Tuesday, February 03, 2004

Is John Edwards the first North Carolinian to win a presidential primary? Update: Yes (see comments). 8:43:25 PM    comment []

Colin Powell justifies the invasion of Iraq: "I think it was clear that this was a regime with intent." My newspaper column, October 6, 2002: "Will the United States develop something like the Department of Pre-crime in the movie 'Minority Report' to tell us who to attack next? 5:52:54 PM    comment []

One voter's voice: Ann Figueredo is on her way to vote in the New Mexico primary. For Kerry. We spoke by phone this morning. Ann: "It's all about who can beat Bush." "I love your Senator (Edwards), but I don't think people will agree that he has enough experience for him to unseat Bush." "I supported Dean for a long time, but he will not let go on driving through the rear view mirror. I wouldn't have gone to war in Iraq, either, but we're there, now what the [heck] are we going to do? It makes me mad at myself, letting Iowa and New Hampshire influence me, but he lost steam, he lost momentum. It wasn't the howl."   "It is hard to make decisions [on who to support] based on policies, there are nuances but they are pretty much the same, so you have to choose qualitative things." 12:50:58 PM    comment []

Joe Trippi will speak at next week's Digital Democracy Teach-In in San Diego. 12:37:58 PM    comment []

In this morning's WSJ (paid subscription required) an anecdote about Bernard Lewis and a Jordanian who tells the historian, "We have time, we can wait. We got rid of the Crusaders. We got rid of the Turks. We'll get rid of the Jews." To which Lewis replies, "The Turks got rid of the Crusaders. The British got rid of the Turks. The Jews got rid of the British. I wonder who is coming here next." 8:18:43 AM    comment []

There's no way to stay abreast of the news without commenting in some way on the Janet Jackson story. The real controversy is not over showing boobs on TV -- a policy endorsed by EdCone.com -- but over the provenance of the exposed breast itself. In this morning's NYT, Alessandra Stanley says it "looked like a normal middle-aged woman's breast instead of an idealized Playboy bunny implant." Instapundit, though, says "It's obviously fake." Advantage, Insty, who has been racking up the pectoral posts of late. I think Janet's been sporting after-market equipment at least since that sexy black-and-white on-the-beach video she made a million years ago. And the stills from the Super Bowl posted online make the breast look as phony as a Bush budget projection. Stanley does score points on the boobs who run the erstwhile Tiffany network: "CBS has told so many howlers over the past 18 months that any claim to dignity — and righteous indignation — by this network is now open to snickering." 8:15:40 AM    comment []