What's going on in Iran?

For many years the elected part of Iran's government was dominated by reformist politicians leading us to believe that the hard-line policies of the Islamic revolution were unpopular. But then, in the last few years, the unelected clerics decided that the reformist politicians would be disqualified from elections. However, Iran recently held an election which included candidates from various wavelengths in the political spectrum, including a reformist candidate or two. The result of this election was a victory for the most hard-line candidate. There have been reports of fraud but the news I've heard says any fraud doesn't appear to widespread and that, overall, the results should be considered valid. So what is does the mood of the Iranian electorate? Has it changed? If so, why? If anything, I would have expected some kind of backlash against the hard-liners for disqualifying the popular reformist politicians. None of the media I have been paying attention to has made any sense of all this to me yet.

For Those of Us Who've Left LA

Everyone leaves LA, sooner or later, sometimes for good, others merely permanently. I've had my own forth and back, from 86-90 and again 97-2003. Steve was there in the 90s. Robin was there very young. Connie still comes back to her childhood home, if only to abandon baggage with friends while visiting the parents across town. And now, Derek and Erica are pulling stakes July 14 and moving to State College, PA, where both will hold forth a few times weekly to Nittany underclassmen. Patrick holds the last remaining vacant guest room in the city for us -- hold on Patrick!

And for those of us who are still on the sugar rush, here's NYTimes article on the KCRW show Morning Morning Becomes Eclectic. It's one of thee few shows KCRW doesn't podcast, but you can pick up the iTunes stream here if you can tune in 9-12am Pacific time.

Blair's son to intern with U.S. Republicans

I'm not sure what this means, but it is unusual to intern with a political party from another country.

Arianna Huffington Reports Cheney Checked into Vail Cardiac Unit Under False Name

Seems this happened yesterday. Apparently he's out now.

Iran's New Hardline President a "Uniter" not a Divider

Winner in Iran Calls for Unity. He'd like Iranians to forget all their rivalries and turn them into friendships.

Something Monday This Way Comes

Monday's the last session before 2 months of vacation for the Supreme Court. On Monday: (1) they'll announce if they will hear the appeal of Judith Schmidt and Tim Matthews, on whether they have to serve jail time for contempt, for refusing to reveal their source in the Valarie Plame Scandal. If the lower-court decision is let to stand, off to jail they go -- and watch for the Federal Prosecutor to go after Robert Novak next. (2) Rehnquist might announce a retirement (I hope not).

Supreme's on Monday.

Italian Court Calls "Extraordinary Rendition" Ordinary Kidnapping

and so ordered the arrest of 13 Americans, all affiliated with the US Consulate in Milan, claiming they are CIA operatives. Seems the court believes they were involved in the kidnapping of an Egyptian imam off the streets in Milan, and had him sent to Egypt where, the imam's family says, he is being tortured.

Extraordinary Rendition is the US policy of sending terrorism suspects to other countries to be interrogated.

Administration Sends Mixed Messages

Look folks - this is pretty simple. Either the the Iraq insurgency is in its last throes, as the Vice President says, and we can plan to start bringing the troops home soon; or it's going to be necessary to stay the course in Iraq for the next two years - and I think we can assume that "no timetable" for withdrawal means at least two years at current troop levels - because of the strength of the resistance.

Unless the point of keeping our troops in Iraq indefinitely is to give them time enough to savor the wonders of Mesopotamian civilization past & present, you just can't have it both ways. Will someone please press the White House on this point?

Rumsfeld to Senators: Get Ready To Start the Draft, or Impeach the President

Senators asked Rumsfeld on Thursday for a timetable for leaving Iraq; Rumsfeld responded that doing so would "throw terrorists a lifeline", telling them when they have to hold out until.

This is bad strategy and it is bad policy.

Because, if you've been reading the news, you'd know that recruitment targets for the armed forces have been missed again and again the first half of this year. The Senators want to know: is the situation so bad in Iraq that we going to have to start drafting people? By saying "we are there forever", Rumsfeld is telling the Senators that we are either going to be undermanned in Iraq within a year -- making impossible for us to put down the insurgency -- , or that the draft is going to start.

Will the US public face a draft to fight the insurgency in Iraq, in a war that 60% of the public now believes President Bush and Company deliberately misled us into, using lies? No.

So, Rumsfeld's answer to the Senators -- sorry, no timeline -- means our Iraq policy is adrift, and we will either be drafting boys (and girls!) to fight and die in a war we were misled into, or we will simply see the quagmire deepen.

In response, Sen Kennedy, exasperated, asked Rumsfeld, given all your failures, isn't it time for you to resign? Rumsfeld responded, exasperated, "I've offered my resignation to the President twice." The implication is clear -- if we want out of this quagmire, we have to remove President Bush. So, what do you do to a President who willfully lied to the people to bring us into a needless war? That sounds impeachable.

US Has "Torture Doctors" At Gitmo

In violation of professional ethics no less -- if you take the "first, do no harm" oath seriously. So, now we keep on staff medical professionals who design torture techniques. Our very own torture doctors. Here's the article.

The Difference Between Scientists and Gooney Birds

The Planetary Society, a private group in the US interested in interplanetary travel, attempted to put up a solar sail this week, on a Russian Cosmos 1 rocket, which is launched from a submarine. The Russians announced, soon after launch time, that the rocket launch had taken place, but ultimately failed, due to unknown causes, and the probe had not reached orbit. Nonetheless, "scientists" at the Planetary Society said they believed they had detected signals from the $4 million spacecraft and that it was in orbit.

So, I'm sure it came as a shock to them when, several hours later, the Russian Space Agency announced that the cause of the failure was that the booster exploded 83 seconds after launch, and that the probe got no where near its orbit. This leaves the only possibilities for the Planetary Society's "signals" being either they were hearing the ghost of the obliterated probe, or that they themselves are completely bonkers, hearing "signals" where there are none.

Do space probes have a soul?

Will Bush Wimp Out?

Now that Bush has definitely lostthe fight to pass Bolton through the Senate, will he wimp out?

Presidents who don't have the power to do what they want, or the political skill to convince others to work with them on things they want to accomplish, hide behind infrequently used powers. Bush just may wimp out, and make a recess appointment of John Bolton.

By performing the recess appointment, Bush might as well put on a sandwich board which announces, "I am worthless and weak. I can't even get a nominee to the United Nations -- a body which I consider irrelevant except as an obstruction -- through the Senate. My boy Bill Frist, who's supposed to be the number one muther fucker in charge over there, can't keep his guys in line, and at a 40% approval rating, neither can I. Just ignore me." Except that you can't fit that all on one sandwich board.

So instead, maybe he'll just perform the recess appointment during the July 4th weekend. So that we all know. That he's a wimp.

Radioactive Tom Cruise

So, just heard: after the $49M opening of BATMAN BEGINS, Warner Bros. is looking to remake the other films, staring Christian Bale.

And Katie Holmes? They're looking to replace her with "a better actress".

ooof.

Recess Appointment for Bolton to the UN? Challenge Recess Appointments!

It would let him serve as US Ambassador through January 2007. Next recess is for the July 4 weekend, and then the traditional "Holy Mother! It's Humid!" August recess. Dems are demanding Bolton's past requests for classified information, to determine how responsible his handling of such are, and Rice and Bush have refused to hand them over, several times.

If Bush goes to a recess appointment, the Democrats should challenge the Presidential recess appointment power. This power is granted in Article 1 section 2 of the Constitution:

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

This is interpreted as meaning the President may appoint someone to an office without Senate's consent during a Senate recess. However, that's not how I read it. It reads pretty clearly to me that the appointment may happen if the vacancy occurs ("happen") during the recess -- that is, if the Senate were in recess, the UN Ambassador dies, the President has the power to immediately fill the seat. But that's not how it's been interpreted historically. It has been interpreted to mean that if the Senate is in recess ,the president may fill any vacancy which normally would require their advice and consent, regardless of when that vacancy happened.

Seems wrong to me. Seems like this would be a good time to ask the courts to clear up the matter. I'm sure strict constuctionists like Scalia and Thomas would read it the way I do.

7:14pm Update: Bolton nomination is stopped again in the Senate. DEms filibustered it.

Democrat #2 Throws Hat into 2008 Ring: Senator Joe Biden

Last week it was Virginia Governor Jack Warner. Now we have Senator Joe Biden (Delaware) is in. Remember back the year Gary Hart ran, Biden was in it then, but a scandal came out because he had cribbed some speaches from other historical people's speeches, and even, apparently, some of his student-day essays.

Seems quaint in a time when we elect a president who drunkenly plowed his car into a tree, and was all coked up in Alabama instead of working for the National Guard, and the press dismisses it all as childhood excess.

Bush: Like a Rock

Neal Stephenson Op-Ed

Neal Stephenson chimes in to the Star Wars discussion today... with an NYT Op-Ed.

And, I might add, quite a geeky one.

A Simple Solution for Bush

John Bolton is a contentious appointment for the UN Ambassadorship.

What can Bush do? He wants his man there.

Answer: tell Congress that if they don't approve Bolton to the UN Ambassadorship, he'll appoint him to be Chair of the Federal Reserve when Greenspan retires next year.

That'll focus a few minds.

Iraq Strategy

Three years after giving the whole enterprise his blessing ("a war of choice, but a good one")...

30 months after explaining "The Pottery Barn Rule" to us...

27 months after the invasion...

25 months after "the end of major combat operations"...

18 months after ditching town to research & write a national bestseller on a different subject entirely...

8 months after our elections...

5 months after their elections...

Thomas Friedman is back with a question about Iraq that he wants - nay, demands - be answered - What is our strategy?

It's a good question! My only objection is to its timing.

I Now Pronounce You, Seargent and Warrant Officer

Let's say that you lived in a country where gay people served openly in the military. Let's say also that you lived in a country where gay people get married. Eventually,
there would be a gay wedding between two military men.