Via Powerline: Media Research Center has a list of Dan Rather’s “Notable Quotables”, showing his liberal bias dating back to 1995…

Here’s the first:

“The new Republican majority in Congress took a big step today on its legislative agenda to demolish or damage government aid programs, many of them designed to help children and the poor.”
— Leading off the March 16, 1995 CBS Evening News.

Now read the rest.

There’s a new blogger on the block – OpiniPundit. Good stuff there. Check him out.

PoliPundit has written code and made it available to all to get the clock posted at the top of this page. John Kerry told Tim Russert on Meet the Press that he would sign his Form 180. He still hasn’t done it. We’re waiting….

The pace of transformation in the Middle East seems astonishing. In short succession Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and now Lebanon and Egypt have either gone democratic or are quickly heading towards democracy. There is no doubt this is unparalleled. I wonder though, just how astonishing this all would seem if the media showed a modicum of balance in their reporting and “analysis” of Afghanistan, Iraq and U.S. foreign policy in general.

From the outset of U.S. military intervention in the region, the media has almost exclusively focused on what was going wrong and what would go wrong in the future. A steady stream of experts and future tellers provided us with the skeptical downside. “Quagmire” was the catchword of the new millennium. Occasionally we would hear a press conference where Bush would tout the spread of democracy in the region. The media would give a collective condescending chuckle and go back to reporting from their hotel rooms, every car bomb story that came across the wires.

Imagine if the other side of the story would have been presented from the beginning. Imagine if the media had actually taken a serious look at the potential upside of U.S. foreign policy in the region. Imagine if Afghanistan had actually been covered after the shooting stopped. What’s happening now with Lebanon and Egypt would be no less history shaping. But it might have seemed a little less surprising.

At the White House Press briefing today regarding the resignation of the Lebanese Government Helen Thomas goes waaayy off topic: (Q is Helen Thomas):

Q Has the President ever issued an order against torture of prisoners? And do we still send prisoners to Syria to be tortured?

MR. McCLELLAN: The President has stated publicly that we do not condone torture and that he would never authorize the use of torture. He has made that —

Q But has he issued an order?

MR. McCLELLAN: — statement very publicly, and he’s made it clear to everybody in the government that we do not torture.

Q Well, why do we still hear these stories then?

MR. McCLELLAN: If there are allegations of wrongdoing, then the President expects those allegations to be fully investigated and if there is actual wrongdoing that occurs, then people need to be held to account. The President has made that very clear.

Q Well, do you deny that we still send prisoners to other countries to be tortured? Is that a denial?

MR. McCLELLAN: Judge Gonzales testified previously that we have an obligation not to render people to countries that we know would torture them.

Q He did not rule out torture.

Transcript and link to video available here. Why is this woman still attending press briefings? And look at the second part of the first question… Did we ever “send prisoners to Syria to be tortured?” – Do you still beat your wife?

Welcome Opinipundit readers.
Welcome American Princess readers.

Via Fox News: Lebanon’s Prime Minister says whole government to resign. The Lebanese are rising against the Syrian forces.

Prime Minister Omar Karami:

“I am keen that the government will not be a hurdle in front of those who want the good for this country. I declare the resignation of the government that I had the honor to head. May God preserve Lebanon,”

More from Reuter’s:

“The people have won,” main opposition leader Walid Jumblatt told LBC television after Karami announced the resignation of the cabinet to a parliament session debating Hariri’s killing.

Ecstatic protesters, having got their wish for the government’s resignation, chanted “Syria out” and “Freedom, sovereignty, independence.” Syria has wielded political and military power in its smaller neighbor for decades.

They also chanted “Lahoud, your turn is next,” in reference to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.

Martyrs Square, by Hariri’s grave, was a sea of Lebanese flags — red and white with a cedar tree in the center.

Thousands of protesters watched the debate live on large screens while loudspeakers blared patriotic songs.

Cheers and applause erupted when Karami resigned. In parliament, opposition MPs wearing the red-and-white scarves that have come to symbolize their movement, gave a standing ovation.

I’ve been posting lightly because I received my new laptop on Friday and have been getting it up to speed with all my old software. I also have a paper due tomorrow for my current class, so posting on my part will still be fairly light.

I have a brand new Dell Inspiron 6000 with a very nice 15-1/2 screen. It’s like an HDTV screen wider than tall, so it’s very nice for spreadsheet viewing. I’m getting used to the new Office 2003 software too.

From the International Herald Tribune:

More importantly, Iran’s admission came only after it was confronted with the evidence. I’m no expert, but 18 years seems like a long time to develop weapons systems. Awhile ago I wrote about the Left’s failure to appreciate the dangers of a false negative in such circumstances. Hard choices are approaching. The Left can await the outcome of this one and then preach about errors made in hindsight, but it would be nice for them to actually constructively enter the debate for the good of the country.

Even after raising the bar, Rall concedes that his ridiculous challenge has been met:

Believe it or not, no, I did NOT know that any of this stuff was out there. I’d read references by Republican bloggers to such things, but no one ever provided a link and I could never find it. Suffice it to say, this stuff pisses me off and should not be tolerated by anyone who purports to be a law-abiding American. And again: mainstream blogs like Kos should delete this shit as soon as it appears–as should the nasty right-wing sites like Little Green Footballs.

Has the challenge been met? Yes.

He has the nerve to express surprise, as if his ignorance wasn’t based on his own blinding bias, but on some blogosphere wide conspiracy to keep the truth from him.

Blindingly biased left wing media expresses bewilderment at their ignorance after being force fed the facts by conservative bloggers – pretty much an average day in the blogosphere. (Update: scroll up to get Rall’s admission, he doesn’t seem to have links for each posting.)

As usual Mark Steyn hits the nail on the head. His latest is an article entitled “U.S. can sit back and watch Europe implode.” He writes:

Europe’s problems — its unaffordable social programs, its deathbed demographics, its dependence on immigration numbers that no stable nation (not even America in the Ellis Island era) has ever successfully absorbed — are all of Europe’s making. By some projections, the EU’s population will be 40 percent Muslim by 2025. Already, more people each week attend Friday prayers at British mosques than Sunday service at Christian churches — and in a country where Anglican bishops have permanent seats in the national legislature.

Some of us think an Islamic Europe will be easier for America to deal with than the present Europe of cynical, wily, duplicitous pseudo-allies. But getting there is certain to be messy, and violent.

I seem to recall two previous implosions in Europe that were pretty messy and violent.

Update: Welcome Modern Tribalist readers.