Links and Minifeatures 09 20 Wednesday

Thailand's Military Ousts Prime Minister. This does not appear to be as bad as the headline. It's more of a Prime Minister hanging on to power with fingernails despite it being time for new elections. I'm not happy with suspending, let alone revoking, any duly passed constitution without a replacement ready, but the military is talking about getting civilian leaders within weeks. We'll see what they do before going off the deep end.



Thai leader says no elections for a year



It's understandable why, but it's still not a good sign.

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Bad news for the Democrats and those Republicans who have decided to trash the President to get re-elected: Bush approval rating rebounds in new poll



44% is historically very high rating at the midterm elections of a second term. Democrats were happy when Mr. Bill had a 38 in 1998. If it stays this high, you could very well see prospective Democratic gains drying up, and possibly even the Republicans pick up a few seats.



Surprisingly for the war:

For the first time since December 2005, a majority of people polled did not say the war in Iraq was a mistake. The respondents were evenly split at 49 percent to 49 percent, the report said.

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Bush accuses Iran of backing terror

"The greatest obstacle to this future is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty and to use your nation's resources to fund terrorism and fuel extremism and pursue nuclear weapons," Bush said.

Drawing a firm distinction between the Iranians and their rulers is one of the things he's got to do in order to isolate the Iranian government.



More detailed AP story here.



Also, Israel Calls Iran Its Greatest Threat



How clear-headed of them.



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Unfinished Tolkien work to be published



Best news I've had today.



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Housing Construction Down 6 Pct. in Aug.



Well, DUH! The way inventory is sitting on the market, you've got to be crazy to actually spend the money to build more.

"Housing has just fallen off a precipice," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, who said he believed the central bank would discuss this slowdown in the statement it releases after Wednesday's meeting.

Fed holds rates steady



Well, they may have finally woken up to the fact that they overreacted.



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Omigosh! The House did something intelligent today. What are the odds?

House Passes Bill to Make Voters Show ID

Republican sponsors of the voter identification bill said it was a commonsense way to stop fraud at the polls. People need photo IDs to board planes, buy alcohol or cash checks, said Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Administration Committee. "This is not a new concept."

but of course

But Democrats assailed the legislation, saying it could hurt minorities, the poor and the elderly - groups that tend to vote Democratic - who might have trouble producing a photo identification.



"This bill is tantamount to a 21st century poll tax," said Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md. "It will disenfranchise large number of legal voters."

That's right, whip those forty years dead issues. Is anybody exempted? Is the cost extraordinary? No. Will there be provisions for getting them free, thus invalidating the poll tax allegation?

The bill would require everyone to present a photo ID before voting in federal elections by 2008. By 2010 voters would have to have photo IDs that certified they were citizens. In response to criticism that this would be a burden for the poor, the bill stipulates that states must provide the identification cards free of charge to those who can't afford them.

Looks like the answer is affirmative.



Of course it's still got to pass the Senate, where it could well be filibustered if the Democrats are as stupid as they usually are, and the courts, where of course there will be challenges lasting for years. Can't take simple, cheap measures to stop voter fraud. Special interests would find it harder to cheat. We might go back to something more closely resembling a republic.



Last I checked, the mandate was one person, one vote. Not "as many votes as they can register for in different precincts" And lest you think this is a bad thing, consider this possibility. Let's say a group that is basically politically your opposite gets organized, and gets addresses of registered voters. They then proceed, bright and early on election day, to vote in as many precincts as possible, claiming they are people registered in that precinct. Let's say one of them picks your name. The election officers cannot ask for ID - they must presume this person is you. If they get to the polls first, they will get to vote and you won't. Even if you get to the polls first, they probably have a back up name they can use. If this doesn't bother you, there is something wrong. If there is anything in place to stop them, I am unaware of it. I want to start requiring right thumbprints also. Won't stop someone from registering in two or more precincts, but when they get compared, that joker is going to have some 'splainin' to do, and there's not likely to be a claim of "somebody went and used my right thumb without my permission."



I want every actual vote to be counted, not diluted, canceled, or stolen by fraud. Voter Identification is one of the easiest, cheapest ways possible to do this.



How can we be a democracy or a republic if anyone with a mind to commit voter fraud has a clear path to do so?



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Chavez sees Bush as 'devil' but John Bolton sunk him with one shot, ""Too bad President Chávez doesn't extend the same freedom of speech and the press to the people of Venezuela."



I also like Don Surber's take.



Captain's Quarters has a good compare and contrast of Bush's speech and Ahmedinejad's. (I have to stop myself from typing "I'm a damned nut-job" every time I type that name)



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A little good news for Jane: The situation in Yemen is getting press coverage. Yemen moves along volatile path to democracy



Armies of Liberation has some thoughts on what the elections mean.



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Iraq the Model on Muslims accepting facts.



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Michelle Malkin on the AP sheltering terrorist stringers.



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Remember 2004, when the various lefty media were highlighting a different Bush voter turned Democrat every day, and never did any any Gore voters turned Bush voters despite the fact that there were more of them? Same tricks, different election. Via Instapundit,

GMA's Disillusioned Republican Woman Not Really So Republican