well, this is pretty obvious

Study: Thomas is the most ‘partisan’ Supreme Court justice, Scalia is the most ‘activist.’
(Think Progress)

WTF is this idiocy?

Lieberman To Introduce Resolution Praising Success Of Surge ‘Against Enemies Who Attacked America On 9/11′
(Think Progress)

wha...?

Glenn Beck: Slavery apology is an affront ‘to the principles of Christianity.’
(Think Progress)
----
OK, I can understand thinking that this is unnecessary (though i don't agree), but WTF? He even talks about forgiveness being part of Christianity, so how is this an affront?!

how corrupt is McCain?

Report: McCain Received $881,450 From Big Oil Since He Announced Support For Offshore Drilling
(Think Progress)

repig blaming Dems for repug obstructionism

Bachmann Lies: Claims Democrats Won’t ‘Pass The Tax Credit For Solar And Wind’ After GOP Blocked It
(Think Progress)
---
As usual, the repugs have nothing except for lies...

wow! A republican who believes in the rule of law

GOP congressman hints at support for sending Rove to jail.

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Karl Rove in contempt of Congress. On MSNBC yesterday, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), breaking with his party, said he believes Rove should be forced to testify. “Let him explain his involvement, if any, in this Don Siegelman case.” When pressed on whether he was suggesting sending Rove to jail, Jones signaled that he supports this option:

Q: Knowing that he’s not coming, should Congress use its inherent contempt power and haul him in, possibly put him into jail?

JONES: Whatever authority Congress has, we need to uphold the institution.

Q: So it sounds like you’re saying that you too think that that should be a real option here.

JONES: I think that we should uphold the institution and the integrity of the House of Representatives.

(Think Progress)

i find it amazing that anyone wants to be associated with this bigot

Michael Savage booted from Los Angeles station.

In the ongoing fallout from his screed against children with autism, right-wing radio host Michael Savage has been kicked off Los Angeles’ KGIL and will be replaced by conservative talker Lars Larson, according to a Larson press release. LA is the second largest radio market in the country. Already, radio stations in Ohio, Mississippi, and Virginia have dropped Savage, and a host of advertisers have done the same.

(Think Progress)

but it's ok if you're a repug

McCain Supporter Arlen Specter Requests Meeting With Castro And Chavez; Is He ‘Naive?’
(Think Progress)
---
Dems really have to figure out the magic that makes an (R) after your name a solution to any situation that absolves you of any mistakes.
This would really help our standing in the "liberal media".

interesting and logical

RAND STUDY: War on Terrorism fundamentally flawed and doomed to fail

Today's Washington Post covers what amounts to a near complete repudiation of the Bush administration "terrorism" policy since 9/11. The fact that the study is coming from the RAND Corporation (SourceWatch profile) is huge. RAND, while technically non-partisan, has a long history shaping a hawkish US strategic policy. (To get a flavor of just what type of organization RAND is, Donald Rumsfeld has sat on their Board of Trustees.)

The Bush administration's terrorism-fighting strategy has not significantly undermined al-Qaeda's capabilities, according to a major new study that argues the struggle against terrorism is better waged by law enforcement agencies than by armies.

The study by the nonpartisan Rand Corp. also contends that the administration committed a fundamental error in portraying the conflict with al-Qaeda as a "war on terrorism." The phrase falsely suggests that there can be a battlefield solution to terrorism, and symbolically conveys warrior status on terrorists, it said.

"Terrorists should be perceived and described as criminals, not holy warriors," authors Seth Jones and Martin Libicki write in "How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering al-Qaeda," a 200-page volume released yesterday.

But the authors contend that al-Qaeda has sabotaged itself by creating ever greater numbers of enemies while not broadening its base of support. "Al-Qaeda's probability of success in actually overthrowing any government is close to zero," the report states.
...
The authors call for a strategy that includes a greater reliance on law enforcement and intelligence agencies in disrupting the group's networks and in arresting its leaders. They say that when military forces are needed, the emphasis should be on local troops, which understand the terrain and culture and tend to have greater legitimacy.

In Muslim countries in particular, there should be a "light U.S. military footprint or none at all," the report contends.

"The U.S. military can play a critical role in building indigenous capacity," it said, "but should generally resist being drawn into combat operations in Muslim societies, since its presence is likely to increase terrorist recruitment."

You might remember that back in 2000, the Republicans and George Bush criticized the Clinton administration for treating terrorism as a law enforcement problem instead of a military problem. RAND confirms the Clinton strategy as more effective.

Note that last item about the U.S. military taking little to no role on the ground in Muslim countries. This is exactly what opponents to the Iraq war tried to say ahead of the invasion.

Bottom line, the war on terror is the real fight - on the war in Iraq Barack Obama was right and John McCain was wrong. McCain's willingness to stay in Iraq "maybe one hundred" years shows his complete lack of understanding of the root cause of terrorism.

(Americablog)

but isn't global warming a hoax?!

Seven square mile ice sheet breaks off in Canada
(Americablog)

but it's different if bush does it!

Warrantless Wiretapping Supporter Sam Brownback Now Outraged Over Chinese Government’s Domestic Spying
(Think Progress)

more repug hypocrisy

Rep. Sessions held fundraiser at Vegas strip club.

The Washington Post reports that Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) held a fundraiser last year at a strip club in Las Vegas. The party was hosted by Monica Notzen, a “Republican consultant who plans parties like this for lawmakers.” In an interview last December, Sessions maintained that the events were a “burlesque show” and not a “strip club” because “she never gets naked.”

SESSIONS: That’s right, we do a Las Vegas fundraiser every year and not only raise money, but see Las Vegas. It’s a beautiful town.

Q:: Forty Deuce is a strip club.

SESSIONS: You know, I’ve never seen that. It is what I would call a burlesque show where there’s a woman who comes out and has a dress on… Uh, she never get’s naked. There’s no nudity, there’s no nudity in there.

As John Aravosis notes, Sessions “scolded Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake for forcing ‘their liberal values upon the rest of the country’ after their infamous 2004 Super Bowl halftime striptease.” According to federal disclosures, Sessions spent more than $5,000 at the club that night.

(Think Progress)

Olbermann confirms talking points sent to media

Olbermann: White House sent me talking points too, ‘I still have them.’
(Think Progress)

it still amazes me that the repugs can blatantly lie like this and no one calls them on it

Secretary Of Energy Repeats Katrina Oil Spill Lie: ‘Not One Case’ Where Oil ‘Spilled In The Environment’
(Think Progress)

what an asshole

Toby Keith: ‘Black Society’ Thinks Obama ‘Talks, Acts and Carries Himself As A Caucasian’
(Think Progress)
----
I sure hope that nobody other than ignorant rednecks listen to this jerk-off, cuz he is offensive as hell...

media finally paying some attention to McCain's many errors and flip-flops

Details sometimes fall away as McCain campaigns

WASHINGTON - Details can bedevil any presidential candidate. Republican John McCain announced this week that he backs an anti-affirmative action referendum that has drawn sharp debate in Arizona, his home state. Then he added a curious note: He doesn't know that much about it.

And when McCain was asked earlier this month about insurance coverage for Viagra but not contraceptives, he admitted he wasn't sure about that issue, though he had once voted against requiring coverage for birth-control pills.

At times McCain can appear to be short on details. In some instances, he has made misstatements or eyebrow-raising comments during the long days of campaigning in front of cameras and microphones. Sympathetic listeners call them understandable slips of the tongue and question whether any candidate can know everything. Opponents call them gaffes, or worse.

---

Of course, they're trying to say that Obama does the same thing, though his slips-of-the-tongue are just that, while McCain obviously changes what he means - or just has no idea what he means.

another crazy, violent religiou freak

Police: Body found in Ala. freezer was mother of 8

MOBILE, Ala. - Police believe a body found in a small-time evangelist's home freezer is his wife and a mother of eight, and arrested him on a murder charge as he preached at a south Alabama church. Anthony Hopkins, 37, was being held in the Mobile County jail Wednesday awaiting a bond hearing and appointment of an attorney.

---

this part is obvious - now what are they gonna do about it

House panel votes to cite Rove for contempt

WASHINGTON - A House panel voted Wednesday to cite Karl Rove, formerly President Bush's top aide, for contempt of Congress as its Senate counterpart explored punishment for alleged misdeeds by other administration officials.

---

Obama or more of the same

Obama: McCain thinks nation on the 'right track'
---
Good for Obama for making it plain what this election is about - a change or more of the same.

interesting definition of "easy"

McCain: ‘I Said We Would Have An Easy Victory’ In Iraq And ‘We Did’
(Think Progress)

it's about time

Breaking: Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) indicted on seven criminal counts.
(Think Progress)

Russia to McCain - "f'k you"

Top Russian diplomat: ‘We’re not interested in what McCain has to say.’

On Sunday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) defended his plan to kick Russia out of the G8, a policy that Fareed Zakaria called “the most radical idea put forward by a major candidate for the presidency in 25 years.” Today, a top Russian diplomat dismissed McCain’s threat, claiming McCain was trying to turn Russia into a “scapegoat”:

“We can afford to cut off relations with any of our partners if that’s what they want … We’re not interested in what McCain has to say. Let him become president first, then we’ll listen to him,” the diplomat told reporters.

“We want the American electorate to answer for the choice it will make … At the moment, they are turning Russia into a scapegoat for the mistakes of their foreign policy,” said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The United States “is on the verge of an existential crisis,” he added.

(Think Progress)

well, duh

LA Times: Study proves media harder on Obama than McCain
(Crooks and Liars)
---
Only the bat-shit insane repugs would doubt this. Of course the media is harder on Obama! It's obvious from every story. Sure, McCain is going to claim the opposite is true - despite all facts to the contrary - but c'mon - no one really believes that, do they?

lots more on McCain

Rachel Maddow: "There's a difference between being a veteran and supporting a veteran as a politician."
---
McCain endorses "timetable" for Iraq - again - right after he said he never did
---
McCain appears to call Petraeus chairman of the joint chiefs - but he isn't
---
McCain doesn't have a damned clue about the economy
(All from Americablog)
---
It's getting to be difficult to keep a daily log of all of McCain's "gaffes", mistakes, lies and flip-flops. He's gotta slow down a little!

once again, bush only cares about big corporations, not the American public

White House supports toxins in baby toys
(Americablog)

bush forcing the US to stay in Iraq despite Iraqi objections

Bush forced Maliki to back down on withdrawal in 2006.
(Think Progress)
---
Damn - think how many lives and how much money we could have saved if bush only listened to the Iraqis' wishes!
My gawd, the world will be such a better place once he is gone.

methinks he doth protest too much

O’Reilly calls McClellan a ‘liar’ and an ‘idiot.’
(Think Progress)
---
It was ok when McClellan basically worked for Fox, but now that he's appearing on NBC, O'Reilly is all pissed off.

nice to have friends in high places

Blackwater received millions in small business contracts — but it’s not a small business.
(Think Progress)

sick minds think alike

Jim Adkisson, the man who shot two people to death in a Tennessee Unitarian church this week because he was angry at “liberals and gays,” had an array of right-wing books at his home. Inside his house, “officers found ‘Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder’ by radio talk show host Michael Savage, ‘Let Freedom Ring’ by talk show host Sean Hannity, and ‘The O’Reilly Factor,’ by television talk show host Bill O’Reilly.”

(Think Progress)

scary as hell

Toby Keith promotes pro-lynching song and movie on Colbert.
(Think Progress)
---
Why is Colbert promoting this bigotry?

not surprising

Rampant politicization of the Justice Department gets total silence from Fox News.
(Think Progress)

more reasons to thank bush

Tourism rises globally, but not to U.S.

Washington - A recent headline in The Guardian of London – "America – more hassle than it's worth?" – underscores a stubborn global view that the United States is not an easy or a desirable place to visit.

---
Damn, is there anything that bush hasn't f'k'd up for this country?

flip-flopping like a fish outta water

McCain backs off his no-new-tax pledge

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain's signal that he may be open to a higher payroll tax for Social Security, despite previous vows not to raise taxes of any kind, is drawing sharp rebukes from conservatives.

---
Funny how McCain doesn't get the "flip-flopper" tag despite the fact that for him, unlike Kerry, it is actually true - and continuous!

Obama states the obvious again

Obama blames WDC and Wall Street for economic woes

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday blamed "irresponsible decisions" by the Bush administration and Wall Street for the country's economic woes as government officials said the budget deficit would soar to record heights next year.

---

no one takes this seriously anymore

It's election season, so you know what that means: RED ALERT!
(Americablog)
---
The pity is that if there was a serious cause for alarm, no one would believe it.

why we need a strong Democratic majority

Senate conservatives vote against cloture on ‘Tomnibus.’

Today, in a vote of 52 to 43, conservatives successfully obstructed the Advance America’s Priorities Act, a package of approximately “40 bills that have in many cases been single-handedly stalled by one of the Senate’s more conservative members,” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK). The act — dubbed the “Tomnibus” — included provisions for a centralized database to help doctors find a cure for Lou Gehrig ’s Disease and authorized more funds “to be added to the Department of Justice budget for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting outstanding Civil Rights era crimes.”

(Think Progress)
----
Obstructionist repugs at it again...
more from Americablog:
GOP Senators filibuster Stroke Treatment, Vision Care for Kids, Paralysis research, Combating Child Exploitation...

interesting

Robert Novak diagnosed with brain tumor.
(Think Progress)
---
Is this why he didn't know he hit someone last week?

i think this guy just got fired!

Rice adviser: ‘The biggest stupid idea was to invade Iraq in the first place.’
(Think Progress)
---
Of course, any sane person would agree with this, but amazing that bush's administration is now admitting it!

stupidly funny

Incompetent: McCain ad attacks Obama for not visiting the troops by using video of Obama visiting the troops

(Crooks and Liars)

---

But undoubtedly some repugs will somehow think this makes a point, regardless of their lying eyes!

more on McCain and his lobbyists

The John McCain Institute of Lobbyists
(Crooks and Liars)

it's a success regardless of its success!

Surge: The New Loyalty Test
(The American Conservative)

Obama responding sanely to the idiocy

Late Edition: Suzanne Malveaux Says “Some” Are Worried About Obama’s Audacity

---
Kudos to Obama for responding the only way you should to these intelligence-insulting media narratives.

OBAMA: Well, let me make a couple points. First of all, I basically met with the same folks that John McCain met with after he won the nomination. He met with all these leaders. He also added a trip to Mexico, a trip to Canada, a trip to Colombia, and nobody suggested that that was “audacious.”

I think people assumed that what he was doing was to talk to world leaders who we may have deal with should we become president. That’s part of the job that I’m applying for.

And so — so I was puzzled by this notion that somehow what we were doing was in any way different from what Senator McCain or a lot of presidential candidates have done in the past.

(Crooks and Liars)

who has the foreign policy creds?

No Lieberman necessary

It’s a study in contrasts. From the Jerusalem Post:

Two months ago in the Oval Office, President George W. Bush, coming to the end of a two-term presidency and presumably as expert on Israeli-Palestinian policy as he is ever going to be, was accompanied by a team of no fewer than five advisers and spokespeople during a 40-minute interview with this writer and three other Israeli journalists.

In March, on his whirlwind visit to Israel, Republican presidential nominee John McCain, one of whose primary strengths is said to be his intimate grasp of foreign affairs, chose to bring along Sen. Joe Lieberman to the interview our diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon and I conducted with him, looked to Lieberman several times for reassurance on his answers and seemed a little flummoxed by a question relating to the nuances of settlement construction. (emphasis added)

On Wednesday evening, toward the end of his packed one-day visit here, Barack Obama, the Democratic senator who is leading the race for the White House and who lacks long years of foreign policy involvement, spoke to The Jerusalem Post with only a single aide in his King David Hotel room, and that aide’s sole contribution to the conversation was to suggest that the candidate and I switch seats so that our photographer would get better lighting for his pictures.

Indeed, the Jerusalem Post added that this may have been Obama’s second trip to Israel, but he “knew precisely what he wanted to say about the most intricate issues confronting and concerning Israel, and expressed himself clearly, even stridently on key subjects.”

He didn’t even need Lieberman there to help him struggle through the interview.

I’m curious. If you’d just arrived from another planet, and didn’t know a thing about either candidate, who would you say is the self-described expert on foreign policy and who would you say is relatively inexperienced on matters of international affairs?

(Crooks and Liars)

McCain continuing to flip-flop on gay adoption

McCain Caves To Right Wing On Gay Adoption, Says Orphans Shouldn’t Have Gay Parents
(Think Progress)

good for McCain - of course, Obama also supports this

McCain vows to back changes to disabilities law
---
Isn't it "odd" that Obama's support isn't mentioned until the 7th paragraph?
Ah, our "liberal media"...

sad

Suicide hot line got calls from 22,000 veterans

WASHINGTON - More than 22,000 veterans have sought help from a special suicide hot line in its first year, and 1,221 suicides have been averted, the government says.

According to a recent RAND Corp. study, roughly one in five soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan displays symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. Researchers at Portland State University found that male veterans are twice as likely to commit suicide than men who are not veterans.

---

another monument to bush's Iraq failure and corruption

Report: Empty prison in Iraq a $40M 'failure'

BAGHDAD - In the flatlands north of Baghdad sits a prison with no prisoners. It holds something else: a chronicle of U.S. government waste, misguided planning and construction shortcuts costing $40 million and stretching back to the American overseers who replaced Saddam Hussein.

---

In the pecking order of corruption in Iraq, the dead-end prison project at Khan Bani Saad is nowhere near the biggest or most tangled.

Bowen estimated up to 20 percent "waste" — or more than $4 billion — from the $21 billion spent so far in the U.S.-bankrolled Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund. It's just one piece of a recovery effort that swelled beyond $112 billion in U.S., Iraqi and international contributions.

---

he's not in office yet!

Details missing from Obama's Social Security plan
---
I don't hear anyone asking for details from McCain for any of his ever-changing plans.
I don't think that it is common for nominees to have every detail planned out 6 months before the possibility of taking office!

another law broken - will anyone be penalized?

DOJ: Former aide broke law in hiring scandal

WASHINGTON - Top aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales broke the law by letting politics influence the hiring of career prosecutors and immigration judges at the Justice Department, says an internal report released Monday.

Gonzales was largely unaware of the hiring decisions by two of his most trusted aides, according to the report that culminated a yearlong investigation by Justice's Office of Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility.

But it singles out his former White House liaison, Monica Goodling, for violating federal law and Justice Department policy by discriminating against job applicants who weren't Republican or conservative loyalists.

"Goodling improperly subjected candidates for certain career positions to the same politically based evaluation she used on candidates for political positions," the report concluded.

In one instance, Justice investigators found, Goodling objected to hiring an assistant prosecutor in Washington because "judging from his resume, he appeared to be a liberal Democrat."

In another, she rejected an experienced terror prosecutor to work on counterterror issues at a Justice Department headquarters office "because of his wife's political affiliations," the report found. It also found she rejected at least one job applicant who was rumored to be a lesbian.
---
Democrats said the report affirms their charges of White House meddling in the hiring and firing of Justice Department employees.

"The cost to our nation of these apparent crimes was severe, as qualified individuals were rejected for key positions in the fight against terrorism and other critical department jobs for no reason other than political whim," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich."The report also indicates that Monica Goodling, Kyle Sampson, and Alberto Gonzales may have lied to the Congress about these matters," Conyers added. "I have directed my staff to closely review this matter and to consider whether a criminal referral for perjury is needed."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said "it is crystal clear that the law was broken" by the political hiring process.

"But since it is unlikely that Monica Goodling acted on her own," Schumer added, "the question is, how many others were involved."

---

More from Think Progress:

Goodling Passed Over Experienced Counterterrorism Prosecutor Because Wife Was A Democrat

---

bush screwing the next president economically

Bush administration projects record 2009 deficit

WASHINGTON - The next president will inherit a record budget deficit approaching $490 billion, according to a new Bush administration estimate.

---
Once again, I am positive that the repugs are going to blame Obama for this mess once he is president - probably the same day he is sworn in.
Hell, McCain is already blaming Obama for high gas prices and he isn't even in office yet!

where "character" = being black

McCain takes aim at Obama’s character
---
The article literally says that the McCain campaign is now going to push bigotry since they have no other ammunition - they are going to go after Barack for being black and having a mixed background.

Utterly revolting...but completely expected from the repugs. They can't attack Obama's views because the majority of Americans agree with him and disagree with McCain, so they have to go with lies and bigotry.

crazy conservative kills church members for being tolerant

Police: Man shot churchgoers over liberal views

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Knoxville's police chief says the man accused of a shooting that killed two people at a Tennessee church targeted the congregation because of its liberal social stance.

Chief Sterling Owen IV said Monday that police found a letter in Jim D. Adkisson's car. Owen said Adkisson was apparently frustrated over being out of work and had a "stated hatred of the liberal movement."

Adkisson is charged with first-degree murder. Police say a gunman entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church during a children's performance Sunday. No children were hurt.

The church is known for advocating women's and gay rights and founding an American Civil Liberties Union chapter.

---
Sickening...

more horror in Iraq

4 female bombers strike in Iraq, killing 57

BAGHDAD - Female suicide bombers struck a Shiite pilgrimage in Baghdad and a Kurdish protest rally in northern Iraq on Monday, killing at least 57 people and wounding nearly 300, police said.

Three women detonated their explosive vests in the middle of pilgrims in Baghdad, moments after a roadside bomb attack, killing at least 32 people and wounding 102, Iraqi officials said.

In the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, 25 people were killed and 185 wounded when a blast tore through a crowd of Kurds protesting a draft provincial elections law, officials said.

---

but it's ok when McCain does it

John McCain again forgets that a few weeks ago, he left the country too

McCain has repeatedly gone abroad over the past four months while running for president (there was Colombia, and Canada, and France (yes even France), and lots more), but when Obama does it too, after McCain practically demanded that Obama go, suddenly McCain is against presidential candidates traveling abroad. He did it again yesterday in the GOP radio address.

"This week the presidential contest was a long-distance affair, with my opponent touring various continents," the Arizona senator said in a U.S. radio address.

"With all the breathless coverage from abroad, and with Senator Obama now addressing his speeches to 'the people of the world,' I'm starting to feel a little left out. Maybe you are too."

It's not clear if McCain is simply confused, or outright lying to the voters. Either way, it's kind of sad to see what McCain has become.

(Americablog)

McCain and the oil companies

McCain's bread buttered with oil - third Bush term now official policy

Who owns you, John McCain? If ever there was a perfect example of how McCain is a third Bush term, here you go. McCain flip flopped on offshore drilling and the results have been immediate. Big Oil is lining his campaign coffers and we all know how that story plays out. $146 dollar barrels of gas and record high prices at the pump. Big Oil has bought John McCain and now they're going to want their return on investment. Tell me again about McCain being a man of principles? What an amazing coincidence in timing as he sought new sources of deep pockets.

Campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain rose dramatically in the last half of June, after the senator from Arizona made a high-profile split with environmentalists and reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling.

Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain last month -- three-quarters of which came after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban -- compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May

---
(Americablog)

wow...

McCain Denies He Used ‘The Word Timetable,’ Claims ‘We Were Greeted As Liberators’
(Think Progress)
---
McCain is continuing to use bush's technique of saying something enough and hope that people will think it is true.
This is just getting embarassing though. Maybe he just shoudn't say anything at all until November. He'll still get the loyalists to vote for him.

another repug caught in illegal sex activities

Former Pawlenty, Huckabee Spokesman Caught In Sex Sting
(Crooks and Liars)

plenty on the latest attack on Obama based on a non-story

Vets blasts McCain's double standard of attacking Obama for doing what McCain did, too
---
Bush/Rumsfeld political hack, Bryan Whitman, behind the latest GOP attack on Obama. Whitman's done that before for the GOP.
---

McCain just attacked Obama's age. Dumb dumb dumb.
---
McCain launches negative ad based on lie: The new Karl Rove version of John McCain is now on full display
(Americablog)
and even more from Crooks and Liars.

even more on our "liberal media"

ABC News Officially Endorses John McCain For President
(The Jed Report - first seen at Americablog)

of course they should do this

Wis. Democrats oust delegate over McCain support

MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin Democrats on Friday ousted a delegate to their national convention for saying she would vote for Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain in November.

Embarrassed by a defection in their ranks, the Wisconsin Democratic Party's administrative committee voted 23-0 to strip Debra Bartoshevich of her status as a delegate to the Denver convention next month.

Bartoshevich was elected by party activists as a pledged delegate for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton from the 1st Congressional District in southeastern Wisconsin. But after Clinton dropped out of the race, Bartoshevich told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she would support McCain over Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.

---

not a surprise to anyone

McClellan: Fox News Commentators Use The ‘Talking Points’ That The White House Sends Them
(Think Progress)

ruling by fear and intimidation

Mayer: Top DOJ Lawyers Spoke ‘In Codes’ For Fear Of Being Wiretapped By White House ‘Lunatics’
(Think Progress)

i guess that McCain feels that he needn't bother

Presidential transition planning isn’t presumptuous; it’s ‘necessary.’

Yesterday, The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder reported that “Sen. Barack Obama has directed his aides to begin planning” for his presidential transition, should he be elected. Sen. John McCain’s campaign responded with derision, saying that Obama had “poor judgment” and was “dancing in the end zone” by making such preparations. But over at the Wonk Room, Center for American Progress Action Fund Director of Homeland Security P.J. Crowley argues that such advance work is necessary for any potential president:

Why is this important? Attempted attacks have become a staple of groups like al Qaeda. Given this heightened risk, one of our earliest conclusions was that the two candidates cannot wait until November to focus on this challenge. Advance work will be necessary to have an effective leadership team ready, establish relationships with key stakeholders across the country, prepare the public for what lies ahead and outline concrete priorities for the first 100 days and first year in office.

This is not being presumptuous. Actually, it is being presidential.

Crowley notes that the Center for American Progress Action Fund is launching a Homeland Security Presidential Transition Initiative “to help the president-elect, regardless of who wins, assess what will need to be done during the transition and in the first year to keep the country safe.” Perhaps, to avoid being hampered like the Bush administration, McCain’s team should concern themselves with preparing for the presidential transition process.

(Think Progress)

McCain's ever changing views

Holtz-Eakin: McCain may not speak for the McCain campaign on the economy.
---
McCain Embraces 16-Month Withdrawal: ‘I Think It’s A Pretty Good Timetable’
(both from Think Progress)
and from Americablog:
McCain now claiming he was critical of Iraq war from the beginning. Uh, no.
---

pathetic, deparate reaching from McCain

McCain rejects 'audacity of hopelessness' for Iraq
---
But no matter how pathetic he sounds, it doesn't stop the "liberal media" from reporting on every word he says, every ad his team puts out, every stop he makes - and yet there is a "bias towards Obama"!

admin keeping Obama from visiting our troops

"The Pentagon" blocks Obama from visiting troops
(Americablog)
---
And here is how our "liberal media" reports it:
Obama drops visit to wounded U.S. troops in Germany
---

i'm ashamed to be in the same country!

Poll: Americans would rather not live next to Limbaugh or O’Reilly.
(Think Progress)

the Conservative News Network on the Artic Refuge

Beck, Boehner: Arctic Refuge Is A ‘Wasteland,’ Wildlife ‘Couldn’t Care Less’ About Drilling
(Think Progress)

and this is a FOX poll!

27 percent: Bush hits new approval low in Fox News poll.
(Think Progress)

so, will we now stop seeing absurd stories of the media's "bias" towards Obama?

NBC’s Williams confirms that McCain camp made no offer to cover McCain’s trip abroad.

Right wing media figures have been charging that the media is “biased” because the three major network news anchors accompanied Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) on his current trip overseas and ignored Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ). But, as ThinkProgress noted yesterday, Newsweek has reported that McCain “chose not to take reporters” with him to Europe, thus making the Right’s charges baseless. Yesterday during an interview on the UK’s Channel 4 News, NBC News anchor Brian Williams confirmed Newsweek’s report:

WILLIAMS: When Sen Obama comes to Europe and the Middle East — and in effect the pejorative is summons — the presenters or anchors from the so called big three over the air broadcast networks in the States and offers interview deals with a varying degree of exclusivity and they all agree to go …There has been no, I must say, similar offer from the McCain campaign with which we are in touch with constantly.

(Think Progress)

per Fox, the truth is hateful

O’Reilly, Ingraham: Saying That U.S. Tortures Is ‘One Of The Most Hateful Stereotypes About America’
(Think Progress)

irony overload!

Bush: ‘No regime should ignore the will of its own people.’

In a statement regarding new sanctions against Zimbabwe today, President Bush declares that “no regime should ignore the will of its own people“:

The regime has also continued its ban against NGO activities that would provide assistance to the suffering and vulnerable people of Zimbabwe. No regime should ignore the will of its own people and calls from the international community without consequences.

TPM’s Eric Kleefeld notes the irony of the Bush administration, which proudly ignores public opinion in the United States, instructing other countries to listen to “the will of its own people.” Kleefeld suggests that the administration look at “the direction of polling data at home — not to mention international opinion — showing that people want a timetable to withdraw from Iraq.”

(Think Progress)

hardly surprising

Obama beats McCain in Europe donations

LONDON - Barack Obama's campaign has received roughly 10 times more money from declared U.S. donors living in Germany, France and Britain than his Republican rival, reflecting his popularity in Europe as he makes his first tour of the continent as the presumed Democratic nominee.

Federal Election Commission reports show Obama has raised at least $1 million from donors who identify themselves as Americans living in Great Britain, Germany and France, while John McCain has taken in at least $150,000.

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Friday Beagle Blogging!

Harley enjoying a trip to the park.

and another hypocritical McCain statement

McCain criticizes Obama for giving foreign speech -- despite having done the same thing last month himself
(Americablog)

another major McCain "gaffe"

McCain: Iraq was the ‘first major conflict since 9/11.’
(Think Progress)

Obama in Berlin

Obama's speech in Berlin

(Americablog)

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Transcript of his speech in front of an estimated 200,000 people.

so, who is to blame for high gas prices?

GOP kills effort to release oil from US stockpile

WASHINGTON - House Republicans on Thursday scuttled a bill that Democrats hoped would help lower gasoline prices by forcing the Energy Department to release 70 million barrels of oil — about a three-day supply — from the national stockpile.

Democrats promised that the action would have produced immediate relief at the pump, as was the case with similar releases in 1991, 2000 and 2005. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve now holds about 700 million barrels.

---
Obstructionist repugs once again show that they only care about the oil companies, not the American public.

ben stein is insane

Stein on Obama's convention speech: "Seventy-five-thousand people at an outdoor sports palace, well, that's something the Fuehrer would have done"
(Media Matters)
---
It's also something the Rolling Stones have done, as have most major league sports teams. How is that a comparison?
These guys are so freakin' jealous that they do not have the people behind them like Obama does that they will literally say anything.
Once again, they prove that they have no shame.

continuing to spin McCain's major screw up

McCain Surrogate: Discussion of Facts Hurts the Troops

Via TPM, John McCain surrogate Nancy Pfotenhauer:

"Barack Obama and his supporters can try to litigate what came first or what was crucial, but that's really an attempt to undermine the significance and the impact of the American troops and their sacrifice and their effort."

How fucking insulting to our troops, that getting history straight about how and why they're fighting can undercut their efforts. As if they're infantile hot-house flowers that wilt in the bright light of fact. Ugh.

(Daily Kos)
---
Of course, Obama repeatedly praises the troops and their efforts, but let's not let facts get in the way!

"correcting" an obvious mistake does not "distort" what was said?

CBS News Said What?

Responding to criticism for their unprofessional and unethical editing of a Katie Couric interview with John McCain, CBS News Senior Vice President Paul Friedman said:

The report was edited under extreme time constraints and one piece of tape was put in the wrong order. Fortunately, this did not in any way distort what Senator McCain was saying.

Perhaps Mr. Friedman can explain how replacing McCain's incorrect claim about when the "Anbar Awakening" began and his mocking of Obama for not knowing this "matter of history," with a contemptible attack on Obama's patriotism didn't distort what McCain said.

(Daily Kos)
---
Oh our "liberal media" and its "bias" for Obama!

nice article on the significance of Berlin

Kennedy, Reagan, Obama in Berlin
(Daily Kos)

good question

If...

You don't know how to use the internet, you don't know that Czechoslovakia is no longer a country, you don't know Sunni from Shia, you don’t know much about the economy, you're uninformed about women's health issues, you don't know whether you're for or against gay adoption, stem cell research or setting a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, you don't know what countries share a border with Pakistan, you don't know when the surge began, you no longer object to waterboarding or closing Guantanamo, you don't tell the truth about your votes on veterans issues, you said Putin was the leader of Germany, you think alternative energy means switching from regular to premium, you say you know how to win wars but you haven't actually won any, your idea of a funny joke is suggesting different ways to kill people in other countries, you want to keep giving tax breaks to the wealthy but not the middle and lower class, you confuse Somalia with Sudan, you thought voting for the Iraq war was an exercise in good judgment, you once said "I disagree with what the majority of Americans want," you think Social Security is "a disgrace," your idea of health care is apparently 'take more vitamins,' you voted to support Bush's policies 95 percent of the time last year and 100 percent of the time this year, and over the course of a single week you unfairly attacked both your opponent's patriotism and his humanity...

Then tell me again, Senator McCain: why should Americans vote for you?

(Daily Kos)

methinks they protest too much

Conservatives go bonkers over "esprit decor" if gays are let into the military

Absolutely hilarious hearing yesterday in the House about the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy that kind of sort of bans gays from serving in the US military. Dana Milbank's coverage is a must-read. Here are some highlights:

Donnelly was followed by Jones, a tough-talking businessman who suggested that the military's tradition of "selfless service" would be undermined by gay men and lesbians. "In the military environment, team cohesion, morale and esprit de corps is a matter of life and death," he said. His written statement spelled it "esprit decor"; it also warned of "a band of lesbians that harassed new females," and noted his own military experience when "the only way to keep from freezing at night was to get as close as possible for body heat -- which means skin to skin."
(Americablog)

----

If he's already gotten "skin to skin" close to another male (if they were cold, why did they take off their clothes?), then I don't think he has any right to deny gays in the military!

ironic

After Touting Drilling’s ‘Safety,’ McCain Cancels Gulf Of Mexico Oil Rig Event Because Of The ‘Weather’
(Think Progress)

nothing too low for repugs

“The McCain campaign has a new web ad out placing Barack Obama, for the second time, side-by-side with a foreign dictator,” the Huffington Post reports. “This time, it’s Fidel Castro.”

(Think Progress)

thanks, bush

Jobless claims rise more than expected.

The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose last week “to the highest level in almost four months.” The number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped 34,000 last week to 406,000. The filings exceeded economists’ forecast and were the most since the week that ended March 29.

(Think Progress)

wha...?!

Norquist: Time is right to put ‘Reagan on the $10 bill.’

In 1997, conservative anti-tax activist Grover Norquist initiated the Reagan Legacy Project, which sought to “name something — a stadium, a stretch of turnpike, anything — after Reagan in every state in the union.” Another proposal favored by the group is to have “Reagan’s image replace that of Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s first treasury secretary, on the $10 bill.” Speaking to the Washington Examiner yesterday, Norquist suggested that the time is right to push that project again. “It sounds like a good time to re-start the conversation about getting Reagan on the $10 bill,” said Norquist. “I don’t know why the Bush administration has dropped the ball on this.”

(Think Progress)
---
Does it not matter that a vast amount of people in this country and around the world think that Reagan was a terrible president?
Oh, wait, this is a repug - of course it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks!

don't point out that McCain doesn't know what he's talking about

Rove: McCain Got His Facts Wrong On The Iraq Surge, ‘But Don’t Make A Big Deal Of It’
(Think Progress)

i would hope so!

Poll: Latinos favor Obama by big margin

WASHINGTON - Democrat Barack Obama has opened a big lead among Hispanic voters, winning support from the vast majority of those who had voted for rival Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primaries, according to a poll released Thursday.

The national survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center, showed that 66 percent of Hispanic registered voters supported Obama, compared to 23 percent for Republican John McCain. The other 11 percent were undecided.

More than three-quarters of Latinos who had voted for Clinton now say they are for Obama. Clinton carried the Hispanic vote, an important Democratic constituency, by about a 2-1 margin in the primaries.

---
At least the Latinos are voting in their own best interest, as opposed to many white Americans.

something positive for a change

Federal minimum wage rises to $6.55 today

WASHINGTON - About 2 million Americans get a raise Thursday as the federal minimum wage rises 70 cents. The bad news: Higher gas and food prices are swallowing it up, and some small businesses will pass the cost of the wage hike to consumers.

The increase, from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour, is the second of three annual increases required by a 2007 law. Next year's boost will bring the federal minimum to $7.25 an hour.

---
Of course, bush's economy basically means this is a wash - or even a loss still - for the people that this affects, but at least it is a step in the right direction.

another cool dinosaur find

Scientists recover complete dinosaur skeleton

TOKYO - Japanese and Mongolian scientists have successfully recovered the complete skeleton of a 70-million-year-old young dinosaur, a nature museum announced Thursday.

The scientists uncovered a Tarbosaurus — related to the giant carnivorous Tyrannosaurus — from a chunk of sandstone they dug up in August, 2006 in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, said Takuji Yokoyama, a spokesman for the Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences, a co-organizer of the joint research project.

"We were so lucky to have found remains that turned out to be a complete set of all
the important parts," he said.After two years of careful preparatory work, scientists found that the fossilized skeleton only lacked neck bones and the tip of the tail.

Young dinosaur skeletons are hard to find in good condition because they often are destroyed by weather decay or because they were torn apart by predators. The latest find would be a major step toward discovering the growth and development of dinosaurs, Yokoyama said.

The fossil, believed to have died at age 5, measured about 6.6 feet long, he said. Adult dinosaurs of the species are believed to have grown up to 40 feet.

The dinosaur, whose gender was unknown, came from a geological layer created about 70 million years ago in the late Cretaceous period.

The Japanese scientists and colleagues from the Center of Paleontology under the Mongolian Academy of Sciences have been jointly conducting dinosaur excavations in the Gobi Desert since 1993.

The Japanese museum is run by Hayashibara Co., a biotechnology firm based in Okayama, western Japan.

---

McCain whining again

McCain camp cries foul

Washington - In a campaign week dominated by Barack Obama's trip abroad, the pro-John McCain camp has made headlines by complaining about coverage of Senator Obama's trip abroad.
---
A recent Rasmussen Reports poll backs up McCain, reporting a growing portion of likely voters see a bias toward Obama – now 49 percent, up from 44 percent a month ago. Only 14 percent believe reporters favor McCain. And the poll was taken before the McCain campaign complained publicly that the The New York Times had rejected an Op-Ed by the senator that responded to an Obama Op-Ed in the Times.

---
Yeah - how dare Obama make news?! Doesn't he know that McCain is sensitive and his media buddies need to talk about him also?!

I am literally astonished to find out that a poll says a majority of Americans think that the media is biased towards Obama, despite the massive amount of negative publicity (the majority of his publicity) he has received. The media falls all over McCain and - as we've seen - literally corrects him so that he won't look bad! Does anyone really think that there is a chance in hell that any media person would do that for Obama?!

What are these people seeing that they think is negative about McCain and positive about Obama? Is it just that Obama doesn't f'k up like McCain does so just showing them being themselves is biased? Do people really not see reporters grill Obama over and over about the same, tired, b.s and repeatedly forgive McCain for massive mistakes?

Amazing...

funny idea - too bad they have to rely on lies and misrepresentations

McCain has Berlin moment too — in little Berlins

WASHINGTON - John McCain can be a Berliner, too.

The Republican National Committee decided to have a little fun with Barack Obama's widely anticipated speech Thursday at Berlin's Victory Column. It is airing anti-Obama ads in Berlin's namesakes in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New Hampshire.
---
When it came time to act, he voted against critical resources: no to individual body armor, no to helicopters, no to ammunition, no to aircraft," the ad states.

The reference is to Obama's vote on May 24, 2007, against a $120 billion appropriation, most of it for troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama had voted for a similar bill weeks earlier that required the administration to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq by Oct. 1, 2007. That bill passed, but President Bush vetoed it. The legislation that replaced it contained no withdrawal language and it passed 80-14 with Obama among the dissenters.

At the time of that vote, Obama issued a statement: "After he vetoed a plan that would have funded the troops and begun to bring them home, this bill represents more of his stubborn refusal to address his failed policy. We should not give the President a blank check to continue down this same, disastrous path."

Obama has otherwise voted for every spending bill for troops in war zones.

---

McCain campaign in full spin mode

McCain denies he misstated timing of Iraq surge
---
So, his defense of his obviously incorrect statements is that the surge started before the start of the surge?!
Whew!
Like I always say, it takes a lot of imagination to be a repug these days!

And, BTW, why does the "liberal media" write huge stories about McCain's explanations for his mistakes, no matter how convoluted? Oh, that's right, there is no liberal media!

why does he need to defend this - the WH now agrees with him

Obama defends plans for direct talks with Iran
---
The White House has now flip-flopped to Obama's position on this - why does he still need to defend his position?

i guess he doesn't want anyone asking him and he sure won't tell!

Larry Craig wants to continue ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’
(Think Progress)

more cons claiming Iraqis don't mean what they say

Boot: Maliki’s Timeline Endorsement Was ‘Ambiguous,’ Iraqi Government Isn’t Asking U.S. To Leave
(Think Progress)

crazy repugs think Barack making sense is a bad thing!

Couric turns her McLovin’ on McCain and America is saved!
(TBogg)
---
This post is pretty hilarious - some nutcase repug thinks that Obama making sense and stating facts (while being grilled with questions that Karl Rove could have written) is a negative, while McCain stating the same old lies is a good thing!

Yes, more troops on the ground meant a decrease in violence - Obama readily admits that and frequently praises the troops' performance. But, that was not supposed to be the be-all and end-all of the "surge". Now, if the Iraqi government will start to step up and meet some of the guidelines that are expected of them, then there will be some success.

Oh yes, and this is the video in which CBS graciously "corrects" McCain so that he doesn't look quite as out of touch as he really is.

Ah, our "liberal media"...Man, I would love to see an interview that treats Obama the same as McCain for once...

Novak accused of hit and run

Novak-ula accused of hit and run against pedestrian

Wow.

A concierge at 1700 K Street said that she saw a bicyclist yelling and walked outside to see what the commotion was about. "This guy hit somebody and he won't stop so I'm going to stay here until the police come," Aleta Petty quoted the unnamed bicyclist as saying, as he stood in K Street, blocking traffic. A source who saw Novak put in the police car and saw the pedestrian on the ground, motionless, said other witnesses said the biker jumped on Novak's car to stop him.

(Americablog)
And some quotes that are sure to come back and haunt him:

Novak explained to the paper: "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that."

Two years later, the same column reported that Novak had gone to a racing school in Florida.

"I've wanted to be a race car driver all my life, and anyone who has watched me drive can tell you that,” Novak said.

(Politico)

still more on our "liberal media"

Krugman reveals the NYT urged him to ‘lay off’ the Bush administration.
(Think Progress)

wow!

Fox’s Brian Kilmeade: ‘There’s just as many convoy attacks in America as there are in Iraq.’
(Think Progress)
---
How do they get away with saying this utterly absurd nonsense?

bush continuing to try to redefine reality

Bush Cronies Tried To Redefine ‘Carbon Dioxide’ To Save Power Plants From Emissions Regulations
(Think Progress)
---
It is sickening the lengths these scumbags will go to in order to f'k the environment.

so much for that talking point!

Der Spiegel: Maliki’s office approved withdrawal quote before article was published.
(Think Progress)

well, that's a novel argument

CNN Highlights Racist Writings To Argue That An Obama Presidency Could ‘Hurt Black Americans’
(Think Progress)
---
How far-right will the Conservative News Network go?!

the "liberal media" covering up more of McCain's falsehoods and mistakes

McCain Falsely Claims The Surge ‘Began The Anbar Awakening,’ But CBS Edits It Out
(Think Progress)

bush - friend to the rich, not so much to you & me

According to IRS data, “the richest 1% of Americans in 2006 garnered the highest share of the nation’s adjusted gross income for two decades” and “possibly the highest since 1929.” Meanwhile, “the average tax rate of the wealthiest 1% fell to its lowest level in at least 18 years.”

(Think Progress)

so, Moses was a homophobic bigot, too?

Lieberman Compares Hagee To Moses, Says Bloggers Would Have Attacked Him Too
(Think Progress)

cliches come to life - repugs for big business, Dems for the people

President Bush drops opposition to housing bill

WASHINGTON - President Bush dropped his opposition Wednesday to a broad housing package aimed at bolstering the sagging economy, despite his objections to including $3.9 billion for neighborhoods hit hardest by foreclosures. The House was expected to vote on the bill Wednesday, and it could become law as early as this week.

Under the bill, the government would help struggling homeowners get new, cheaper loans and would be allowed to offer troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a cash infusion.

The Bush administration and lawmakers in both parties teamed to negotiate the measure, which pairs Democrats' top priorities — federal help for homeowners facing foreclosure and $3.9 billion for devastated neighborhoods — with Republicans' goal of reining in mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while reassuring financial markets of their stability.

Bush had objected to the neighborhood grants, which would be for buying and fixing up foreclosed properties, saying that they were aimed at helping bankers and lenders, not homeowners who are in trouble.

---
We really have become reduced to partisan cliches - all the repugs care about is big business and the Dems continue to fight for the average American.
It would be funny if it wasn't so sad...

so why would he want to become president?

Limbaugh on Obama: "[H]e loathes America. He blames America. America's responsible for all that's wrong in the world"
(Media Matters)
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Or is the idea that he is spending all of this time, energy and money to become president just so that he can destroy America from the inside?
Yeesh!

smart - and truthful - video answer to McCain's absurd ad blaming Obama for gas prices

McCain’s new ad tries to blame Obama for high gas prices: New video uses his own words against him
(Crooks and Liars)

McCain making it plain who he listens to

McCain: “Oil executives” tell me my energy plan is awesome
(Crooks and Liars)

Barack getting plenty of love in Baghdad!

3,000 GIs MOB Barack in Baghdad
(Daily Kos)

good for Aflac!

Aflac pulls ads from Savage’s radio show.
(Think Progress)

Reid vs. obstructionist repug

Harry Reid puts Republican obstructionist Tom Coburn in the spotlight. Will his GOP colleagues stick with him?

It's not easy being a Republican Senator these days. By their own actions, they're becoming an endangered species.The Politico reports today that Republican Senators are on their own when it comes to voting for the rest of the year. They can choose Bush or they can finally vote in the interests of their constituents. Even better. Harry Reid is giving Republican Senators a choice, too. They can vote with chief obstructionist Tom Coburn or vote to pass some key legislation:

Most lawmakers dream of getting their names linked to legislation. That won't be so when the Senate takes up what is unofficially being called the "Coburn Omnibus."

It's a package of about 40 bills that have in many cases been single-handedly stalled by one of the Senate's more conservative members, Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.

The package constitutes a showdown between Coburn, known for putting "holds" on legislation to slow their passage, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who is increasingly frustrated by GOP delaying tactics.

Republicans will have a choice, Reid said Monday on the Senate floor, to join the side of the American people "or continue to stand beside a colleague or two intent on blocking virtually everything."

Reid is expected to try to bring the package to the Senate floor later this week, setting up a possible vote on beginning debate in a rare Saturday session.

Coburn got himself into the ring with Reid. He better be careful. Reid's a boxer and Coburn's on his turf now. For example, here are the bills that Reid has included in the Coburn package:

Reid said the package will include the Emmitt Till Unsolved Crime Act, aimed at investigating unsolved civil rights era crimes; the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, a runaway and homeless youth bill; a bill to combat child exploitation by pornographers, and a measure to create a database for Lou Gehrig's disease. Many have Republican cosponsors.

This is going to be fun to watch.

(Americablog)

almost like they have something to hide - the never-ending saga

Conservative Lawyers Urge Bush To Issue ‘Pre-Emptive Pardons’ To Officials Involved In Illegal Programs
(Think Progress)

the lies flow like water

Right Wing Falsely Claims NYT Rejection Of McCain’s Op-Ed Was Unprecedented
---
Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post Publishes McCain’s Rejected, Error-Filled Op-Ed
(both from Think Progress)
---
Of course, the NYT has rejects plenty of op-eds, including many from Clinton while he was in office.
And, also of course, McCain's op-ed has many errors and no new information, such as finally defining what he means by "victory" in iraq. But that doesn't stop the repugs and their media!

the world is hoping for a change, also

Obamamania in full flight ahead of tour of Europe

BERLIN - Europe is about to give Barack Obama one of the grandest of stages for statesmanship.

In this city where John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton all made famous speeches, Obama will find himself stepping into perhaps another iconic moment Thursday as his superstar charisma meets German adoration live in shadows of the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate. He then travels to Paris and London where he can expect to be greeted with similar adulation.

It's not only Obama's youth, eloquence and energy that have stolen hearts across the Atlantic. For Europeans, there have always been two Americas: one of cynicism, big
business and bullying aggression, another of freedom, fairness and nothing-is-impossible dynamism.

If President Bush has been seen as the embodiment of that first America, Obama has raised expectations of a chance for the nation to redeem itself in the role that — at various times through history — Europe has loved, respected and relied upon.

"Americans need a change — and what's good for America is good for the whole world," said Maike Smerling, a physician who was born and raised in the former East Germany.

Ioannis Ioannidis, a 27-year-old salesman in Stockholm, Sweden, said Obama represented the American ideals of "We the People" and of an equal chance at success for all.

"He's different from other politicians. He represents minorities and he's down to earth and smart," said Ioannidis. "He comes from nowhere. He wasn't born into it, and it's got nothing to do with what family he's from."

Beyond his electric personality, Obama is popular among Europeans because he hits all the right notes on the issues that are important to them.

In his first major speech on foreign policy, Obama last week vowed to fight climate change, stress diplomacy in dealing with Iran and produce a clear exit strategy for Iraq — all issues where Bush angered Europe by taking an opposite tack.

Evoking a time when Europe looked to America with gratitude, he called for a 21st-century Marshall Plan to alleviate world misery because "that can be our best investment in increasing the common security of the entire world."

Polls from Germany, France and Britain — the only three countries on Obama's European tour — show the presumptive Democratic candidate an overwhelming favorite over his rival, Republican John McCain.

Some experts have a simple explanation for Europe's Obamamania, and Josef Braml, an America expert with the German Council on Foreign Relations, put it bluntly: "He's not Bush."

But there appears to be a deeper mechanism behind Europe's palpable excitement over Obama than just a break from the acrimonious Bush years. After all, it's difficult to imagine the continent being swept by "Clinton-mania" or "Edwards-mania" had one of Obama's main rivals for the Democratic nomination prevailed.

For Europeans, perhaps, it isn't just that Obama isn't Bush but that he's come to be seen as the "anti-Bush" — a figure who represents such a startling contrast to the outgoing president that there's a sense the whole Washington power structure might be purged of much that Europeans see as wrong with American leadership.

These are great expectations that may very well be dashed if Obama is elected and is thrown into the intricate realities of the Beltway game — but for now European hope is prevailing over its habitual tendency toward cynicism.

"Obama ... projects the vision of a better America," said Georg Schild, an expert on German-American relations at the University of Tuebingen.

It's difficult to gauge how race is playing out in European attitudes toward Obama, but there is no denying that color is a big ingredient of the Obama magic here. One German newspaper has anointed the candidate "Der Schwarze JFK" — the black JFK.

But the "feel-good" factor that many pundits have identified among educated white Americans in their support for Obama may at least in part be behind Europeans' eagerness to embrace a black U.S. presidential candidate. All three countries on Obama's European tour have experienced ethnic flare-ups in recent years. And despite large minority populations across the continent, there are only a sprinkling of nonwhite legislators in European parliaments — let alone candidates to be a national leader.

Given Europe's troubled history with its own minorities, Obamamania may be an expedient way for some Europeans to convince themselves they are racially tolerant while brushing aside ethnic tensions at home.

"It's a vicarious thrill," said Reginald Dale, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Europe Program. "After they've switched off their TV screens they're not going to go out and find a black candidate to put forward to lead their own country."

Above all, Europeans seem to sense that America is on the brink of a fundamental change — and see the protagonist of that transformation in Obama.

Such is the sense of the importance of the upcoming American election that France has given birth to a "Comite Francais de Soutien a Barack Obama," or French Committee to Support Barack Obama.

It includes famous figures such as Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, fashion designer Sonia Rykiel and philosopher Bernard Henri-Levy. Other politicians, artists and academics, as well as ordinary French citizens, are among its ranks.

"These elections have repercussions on the whole world," said committee president Samuel Slovit. "What happens in the United States will affect us here. It's the result of political globalization."

---
It is somewhat amazing that Obama has become a symbol of hope for the world. But a lot of that is really due to bush being so hated and being so bad for the world that as long as the next president isn't going to continue bush's horrific policies (like McCain), the world would be cheering. But, Obama does really symbolize change, so he's going to have a lot to live up to.

But, let's hope he has the chance to do so. The world needs the hope and the change.

though our troop level is still higher than "pre-surge" numbers

U.S. military says Iraq troop "surge" has ended
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We're at least 17,000 higher than before the surge, but they are claiming that we're back to pre-surge numbers....
Honestly and mathematics are not their strong points, i guess...
Oh and people conveniently "forget" that there have been other factors at work besides the "surge":

U.S. officials say the buildup helped cut violence in Iraq to four-year lows. Other factors were a decision by Sunni Arab tribal leaders to turn against al Qaeda and a ceasefire by anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose Mehdi Army militia was accused of carrying out sectarian killings.

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