Hillary: I'm not apologizing, vote for somebody else

UPDATE: Markos on Hillary. It isn't pretty. He's written her off, which is exactly what she told him to do. I fail to see how this helps her campaign, especially in the Democratic primary. It's one thing to make a calculated gamble to write off the "left wing of the party," but other than Joe Lieberman's, whose Democratic vote is she angling for?

This does not strike me as a wise course for Senator Clinton to take. From Sunday's NYT:

[Y]esterday morning Mrs. Clinton rolled out a new response to those demanding contrition: She said she was willing to lose support from voters rather than make an apology she did not believe in.

“If the most important thing to any of you is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or has said his vote was a mistake, then there are others to choose from,” Mrs. Clinton told an audience in Dover, N.H., in a veiled reference to two rivals for the nomination, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

The most important thing for sixty to seventy percent of the country is finding a new president who "gets it" with regards to Iraq. So, talking about as aspect of the Iraq debate as though it's not the most important thing is, I think, risky, though I get her overall point that this is just one sub-issue in the entire debate.

Several advisers, friends and donors said in interviews that they had urged her to call her vote a mistake in order to appease antiwar Democrats, who play a critical role in the nominating process. Yet Mrs. Clinton herself, backed by another faction, never wanted to apologize — even if she viewed the war as a mistake — arguing that an apology would be a gimmick.

In the end, she settled on language that was similar to Senator John Kerry’s when he was the Democratic nominee in 2004: that if she had known in 2002 what she knows now about Iraqi weaponry, she would never have voted for the Senate resolution authorizing force.

John Kerry. Seems like a nice man. Not the guy I turn to when I'm looking for "quotes that work."

“She is in a box now on her Iraq vote, but she doesn’t want to be in a different, even worse box — the vacillating, flip-flopping Democratic candidate that went to defeat in 2000 and ‘04,” said one adviser to Mrs. Clinton. “She wants to maintain a firmness, and I think a lot of people around her hope she maintains a firmness. That’s what people will want in 2008.”

True, but now you're taking a page from George Bush's playbook, wrong but firm. It worked for six years, but now people are seriously over the "I'm wrong, but resolute" personality type.

To her credit, it's not as though Hillary is saying all the wrong things on the war. Just today she called for the withdrawal from Iraq to begin in 90 days:

"Now it's time to say the redeployment should start in 90 days or the Congress will revoke authorization for this war," the New York senator said in a video on her campaign Web site, repeating a point included in a bill she introduced on Friday.

(There's more here about her new plan.) And notice the second half of that sentence again, the legislation she's proposing says that if the president doesn't begin withdrawing in 90 days, the authorization for the use of military force is revoked. That's good stuff.

It would be nice if we heard more of that talk out of the Clinton campaign and less of this position-of-the-week on the war vote.

One final point. Hillary may have chosen to take on the "anti-war left," but she must remember that that's who votes in Democratic primaries. The second issue she needs to keep in mind is that people like Joe and me aren't the anti-war left. We tend to be progressive, obviously, but I, at least, am not anti-war (I'm not sure what Joe's position is on the more general subject of "war," so I'll leave that to him). I'm anti- THIS WAR, and that's a big distinction. Nonetheless, the things I'm reading and hearing the past several weeks, like all this talk about Senator Clinton's war vote being influenced by her special experience of September 11 - you know, that day the rest of us apparently went on vacation - is starting to bug me. And I'm not someone who was bugged by Hillary at all in the past. Read More......

Open thread

I'm assuming there have been no Republican atrocities this late on a Saturday night... Read More......

The real treason. Our maimed soldiers are living in cockroach infested ghettos back here in the states.

This is what the NY Post headline would have read today if they really gave a damn about our troops.



Oh my God. While the Republicans were posturing all week about how the Democrats hate the troops, the Sunday Washington Post takes a look at how the Bush administration and the Republican congress have been treating our hurt and maimed troops back here in the US: in cockroach infested ghettos.

It is absolutely sickening. Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi should lock the Congress down until every single one of these problems is finally fixed.

Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses.

This is the world of Building 18, not the kind of place where Duncan expected to recover when he was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Iraq last February with a broken neck and a shredded left ear, nearly dead from blood loss. But the old lodge, just outside the gates of the hospital and five miles up the road from the White House, has housed hundreds of maimed soldiers recuperating from injuries suffered in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This is beyond sickening. We have to sit back and listen to GOP members of Congress, George Bush's White House, and that pig General Petraeus dare to tell us how WE'RE the ones turning our backs on the troops, when all three of them knew this was going on under their watch and none of them lifted a finger to fix it.

Our soldiers were lied to about this war, they were lied to about their enlistment, they were never given a plan for victory or the numbers of troops they needed, they still don't have the armor they need for their vehicles. And now, the young men and women wounded and maimed for our country are living in government-run pig-stys not fit for farm animals. The American Taliban and the detainees in Guantanamo get better conditions than this, all courtesy of the Republicans.

The Republicans want to talk about treason? They want to talk about slowly bleeding our troops to death? Fine. Forget the agenda Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid had planned. It's high time we helped our troops. And if the Republicans won't do it, then we will. Let's ensure that the American people and our troops know which party got them into this mess, and which party is getting them out of it. Let the hearings and investigation and legislation begin until we fix these problems once and for all.

Read the article, then send it to ten friends. I am sick and tired of being called a traitor by right-wing scum who love the troops when the cameras are rolling, then spit in their faces over and over again. The Republicans want to talk about emboldening the enemy and harming the troops, great. Let's start talking about it, loudly and often. Read More......

Open Thread

Lots of news for a Saturday.

Lots to discuss.

Have at it. Read More......

NY Post to troops: America hates you

Following on to what I wrote earlier today, the NY Post, good Republican newspaper that it is, just informed the troops that the overwhelming majority of Americans hates them. The NY Post also just informed Al Qaeda that the debate over Iraq in Washington isn't a normal functioning of a healthy democracy, it's actually proof that America no longer has the will to fight Al Qaeda. So, feel free to blow up a few more US troops or American cities, because apparently we won't fight back any more, if you're to believe these guys. Oh, why don't I just quote the NY Post's message to the terrorists:

"you can slaughter the innocent with our blessing."

Who's guilty of treason now?

Read More......

Giuliani: Send more troops to Iraq even though I don't think we're going to win

Now there's a presidential mind if I've ever seen one. I think we're going to lose anyway, so let's send more troops to die. Read More......

Final tally: 56-34, GOP filibuster stands

Voting to permit debate about Bush's "surge" plan"
- Snowe (R-ME)
- Specter (R-PA)
- Warner (R-VA)
- Collins (R-ME)
- Hagel (R-NE)
- Coleman (R-MN)
- Smith (R-OR)

Voting to filibuster and stop the debate.
- Lieberman (I-CT)

Not voting: Nine Republicans and one Democrat, Tim Johnson (who is in the hospital):
- Bennett (R-UT)
- Bond (R-MO)
- Cochran (R-MS)
- Corker (R-TN)
- Ensign (R-NV)
- Hatch (R-UT)
- Johnson (D-SD)
- Kyl (R-AZ)
- McCain (R-AZ)
- Murksowksi (R-AK) Read More......

GOP to troops: America hates you

If I were an American soldier in Iraq, I'd be convinced that Americans hate me. And if I were an Al Qaeda terrorist, I'd be convinced that America no longer has the will to take me on. Why? Because scores of Republicans in the House and Senate, and the Bush administration, just told me so.

Before this week's debate in the House and Senate on Bush's "surge" escalation plan (the plan to send 40,000 additional US troops to Iraq), it would have been easy for Al Qaeda terrorists or our soldiers to think that the vigorous debate about the war in America is simply an expression of our democracy, rather than evidence of our disgust with our troops and our lack of willingness to continue the war on terror.

But now all that has changed.

The Republicans have made it clear, in practically every speech they've given recently - including the testimony of General Petraeus, our new top general in Iraq - that the resolutions being debated this week, resolutions that have the support of the majority of the House and Senate, and that reflect the will of 63% of the American people who oppose Bush's "surge," are evidence that everyone who supports those resolutions hates our troops and has lost the will to fight the war on terror.

The only reason our troops will be dispirited, and Al Qaeda emboldened, is because some of the most senior voices in the American government told them that this is the meaning of the debate this week in Washington.

Every Senator, House member, and general who told our troops that 63% of Americans and the majority of the Congress hate them, and who told our enemy that the majority of Americans have lost the will to fight the war on terror, have in my view committed treason. There is no other explanation for why Republicans would be so cavalier about sending such an awful message to our troops and our enemy. Read More......

Senate debating Iraq resolution now

Typical. Republicans think we should stay the course.

UPDATES: - Protester arrested in the Senate gallery.

- Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Larry Craig (R-ID) still sound awfully gay.

- Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) thinks the resolution will tell current troops we like them, but new troops rotated in to replace the old troops going home will be told we hate them. Kay is a bit confused.

- Judd Gregg (R-NH) just told the troops, and Kay Bailey agreed, that today is all about people hating them. That was smart. More on that one later. Read More......

Forget Iraq. McCain wants to be the anti-sex candidate. He's preaching abstinence now.

Oh, this is rich. John McCain can't make the votes on Iraq -- the dominant issue of these times. No, McCain has more pressing matters on his plate. He's too busy working on his no-sex agenda. In McCain's effort to pander to the theocrats, he's reaching another new low. John McCain major policy is telling people who aren't married not to have sex:

Most presidential candidates are trying to get people to say "yes." Republican Sen. John McCain will be encouraging South Carolina students to say "no." The Arizona lawmaker is scheduled to speak Sunday night to about 1,500 middle and high school students about abstaining from premarital sex. Abstinence and abortion loom large as issues in this first-in-the-South primary state in the heart of the Bible Belt.

"Senator McCain has a long legislative record of supporting abstinence-based initiatives in his record in the U.S. Senate," said Trey Walker, McCain's South Carolina campaign director. "He thinks that abstinence is healthier and should be promoted in our society for young people."

So, if this is such an important issue, we must ask: What is the abstinence policy for the McCain staff? If one works for John McCain, must one sign a "I won't have sex" pledge...or does the no-sex thing only apply to other people. Does his "no-sex" policy apply to unmarried soldiers? And, what exactly are people supposed to abstain from? Everything? Is oral sex okay?

If McCain wants people to abstain from pre-marital sex -- and he opposes gay marriage -- does that mean McCain doesn't think gay people should ever have sex? Maybe one of the many gays working on his campaign can answer that question for us.

We dare some member of the press corps to ask John McCain if he really believes this crap. If John McCain really wants to make sex an issue to placate the right-wingers, John McCain should really have to answer questions about sex. He's making it an issue so make him explain his policy -- in detail. Read More......

Let these armchair generals put their money where their mouth is

Bush has received a bump in support for the surge, though support is still dismal with 63% against the surge.

The president has nudged support for the troop increase to 35 percent from 26 percent in early January. Sixty-three percent of those surveyed still oppose the increase.

The increased support came from some of Bush's core supporters -- Republicans, men, whites, suburbanites and people with higher incomes.

Great. No need to further for those extra troops since I'm sure they all want to be patriotic and do the right thing. Read More......

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Another freezing, bitter day in DC. January may have been the warmest on record, but we haven't had cold like this for years.

Condi made a "surprise" visit to Iraq today -- both NBC and CNN dutifully reported it that way. The real surprise will come when any member of the Bush Administration announces in advance that they are making a trip to Baghdad -- a country the Bush Administration decided to invade four years ago. My bet is that no member of the Bush team will ever be able to announce an upcoming Baghdad visit that isn't a super-secret, surprise, drop-in and get out, kind of trip. Will never happen before 2009.

Okay, it's early. It's the weekend. But, there's plenty to say. Have at it. Read More......

GM potatoes linked to cancer, study suppressed for 8 years

Eh, I think I'll take a pass on the frankenfood for a while. Considering the countless problems that Big Food already has, I'd rather not gamble with their experiments. Let them test it on themselves for twenty years and then let us know how it all works out.

The disclosure last night of the Russian study on the GM Watch website led to calls for David Miliband, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to withdraw permission for new trials on GM potatoes to go ahead at secret sites in the UK this spring. Alan Simpson, a Labour MP and green campaigner, said: "These trials should be stopped. The research backs up the work of Arpad Pusztai and it shows that he was the victim of a smear campaign by the biotech industry. There has been a cover-up over these findings and the Government should not be a party to that."

Mr Simpson said the findings, which showed that lab rats developed tumours, were released by anti-GM campaigners in Wales. Dr Pusztai and a colleague used potatoes that had been genetically modified to produce a protein, lectin. They found cell damage in the rats' stomachs, and in parts of their intestines.

Read More......

Dole cantaloupes with salmonella recalled

Salmonella in cantaloupes? Factory food just isn't what it's cracked up to be.

The company said the recall covered roughly 6,104 cartons of cantaloupes distributed to wholesalers in the eastern United States and Quebec between Feb. 5 and Feb. 8.

Read More......

January 2007 smashes record for warmest ever

Not an encouraging way to start the year.

The broken record was fueled by a waning El Nino and a gradually warming world, according to U.S. scientists who reported the data Thursday.

Records on the planet's temperature have been kept since 1880.

Spurred on by unusually warm Siberia, Canada, northern Asia and Europe, the world's land areas were 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) warmer than a normal January, according to the U.S. National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

That didn't just nudge past the old record set in 2002, but broke that mark by 0.81 degrees Fahrenheit (0.56C), which meteorologists said is a lot, since such records often are broken by hundredths of a degree at a time.

"That's pretty unusual for a record to be broken by that much," said the data center's scientific services chief, David Easterling. "I was very surprised."

The scientists went beyond their normal double checking and took the unusual step of running computer climate models "just to make sure that what we're seeing was real," Easterling said.

Read More......

If you still think Joe Lieberman is a nice level-headed moderate, read this

Joe Lieberman, like most of the Republicans, still has this odd notion that we're back in 2003 when much of the country thought the Iraq war was necessary, going well, and somehow linked to September 11. Back then, this kind of speech from Lieberman - which pretty much reflects the arguments made the Republicans in the House today - might have been effective. Today it's just bizarre. More from TPM.

By the way, I'm told by friends on the Hill that the vote to break the GOP filibuster on debating Iraq in the Senate will be Saturday sometime between 1:45pm and 2:15pm Eastern (at least that's the current plan). Read More......

GOP donor facing terrorism charges

From CBS. Read More......

The men at the Concerned Women for America worry that bigots give homophobes a bad name

The religious right having another Fannie Dooley moment. Read More......

Friday Orchid Blogging

Oncidium Sharry Baby

This is a great plant, and you can find them everywhere - Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, lots of places sell them. Gets a bit large, but the flowers smell like chocolate to many people - to me they smell like some kind of warm dessert just out of the oven, but not quite chocolate. The smell is strong enough to waft a good ten to twelve feet in my apartment (the scent is strongest when the plant is in good lighting, no scent at night). It's considered an easy plant, as orchids go, though I did kill one. Generally you just water it once it gets dry, and give it a lot of light. I have a second version of this plant, a little bit different, but still a Sharry Baby - it has 3 big spikes (a spike is a long stem that has the flower on the end, or many flowers in this guy's case), and one of the spikes is 3.5 feet long and still growing, it hasn't flowered yet - that one I'll photograph when it finally explodes. One spike can have dozens of flowers, and a well grown plant can 4 or more spikes in bloom at once. The plant needs a good deal of sunlight, year round, in order to flower, and flower well.

Enjoy. JOHN Read More......

It's confirmed, McCain will blow off Iraq vote in Senate so he can campaign for president instead

All the other major candidates, Democrat and Republican alike, have changed their schedules in order to be in Washington for this important vote. McCain has chosen to go kiss babies instead since, after all, becoming president in the future is more important to John McCain than helping our troops at war in the present.

There's a pattern developing. McCain already missed the first important vote on Iraq back on February 5th. Read More......

Mitt Romney voted for Democrat Tsongas for president, then lied about it to Stephanopoulos

I think Romney may have finally nailed his coffin shut. This just in from ABC:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said today he voted for Paul Tsongas in the 1992 Democratic presidential primary as a tactical maneuver aimed at finding the weakest opponent for incumbent President George Bush.

The explanation came during an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, which will air Sunday on "This Week."

"In Massachusetts, if you register as an independent, you can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary," said Romney, who until he made an unsuccessful run for Senate in 1994 had spent his adult life as a registered independent. "When there was no real contest in the Republican primary, I'd vote in the Democrat primary, vote for the person who I thought would be the weakest opponent for the Republican."

But 12 years ago, the Boston Globe reported that Romney was giving a different explanation for his vote for Tsongas.

"Romney confirmed he voted for former U.S. Sen. Paul Tsongas in the state's 1992 Democratic presidential primary, saying he did so both because Tsongas was from Massachusetts and because he favored his ideas over those of Bill Clinton," the Boston Globe's Scot Lehigh and Frank Phillips wrote on February 3, 1994.

Read More......

Open thread

Nothing changed, you're just drunk. Read More......

Cliff's Corner

The Week That Was 2/16/07

Another week, more preposterousness to report.

Ok, can we put aside the Bush junta-inspired mendacity eruptions (slightly different than Bill Clinton's "bimbo eruptions," in that they mendacity eruptions actually end lives) to try and ignite war in Iran with those shady forces who are responsible for only 8% of the attacks on American soldiers in Iraq.

I know this will give the good Reverend John Hagee the kind of stiffy most of us could only pull off after a quart of Viagara mixed with Hillbilly Heroin--or as it is now known in bar-speak, a Limbaugh with a Haggard twist--but for the rest of us, can we shout from the rooftops "Enough with the fraudulent war justifications!"

Haven't we all learned from the last public relations rollout for a war of choice? Well, not David Brooks. But he's dumber than lead paint on Lindsay Lohan, so what he gurgles up out of his craven esophagus is of no consequence.

Yet, for those of us living in the strange land of lucidity, can we please all get this very simple message out before we experience Neocon Debacle II: Electric Boogalo

1) Over 90% of of the attacks that are killing U.S soldiers in Iraq are SUNNI inspired. They are, like, a whole different group of people than the Shia, Mr. Bush. And supported by your three-minutes-in-the-closet friends and financial benefactors the Saudis.

2) 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia, not Iran.

3) Bin Laden - yeah, Saudi not Iranian (and still at large, why is that?).

4) Say 'hi' to Bandar Bush for us.

5) Saudi Arabia, not Iran, was one of the three countries that recognized the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan--yeah that one.

6) Tell you brother to lay off the Thai hookers.

7) Saudi Arabia sought nuclear weapons, and may still be doing so.

So does all that compute Mr. Bush? Iran has some very bad men in their leadership, true. But they don't begin to compare to your friends, the Saudis. Not that you ever cared about going after the real enemy.

Oh, yeah, and it's "nuclear" moron.

For more on this and other stories, go to cliffschecter.com Read More......

Iraq resolution passes House, disapproval of Bush "surge" now on record: 246-182

Here we go.

UPDATE: 17 Republicans voted in favor of the resolution disapproving of Bush's decision to send over 20,000 more US troops to Iraq. The total vote count is 246-182. Read More......

USNews: Bush could sink the GOP in 2008

From your lips:

Recent polls indicate a dramatic shift of independent voters toward Democrats when pressed to take sides. That shift helped Democratic candidates win a majority in Congress in November.

But the swing could be so strong that many Republicans up for re-election in 2008 should be sweating profusely.

It is almost certain that a large number of U.S. troops will still be in Iraq next year. The presidential race gets in full swing early with caucuses and primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.

Bush has ignored the voters' clear message sent three months ago. He could be poised to take his party down with him when he retires to Crawford, Texas, in 2009.

He's been warned.

Read More......

University of Illinois drops its mascot, I'm a bit perturbed

UPDATE: It seems some of our readers disagree with me. Feel free to join the heated discussion in our comments section here.

I'm sorry, I never saw the problem. Illinois, which I attended, didn't have an indian mascot the way you might think. There was no goofball running around with a tomahawk pretending to scalp people. The mascot was an honorable position, it was a big deal to get the job, and he only appeared in a half-time show that involved an incredibly exhausting dance that paid homage to our state's native American heritage - it doesn't poke fun, mock, anything. And yeah, I get that some native Americans didn't like it. But that doesn't mean they're right. First step, you have the right to complain. Second step, you need to prove your point. I'm not convinced they have. The NCAA, and others, just killed a perfectly respectful tradition that actually reminded Illinoisans of their heritage and made us proud in our school and our state (and frankly, reminded us of our state's native American past, something that is going to be remembered less now as a result of this action). Our mascot was killed because of the caricature that others ascribed to it, not because of the caricature it was - which it was not.

I'll also add that the explanation as to why my school gets to keep its name, the fighting Illini, is a joke:

Illinois still will be able to use the name the Illini because it's short for Illinois and the school can use the term Fighting Illini, because it's considered a reference to the team's competitive spirit, school officials said.

I'm from Illinois. Illini isn't short for Illinois. How many people do you know who hail from Chicago, Illini? That's absurd. The name comes from the Illini indians, as frankly does the name of the school and the name of the state. Unless the NCAA plans to ban the entire state of Illinois from participating in any post-season events, I'd like to hear an explanation as to why they're now simply playing games with all of this. Or is a respectful use of my state's Indian heritage acceptable, and if so, then why was Chief Illiniwek killed?

One more thing. I'm Greek. My junior high school mascot was a Spartan. Our mascot was about me and nobody else. I thought it was cool. I still do.

PS And they want us to return the outfit the mascot wore, an outfit that the chief of a tribe sold to the university, and not for a necklace of beads 300 years ago - it was a fair deal for $3500 in 1982, and the outfit wasn't historic, it was made by the chief's wife (there's some dispute about the feathers in the headress being special, fine, return the feathers if they can find them). Enough is enough, they got their piece of flesh - at least keep the outfit in a museum. Their chief knew what he was doing, he even came to the university to celebrate the sale. Read More......

Senator Reid, why not call for an up-or-down vote on Bush's surge plan?

And no, this isn't what you're already doing. Let me explain.

The House is getting ready to vote today on a resolution critical of Bush's Iraq "surge." This is the same resolution that you, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), are going to try to bring up for debate in the Senate tomorrow, Saturday. If the Republicans continue to filibuster the Senate even debating Bush's surge plan, let alone filibustering a vote on the plan, which is what Senate GOP leaders are hoping happens, then let me humbly propose a Plan B.

In the spirit of bipartisanship and cooperation, forget the Warner resolution, forget the McCain resolution, forget the House resolution. Forget any other Democratic resolutions that are out there. If Republicans and Democrats in the Senate can't agree as to whose resolution should be debated and voted on, fine. There's only one resolution that matters anyway, George Bush's. (Yes, I know he doesn't have a resolution, read on.)

Announce that the Senate is at an impasse, trash the other resolutions (House, Democratic, Republican), and call up Bush's "surge" plan for an up-or-down vote. Senator Reid, introduce your own resolution describing Bush's plan. Don't play any games with the wording of the resolution, simply put Bush's plan in writing in the form a resolution that supports the surge - period. (I'd recommend you use Bush's speech in which he announces the surge plan, and simply quote the President verbatim in the "whereas" sections of the resolution.) Then call for the Senate to debate and vote on whether it supports the president's own plan. Not the Warner resolution, not the House resolution, but the PRESIDENT'S OWN PLAN.

The advantages of this?

1. All other resolutions become extraneous. No one can offer a competing resolution since per se it won't be germane to the surge (well, they can, but they'll look silly). Cutting off money to troops? Not relevant to debating the surge. Withdrawing all troops immediately? Not relevant to debating the surge. It will be clear to the public that anyone who stops the president's resolution from going forward is simply being obstructionist.

2. Any Republican or Democrat who votes to filibuster this resolution will be filibustering a resolution approving of Bush's plan. A marked difference from filibustering a resolution critical of the president. It's one thing for Republicans to argue that a resolution critical of the president emboldens the enemy and hurts the morale of the troops, but how are they going to block a resolution that lauds the plan the commander in chief is currently implementing?

3. With this approach, you look the above-the-fray leader to the American people. You threw partisanship out the window, got rid of the Democratic and Republican plans, and decided to be a straight shooter and give the president's plan the up-or-down vote it deserves. That's something that no American could disagree with. And anyone who stands in the way will be marked as the bad guy.

Now, I suspect that you probably think the current Warner resolution, or even the House resolution, ARE the president's plan. I'd argue that they're not. Those resolutions are critical of Bush's surge. They're critical of the president, albeit well-deserved. In order to give the president and his supporters MORE than a fair shake, simply offer up the president's plan, unfettered by any critical language or other excess verbiage. I'd go so far as to write the resolution using only direct quotes from the president. Make it ALL his language describing the surge and why it's needed.

Then let's see the GOP claim that the debate and vote is unfair when the only thing being debated and voted on is the president's language detailing and praising the president's plan. Read More......

Pelosi to address House about Iraq resolution at 1pm Eastern

Pelosi to address the House about Iraq resolution at 1pm Eastern, these are her remarks as prepared for delivery:

For four days and three nights, more than 350 Members of Congress have come to the House floor to speak their conscience about the war in Iraq, and the President's escalation proposal. I commend my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for the substance and the tenor of this debate.

There is one proposition on which we all agree: our troops have performed excellently in Iraq. They have done everything asked of them. As the resolution states, "Congress and the American people will continue to support and protect the members of the United States Armed Forces who are serving or who have served bravely and honorably in Iraq."

We owe our troops a debt of gratitude, for their patriotism, courage, and service. As a sign of respect for them, particularly those who have lost their lives in the war, and for their families, I request that we observe a moment of silence.

We owe our troops a course of action in Iraq that is worthy of their sacrifice. Today, we set the state for a New Direction on Iraq by passing a resolution of fewer than 100 words which supports our troops but disapproves of the President's escalation proposal.

One year ago Senate majority, Leader Harry Reid and I stood with House and Senate Democrats to propose our agenda for Real Security - to project our power and values to protect the American people.

Consistent with our Real Security agenda, Democrats have sent the President four letters, the first last July and most recently in January, urging him to adopt a strategy for success for Iraq containing these elements:

Change of mission
Redeployment of troops
3. Build political consensus
4. Diplomacy
5. Reform reconstruction
6. Refocus on the War on Terror

In terms of changing the mission, U.S. forces in Iraq must be transitioned from combat to training of Iraqi forces, real counter terrorism activities, force protection and logistics. A shift in mission will allow the number of US troops in Iraq to be reduced, diminishing their presence in the daily life of average Iraqi citizens, and minimizing the chances of these troops being caught in the cross-fire between warring Iraqi factions.

Ending the emphasis on a combat mission will also allow the phased redeployment of our forces from Iraq to begin within the next four to six months. Declining troop levels will require fewer bases and none of them will need to be permanent, consistent with legislation introduced by Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Congressman David Price. A smaller military presence in Iraq will also relieve some of the strain on our troops, their families, and our military equipment.

Success in Iraq requires more than military force. As 3-star General Peter Chiarelli, until recently the Commander of the Multinational Corps Iraq observed in December, "We need to get out of thinking this is solely a military conflict where we must simply apply more U.S. or coalition and Iraqi forces against an enemy that we can destroy. All our nation's strengths -- diplomatic, economic, political -- must be leveraged to help the Iraqis find their way through this process."

There has been no sustained and effective effort to engage Iraq's neighbors diplomatically.

Iraq's neighbors have the greatest stake in Iraq's stability and the role it will play in the region. Leaders of those countries are best able to help Iraqi leaders improve security by reducing ethnic tensions. To this end, an international contact group should be established to support a political settlement in Iraq and preserve Iraq's sovereignty.

An international conference should be convened to broaden support for the reconstruction effort that is essential if Iraqis are going to be put to work building their country's future.

There has been little effective reconstruction in Iraq because of mismanagement and disappearance of funds.

In order for the reconstruction of Iraq to attract international support, it must be conducted according to practices which are honest, transparent, and accountable. They must be governed by the kind of process set forth in legislation introduced by Congressman Patrick Murphy and the Blue Dog Coalition. The United States should take the lead on accountability in reconstruction.

There has been no sustained and effective effort to engage Iraqi factions politically.

The U.S. must insist that Iraqi leaders make the political compromises needed for a broad-based and sustainable political settlement that will produce an inclusive political system in Iraq. A good beginning would be to press Iraqi leaders to amend the constitution to achieve a fair sharing of power and resources. The resulting political consensus will allow Iraqi security forces to challenge the militias on behalf of the nation and disarm them.

Proponents of the President's escalation are equating the War on Terror to the war in Iraq. As the esteemed Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Ike Skelton, has said, "Two conflicts. Two wars. And the two should not be confused. There are those who attempt to fuzz the two conflicts together as 'the war on terror,' but the wars are truly separate and distinct."

The war in Iraq continues to detract from our ability to fight the war against international terrorism effectively. We need to finish the job started more than five years ago in Afghanistan against al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and address other conditions around the world in which the appeal of terrorism breeds.

The longer it takes us to resolve the situation in Iraq, the longer resources and attention will continue to be diverted from the war on terrorism. Our ability to respond to the escalating conflict in Afghanistan and other potential crises in the world is constrained severely by the deterioration in military readiness produced by the operational tempo in Iraq.

By placing so much emphasis on dealing with the problems in Iraq militarily, and not enough emphasis on sustained internal and international diplomatic engagement, the President's escalation plan repeats past mistakes.

The stakes in Iraq are too high to recycle proposals that have little prospect for success.

The bipartisan resolution today is nonbinding, but it will send a strong message to the President: we are committed to supporting the troops and we disapprove of the escalation.

Our troops are working together to protect America, and we, in this House, must also work together to build a future worthy of their sacrifice.

The passage of this legislation will signal a change in direction in Iraq that will end the fighting and bring our troops home.

I urge my colleagues to support our troops and a New Direction in Iraq by voting aye on the bipartisan Skelton, Lantos, Jones resolution.

Read More......

Keep your eyes on whether John McCain blows off the war vote on Saturday

McCain reportedly has an "elect me president" event on Saturday that conflicts with that small matter of the Senate trying to debate the Iraq war. Any guesses on whether John McCain blows off the Senate war debate and vote on Saturday so that instead of trying to help our troops he can go kiss babies?

McCain already missed the first vote on the small matter of the Senate trying to debate the Iraq war back on February 5, 2007. Read More......

Bush "surge" in Iraq will erode our readiness, Army's top general says

I'm rather amazed that after 6 years of abuse our military leaders are finally standing up to the man who is destroying this institution along with the lives of so many of our soldiers. Read More......

FBI investigating Nevada's new GOP Governor

Last fall, then-Congressman Jim Gibbons made news when he was involved in an altercation with a woman who claimed he had assaulted her. No charges were filed.

Fast forward, now Governor Jim Gibbons is under federal investigation for his actions as a member of Congress. The FBI is trying to figure out if Gibbons got gifts for performing favors. There are emails:

Reporting yesterday on the investigation, the Wall Street Journal published a series of alleged e-mail exchanges about Gibbons's dealings with Warren Trepp, the software entrepreneur whose company won millions of dollars' worth of classified military contracts during the time Gibbons served in Congress.

Among the dozens of e-mails is one allegedly sent days before Trepp and his wife prepared to set sail on a Caribbean cruise with Gibbons and his wife. In it, Trepp's wife allegedly wrote to her husband: "Please don't forget to bring the money you promised Jim and Dawn." Trepp's reply, according to the Journal report, was: "Don't you ever send this kind of message to me! Erase this message from your computer right now!"

The gifts allegedly included the cruise and travel on Trepp's private jet, as well as some suggestion of a payment that Trepp made to Gibbons, the Journal reported. Gibbons was first elected to the House in 1996 and served five terms.

The culture of corruption reigned when the GOP controlled D.C. The FBI has plenty of work to do sorting it all out. Read More......

Friday Morning Open Thread

The House of Representatives votes today on the anti-escalation resolution. This is the first official rebuke of Bush's war policy. Let's see how many Republicans vote against their president.

Thread, please. Read More......

At least one media outlet is asking the important questions about the French elections

La Revue du Vin de France is writing about the issue that matters the most: wine. How can a country like France trust a man like Sarkozy who takes no pleasure in wine? Does Sego have a clue about the over-production of grapes? Is it time to take a closer look at Voynet the environmentalist who knows his wine and appreciates all regions and all wines, organic or not? Is Bayrou truly dedicated to wine appreciation?

Now that Sego has floundered so badly and put an end to any hope of competition, it's time to find something to talk about with the candidates. Inquiring minds want to know. Next subject up for debate: regional food preferences and what it says about the candidate. Read More......

$10 billion wasted or poorly spent in Iraq - Halliburton tagged with $2.7B

Remember how the US could not afford Kyoto? Remember how the GOP told us that universal health care was impossible because it would be too expensive? Ten billion dollars could have gone a long way towards helping both our current generation as well as future generations of Americans. Instead, all we got was a crappy $10 billion bill that went to a failed war of convenience and GOP friends with no bid contracts.

And as bad as this is, the auditors say it could get worse since we are stuck in Iraq. This is what happens when you have a useless, rubber stamp Congress who failed to do their jobs and ask questions.

Of the $10 billion in overpriced contracts or undocumented costs, more than $2.7 billion were charged by Halliburton Co., the oil-field services firm once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Why does the GOP and Halliburton hate America? What a bunch of swindlers. Read More......

Pentagon Red Tape Keeps Medical Records From Doctors of the Wounded

Sending our soldiers to their deaths is a-okay for Bush and his fellow Republicans, but actually saving our troops from the brink of death, that's verbotten. These people are sick. Read More......

GOP members of Congress using fake Lincoln quote to bash Dems, source of quote is Moonie paper

The local Moonie paper ("Moonie" as in the cult, the cult owns the paper) that the Republicans are all in bed with here in DC the other day printed a false quote that they attributed to Abraham Lincoln. The quote was used to bash Democrats who oppose the Bush/McCain escalation policy in Iraq.

Putting aside the irony of a lie being used, again, as the basis for sending our soldiers to die in Iraq, now that it's been proven that the quote is a fake, Republican members of Congress are still using it in their public speeches, and the cult's newspaper won't print a correction.

I'd like to say that I expect more of GOP congressmen than I expect from a cult, but that isn't really true. More from Editor & Publisher. Read More......

Murtha is taking control of the Iraq debate and he controls the money

John Murtha will have a key role setting the Iraq agenda. And, that's a good thing. A very good thing. He is a force that must be reckoned with in the House of Represenatives:

By mid-March, Murtha will offer legislation that he says would set such stringent rules on combat deployments that Bush would have no choice but to begin bringing troops home.

His legislation would dictate how long troops can stay, the equipment they use and whether any money could be spent to expand military operations into Iran. Murtha says few units could meet the high standards he envisions, meaning Bush's plan to keep some 160,000 troops in Iraq for months on end would be thwarted.

Under his plan, he says, Democrats would be helping and not hurting troops by making sure they have what they need before being thrown into combat.

"This vote will be the most important vote in changing the direction of the war," Murtha, D-Pa., told an anti-war group in an interview broadcast on the Internet Thursday.

"The president could veto it, but then he wouldn't have any money," he later said.

Murtha is the Bush Administration's worst nightmare. When Murtha speaks, the military listens. And, when Murtha speaks, he's often speaking for the military. Read More......

Bush doesn't thinks he needs to give assurances (not that he could assure us anyway)

Good Froomkin. Very good Froomkin, actually:

But what reporters yesterday were essentially asking him, over and over again, CNN's Ed Henry finally asked directly: "What assurances can you give the American people that the intelligence this time will be accurate?"

What was most striking about Bush's responses was not that he didn't provide any such assurances -- it was that he apparently still doesn't feel he needs to.

The president repeatedly swatted down skeptical questions with precisely the kinds of assertions that have lost nearly all credibility.

Just because Bush says "we know" or "I believe" isn't enough anymore.

Bush doesn't understand that those answers aren't enough anymore. The White House is acting like it's still 2002. Read More......

NBA banishes homophobic player from All-Star event in Vegas

Wow. Good for them. Note to Snickers, this is how you deal with homophobia. Read More......

Soft landing? How?

I don't see how Bernanke can make that prediction with this news coming out because the bad news in real estate was spread across 40 states. Considering the jobs related to real estate that were previously booming - banking, construction, material - I can't imagine how it will avoid getting ugly. With buyers sitting on the side and sellers holding firm but starting to cave in with price, this "Q4 slump" will not be finished in 3-6 months. Between this news, the record breaking increases in loan defaults which will dump even more houses on the market and the heavy weight of the war, how can this possibly be a soft landing? Read More......

Reid Schedules Senate Vote on House's Iraq Resolution

Atta boy.

Senate Democratic leaders abruptly switched course in the Iraq war debate today, shelving a complicated non-binding resolution that has run into procedural hurdles, in favor of a House version that simply states Congress's objections to President Bush's troop escalation plan.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) this afternoon announced that the Senate would take a rare Saturday vote on whether to proceed to consider the House resolution, which is expected to pass that chamber Friday, with some Republican support.

If the Saturday vote succeeds, Reid said he may cancel the upcoming week-long recess, scrambling campaign plans for at least six presidential candidates....

In particular, Democrats are calling the bluff of a group of Republican senators who oppose the escalation, but who joined with their GOP leadership to block the earlier Democratic-led resolution from coming to a vote, in an effort to force Democrats to allow a pro-administration measure to be offered.

Read More......

Al Gore announces "global warming" concerts

Excellent. Read More......

Not supporting our troops

Today's NYT editorial:

How do you explain to the thousands of American troops now being poured into Baghdad that they will have to wait until the summer for the protective armor that could easily mean the difference between life and death?

You tell them that unfortunately this is what you get when you vote Republican. You then tell them to pick up the phone and call Tommy Franks and Colin Powell and ask them why they told you to vote for Bush. Read More......

Tommy Franks was so incredibly wrong on Iraq

Sounds like Franks and his team believe in the Easter Bunny as well. Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act we are seeing more details of the shoddy work and pie-in-the-sky planning that took us into Iraq in the first place. You just know that somewhere there is a new PowerPoint presentation explaining how easy and successful invading Iran could be.

Some of the planning by Gen. Tommy Franks and other top military officials before the 2003 invasion of Iraq envisioned that as few as 5,000 U.S. troops would remain in Iraq by December 2006, according to documents obtained by a private research organization.

Slides obtained by the National Security Archive under the Freedom of Information Act contain a PowerPoint presentation of what planners projected to be a stable, pro-American and democratic Iraq after the ouster of Saddam Hussein.

“Completely unrealistic assumptions about a post-Saddam Iraq permeate these war plans,” said National Security Archive Executive Director Thomas Blanton in a statement posted on the organization’s Web site along with copies of some charts used in the PowerPoint presentation.

Of course, we know now that Tommy Franks is a big Republican, and fancies himself the bigwig party activist, having very publicly endorsed Bush for re-election and then giving a pro-Bush speech at the Republican National Convention in 2004. Not the kind of thing an impartial military leader does. Then again, look at Colin Powell. It is funny how quickly these partisan Republican military "leaders" fall from grace once they touch the face of Bush. Read More......

Former top Bush strategist knocks Bush, "surge"

From ABC News:

ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: In the forthcoming issue of Texas Monthly, former Bush strategist Matthew Dowd writes that President Bush's "gut-level bond" with the American people "may be lost" and that "wholesale change" is needed in Iraq.

"Sending in a small contingent of troops is likely going to be seen as not helpful," Dowd writes. "He'd be much better off with the public if he said, 'This is a mess, we made mistakes, and the only way to fix it is a wholesale change.' And that could mean either a serious increase in troop strength or withdrawal."

Dowd opines that Bush's problems stem from his success in the 2002 midterm elections. ". . . when all the levers of power in Washington became Republican, creating consensus seemed to become unnecessary at the White House."....

Dowd's comments are sure to get lots of attention in Washington because of the very senior role that he played for Bush's presidential campaigns.

He was Bush's "senior strategist" in 2000 and his "chief strategist" in 2004.

Dowd is right and wrong. Bush's problem stems from an authoritarian sense of infallibility that didn't come from the 2002 elections, it started on day one when Dick Cheney was quoted as saying, and I paraphrase, rule as if we have a mandate. This may come from Cheney's days ruling the Pentagon - they are the best example of an agency, or entity even, that simply digs in its heels when criticized. They don't listen, they don't budge. They do what they want, to hell with the critics. This has been Bush's approach to policy from day one. He, Cheney and the rest of them have never understood that in a democracy you still have to share power with the congress and the people even if you win the election. And now, thank God, they're paying the price. Read More......

Bush speaks to AEI. Just so you know, he's fighting the war on terror. Uh-huh.

Bush is currently delivering a speech at the American Enterprise Institute ostensibly about Afghanistan and the war on terror. This sounds like one of those old anti-terror speeches circa 2002. It is devoid of the current reality. He's still really trying hard to link the war in Iraq to the war on terror. Of course, Bush's war in Iraq has completely distracted us from the war on terror. Bush still hasn't captured Bin Laden who actually attacked our country. In fact, Bush's war in Iraq has been a recruiting boon for terror networks according to US intelligence agencies. Meanwhile, the Taliban is undergoing a resurgence. But, no fears. Bush is on the case. And, he loves a speech like this cause he gets to keep saying "September the 11th."

The American Enterprise Institute, where Lynne V. Cheney is a Senior Fellow, is one of the few places where Bush could deliver this speech. Read More......

The Bush team has no credibility. None. It's time for the media to expose the Iran scam.

It's really hard to sort through the lies and fabrications from the Bush Administration about Iran in just the past week. An analysis in today's Washington Post takes a crack at it:

Burdened by its troubles in Iraq, the Bush administration is being doubly scrutinized over its policy toward Tehran. For weeks, despite occasional saber rattling, officials from the president on down have insisted there are no plans to attack Iran. Instead, they have said they are fully committed to a peaceful resolution of all outstanding grievances, including Iran's nuclear weapons activities, support for terrorists in Lebanon and support for insurgents in Iraq.

"We've been very careful in what we've said over the last few weeks," Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns, the administration's point man on Iran, said in an appearance yesterday at the Brookings Institution.

Asked about the "highest levels" charge, Burns replied: "The president . . . did not claim that today. We are not claiming that today."

That was precisely what the military asserted in its Baghdad briefing for reporters Sunday, a secretive session in which no cameras or tape recorders were allowed and no names were given for the speakers.

Enough already. Note to the media: The Bush Administration is lying to you -- AGAIN.

It's time for the reporters in Baghdad to out the speakers at that now infamous Sunday briefing. Reporters in the traditional media know the back story here. They need to share it.

Here in DC, the Scooter Libby trial showed the games that the Bush Administration plays with the media. They've played the media for fools. The same thing is happening this time with Iran. The Bush Administration expects the media to abide by their "rules." But, when the Bush Administration is lying (again), there are no rules. So, the media has an obligation to bust this open. Who were the Baghdad briefers -- and who put them up to that briefing? That would be a good start. Read More......

NYT profiles FDL's coverage of the Libby trial

Today's NY Times profiles the bloggers at Firedoglake and their excellent -- and groundbreaking -- coverage of the Libby trial. Marcy Wheeler provided some interesting insight:

Some bloggers at the trial have seen their skepticism about mainstream reporting confirmed.

“It’s shown me the degree to which journalists work together to define the story,” said Marcy Wheeler, author of a book on the case, “Anatomy of Deceit,” and the woman usually in the Firedoglake live-blogger seat.

Ms. Wheeler, a business consultant from Michigan who writes under the nom-de-blog “emptywheel,” believes that some trial revelations have been underplayed in the conventional media because “once the narrative is set on a story, there’s no deviating from it.”

Thankfully, Marcy and FDL deviated from the traditional media narrative. In fact, the traditional media was part of the narrative of this case. The trials exposed how many, many of the major players in the D.C. press corps knew that Libby, Rove and other top White House staffers leaked Valerie Plame's name. And, they just played along with the Bush team's denials. Read More......

Thursday Morning Open Thread

It is so cold here in D.C. Bitter.

And, bitter describes the tone of the Republicans on the Hill this week. It's just rich that the House Republicans have the audacity to call their anti-resolution spin room a "war room." They never had a "war room" to figure out a war strategy. The GOP views Iraq through a political prism. That's their thinking from 2002 and 2004 -- and they can't get past it. However, the American people are way past the Iraq war.

Time to bundle up to walk the dog.

Get it started. Read More......

US now starting to accept Iraqi refugees

Since the US invasion over 2 million have left Iraq but until now only a few hundred had been accepted to resettle in the US. The new plan will allow 7,000 which is still a very small number but a move in the right direction. If the US is going to make a mess of other countries, it will again have to accept the responsibility of the safety of its people. Read More......

Salmonella outbreak hits over 300 people in 39 states

There's something seriously wrong in the food chain if this is happening. Fortunately no deaths reported though numerous hospital visits have been reported. Read More......

Former NBA superstar: "I hate gay people"

Or perhaps you just hate yourself, sweetie.



You can listen to the bigot, Tim Hardaway, formerly of the Miami Heat, give a live interview. Fortunately, the hosts were quite taken aback and called him on his hate. Read More......

More cool stuff

You may recall that a few weeks ago, during Bush's State of the Union, I started playing around with "tag clouds."

For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, tag clouds basically look at the recent content on your site and display it, visually, based on the frequency with which key words are used. Words used more often are larger, words used less often, smaller. In my post, I used the technology to take a look at Bush's State of the Union addresses since he took office, in order to get a sense of what key words he was most interested in citing in his speeches.

Anyway, I was playing with it on this site, and got the idea that it might be interesting to compare what words/issues we talk about the most here versus other top progressive blogs - sort of a not totally scientific zeitgeist of what the blogs are thinking, as it were. So, I've set up a comparison at the bottom of the AMERICAblog home page - scroll all the way down, you'll see it - of live tag clouds from 9 of the top progressive political blogs. I just set it up this afternoon, so it only reflects the last 6 or 8 posts or so, but eventually it will display the words most used during the past 3 days, larger words used more often, etc. It will update several times a day, hopefully. I'm not sure what this will tell us, if anything, but it could be interesting. So check it out.

I've grabbed a screen capture of the tag cloud set-up earlier today, it looks like this.

Read More......

Pentagon's Preference: Known felons okay, being gay, no way

Aaron Belkin over at Huffington Post points out the ridiculous way the military discriminates against gays and lesbians relative to the open door for known felons. From The Huffington Post:

The New York Times and Associated Press reported today that the number of felons allowed to serve in the military has surged since the invasion of Iraq nearly four years ago. The data, which were obtained by the Michael D. Palm Center at UC-Santa Barbara, show that both the military is letting in more recruits with serious criminal backgrounds, records of drug abuse, inferior educational attainment and other qualities which require a so-called "moral waiver" to allow young Americans to don a military uniform and deploy to the frontlines. It is a measure of how desperate our armed forces are to fill their ranks with bodies to fight in an increasingly unpopular war. (The data are posted at palmcenter.org)
...
The problem is that the Pentagon's current personnel policy is utterly irrational. Under its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, it has fired over 11,000 capable troops, including nearly 1000 considered mission-critical and over 300 foreign linguists, just because they're gay. This despite overwhelming evidence that letting known gays serve does not impair cohesion, recruitment or effectiveness.

Mighty smart bunch they have running things over there at the Pentagon.

NOTE FROM JOHN: Here's a prime example of someone the Pentagon would have no problem with. Read More......

GOP launches attack from their "war room" on Iraq Vet Patrick Murphy (D-PA)

After Pennsylvania's freshman Democratic Representative Patrick Murphy, an Iraqi war vet, delivered his amazing floor speech last night (which you can see here), the GOP's "war room" launched an attack. And, of course, the GOP's attack came via the Moonie paper.

Funny how the GOP uses a "war room" in the very safe and protected confines of the Capitol building to criticize a member of Congress who actually served in the war that the House is debating. Murphy's office responded:

"Congressman Murphy is absolutely proud of his service and the work done by the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq. The right wing's go-to move is to try and smear veterans. Fortunately, Pennsylvanians understand that it's no contradiction that Congressman Murphy is both proud of his service and opposed to the Bush administration's wrong-headed policies in Iraq."

Of course, the GOP can't figure that out. They don't know that it's possible to oppose Bush's mis-guided war while still supporting the troops -- even when members, like Patrick Murphy, who served in Iraq -- explain it to them.

I'm sure the GOP doesn't see any irony in their use of the term "war room" to attack a real war vet. But they're messing with the wrong guy. This is all a political game for the GOP. For soldiers like Murphy, it is life and death. Read More......

You can't teach an old ExxonMobil new tricks

Remember the "news," just a few weeks old, that ExxonMobil was giving up its old ways, and would no longer be threatening our very existence for a quick buck by spreading anti-global-warming propaganda?

Seems the lure of the almighty dollar was stronger than the prospect of being responsible for ending all life as we know it. Huff Post has more.

PS Dear ExxonMobil, don't think that we've forgotten that in addition to being polar-bear killers you also hate gays. Don't believe me? Then would you believe Fortune magazine? Read More......

Al Franken declares his candidacy for the US Senate from Minnesota

Good video. Long video (for YouTube), at almost 9 minutes, but good video. Comes across like a nice, smart, regular guy.

Read More......

If you're from Mississippi, State Farm Insurance will no longer cover you

Wow, is that because State Farm doesn't like black people, or southern people? A rather heavy-handed response, and one that's inviting immediate federal intervention.

From AP:

State Farm Insurance Cos. is suspending sales of any new commercial or homeowner policies in Mississippi starting Friday, citing in part a wave of litigation it has faced after Hurricane Katrina, a company official said Wednesday.

Mike Fernandez, vice president of public affairs for State Farm, said Mississippi's "current legal and political environment is simply untenable. We're just not in a position to accept any additional risk in this homeowners' market."

Translation: Sure we insured you, but we never thought we'd have to pay. Read More......

Readers from 82 countries visited AMERICAblog in the last 10 hours

I was just looking through the data of a new service I'm using to get a better sense of the blog traffic, and saw that in the past ten hours the service has been up, we've gotten visitors from 82 countries (or so). That's amazing. And I'm not saying this to pump AMERICAblog - any blog our size would have the same diversity of traffic, I think - I'm just simply amazed that our sites have this kind of reach. I mean, we all know the Internet is a big series of tubes that goes everywhere, but having worked with the Net since 1995, I'm still amazed by the power of this thing. 82 countries, and in just the past half day. Wow.

Click the chart below to see the detailed traffic:

Read More......

Bush admits that he lied about Iran

Bush today told Ed Henry of CNN, as I noted in the post below, that he has no idea if the senior levels of the Iranian government know anything about supposed weapons being supplied to insurgents in Iraq. Bush today:

We know the Quds Force is part of the Iranian government. I don't think we know who picked up the phone and said 'the Quds Force go do this,' we know it's a vital part of the Iranian government.

The problem is, this outright contradicts what Bush's own "senior military" advisers told the American media just three days ago. They said they knew quite well who told the Quds force to "do this."

And I quote the AP:

At issue was a weekend briefing in Baghdad at which three senior U.S. military officials said that the ''highest levels'' of the Iranian government had ordered the smuggling into Iraq of high-tech roadside bombs that have been killing American soldiers.

Highest levels. When in fact, during today's press conference, Bush had no idea if the highest levels in the Iranian government knew or directed the weapons infiltration, and he outright admitted it.

So, congrats to CNN's Ed Henry - the only journalist to actually do his job during the press conference and catch Bush in an outright lie. Read More......

CNN's Ed Henry actually asked Bush a hard question

He was the only one so far who did (I'm watching the press conference on delay on TV). Henry just blasted Bush with the following question, paraphrased: You're telling me that you have no idea if the Iranian government is behind the attacks in Iraq, so you're outright contradicting your own people who briefed us only two days ago?

Bush then responded that it's true, we have no idea if the senior levels of the Iranian government are aware that this is going on, or have even approved it. Bush is trying to say that an outfit of the Iranian government is the one providing these weapons, so the Iranian government is responsible. But that doesn't sound like it's what his briefers told the media only two days ago.

Time to check the briefings from two days ago and compare the lies. Read More......

Bush speaks and spins at 11 am press conference

If you're watching, comment away. We'll try to provide some of the highlights -- such as they are.

UPDATE: He's a moron. Bush just said that it doesn't matter if the Iranian government knew, or didn't know, that some Iranian nationals were helping distributed IEDs in Iraq. And I quote:

"Here's my point, either they knew or didn't know. What matters is, is that they're there. What's worse, that the government knew, or that the government didn't know?"

Well, with all due respect, you simple-minded idiot, if you're threatening to declare war on the Iranian government for actively helping the insurgents, then yes, it's far worse if the government knew because that would mean they were actually helping the insurgents.

But what Bush is suggesting is that it doesn't matter if the government of Iran is to blame, we're going to blame them anyway. What's the difference? That's like asking "what's the difference if Saddam didn't really have any ties to Al Qaeda, if the US didn't really have a plan for victory in Iraq, if Bush didn't really give the troops the equipment and numbers they neeed for victory?" Read More......

GOP doesn't even have a strategy in House debate

The House Republicans are a pathetic bunch. No wonder they can't come up with a strategy to fight the Iraq war. They can't even figure out why they're fighting against the anti-escalation resolution. But, to defend George Bush, those GOPers are vigorously opposing the resolution. Based on Dana Milbank's profile of the GOP's leader, Adam Putnam (R-FL), it's clear they really have no idea why:

There was good reason for this anxiety. As head of the House Republican Conference, the 32-year-old redhead is leading his caucus into a public-opinion meat grinder: supporting President Bush's increase of U.S. troops in Iraq, against the wishes of more than 60 percent of Americans. Worse, he is leading them with a pair of somewhat contradictory arguments: (a) that the Democrats' resolution opposing Bush's Iraq buildup is a meaningless gesture, and (b) that the Democrats' resolution will cause the end of civilization as we know it.

"This is a rather toothless 97 words," Putnam began in his floor speech, calling the proposal "a narrow nonbinding resolution that misses the bigger picture." Minutes later, he changed his view. "The majority would have us consider a resolution that puts us one day closer to handing militant Islamists a safe haven the size of California."

So which one is it: toothless or catastrophic?

Actually, the GOP's response to the Iraq war for the past four years has been toothless and catastrophic. Read More......

Invade Malta!

I always thought it was likely that arms dealers were probably having a field day in Iraq -- and that such a likelihood would have more impact than anything neighboring governments could do. I haven't seen much reporting on this, but apparently the Italian government recently broke up a smuggling ring connected to Iraqi insurgents. Italian police "said 500,000 AK 47 rifles and ten million pieces of ammunition were traced, but no weapons were confiscated." If they were traced but not confiscated, I imagine they were already delivered. So who do we get to invade over this shocking and horrifying meddling in our (er, Iraq's) internal affairs?

Malta!

And, apparently secondarily, Libya, Russia, and China, all of which, along with Malta, apparently have citizens involved in this weapons arms ring. I'm sure taking on that group won't be a problem. But let's start with Malta: those damn Maltese are on top of our . . . limestone! Read More......

General Caldwell on Iran weapons connection: "People want to hype this up"

Just saw General Caldwell, the chief spokesman in Iraq, on CNN, disputing the U.S. claim that the highest levels of the Iranian government are supplying weapons to insurgents in Iraq:

"I think people want to make an inference. I think people want to hype this up."

Yep. Hype. Classic hype from the Bush team. But they've been smacked down on this one by the military.

I'll get the transcript when it's up.

UPDATE: Adding to the hype is CNN's Barbara Starr which is making Atrios go insane. Read More......

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

The ice storm has hit D.C. Not as bad as what some places are getting.

The real storm in D.C. is in the House of Representatives. The GOPers maintain that passing the resolution will embolden the enemy. Seems like the enemy is already pretty damn bold. Our number one enemy, Osama Bin Laden, is still alive -- 5 1/2 years after he launched the deadly attack on the U.S. The insurgents in Iraq have engaged the military of the world's superpower for almost four years. They've figured out how to kill our troops and shoot down our helicopters. That seems to have emboldened them.

George Bush and his failures in Iraq and Afghanistan have emboldened the enemy. Republicans on Capitol Hill have made that possible, too. Instead of political slogans and spin, Bush and the Republicans owe the troops and the American people a strategy. But, there is no strategy. That's why the Democrats won in November. That's why we're finally seeing a debate about Iraq.

Okay, time for coffee. Start threading the news. Read More......

Pentagon continues to lower the bar

Over 100,000 waivers for new recruits with criminal backgrounds over the last three years.

According to data compiled by the Defense Department, the number of Army and Marine recruits needing waivers for felonies and serious misdemeanors, including minor drug offenses, has grown since 2003. The Army granted more than double the number of waivers for felonies and misdemeanors in 2006 than it did in 2003. Some recruits may get more than one waiver.

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Open thread

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al-Sadr in Iran? Maybe, maybe not.

I smell convenient misinformation campaign. Here's how the US hopes it plays out:

1. US claims to have intelligence, that they don't show anyone, supposedly "proving" that al-Sadr is in Iran.

2. This makes al-Sadr look like a wimp, I mean, the guy fled in fear from us.

3. This also makes Iran look like they're harboring terrorists or insurgents or whatever the word du jour is for "bad guys," and that helps bolster Bush's case for war against Iran (I mean, they're helping the enemy!). So it's a win-win for us.

4. In order to prove he's not a wimp, al-Sadr is forced to stick his head up and say "I didn't run" - then we get a clue as to where he really is, and maybe our forces can catch him. And if al-Sadr doesn't stick his head up, we still get to tag him with the "wimp" label.

5. In order to not give the US more cause to attack Iran, Iran is spurred to help us find al-Sadr in Iraq, to prove that he's not in Iran, or Iran is spurred to turn him over to us, if he really is in Iran. And if Iran doesn't help prove that al-Sadr is not in Iran, we still get to claim Iran is helping the bad guys and it buildds Bush's case for war with Iran.

Perhaps al-Sadr really is in Iran, and perhaps the Bush administration is telling us the truth. But considering that Bush and the Pentagon anonymous briefers have yet to tell us the truth about much of anything to do with Iraq or Iran, I'm going to wager that we're being lied to, yet again. Read More......

Rep. Patrick Murphy: "The President's current course is not resolute, it is reckless"

The House began debating the Iraq War today. The anti-escalation resolution is under discussion now on the floor and will be for the rest of the week.

The Republicans in the House don't want to talk about Iraq. In fact, Think Progress posted a leaked letter from top Republicans advising their colleagues to avoid talking about Iraq:

The debate should not be about the surge or its details. This debate should not even be about the Iraq war to date, mistakes that have been made, or whether we can, or cannot, win militarily.

Democrats, like Patrick Murphy who served in Iraq, do want to talk about Iraq and how to stop the escalation. Murphy gave a powerful speech on the House floor today -- and with Murphy on the other side, it's no wonder the GOP wants to avoid the debate:

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Open thread

Any news? Read More......

DNC responds to gay critics

Last week, I published a letter to the editor of the Washington Blade written by Donald Hitchcock, the former Director of the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council of the Democratic National Committee. Donald expressed a number of concerns about the DNC vis-a-vis the gay community. The DNC's treasurer, Andy Tobias, asked me if he could publish a response, in his personal capacity. Here it is:

Like John, I know Paul and Donald personally -- have even done their laundry when they stayed with me -- and wish them well.

But there's a lot in Donald's letter that's off the mark and, unintentionally, counterproductive.

Donald says "Gov. Dean barely addressed the LGBT caucus with only 5 minutes worth of comments, and no questions from the floor."

The Governor's comments to the DNC LGBT caucus were well received by a packed room. And when questions were invited from the caucus, none of the caucus members chose to ask one. (One audience member did raise his hand but, as it turned out, only wanted to offer thanks rather than ask a question.) If Donald or Paul have questions not answered below, I'd be glad to try to answer them.

Donald says, ". . . my reasons for standing up to Gov. Dean's reluctance to treating our community with dignity and respect, an action for which I was fired. I claim that firing as a badge of honor."

Donald is of course entitled to his view, but having spent a lot of time observing the Governor ever since he signed -- and then spent months stumping his state in a bulletproof vest promoting -- the nation's first civil unions bill, I have seen him consistently demonstrate nothing but a respect for and commitment to our community.

As for his "badge of honor," Donald frequently attacks the DNC, assuming it will not attack him back -- and he's right. But as someone who likes Donald and who shares his commitment to our community, I can nonetheless say that I do not share his sense of outrage over the way he was treated.

Am I sorry it didn't work out? Very.

Do I agree with his view of why it didn't work out? No.

"After Gov. Dean became Chair of the DNC, two LGBT political positions were abolished, and two finance positions were added, for a total now of four positions in Finance and zero in Political."

After Governor Dean became chair, ALL the constituency desks were "abolished" in favor of a different organization the Governor and his staff thought would be more effective. You can argue that the old system was better -- or not -- but you can't argue that our community was singled out. The African-American desk was "abolished," the "Hispanic desk" was abolished -- ALL the desks were "abolished."

Instead, you have now at the DNC the head of the Northeast political desk who happens to be gay, and the head of the DNC training program -- who, pivotally, interacts with hundreds of our field organizers every year -- who happens to be gay (and lets them know it!). And, yes, you have several finance staffers who happen to be gay (raising money IS a big part of what the DNC does), including Brian Bond, who has a sterling resume within our community, and who spends a lot of his time interacting with other LGBT leaders who I think would vouch for his good efforts.

Indeed, from a practical point of view, Brian brings our community clout that Donald -- through no fault of his own -- could not. That's because, as it happens, Brian gave the DNC's chief operating officer his very first job in politics. That is the kind of relationship and level of trust within the DNC that Donald can't be faulted for not having had -- but that is good news for our community.

Donald and Paul have both criticized the level of financial support the DNC put into fighting the anti-marriage amendments.

After eight years as DNC treasurer, I have pretty much given up on getting Paul's or Donald's support, much as I admire their passion and good intentions.

Indeed, Paul has called upon major LGBT donors to *withhold* financial support from the national Democratic Party committees.

He and I obviously disagree that this is the best way to advance the goal of LGBT equality, which we both share.

The DNC has worked hard ever since I've been soliciting funds to elect candidates who in almost every instance were FAR better on LGBT issues than their opponents.

(Of the 107 Senators and Congressfolk with perfect 100% ratings from HRC in this past Congress, 103 were Democrats and only four Republicans. Of the 156 who rated ZERO, 152 were Republicans. The difference could hardly be more stark.)

In 2006, our principal focus was on the effort to win back the House and Senate. That's where the bulk of the LGBT money went. I, for one, am pleased with the results. Not only are our newly-empowered leaders like Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Barney Frank far more fair-minded than their predecessors; our victory in the Senate may also have an impact on judicial appointments that last for decades.

The Senate victory was so close that I think it can be fairly said it might not have happened without support from the DNC that was made possible by LGBT dollars.

Of course, that is true of other communities' money and effort as well. But I think those of us in the LGBT community should feel very proud that we pitched in. And even leaving pride aside, it was simply in our selfish best interest to do so.

Donald is quite right that only a little DNC money was diverted in 2006 specifically to fight the anti-marriage amendments. But one reason for that is simply that the precious "federal" dollars the DNC raises (precious because contributions are limited by law) are not *required* to fund statewide efforts . . . whereas *only* federal dollars can be used to fund federal elections.

So it makes sense for someone like me to give his federal dollars to the DNC, expecting them to be used mainly for federal purposes, while giving non-federal dollars to non-federal groups to fight the anti-marriage initiatives.

On the non-monetary side of fighting the anti-marriage initiatives, we were able to do more in some states than others. But there's no question that GLLC director Brian Bond worked hard to be helpful. I don't think the same can be said of efforts over at the RNC.

As unfortunate as it is that things did not work out with Donald, there are important, historic battles to be joined and won for our equal rights. Widening our margin in Congress and winning the White House in 2008 will only help. That's what the DNC is working hard to do. Onward and upwards, guys.

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Hillary and September 11: Take Two

I wrote last week about how Senator Clinton had reportedly invoked September 11 in order to justify her vote for the Iraq war authorization.

"As a senator from New York, I lived through 9/11 and I am still dealing with the aftereffects," Clinton said. "I may have a slightly different take on this from some of the other people who will be coming through here.... I do think we are engaged in a war against heartless, ruthless enemies," she said. "If they could come after us again tomorrow they would do so."

At the time, I was a bit annoyed that the Senator was invoking 9/11 with regards to Iraq (a Bush/Cheney ploy), and also that Mrs. Clinton has some notion that September 11 affected her differently than it affected the rest of us.

Yes, for those who died that day, it was markedly worse than what the rest of us experienced. But having lived through that day anywhere in America, I think we were all equally freaked out. One can debate whether it was markedly more damaging psychologically for people near the Pentagon and World Trade Center (I'm not convinced), but as Mrs. Clinton wasn't near either location, the point is moot. (And in any case, it does a disservice to those killed and injured in the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania, and their families, to suggest that somehow it was worse dying in the Trade Center than dying at the Pentagon or in a field in Pennsylvania).

Well, it's increasingly looking like the 9/11 invocation wasn't just a slip of the tongue, as Democratic strategist James Carville is now using 9/11 as well to defend Hillary's war vote. Arianna has the rest. Read More......

New poll shows majority of Americans against sending more troops

USA Today/Gallup Poll:

Fifty-one percent of those polled said they favor congressional debate of a nonbinding resolution.

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they were irritated by the Senate's failure to act last week on an Iraq resolution, USA Today said.

An overwhelming majority of Americans, 63 percent, support congressional action to withdraw all U.S. troops by the end of next year and 57 percent back a cap on troop levels, according to the poll.

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Religious right hate-speech "expert" who attacked Senator Edwards told "gook joke" on TV

This is the man who just got a blogger "retired" from the Edwards campaign because he claimed the blogger used hate speech. This is the same man who calls gays "queers," and who said a short while back, on TV, that Christian-hating anal-sex-loving Jews control Hollywood. But of course you won't read any of that in the new stories about this man because, well, that would be relevant to a story about the man being an outspoken expert on hate speech. Read More......

When art imitates life

UPDATE: I emailed Mike Luckovich, the editorial cartoonist, to ask him about the coincidence, and he says there's no coincidence at all - he heard about the skeletons last week and that's what inspired the cartoon. So now you have a small window into how political cartoons come about. Kind of the same way blog posts come about - read the news :-)

We posted this cartoon yesterday:



Check out the Associated Press today:

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Kansas educators try to re-enter the 20th century

And since it's already the 21st century, they have a ways to go. I can't believe they're still debating evolution. The mullahs in Iran are debating evolution, not America. People who oppose evolution need to actually do some reading on it. It's not just a theory. And with all due respect to religious right Republicans (as a Christian myself), there is more proof for evolution than for the Great Flood. And it strikes me as odd that God wold try to stack the deck against us in terms of evidence for what really happened, because that would be a lie, and I have a hard time believing that God lies. Read More......

Action Alert: Tell corporate America to stop sponsoring hate

I wrote late last night about CNN host Glenn Beck's latest flirtation with intolerance. Now I'd like you to contact his sponsors.

After having suggested that Muslim-Americans are working with the terrorists, that the word "faggot" isn't really much of a slur, that women should be referred to by their weight, that he "hates" the families of the victims of September 11, that Hurricane Katrina victims are "scumbags," and oh so much more, Beck is now opining on the "whiteness" of Barack Obama.

You see, according to CNN's host, Senator Obama is so "colorless... he might as well be white."

Now, it's one thing to suggest that Obama is an African-American candidate who white Americans find comfortable, and I think that's true. But considering the source - a guy who has shown his intolerance to Muslim-Americans, gays, and women - these new comments about black people being white are troubling. Glenn Beck is not a guy who has devoted his life, or TV show, to trying to understand the nuances in multi-cultural America in a non-threatening, tolerant way.

Please go to Chris Achorn's blog, read Beck's comments for yourself, then use the information he provides to contact Beck's advertisers. And don't settle for the BS that Best Buy is claiming (and I'm sure others will as well), that they never "chose" to have their ads run on his show. Fine, then direct your ad buyer to tell CNN to never run your ads on his show again. It's quite simple, really.

More on Glenn Beck here. Read More......

In diplomacy, intent matters

Sane foreign policy officials and observers often support diplomacy and negotiation even in the face of apparently intractable problems. We negotiate with our allies, our adversaries, and even our enemies because the opportunity to solve problems by a combination of political carrots and sticks is very often better than the alternatives. Whereas diplomacy can benefit multiple sides, or at least allow for saving face, even winning a war frequently involves heavy costs. Finding a middle ground doesn't necessarily make you feel great -- as Calvin once said (the cartoon, of course, not the theologian), "A good compromise leaves everybody mad" -- but again, often better than the alternatives. Politics is the art of the possible.

But successful diplomacy requires good faith. Talking is not enough; a nation must have trust to be effective, and trust (or lack thereof) can be dependent on its leader or governing administration. Right now, other nations are, understandably, worried about ending up like poor Satchel here, in a classic strip of one of the greatest comics ever.

On a related note, I'm very curious to see the result of all this North Korea talk. Read More......

MoveOn's ad campaign blasts GOP Senators on Iraq vote

I've been out of town so hadn't seen the latest MoveOn ads. The ad below is running in the DC media market. They hammer the Republican Senators who are preventing a debate on Iraq. If they don't debate, Bush escalates. It's that simple. MoveOn calls them out -- they "don't have the courage to face a vote":
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"Skepticism" defines the reaction to the Bush Administration's intel on Iran

The White House put extra time in to developing the strategy for rolling out the "evidence" against Iran. From today's NY Times report, it's pretty clear that they worked extra hard trying to figure out who would say what, when and where. But, doesn't matter. At the core, it's a Bush team production -- and that automatically raises doubts:

Three weeks after promising it would show proof of Iranian meddling in Iraq, the Bush administration has laid out its evidence — and received in return a healthy dose of skepticism.

The response from Congressional and other critics speaks volumes about the current state of American credibility, four years after the intelligence controversy leading up to the Iraq war. To pre-empt accusations that the charges against Iran were politically motivated, the administration rejected the idea of a high-level presentation, relying instead on military and intelligence officers to make its case in a background briefing in Baghdad.

Even so, critics have been quick to voice doubts. Representative Silvestre Reyes of Texas, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, suggested that the White House was more interested in sending a message to Tehran than in backing up serious allegations with proof. And David Kay, who once led the hunt for illicit weapons in Iraq, said the grave situation in Iraq should have taught the Bush administration to put more of a premium on transparency when it comes to intelligence.

“If you want to avoid the perception that you’ve cooked the books, you come out and make the charges publicly,” Mr. Kay said.

The Bush Administration has no credibility. None. No one believes them.

Bush can mock those who say he wants war with Iran, which, in fact, he literally did yesterday on CNN. See it for yourself at Think Progress. He can mock his critics, but they're on to him. No one trusts Bush anymore. Read More......

Two Maryland hospitals lose personal data - 265,000 impacted

Johns Hopkins announced the loss of 135,000 records last week and today another Maryland hospital has announced the loss of 130,000 records that includes personal information dating back to at least the late 1980's. The most recent data loss was connected to a missing laptop and the Hopkins loss was connected to missing backup tapes.

What jumps out in this story is that the hospital was under no legal obligation to announce the loss. Something has to give and consumers deserve privacy protections. Instead of dumping this onto the consumers after the fact, the ownership of this constant problem should rest with those holding the data. Consumers have no ability to oversee how organizations handle this data and should not be constantly held at the mercy of incompetent organizations who show no interest or capabilities in protecting personal data. Read More......

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

So the House will debate Iraq this week. The resolution, H CON RES 63, is simple and to the point: Support the troops and oppose Bush's escalation. While the resolution itself is simple, its import can't be underestimated. This is the first time Congress has stood up to Bush. The GOP never did. It'll be interesting to see how many Republicans end up voting against Bush's war.

Start threading. Read More......

1.8 million records lost by the VA, again

Quite clearly the administration has zero interest in protecting the privacy of its citizens because it seemed like only yesterday that the Veterans Administration was in turmoil after losing 26.5 million records. The VA told everyone that there was nothing to worry about and that the data wasn't accessed. Most organizations might have learned a lesson from that experience and at least started with what many would consider being the first step in security, which is physical security, as in locking down the computer hardware so it is unable to walk away. Nope, not with this team. Jim Nicholson is probably about due for a medal by Bush since he knows how to ignore a problem as well as anyone.

The Department of Veterans Affairs began notifying 1.8 million veterans and doctors Monday that their personal and business information could be on a portable hard drive that has been missing from an Alabama hospital for nearly three weeks.

The hard drive may have contained numbers and other personal information from about 535,000 individuals and billing information on 1.3 million doctors nationwide, the VA said. That's more than 37 times more people than authorities initially believed were affected.

Note the words "may have contained." All too often, statements like that mean "most certainly contained personal information but we are hoping this will blow over and people will ignore the follow up story which will confirm the data loss." Read More......

CNN host, sponsored by Best Buy, says Obama is "colorless ... he might as well be white"

This is the same CNN host who said that Muslim-Americans need to prove they're not working with the terrorists, who used the word "faggot" on the air and suggested it wasn't much of a slur, and who earlier today referred to one of the female singers of the Dixie Chicks as "the fat one." What a surprise that in addition to his problems with Muslims, gays, and women, he's also insensitive to African-Americans. And CNN and ABC (where he also is a commenter) have no problem with that.

And to top it off, Best Buy sponsors this pig. As do Ford, Office Depot and Welchs. We are so posting phone numbers come Tuesday morning. More from Media Matters.
Hat tip to Chris Achorn. Read More......

Open thread

No snow yet in DC. Sigh. Read More......

Bush administration begins pass-the-buck game on who has the "evidence" that Iran is behind attacks in Iraq

This is just sad. From tomorrow's Washington Post:

Asked by reporters yesterday to provide more information on the charge, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "The Iranians are up to their eyeballs in this activity." He called the Baghdad presentation a "very strong circumstantial case," saying that he was "not going to try to embellish that briefing" and that "any reasonable person . . . would draw the same conclusions."

White House spokesman Tony Snow offered similar responses. "Let me put it this way," he said. "There's not a whole lot of freelancing in the Iranian government, especially when it comes to something like that."

Pressed repeatedly, Snow answered, "Look, the Department of Defense is doing this. What I'm telling you is, you guys want to get those questions answered, you need to go to the Pentagon."

A call to the Defense Intelligence Agency brought a referral to the main Pentagon press office. That office referred a caller to the Washington office of the Multi-National Force-Iraq, which responded with an e-mailed copy of Sunday's briefing slides -- containing no mention of the "highest levels" allegation and a request for questions in writing. Written questions brought no response. An official from the Pentagon Joint Staff said last night that Pace had seen the briefing slides but had "no personal knowledge of any senior involvement by senior Iranian officials."

So, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs says he's seen no evidence, and everybody else says the evidence exists but the other guy has it. A wise man once said:

Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.

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John McCain fears Americans may turn against Iraq war, while polls show 62% of Americans already have turned

What world does John McCain live in? He's worried that Americans "may" turn against the Iraq war? From AP:

"By the way, a lot of us are also very concerned about the possibility of a, quote, 'Tet Offensive.' You know, some large-scale tact that could then switch American public opinion the way that the Tet Offensive did," the Arizona senator said.

Last month, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that 62 percent said the United States made a mistake in going to war in Iraq.

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Bush, YET AGAIN, has failed to give the troops the armor they need - this time to stop the supposed Irani explosives

We learn in today's Washington Post that the reason those supposed "Irani explosives" are causing so much damage is, in part, because Bush has, yet again, failed to get our troops the armor they need for their vehicles. And the armor won't be there until at least July, well into the "surge." So the reason our troops are dying is because of Republican malfeasance, again.

Now who's empowering Al Qaeda and demoralizing the troops? Read More......

Top US military officer, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Pace, says he's not convinced Iran govt sending weapons to Iraqi insurgents

Yep. The White House and the Pentagon (the folks working under Pace) lied to the media again, and the Washington Post and the New York Times fell for it, again.

From the Voice of America, via ThinkProgress.

The top American military officer, General Peter Pace, declined Monday to endorse the conclusions of U.S. military officers in Baghdad, who told reporters on Sunday that the Iranian government is providing high-powered roadside bombs to insurgents in Iraq. General Pace made his comments during a visit to Australia, and VOA's Al Pessin reports from Canberra.

General Pace said he was not aware of the Baghdad briefing, and that he could not, from his own knowledge, repeat the assertion made there that the elite Quds brigade of Iran's Republican Guard force is providing bomb-making kits to Iraqi Shiite insurgents.

"We know that the explosively formed projectiles are manufactured in Iran. What I would not say is that the Iranian government, per se [specifically], knows about this," he said. "It is clear that Iranians are involved, and it's clear that materials from Iran are involved, but I would not say by what I know that the Iranian government clearly knows or is complicit."

Let me also add that Pace is doing a rather courageous thing here, finally standing up for the truth. It's a skill that military leaders have lost over the past six years, and it's nice to finally see someone with the backbone and ethics to refuse to lie about yet another war. Let's hope this isn't the last time. Read More......

We've added a few updates to the site, including news links

I've added a few updates to the site that you might find useful.

1. News links

In the bottom of the left-hand column you'll see that I've added a number of links to good news sources, both foreign and domestic. These include political cartoonists and columnists, in addition to newspapers, magazines, and the like.

2. GLBT RSS Feeds

In addition to our standard RSS feed, which includes every post we write on AMERICAblog, I've also set up, on a trial basis, a GLBT RSS Feed which only streams the gay and lesbian content. I'm just trying this as a test to see if issue-specific RSS Feeds might interest folks.

As for what the heck an RSS feed is, it's basically a way to have the new content on a Web site (or blog) sent to you, so you don't have to come to it.

For example, I have a "My Yahoo" page set up, basically a home page on which I can put lots of stuff that interests me, tailored to my interests - including the weather in various cities, air fares for certain destinations, my retirement portfolio, and the latest news and blog updates from various sources which I've chosen to put on the page. The latest news and blog updates come from the RSS Feeds of those news sites and blogs that I've selected to include (and for all I know, the other content I have on the page, weather etc., may also come from RSS). I've taken a screen capture of the news and blog updates that I receive, here it is:

(click image to see larger version)

RSS feeds are a really nice to way to keep up to speed with the content on various blogs/sites, without having to jump around all day on those sites. You can have all of your favorite sites on the same page, and then when you see a blog post you like you can click to read that specific post.

If you have a question about how this works, post it in the comments, I suspect someone will help you understand this better than I can explain.

3. CafePress ads

You may have noticed some odd-looking graphics in the right hand column and at the bottom of the page, including political puns, etc. They're actually ads for political products over at CafePress. Most of the products should be "liberal" in nature, but sometimes an occasional conservative one pops in (it's the software, it's a bit buggy). If you click on the ads and buy any of the merchandise, AMERICAblog gets a cut.

4. Political donations for 2008

I've set up a page on ActBlue where you can safely and securely donate money to your favorite 2008 presidential candidate.

5. AMERICAblog on facebook

I've set up an AMERICAblog community on the popular social networking site "facebook." We already have over 300 people who have joined the group (but those bastards at ThinkProgress have a larger group, help us beat them :-). Feel free to check it out here.

6. SpamArrest

I've had the link up for a while, but will reiterate - it's the spam filtering service I've been using for a few years now. It rocks. I highly recommend it. And if you buy the service via this link, we get a cut. (FYI, I'm paying for the service myself, I just happen to love it.)

7. Classified text ads

Remember, we offer one-week classified text ads, located towards the bottom of the left-column below the news links, to small poor bloggers and/or small organizations or small small small businesses (and I'm mean SMALL, we're talking a person running a hobby from their living room small) for 75 bucks a pop. You can only buy the ad for one week - they're so cheap, I don't want someone monopolizing the space by buying a month or two. And yes, the placement isn't prime, but that's what you get for 75 bucks on a site that often gets 100,000 visitors a day (in the past, the number of click throughs has not been bad at all). You can order them here, and be aware that we'll probably only run 3 to 5 ads at a time, so if you're ad number six to come in, you'll have to wait until the first group of ads finishes, so we don't have 50 ads up at once.

8. Flash and RSS Ads

And finally, we're now offering both RSS and Flash ads in our blogads space in the left-hand column of the blog. You can see an example of a flash ad in the John Kerry ad we just posted today. This ad is pretty cool, and it shows the kind of innovative things a smart advertiser can do - in the case of Kerry's ad, you can enter all of your data IN THE AD, and the click submit, AND you can see real-time how many people have already joined his effort. It's pretty cool.

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I laughed out loud

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White House: Energy conservation is dumb, build more corporate toll roads

I know that this administration isn't very keen on reading history and they prefer acting as though we are living in a distant era, but building more roads in cities does not alleviate traffic but only encourages it. Add to that the damage to neighborhoods, the ugliness and of course, the additional opportunity to pollute they bring. Robert Moses figured out in the 30's and 40's that building roads does not help traffic and built a political empire based on toll roads, all while telling people how much better roads were compared to public transportation.

Considering the past six years of insider deals, no-bid contracts, incompetence and mismanagement, one has to be suspicious towards the suggestion of building toll roads by this administration. It always seems to be a game of "follow the money" with this crowd, so who are their friends who might benefit with such programs? With the GOP spending history and their love of corporate welfare on the back of the middle class, it might be a better idea to just take a pass on this.

What's so difficult about conservation and why does this crowd hate it so much? Read More......

Novakula testifies in Libby/Plame trial

And he fingers Rove and Armitage. Up to date reporting from Editor & Publisher, and FireDogLake. Read More......

FBI laptops with highly sensitive data missing

Who is in charge?

The FBI lost 160 laptop computers in less than four years, including at least 10 that contained highly sensitive classified information and one that held "personal identifying information on FBI personnel," according to a new report released today.

The bureau, which has struggled for years to get a handle on sloppy inventory procedures, also reported 160 missing weapons during the same time period, from February 2002 to September 2005, according to the report by the Justice Department inspector general's office.

In addition to the 10 or more laptops that were confirmed to contain classified information, the FBI could not say whether another 51 computers might also contain secret data, the report said. Seven were assigned to the counterintelligence or counterterrorism divisions, which routinely handle classified information.

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Bush top spokesman Ari Fleischer leaked Plame's CIA identity as well

That means this wasn't just a rogue operation out of the Vice President's office, it also was an operation involving the President's office. And if Ari Fleischer, George Bush's top spokesman, was involved, and had to seek immunity in order to testify, then something else much bigger may be going on here.

More from the NY Daily News:

It’s finally becoming clear why ex-White House mouthpiece Ari Fleischer took the fifth and had to be granted immunity from prosecution in the case: Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus testified that Fleischer leaked the identity of ex-CIA spook Valerie Plame in a July 12, 2003, phone call.

“It was Ari Fleischer,” Pincus testified as the first witness called by the defense. Pincus recalled that Fleischer wondered in that phone call why Pincus was writing about Plame’s husband former Ambassador Joe Wilson: “Don’t you know his wife works for the CIA as an analyst?” barked Fleischer.

Not to mention, we now have Scooter Libby (the chief of staff to the vice president), Karl Rove (the White House's most powerful and senior political operative), and Ari Fleischer (the White Houses's top spokesman) all involved in leaking Plame's identity. Just coincidence that the three most powerful guys in the White House were all involved? Uh huh. Read More......