FIGHTING WORDS

Matt Yglesias: "The difference is that throughout 2002 and 2003 the conventional wisdom in pro-war circles was that the war would turn out well, so the dissembling used to sell it wouldn't be such a big deal and it was a bit naive of liberals to be obsessed with the lying point." David Cole: "It would actually make existing law worse by providing Congressional authorization for cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in certain circumstances. Right now the authority for such action is a highly dubious executive interpretation; the proposed exemptions would give this questionable interpretation legislative approval." Jo-Ann Mort: "It says a lot about the state of the Dems and the state of the Republicans that on the same day President Bush bowed to his right wing by nominating a conservative candidate to the Supreme Court, the story broke that Democratic operatives were working out of a 'war room' in Arkansas, making Wal-mart and their slash and burn economic strategy palatable to the American people." Mark Weisbrot: "The past 25 years have been the worst growth performance in modern Latin American history."