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AlterNet: The Rev in the Race: "The big man is punctual. He rolls into a room accompanied by a blaxploitation soundtrack that only he can hear. This fall there are eight Democrats imagining strains of 'Hail to the Chief' when they enter a venue, but only Al Sharpton is listening for Impeach the President. "

AlterNet: Billboard Politics: "we have become used to the idea that the only way we can get 'news' is from the media. People who know that they and their friends are living worse than they did 10 years ago will turn to the papers to see how the economy is doing. People whose neighborhoods are as safe as they were in 1950 are terrified to walk the streets because of all the murders on television. People who scream that their landlord and their boss are twisting them for every penny will nod along with radio personalities who rail against controls on rents and predatory business practices. "

AlterNet: Memo To Arnold: Educate, Don't Incarcerate

Israel: a racist apartheid state?

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sacbee.com -- Opinion -- Peter Schrag: Circuit-riding budget whiz comes to California

Spinsanity - The Republican assault on "political hate speech": "Over the last two months, the Republican Party has begun a systematic effort to label attacks on President Bush by Democratic presidential candidates as 'political hate speech,' a new piece of political jargon intended to delegitimize criticism of Bush. It appears this strategy will expanded in the coming months -- a recent memo from Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie urged party officials to adopt the term in their rhetoric."

Al Qaeda's new tactic: deception and denial | csmonitor.com

"Al Qaeda foot soldiers seem to be everywhere. They are now claiming responsibility for the Saturday bombing in Saudi Arabia. They say they are flocking into Iraq to fight the US "occupation." They claim they were behind the massive power failure in the northeast quadrant of the US this past summer. Some may even have penetrated Camp Delta at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, which houses Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners.

Are they really capable of pulling off all these deeds? Or is it just what they'd like everyone to believe?"

A Delicate Balance on State EPA Appointees: "Undertaking a delicate ideological balancing act as he shapes his new administration, Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger named the head of a Santa Monica conservation group his secretary of environmental protection Wednesday but appointed a North Coast timber company executive as the agency's second-in-command."

Radio Ink - The Voice of Radio Revolution: "According to the Illinois Leader, a National Guard soldier based in Rockford, IL, who blasted President Bush on a local radio talk show Friday, may face court martial for her public comments."

Yahoo! News - Ten Commandments Judge Removed From Bench

Grist | Muckraker | They blinded me | 12 Nov 2003

Center for American Progress - Melody Barnes: Balancing the Scales of Justice - Page

The judicial confirmation showdown between the White House and the Senate is at a fever pitch and the public is often seduced into believing that statistics and rhetoric are at the heart of the issue. It is true that despite White House complaints, the Senate has confirmed more Bush judges in 34 months than the Senate confirmed in the first three years of the Reagan presidency. And, it’s tempting to simply express shock and awe at the Republican’s neck-snapping rhetorical reversals, but that parlor game misses the point. Public attention should be focused on the men and women President Bush has nominated to the courts and the implications for America if they are confirmed.

Center for American Progress - Daalder: Debating the Exit Strategy - Page

While President George W. Bush insists that “America will never run,” a fierce debate is raging just below the surface of his administration over when and how America should exit from Iraq. The debate pits those who favor a massive effort to turn Iraq into a beacon of democracy for the Middle East against those who want to concentrate the U.S. mission on defeating insurgents so American troops can return home.

Counterspin Central: The unofficial "FIRST AMENDMENT ZONE.": "Portraying Bush as a 'visionary,' is like portraying Homer Simpson as an intellectual."

Exit Strategy or Victory Strategy?: "The Pentagon has been hammering the American provisional government in Baghdad to reduce training requirements for the Iraqi security forces so as to be able to point to rapidly increasing numbers of them, almost regardless (sources in Baghdad tell us) of the actual quality and utility of the training they are getting. It turns out that in order to get this many Iraqis ready for action, training schedules have been absurdly shortened--a 12-week police training program now miraculously takes only 2 weeks. It turns out the Americans don't even have enough weapons and uniforms for all the Iraqis they train. "

TIME.com: The George and Tony Show Could Get Wild -- Nov. 17, 2003: "All police vacations have been canceled so that some 4,000 officers can contain anti-Bush protests organized by the Stop the War Coalition, which mobilized a record 1 million marchers for a demonstration last February. The group's website sports an unflattering photo of Bush, complete with instructions on how to photocopy it at 141% magnification to produce the right dimensions for an effigy. Plans call for toppling a mesh statue of Bush, Saddam style, in Trafalgar Square on Nov. 20. "