How online journalists can restore credibility, muscle to investigative reporting

The following paper looks at how online journalists have found a crucial niche in the field of investigative reporting, helping increase both its credibility and and accessibility to the general public (in its creation as well as distribution).

Read it here

Habeas Corpus isn't REALLY a right: Gonzales

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had a "depends on what your definition of 'is' is" moment of his own when he tried to convince a Senate committee that, much to the Founders' surprise, habeas corpus isn't really a right guaranteed by the Constitution after all. Tim Dickinson picked up on it in his National Affairs blog for Rolling Stone. Read it here.

Iraq blog

Eason Jordan, until recently the chief news executive at CNN (he left after some bloggers attacked comments he made about the military targeting journalists) is now apparently devoting his life to blogging on Iraq, and his blog, IraqSlogger, is a good additional news source for people who want a bigger picture than is generally portrayed in the daily "a bunch of people died today in Iraq" news articles, although his blog is not necessarily any more optimistic about the war's prospects. The New York Observer recently ran a profile of Jordan; read the profile here.

BYU Political Review

Last year, some BYU students decided to start a political publication (and corresponding website) aimed at raising the level of political discussion on campus. It's called the BYU Political Review. I was involved at the beginning; not so much now, as my time is limited as I work toward graduation. Still, I think they often have interesting viewpoints and look at politics in a way the Daily Universe can't.

Taxation without representation

One of the great enduring political injustices in the United States is the continuing denial to residents of Washington, D.C. of voting representation in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Currently, Eleanor Holmes-Norton is D.C.'s delegate to the House; voted into office just like a representative, she can vote in committee but not in general floor votes. Similarly, D.C. has "shadow senators" who can lobby other members of the Senate on D.C.'s behalf but cannot vote.

One of the organizations working to end this untenable state of affairs is D.C. Vote. Their website is here.

Romney for President? Looking at prominent Mormon politicians.

Well, much of the Mormon world -- at least in the U.S. -- is getting excited about the upcoming Romney campaign for president. But can he win? And what are the prospects for some other prominent Mormon politicians?

Mitt Romney -- pulled the 2002 Winter Olympics out of the can, was elected governor in an overwhelmingly liberal Democratic state. Now he's the wunderkind of Mormon politics -- and apparently, increasingly attractive to many Christian conservatives -- and a presidential candidate. But his popularity in Massachussetts, the state that elected him, is pretty low and many voters there accuse him of flip-flopping, especially on abortion.
Mitt Romney's PAC
Americans for Mitt

Harry Reid -- the most powerful man in the U.S. Senate, and the most powerful Mormon politician ever elected in the United States, the new Senate majority leader probably doesn't quite have the charisma to be president. Many Mormons saw Reid's Senate vote against the Federal Marriage Amendment -- an amendment which leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had advocated -- as a betrayal.
Harry Reid's Senate website
New York Times profile of Reid

Orrin Hatch -- senior U.S. senator from Utah, and has held many Senate committee leadership posts. In his most recent Senate campaign, Hatch posted billboards all over Salt Lake and Utah counties touting his "clout." Hatch has attempted a presidential campaign before but didn't make it past the primaries. He's too conservative to prevail in a presidential election, and revelations in The Deseret News last year that Hatch led all senators in accepting donations from makers of alcohol and tobacco -- products from which Mormons abstain -- hurt his credibility with his constituents.
Orrin Hatch's Senate website
Deseret News article on alcohol, tobacco donations to Hatch

Jon Huntsman -- the Utah governor enjoys a famous last name and bipartisan popularity in Utah. He's the chair of the Western Governors' Association. But while Huntsman could bring a unique perspective on "Western" issues -- such as immigration -- to the White House, he might be seen as too much of a regional figure to have a realistic shot.
Wikipedia article on Jon Huntsman
Deseret News article detailing Huntsman's decision to make John McCain, not Romney, for president

Gordon Smith -- the Republican Smith, the senior senator from Oregon, is perhaps the most truly moderate Mormon national politician. He has shown a willingness to reach across the aisle and even to criticize President George W. Bush, notably calling the war in Iraq "possibly criminal." For now, Smith is relatively little known outside Oregon and Washington, but he could be a bridge-builder and a realistic centrist Republican candidate. Interestingly, he has voted to extend government domestic partnership benefits to homosexuals, although he opposes legalizing gay marriage and voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment.
Gordon Smith's Senate website
ABC News story about Smith's Iraq War comments