The Corn & Miniter Show — #17

video Are the CNN YouTube debates something really new or just a gimmick? Is it necessary for candidates to have a strong web presence? John Edwards and Barack Obama competing on poverty issues — who will win?

Watch David Corn and Richard Miniter discussing this, and more, in this week’s show (10m 20s).
[Audio-only MP3 version also available here]

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The Lonely Trail California Republican Duncan Hunter is leading a cash and organization-starved campaign that’s looking for a lucky break in New Hampshire. But any candidate that hasn’t captured the all-important media spotlight is going to have a difficult time breaking out of the anonymous second-tier pack.

Rick Moran illuminates the background of one such candidate, and in doing so questions the decidedly narrow focus of those whose hands are at the switch.

A Turning Point For Turkey Turkish citizens go to the polls on Sunday for an important election. Will the vote reverse the course of Islamization or move it further down the road of becoming a more Islamic, socially conservative society and a foreign policy more attuned to Iran and Syria than to the United States? Barry Rubin, who is covering the elections for PJM, isn’t optimistic.

The Abyss: Tigerhawk comments on Hillary’s plunging neckline. “Don’t get me wrong. I like visible cleavage as much as anybody. As far as I’m concerned, let’s have more of it. But how will those of us who believe that political feminism has outlived its usefulness sustain that belief if one of the nation’s leading newspapers insists on deconstructing Hillary Clinton’s neckline?”

The Offensive Continues: The Coalition continues the offensive all across Iraq, reports Bill Roggio, along a broad front and with Iraqi cooperation. Al-qaeda has responded by killing civilians in rural areas and blowing up bridges.

The Candidate? Glenn Reynolds thinks Fred Thompson may be holding off too long announcing his candidacy for President. “Yep. His pre-campaign was masterful, but the transition to actually running for office seems a bit sloppy.”

The Rootin' Putin Jungend: La Russophobe reports on posters at a festival sponsored by a pro-Putin youth organization called Nashi which depicts opposition politicians dressed up as hookers.

Google Will Bid for the 700 MHz Spectrum: The spectrum is a key resource in providing mobile, wireless broadband access. Google claims it has supported open access to the spectrum. Dana Blankenhorn says, “All this idealism has a practical political point. Google aims to break the cellular oligopoly that has slowed the U.S. wireless industry throughout this decade.” But not, he says if the Bell companies can do anything to stop it. But Don Reisinger is suspicious.

"I Will Not Support Sectarian Agendas": Michael Yon’s 7 Rules, 1 Oath describes a meeting attended by the Iraqi Army and former insurgents presided over by an American. Its purpose: to discuss a series of practical and philosophical principles and draft an oath under which everyone could live.

Crunching the Numbers: Rob Port looks at the Daily Kos’ claim that 70% of military campaign contributions went to antiwar candidates. (Say Anything)

The Beeb's Problems Keep Getting Bigger: Every day seems to bring new reports of bias at the BBC. Fausta has a roundup.

Border Wars: With Mexico? With Canada? In the EU? In the Middle East?

No, in Missouri.

O Come Yi, O Come Yi: The Milwaukee Bucks get their first round draft pick, or do they? (The American Mind)

Hair-raising: The Economist’s political cartoonist decorates Fred’s cranium.

Ballistic: Confederate Yankee examines shell casings in light of an article about Glocks, yet another of A Series of Highly Incredible Events.

The Big Issues Don’t Always Sway Elections: Tory Sean Fear, writing at Political Betting in the UK, explains how even in general elections, matters that are of purely local significance can seriously affect the outcome in any given constituency.

If They Live in NJ, They'll Drive No Matter What the Score: Via Bloggasm, Walk Score calculates “the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc.”

In Defense of Free Speech: Barcepundit posts a cartoon depicting Spanish Crown Prince Felipe in an intimate scene with his wife, Princess Letizia. It appeared on the cover of a magazine, which can no longer be purchased at Spanish newsstands because a judge ordered the issue to be pulled. (PJM Advisory: Mildly NSFW)

Everything Old Is New Again: Russian Textbooks Praise All Things Russian (The Agonist); Senators and Lawyers Go Missing in Russia, and Nobody Seems to Notice (Publius Pundit); Russia awarded Winter Games (Townhall.com)

Feeding the "Food Stamp Challenge" Blogger Ari Armstrong put his money where his mouth is, and created The Liberty and Prosperity Challenge. BizzyBlog looks at the results so far.

Energy Laws of Unintended Consquences: Alvaro Vargas Llosa looks at the unintended consequences of Corny Politics while the National Petroleum Council finds that real problem is getting to the energy resources and putting them to use.

Later: Chavez Inaugurates Refinery in Nicaragua (Breibart)

Letter from Zimbabwe: Gateway Pundit receives a letter from Zimbabwe, where inflation is astronomical and the farming industry is defunct. Normblog posts about a woman Desperate to stay in the queue.

Carol Gould finds the Left blaming the sanctions imposed by Britain and America for the state of things, while Zimbabwe’s top cleric, Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube, urges Britain to invade. Mugabe says he would pray for Ncube, an outspoken government critic accused of having an affair (WaPo).

They Ran Out of Harry Potter Stories Until Midnight Tonight: Hillary Clinton’s Tentative Dip Into New Neckline Territory (Washington Post).

Understanding the jihadists: Pierre Legrand finds that an unwarranted attack on Diana West warrants a response.

The American Dream: Upon learning of the arrest of Broadcom founder Henry T. Nicholas III, “millions of teenage boys went ‘an underground lair stocked with hookers, Ecstasy and blow!! I’m gonna be a tech billionaire!!’ and immediately drank a Coke, sat down and cracked their textbooks.” Or so it’s imagined at Winds of Change.

From the 'We're Not Looking at Anyone in Particular' Department: “Man with tiny brain shocks doctors” (New Scientist)

Adolescent Utopians: “For many of us, sleep-away camp is the first and most important attempt at utopia, a better life outside of life. Some Americans become lifetime campers, camp fanatics.” (NY Sun)

Say Amen to Harry: Only the Holy Bible and The Quotations of Chairman Mao have more copies in print than the Harry Potter series. (The Week)

Trusting the Taliban: A Taliban spokesman threatened to kill two abducted German engineers kidnapped near Kabul on Wednesday unless Germany pulls out all its troops and all Taliban prisoners are released in Afghanistan. But the German Foreign Ministry has its doubts about the veracity of the claim. (DPA)

Goebbels Would Be So Proud: Anyone who converts to Islam in America will be jailed for over 20 years, the Iranian regime’s propaganda machine claims in a Persian language news bulletin that is run by the clerical school of Qum. (The Spirit of Man)

Dealing With Iran and Syria: “At a minimum, we should give our special operators the freedom to strike across the Syria-Iran border, if they think that will help stop the ‘ratlines’ over which an estimated 50 to 80 jihadis a month are entering Iraq. I’ve talked to some of our commandos who have told me they would be eager to get just such authority, but they have been blocked not only by cautious politicos in Washington, but also by cautious generals at Central Command.” Max Boot details other options as well, such as holding Damascus International Airport hostage. (Contentions)

A Liberal's Worst Nightmare: “President Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy Saturday, his spokesman said, revealing that Bush will hand over presidential powers to Vice President Dick Cheney while he is under under anesthesia.” (AP/Breitbart)

“Woe and despair! A darkness like pitch shall cover the lands and sun shall not pierce this prevailing darkness until an age and an age and half an age has passed.” (Dean’s World)

Senate Rejects (94-3) Moving Gitmo Detainees to U.S. Soil (FNC)

A Rocket Launcher in the Grass: “A Jersey City woman made a shocking discovery on her lawn this morning when she noticed a military rocket launcher lying in the grass.” (CBS News)

The Magical Mystery Poverty Tour: Charles Hurt thinks John Edwards’ eight state tour designed to bring attention to poverty issues is the essence of hypocrisy. “What made Edwards such a brilliant attorney - and a pretty good politician - is his ability to look you in the eye while picking your pocket and convince you that’s really not his hand on your wallet.” (NY Post)

He Ought to Know Better: “Andrew Sullivan is a rum character. Columnists are not supposed to maintain an iron consistency in their views and I do not hold it against Sullivan that he has switched from being a rather embarrassingly full-on cheerleader for George W. Bush, for example, to an equally full-on despiser of said. I actually believe Sullivan when he claims that his anger at some of Bush’s policies is not primarily motivated by Bush’s stance on gay marriage, but more by Bush’s very un-conservative heavy public spending, abuse of certain powers, and above all, the bungling in Iraq. But Sullivan likes to act as a sort of arbiter of what a true “conservative” is, but I wonder about his credentials on this score. This post leaves a nasty taste.” (Johnathan Pierce @ Samizdata)

Free Speech or Hate Speech? Little Green Footballs notes that the rhetoric of Mizanur Rahman, the UK Islamic radical sentenced to six years in jail for inciting violence, sounds a lot like that of the Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine.

Brief History Lesson: “MSNBC’s Olbermann thinks Iraq is the ‘most disastrous geopolitical tactic since Austro-Hungary attacked Serbia in 1914 and destroyed itself in the process.’ With a good Kraut name like Olbermann, you’d think he’d know better.” (Jules Crittenden @ Forward Movement)

Lindsay Lohan Officially Booked: “In one of the most under the radar moves she’s ever made, Lindsay Lohan quietly walked into the Beverly Hills PD station late Thursday afternoon to be officially arrested for her May DUI.” (TMZ)

John Doe Killed: The John Doe protection amendment finally didn’t reach the necessary votes in both the House and the Senate. (Michelle Malkin)

TigerHawk thinks the Democrats are going to regret this vote. “I can imagine the oppo advertising already.”

Totten Lands in Baghdad: “Never again will I complain about the inconvenience and discomfort of airports and civilian airline travel delays. You won’t either if make your way from Kuwait to Baghdad in July during a war.” (Michael Totten)

Musharraf Snubbed by Pakistan's Supreme Court: Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Friday reinstated Chief Justice Iftkhar Mohammad Chaudri, who was dismissed by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf earlier this year.

The reinstatement was announced by a full bench of the Supreme Court in a decision on an appeal filed by Chaudri in which he accused Musharraf and heads of the intelligence agencies of pressurizing him to resign. (AP/Breitbart)

The CIA War Against American Spies: “CIA personnel who opposed the secret prisons for terrorists program, proceeded to assist an investigation run by the Council of Europe into the program. This is not only going to render American personnel more vulnerable to lawfare, but it will also make gathering intelligence harder – both with sources recruited by American agencies, and cooperation with other countries’ intelligence agencies.” (StrategyPage)

McCain's Not Quitting (Captain’s Quarters)

Lessons Learned? Commenting on an article by Timothy Garton-Ash, Hilzoy @ Obsidian Wings writes on the lessons drawn from the situation in Iraq.

A Matter of Credibility: Bob Owens is asking New Republic the hard questions regarding the article allegedly written from Iraq. (Confederate Yankee)

Another Hollywood Divorce: But this time it’s not people. Dreamworks and Paramount’s marriage seems to be on the rocks, BusinessWeek reports. “People close to Spielberg say he is vexed that Paramount has treated his team shabbily and grabbed credit for DreamWorks productions. If Spielberg were to leave, says a person familiar with the situation, he could take several of his hitmakers and the DreamWorks name with him.”

Reinventing History: Don Surber notes a TV interview with John Kerry where he said that fears of a bloodbath after the US withdrawal from Vietnam never materialized. “The Democrats, many of whom have labored mightily to compare Iraq to Vietnam in the hope of sustaining the “quagmire” narrative, find that the comparison is suddenly and maddeningly inconvenient,” writes TigerHawk.