The New Republic

Has the U.N. Human Rights Council gone mad? It can't be. It's already mad. It seems not to be able to find a human rights violator other than Israel. Not China, not Cuba, not North Korea, not Sudan, not Zimbabwe. (Even Kofi Annan has criticized the HRC for focusing only on Israel.) So I was skeptical when people told me that the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, was sane and balanced and READ MORE >>

In the midst of his front-page story on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in today's Washington Post, Dan Balz takes time to note the following:   READ MORE >>

Chris Suellentrop, aka "The Opinionator", has an interesting piece in tomorrow's Times magazine about the GOP's evolution on prisoner issues--from law-and-order hardasses to compassionate Christians. The piece is interesting in and of itself. READ MORE >>

The Wall Street Journal's Mary Anastasia O'Grady keeps us abreast of developments in Latin America in a way that almost no one else does. Latin America is not really on anyone else's agenda, which means that it will certainly be on Washington's in the near future. O'Grady is especially provoked by Cuba, which is a failed tyranny except that its population is still tyrannized, brutally, and impoverished. The only more impoverished country in the western hemisphere is Haiti. READ MORE >>

Ezra Klein, writing at Tapped, has a puzzling observation about the Democratic primary. He writes, "Obama, Edwards, Gore--say what you will, but this crew currently controls the buzz, the assumptions of 'electability,' and the excitement of the base. And every one of them is a progressive." He proceeds to credit this development to Howard Dean. "Howard Dean should be proud: He really did change the party," he writes. READ MORE >>

by David GreenbergThe other day I got a very peculiar piece of spam in my email inbox. It came from a group calling itself "Sachs for President," which is seeking to "draft" the distinguished Columbia economist Jeffrey Sachs for president. Yes, of the United States. READ MORE >>

Of course, children do get hurt in the wars of the terrorists and even in the wars against terrorists. Some of them even get killed. And, among the warriors against terror, there is tremendous moral agitation when this happens. READ MORE >>

This month's Vanity Fair has a great little parody of Dick Cheney's Google searches, including such gem search terms as: HDL freedom fries Google Maps: tora bora quail hunting "involuntary manslaughter" iraq exit strategy iraq exit stratagem iran exit strategy READ MORE >>

by Stanley I. Kutler The only thing we learn from history is we forget it. A Cornell University poll found 44 percent of Americans believe the government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslims. Nearly 30 percent favored requiring Muslims to register with the federal government, and that the government utilize racial profiling. READ MORE >>

by Daniel Drezner READ MORE >>