Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Drew on the candidates in the new Yorker (more..) Posted here Tuesday, February 24, 2004 at 12:32:34 PM     And see Drew's article on the campaign so far in the New Yorker. Lots of education in a short space.   ********

Nader in the Village Voice - about right. (more..) Posted here Tuesday, February 24, 2004 at 12:29:07 PM     I think this is about right on Nader. Hespeaks out beyond the parties, to urgent issues that the current mainstream ignores, and he has a base in small town conservative values. Much to learn from this combination. ********

Habeas corpus Posted here Tuesday, February 24, 2004 at 9:35:38 AM     On habeas corpus. By Warren Richey | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor The US Supreme Court has given a green light for the government to conduct certain federal court cases in total secrecy. In a case with major implications for public access to the courts, as well as the war on terror, the nation's highest court said Monday it will not examine the circumstances surrounding a habeas corpus appeal filed by an Arab immigrant challenging his detention during the post-9/11 investigation. The proceedings were conducted under a government secrecy request upheld by federal judges. The Bush administration considers the issue so sensitive that its brief to the high court was filed under seal. The government took that unusual action even though the individual at the center of the case - an Algerian living in South Florida - has been free on a $10,000 bond for two years. The case, M.K.B. v. Warden, was being closely followed by legal experts because it asked the high court to spell out whether there is a constitutional requirement that judicial proceedings in the federal courts be conducted in public - or at least noted somewhere on the public record. Administration officials say that public records and open court hearings involving terror suspects could provide Al Qaeda a road map of US counterterror efforts. ********

Paige's reflections Posted here Tuesday, February 24, 2004 at 9:00:38 AM     Paige said the NEA was terrorists, but it's important to look at the reverse sensitivity. he realizes it was wrong, but that it happened tells us something about the way labguage may be being used in the Cabinet - and a trial baloon for campaign language? "As one who grew up on the receiving end of insensitive remarks, I should have chosen my words better," said Paige, the first black education secretary. ********

Political bytes Posted here Tuesday, February 24, 2004 at 8:54:22 AM     Overheard Quote of the Day "The other party's nomination battle is still playing out. The candidates are an interesting group, with diverse opinions. For tax cuts, and against them. For NAFTA, and against NAFTA. For the Patriot Act, and against the Patriot Act. In favor of liberating Iraq, and opposed to it. And that's just one senator from Massachusetts." -- President Bush, as quoted by the Boston Globe, in a speech last night to Republican governors. ********

Bush spending - blog invaluable. Posted here Tuesday, February 24, 2004 at 8:51:52 AM     Here is a good example of why the blogworld is becoming indispensible. How They Spent $39 Million Mickey Kaus has been wondering how the Bush campaign could have spent $39 million already. The data's out there, but it required you to download about 200 pages, one at a time, and scan through them. Rather than downloading and searching 200 pages manually, I wrote a quick Microsoft Excel macro that downloaded the pages and munged the information into a big (1 MB) Excel spreadsheet. (See? Microsoft Office macros aren't just for virus writers!) Using Excel to sort the data, it's apparent where the money went. $8.4 million went to Olsen & Shuvalov for direct mail. $3.5 million went to Maverick Media, the ad agency. Presumably, that's for the ads that will start airing soon. About $4 million went to payroll. Another million went to Yuma Solutions and Insight for computer equipment/support. Those four big amounts account for about $17 million. As for the remaining $22 million, I don't think it's unreasonable to spend that amount of money to raise $150 million and keep the campaign running. Look at the spreadsheet and see what else you can figure out. To sort the data, click Data->Sort on the menu. UPDATE: About $1.5 million is accounted for by refunded contributions. Another half million was given to charity (contrast with John Kerry's stinginess.) Travel costs were $1.5 million and catering and event expenses added up to at least $3.5 million. Another million dollars were spent on mailing and contributor lists. $1.5 million was spent on "transfer to compliance" (don't know what that means.) All that adds up to $9.5 million. Add that to the $17 million above and you get $26.5 million. UPDATE 2: A reader added pivot tables to make it even easier to get information out of the spreadsheet. Here's his version (1.5 MB.) posted by PoliPundit at 1:25 AM Link to this post | Comments (7) ********

The impact of saudi oil fields Posted here Tuesday, February 24, 2004 at 8:29:43 AM     From the NYT Energy forecasts call for Saudi Arabia to almost double its output in the next decade and after. Oil executives and government officials in the United States and Saudi Arabia, however, say capacity will probably stall near current levels, potentially creating a significant gap in the global energy supply. This is important. the numbers are strong. Suggests that oil may be a larger part of ME strategy than we are normally told. ********

election bytes " the refcession is the clinton recession" Posted here Tuesday, February 24, 2004 at 8:17:59 AM     From calpundit, another hint at election bytes  BUSH ECONOMY....I've never been able to work up much interest in watching the Sunday morning chat shows, but a friend of mine who was surfing around yesterday says that the phrase "Clinton recession" was all over the place. It's the Bushies' latest talking point.   ********

Election bytes Bush above and below. Posted here Tuesday, February 24, 2004 at 7:21:25 AM     From talkingpointmemo, on election bytes E.J. Dionne has an excellent piece in Tuesday's Post, the heart of which is this passage ... What's forgotten is that Bush has a pattern throughout his political career of staying above the fray while others tear his opponents to shreds. The Republicans are trying to weave a clear narrative about Kerry. The above-the-surface part is about his voting record, which Kerry will, indeed, have to defend. The below-the-surface part will paint him as a Vietnam-peacenik-Massachusetts-liberal weirdo. This feels too weak to me, and innaccurate enough and not in synch with popular tendencies. ********