Blog Wars

"It's not that Bush's approval numbers are bad, although they are (34 percent, according to a recent CBS survey). In their view, Bush is not a political liability because his approval ratings are low. His approval ratings are low because he's a political liability. Shortly after the ports controversy blew up, I called a strategist who often works with top GOP lawmakers and asked whether the Republican revolt would be happening if the president had a 60 percent approval rating. That's the wrong way to look at it, he said. Presidents have high approval ratings because they avoid the dumb mistakes that Bush made in the ports affair. 'When you're at 60 percent, you don't do these sort of things,' he said."

Is this a cave-in by the White House: "Moving to tamp down Democratic calls for an investigation of the administration's domestic eavesdropping program, Republicans on the Senate Intelligence Committee said Tuesday that they had reached agreement with the White House on proposed bills to impose new oversight but allow wiretapping without warrants for up to 45 days," reports the New York Times .

Or a cave-in by the Hill: "Senate Republicans yesterday rejected a full inquiry of the domestic spying program that was secretly authorized by President Bush, but they said they would push to impose new limits on the administration's ability to eavesdrop on Americans' phone calls and e-mail messages without a warrant," reports the Boston Globe .

What a difference a lead makes.

It's mixed-message time on Iraq, notes the Philadelphia Inquirer :

"Vice President Cheney said yesterday that conditions in Iraq were improving steadily, but the American ambassador in Baghdad has said the U.S. invasion opened a 'Pandora's box' of ethnic and religious violence that could inflame the entire Middle East."

Two San Francisco Chronicle reporters really seem to nail Barry Bonds in a new book charging him with extensive steroid use, beginning after the 1998 season. There aren't enough asterisks in the world to qualify his home-run record now.

Is there a link between sexual repression and violence? Andrew Sullivan thinks there probably is.

Ed Morrissey seems to applaud the latest assault on Roe :

"South Dakota apparently set off a trend in state legislatures with its comprehensive abortion ban, signed into law yesterday by Governor Mike Rounds. Since Roe, no legislature has dared to so openly flout the Supreme Court's dictate on abortion rights. Now, however, states have queued up similar legislation in an effort to follow South Dakota into the battle against judicial activism."

Excuse me, but if a state passes a law that flies in the face of a long-settled high court precedent for the expressed purpose of trying to get it overturned, why isn't that judicial activism?

Sign of the Times: The NYT is blogging Jim Cramer 's CNBC stock picks under the guise of "We Watch So You Don't Have To." But watching Cramer rant and rave is half the fun!

Air America, in trouble in the Apple?

"Air America is close to losing its New York flagship station - knocking Al Franken and his liberal colleagues off the air on their second anniversary," says the New York Post.

"The network has a two-year lease with WLIB (AM 1190) that is reportedly set to expire April 1 - and at least one reliable report says it is 'extremely likely' the deal will not be renewed.

"Losing its New York outlet would be a serious blow to the fledgling liberal radio network. 'Radio Equalizer' blogger Brian Maloney - who blew the whistle on questionable loans to the lefty network last year - published the first report that WLIB was on the verge of evicting Air America some time soon."

Finally, being Fed chairman is more lucrative than I thought. Alan Greenspan is getting more than $8.5 million for his memoirs. Will he need a translator?