A whole lotta hate: The future of Trent Lott and the Republican majority

I hesitate to quote him here at The Reaction, but here's Bob Novak on Trent Lott: "Trent Lott within the next week plans to decide between seeking a fourth term in the U.S. Senate from Mississippi or retiring from public life. That could determine whether Republicans keep control of the Senate in next year's elections. For the longer range, Lott's retirement and replacement could signal that Southern political realignment has peaked and now is receding."

At The Carpetbagger Report (and at Political Animal, where he's guest-blogging), Steve Benen reads Lott's tea leaves. It's a great post that looks at the story from a number of different angles: "So, what's his next move? Only Lott knows for sure, but watching this play out should be awfully entertaining. Pass the popcorn."

Especially if Lott challenges Frist. Extra butter, please.

For more, see The Moderate Voice ("Trent Lott's Sweet Taste of Political Revenge"), Digby at Hullabaloo, Atrios at Eschaton, Kos at Daily Kos, and Ezra Klein.

Fraud in Iraq, silence among conservatives

I've previously commented on the allegedly fraudulent results of the recent Iraqi election -- see here and here.

Now Jazz at Running Scared (a highly recommended blog) is noting that the right-wing blogosphere, which was remarking rather self-righteously that its left-wing counterparts weren't covering that election with nearly enough enthusiasm (if they were covering it at all, the spin went), has been remarkably silent on these allegations of fraud.

How true. But, then, who ever thought the right-wing blogosphere was fair and balanced? Who ever thought it was anything other than a regurgitational mouthpiece of Republican partisanship? The Miers nomination may have exposed the cracks, but such partisanship trumps principle almost each and every time.

Gas attack in Russian supermarket

Reuters: "A gas smelling of garlic hurt dozens of Russian shoppers when it was released into a supermarket on Monday in the city of St Petersburg, but police ruled out a terrorist attack."

Violence in Sri Lanka

This is the one-year anniversary of the tsunami that devastated so much of South and Southeast Asia, but the violence in Sri Lanka, where Tamil rebels are waging civil war with government forces, continues. Click here for more.

Remembering the Great Tsunami of 2004

As the BBC reports, "Ceremonies have been taking place to mark the first anniversary of the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami". More than 200,000 people were killed.

The BBC also reports on specific memorials in India and Sweden, as well as on the slow recovery in Somalia, orphans in Thailand, the Indian Ocean warning system, and the political aspects of the tsunami and its aftermath in Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

For an extremely moving series of photos, see here.

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StormTrack has an incredible and truly invaluable post on "The Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004". It includes photos, video, and links to other sites and resources.

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For reaction in the blogosphere, see The Moderate Voice, Michelle Malkin, and Instapundit.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I and my co-bloggers at The Reaction would like to wish you all Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and, in the broadest sense, Happy Holidays. May you and your loved ones have a wonderful holiday season.

Needless to say, posting will be lighter than usual over the next couple of days. Blogging is important, of course, but not nearly as important as being with one's friends and family at this special time of year.

But do keep checking back -- for I will be blogging and will be keeping this site fresh. As usual, there will be interesting posts to read and interesting links to click on.

In the meantime, be safe out there.