

16 Nov 2007 12:51 pm

Why Lowry Loves Obama

, Obama"> , Politics">

The creaming of Clinton:

Two high-profile Democrats, Obama and John Edwards, are validating a core part of the anti-Hillary case that Republicans have made for years -- that she's a slippery cynic who cares only about power.

Well: duh. She is. Dickerson worries:

Obama went too far here. He didn't have to compare Clinton to Giuliani and Romney.

Kos:

Would it kill CNN to disclose that James Carville is a partisan Clinton supporter when talking about the presidential race?

Yeah it would.

16 Nov 2007 12:48 pm

Diamonds Or Pearls?

, MSM Watch"> , Politics">

The question was planted ... by CNN.

16 Nov 2007 12:46 pm

The Brits Discuss America

, Politics"> , UK">

One conservative Brit asks:

Have we reached the moment when the United States is downgraded as an economic, political, and military power by the rest of the world - permanently - reflecting its new status as a super-debtor with $3 trillion in external liabilities?

Another answers: naaah.

16 Nov 2007 12:38 pm

From Rudy To Ron

, Politics">

A conservative wavers.

16 Nov 2007 12:30 pm

The View From Your Window

Freiburg, Germany, 5.30 pm.

16 Nov 2007 12:12 pm

Bush and HIV-Positive Foreigners

, Politics">

As China prepares to lift its ban on visitors with HIV, the Bush administration actually tightens the rules for visa waivers for HIV-positive non-Americans, to make it even more onerous for them if they decide to risk it and visit the US:

On World AIDS Day last year, President Bush announced his intention to create a streamlined process for foreign travelers with HIV to enter the United States more easily. Currently the United States is one of only 13 countries in the world, including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan, which ban travel for individuals who are HIV-positive. Now, almost a year later, DHS has proposed regulations which would make it even harder to get a short-term waiver.

I just don't understand this. The Bush administration has done a lot for foreigners with HIV, but continuing a Jesse Helms-initiated ban on even visits from foreigners with HIV is furthering the stigmatization of the HIV-positive population. Does Jenna Bush realize that the woman she wrote her book about is barred from even entering the US? Do we we really want to be more hostile to people with HIV than China?

16 Nov 2007 12:03 pm

Everything Up For Grabs

, Polls">

A reader recalls the following:

CBS News poll from Dec. 17, 2003, polling nationally:

Dean 23%
Clark 10%
Lieberman 10%
Gephardt 6%
Sharpton 5%
Kerry 4%
Edwards 2%
Moseley-Braun 1%

Heh.

16 Nov 2007 11:46 am

A Conservative Against Torture

, Torture">

A great post:

One of the key things that conservatives ought to remember (and which we notice all the time in liberal proposals) is that INTENTIONS DO NOT EQUAL OUTCOMES. The government is horribly incompetent at all sorts of things and we ought not abandon that insight when analyzing proposals of people who allege that they are our allies (the idea that Bush is a conservative ally is something I'd like to argue about on another day--but my short answer is that he isn't).

As with limitations on free speech, I don't trust the government to be able to fairly and nimbly navigate the rules that would be necessary to make certain that it only used a legal right to torture when it was the right choice. Sadly this is no longer a hypothetical question. In actual practice, we find that Bush's administration has tortured men who not only didn't know anything about what they were being tortured about, but weren't even affiliated with Al Qaeda.

Let me say that again. Bush's administration has tortured men who were factually innocent.

Not men who got off on technicalities. Factually Innocent.

We also have over a hundred deaths in US interrogation/custody. God knows how many of the murdered were innocent. You give government these tools - let alone one man with no oversight - and you are risking oblivion as a free society. This is a conservative position.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Friday, November 16, 2007

Andrew Sullivan

Dish Prep