Going on CNN tomorrow morning to discuss the ABC debate

Should be fun, Howie Kurtz's "Reliable Sources," maybe at 10AM Eastern, maybe later (Pope stuff is messing with the schedule tomorrow morning). My friend Jim Geraghty from National Review Online is going to be on with me. Jim liked the ABC debate. Of course, I too would have enjoyed a debate in which we spent the first hour talking about John McCain's adultery and his wife's drug addiction, so I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder. Read More......

EU to ditch biofuel targets

Interesting strategy...food for people instead of the gas tank. What a bunch of strange people in Europe with really crazy ideas. Shouldn't food be kept for corporate profits and those who can afford it? Let the poor eat, well, something else. That's what Bush the GOP are suggesting and since when have they ever been wrong? Read More......

More bad news in banking, which means great news

To be honest, it doesn't make any sense to me either. Last week a string of big financials including Washington Mutual, Merrill Lynch, UBS and JP Morgan all choked and announced that they were hitting the streets yet again, begging for more cash. Just a week prior to this news, executives were pooh-poohing any rumors of begging for cash yet it happened for the second time in just a few months. Now Royal Bank of Scotland is set to do the same and somehow the market sees this as a good thing. Really? Do tell, because taking hat in hand for billions plus chopping staff over and over and over strikes me as a very bad sign.

I'd like to be wrong on this but when markets react in a way that makes no sense this often means common sense is about to strike. Analysts typically see a second bottoming out in any recession and to date we have only experienced one hard fall and it's difficult to argue against the US being in a recession. Don't believe the Wall Street hype because the US will not be out of the woods until 2009, at the earliest. Read More......

Airlines blame FAA for all of their problems

Someone really needs to tell the US airline industry to stick it. They consistently offer some of the worst service in the world, throw charges on to the customer at every corner, pay management excessive salaries for terrible products, jam customers in to smaller and smaller spaces, receive billions in taxpayer handouts yet it's never enough. Now it's the fault of the FAA for insisting that the US airline industry actually maintains their planes properly instead of providing the maintenance quality usually expected in the developing world. Sorry that Congress is forcing the FAA to finally step up and demand improvements, but if the airline industry doesn't like it, get out of business.

For anyone that flies on a regular basis, do we really want the airline industry telling us what level of maintenance is enough? This is an industry that is struggling with high fuel costs and cutting corners. Maybe others are comfortable with this overpaid bunch of executives calling the shots with safety but considering how well self-regulation has worked in the past across multiple industries, thanks but no thanks. They can go Cheney themselves. Read More......

At Clinton HQ, they're making a list... checking it twice.

Another reason Hillary Clinton is losing may be explained in tomorrow's NY Times. The Clinton campaign seems to spend a lot of time figuring out which disloyal Democrats to hate -- and to what degree they should hate them. The Clinton campaign is on life support and they are busy making an enemies list.

Last year, word was that Team Clinton basically went around to donors and others with a clear message, which I'll paraphrase here:

Get on the bus, NOW. If you don't get on the bus, NOW, you will never get on the bus. This is the winning bus and we're going to remember who didn't get on early because when you try to get on, there won't be any seats left.

Despite the warnings, a lot of people took a different bus.

It does sound like the crew at the Clinton HQ puts a lot of time into tracking who, in their minds, has screwed them over. John Kerry is currently at the top of the hate list (a top Clinton supporter says Kerry is now "dead" to the Clintons):

Mr. Kerry, his top aides and family members have received varying degrees of tongue-lashing from Clinton surrogates, chiefly two top fund-raisers — John Coale and Peter Maroney — with previous close ties to Mr. Kerry.

(Quick aside: Mr. Coale is married to Greta Van Susteren from FOX News. Oh, and for what it's worth, they're both Scientologists.)

Now, I'm just saying that it might have behooved the staffers, fundraisers and consultants associated with Team Clinton to put some time into being decent to those who could have helped them. However, Team Clinton took a different approach -- and look where it got them. The arrogance of that campaign, and the sense of entitlement, permeated everything they did. John and I learned first-hand that if you weren't 100% with them every step of the way, even if you went far out of your way to help them on numerous occasions, you were persona non grata - not needed. Not that we ever wanted to be needed by Team Clinton, but we saw how they treated people who ever strayed from the reservation. And we weren't the only ones to experience the special charm that is Team Clinton. Lots of political types -- and reporters -- we've spoken to have similar stories of how they too were mistreated by the campaign. It's a window into the character of the campaign, and its leader - and it isn't pretty.

This arrogance and vindictiveness of the Clintons is important to understand. It helps explain why Hillary won't get out of the race even though she can't win it. The world revolves around Hillary and Bill. They're willing to destroy anyone who gets in their way. And if the majority of the Democratic voters, the majority of the states, and the majority of the delegates get in their way, then they'll be on the top of the list. Right after John Kerry. Read More......

Hillary again criticizes Obama, refuses to criticize McCain

Wouldn't it be neat to have a presidential candidate who thought it was a good idea to criticize Republicans and a bad idea to criticize Democrats? Read More......

China refuses to guarantee free press during Olympics

Nothing captures the Olympic spirit like controlling the press. Fortunately the American media is familiar with this routine, having given up their authority and independence to the Bush administration after 9/11 so this will be an easy process for them. Nobody, but nobody can provide government boot-licking like the US media. I'm smelling a few touching human interest stories about Hu Jintao and his love of puppy dogs and injured kittens. There is no low low enough for the American media when money is involved. Hooray for freedom and democracy! Hooray for GE, Nike and Coke! Read More......

Would someone please ask Howard Wolfson what he's talking about?

The Clinton campaign, for months now, has pushed this seemingly true, but logically flawed, notion that if Obama loses big states like Pennsylvania to Hillary, then that means he "can't win" big states, aka can't win big states against McCain in the fall. Here is what top Clinton advisers Wolfson had to say, again, yesterday:

"If Sen. Obama can't win in Pennsylvania, it will be another sign he's unable to win in large states Democrats need to win in a general election," says Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson.

On its face you go, wow, he's right. I mean, if Obama can't win Pennsylvania then we're screwed in the fall - that's a lot of electoral votes for McCain. The only problem in Wolfson's logic, and he knows it, is that while Obama is expected to lose Pennsylvania to Hillary in the Democratic primary next Tuesday, that has nothing to do with the results of Obama vs. McCain in the general election. Yes, Hillary's people are lying to you, yet again. Let me walk you through the logic with an example.

1. I have a choice between brownies and cookies for dessert. I choose brownies. Wolfson is trying to tell me that this means I hate cookies, that I'll never choose cookies in the future, and even if I have a choice between cookies and broccoli for dessert in the fall, I'll choose broccoli then because I didn't choose cookies today.

You see, Wolfson is making a common error that's understandable coming from the Hillary campaign. Most Democrats are not going to help John McCain become president out of spite simply because Hillary didn't win the Democratic nomination. In the real world, Democrats support their party and their nominee - they don't take their toys and go home just because their first choice in the primary didn't win. Read More......

Younger than McCain

A cute new video. You'll have to scroll down to find it, once you click. (Actually, easier to see it here on YouTube.) Read More......

China protests protests

Can yellow ribbons, lapel pins with the red flag and freedom fries be far away? While China and some in the West complain about unfair anti-China sentiment they always overlook the human rights issue and say "well what about the US and human rights?" Sure, it's an issue and yes, they ought to take notice that many Americans were and continue to be outspoken against US human rights abuses. They might also take note that when the US invaded Iraq and Bush's approval rating was still high, the rest of the world all criticized the US and rightly so. Was the world wrong to criticize the US? Absolutely.

Going back in history, British factory workers refused to work with American cotton from the south because they felt a moral obligation to rid the world of slavery. The issue of slavery was indeed an "internal issue" as China says of Tibet but it was also a moral issue for the world. During the apartheid years, the rest of the world viewed apartheid as morally repugnant and led boycotts against the former regime. Again, according to China that was an internal issue. The communist regime in Beijing needs to catch up with the rest of the world and show some flexibility if they want to be taken seriously. It's no skin off of my back if business abandons China and it's likely many Western businesses are looking at Plan B at the moment so go ahead and protest. Burn down more foreign businsses and attack more Western countries. Good luck with that strategy and let us know how it works out. Read More......

Dear Hillary: What happens if you do win?

I'm no strategist, but it seems that if you're aiming for the Democratic nomination, offending MoveOn and the Netroots is a first class disaster.

I mean, if by some chance you beat Obama, you're going to want MoveOn and the Netroots to help you beat McCain, right? Especially after you've already admitted that they're some of the biggest fundraisers the party's got.

And then there's the youth vote. Let's say you beat Obama, and they're a little angry. The Netroots could be great help in winning them back.

The "activist base" might have been willing to come around in time. They might have been willing to support you for the good of the party.

I'm guessing now...not so much. Read More......

35,000 at rally for Obama in Philly

Wow. There's a lot of buzz about a huge rally in Philadelphia for Obama last night. HUGE:

WITH JUST days to go before the Pennsylvania primary, Sen. Barack Obama last night appeared before thousands of roaring supporters in Independence Mall, and pledged to "declare independence" from Washington politics.

"In four days, you get the chance to help bring about the change that we need right now, Philadelphia," Obama said. "Here in the city and the state that gave birth to our democracy, we can declare our independence from the politics that has shut us out, let us down, and told us to settle."

In his first public Philadelphia appearance, Obama stood on stage before the Independence Visitor Center, addressing a rapturous crowd of roughly 35,000 that stretched all the way to Independence Hall. His warm up acts included will.i.am, lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas.

That has to be one of the biggest political events ever during a primary. Imagine what the general election will be like.

Rooting around this morning, there is excellent first-hand coverage at a recommended post on DailyKos by Sphexus, with lots of pictures and video -- including video of a spontaneous march by thousands of Obama supporters through downtown Philadelphia after the event.

You can probably add these 35,000 people to the list that Hillary doesn't like and doesn't agree with. Read More......

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

It is a beautiful day in D.C. Spring is here -- and the pollen is in the air and everywhere.

Check out this week's poem of the week, This is Just to Say, by William Carlos Williams. According to the poet blogger behind the poem of the week blog, "The poem is exactly what it claims to be. Its power stems from its images, clarity of language, and the 'energy' Williams creates using line breaks."

One other thing. I'm not linking to any more Zogby polls. First, Zogby has been amazingly unreliable for the past couple years. But, there's another, more important reason that says a lot about Zogby's cred right now. Earlier this year, Zogby teamed up with Reuters on its polls. Now, Zogby is doing polls with the right-wing wackos at NewsMax. com. Yes, NewsMax.com. Check out the Shop at NewsMax.com. NewsMax isnt' a real news site. It's a right-wing propaganda site -- and Zogby has sunk to a new low.

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

Gelato!

This gelato is from a charming little shop in the town of Menton, France which is sort of like Florida for the French. It's the last town before the border with Italy and used to be part of Italy a hundred plus years ago so there are always quite a few Italians in town. Lots of tasty Franco-Italian food in the area and of course, gelato. Read More......

South Africans block Chinese weapons shipment to Zimbabwe

South African dock workers refused to unload the delivery for the desperate Robert Mugabe and the South African courts backed up the dock workers. The Chinese ship has since left Durban, South Africa and rumored to be heading for Mozambique. The shipment may unload in Mozambique (if dock workers again refuse) though it's a poor government so they may end up allowing passage. The problem there is that after decades of war, roads in Mozambique are difficult and drop off quickly outside of the city. Will the Chinese weapons make it in time to be distributed to Mugabe's thugs before his government folds or will the Chinese weapons be used to kill even more people? Read More......

Hillary says Obama can't take the heat, she's got him on the run now! Exclusive Video!

Hillary says Obama just can't stand the heat. The fact that Obama has won more delegates, states and votes than Hillary is clearly taking its toll on the man who wrapped up the Democratic nomination over two months ago. Hillary has him by the, uh, ankles, and she knows it! Huffington Post has again scooped the world by uncovering this secretly taped video of Hillary earlier today (dressed in black) challenging Obama to fight like a man, while the Democratic frontrunner runs away like the MoveOn-loving coward he really is. Read More......

Where are Cindy's McCain's tax returns? And why is the McCain campaign lying?

The McCain campaign refused to release Cindy McCain's tax returns today:

McCain released his tax returns today. They include 2006 and 2007 and nothing previously. In addition, no returns or summaries are included for wife Cindy McCain, who heads a privately held beer distribution company.

This is an issue because she's the one with all the dough in that family, although the McCain campaign today tried to deny Cindy's financial role in John's life (from the same MSNBC article linked above):

Note About Mrs. McCain's Financial Information:

Since the beginning of their marriage, Senator McCain and Mrs. McCain have always maintained separate finances. As required by federal law and Senate rules, Mrs. McCain has released significant and extensive financial information through Senate and Presidential disclosure forms. In the interest of protecting the privacy of her children, Mrs. McCain will not be releasing her personal tax returns.

Note About Hensley & Company:

In her role as Chairman of Hensley & Company, a privately-held business founded by her parents, Mrs. McCain's main areas of responsibility focus on strategic planning and corporate vision. Having served the greater Phoenix area since 1955, Hensley & Company is widely respected as an exemplary corporate citizen, and makes significant charitable contributions of its own.

Now, that conflicts with the detailed Associated Press reported earlier this month:

The McCains' marriage has mixed business and politics from the beginning, according to an expansive review by The Associated Press of thousands of pages of campaign, personal finance, real estate and property records nationwide. The paperwork chronicles the McCains' ascent from Arizona newlyweds to political power couple on the national stage.

As heiress to her father's stake in Hensley & Co. of Phoenix, Cindy McCain is an executive whose worth may exceed $100 million. Her beer earnings have afforded the GOP presidential nominee a wealthy lifestyle with a private jet and vacation homes at his disposal, and her connections helped him launch his political career -- even if the millions remain in her name alone. Yet the arm's-length distance between McCain and his wife's assets also has helped shield him from conflict-of-interest problems.

Nearly 30 years before John McCain became the Republican presidential nominee, he worked in public relations at his wife's family company.

Within a few years of marrying Cindy Hensley, the daughter of a multimillionaire Anheuser-Busch distributor, John McCain won his first election. He was new to Arizona politics and fundraising in the 1982 House race, and his campaign quickly fell into debt. Personal money -- tens of thousands of dollars in loans to his campaign from McCain bank accounts -- helped him survive.

Anheuser-Busch's political action committee was among McCain's earliest donors. Cindy McCain's father, James Hensley, and other Hensley & Co. executives gave so much the Federal Election Commission ordered McCain to give some of it back. McCain's campaign used Hensley office equipment such as computers and copiers, and Cindy McCain personally paid some of the campaign's bills.

The campaign gradually reimbursed Hensley for use of its equipment and Cindy McCain for her expenses. The loans -- described initially by John McCain as coming from him and his wife -- caught the eye of the FEC, which repeatedly questioned him about them; spouses are held to the same donation limits as everyone else.

McCain told the FEC the loaned money came from his share of joint accounts. At the time, McCain reported drawing a $25,067 salary and $25,000 bonus working for Hensley in public relations and receiving a Navy pension of $11,038 a year; his 1982 financial disclosure report showed bank interest but didn't say how much the bank accounts held.

McCain's campaign debt grew to about $177,000 by the end of 1982. His 1984 House campaign repaid just under half the loans. McCain forgave about $93,000 in loans, a sizable personal donation to his inaugural campaign.

Sounds like the AP reporter found documentation that the McCains actually haven't always maintained separate finances -- despite the campaign's claim to the contrary. Someone is lying.

Surely, George Stephanopoulos is going to grill McCain about Cindy McCain's tax returns now that the McCain campaign won't release them. With assistance from the traditional media, then RNC Chair Ed Gillespie made the spouse's tax forms an issue in 2004 for John Kerry. Surely, the same standard applies in '08. Read More......

More Less-Than-Exceptional Acceptable Journalism

Unless some new shocking revelation turns up, I think this is the last I'm going to say about Wednesday night's debacle. But the powers-that-be thought a post I wrote earlier today on my personal site might be of interest here too.

Now that the initial anger has subsided, bloggers and blog readers are taking a closer look at the bit players in Wednesday night's debate. Specifically flag pin lady Nash McCabe. Josh and a reader point out just how un-random this woman actually was:

It turns out McCabe was featured in an April 4th story in the Times which begins like this ...

Ask whom she might vote for in the coming presidential primary election and Nash McCabe, 52, seems almost relieved to be able to unpack the dossier she has been collecting in her head.

It is not about whom she likes, but more a bill of particulars about why she cannot vote for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

"How can I vote for a president who won't wear a flag pin?" Mrs. McCabe, a recently unemployed clerk typist, said in a booth at the Valley Dairy luncheonette in this quiet, small city in western Pennsylvania.

Josh's got more about why he thinks including McCabe was an ethical breach on ABC's part:

Now, as JL noted in his email to TPM, I'm not sure precisely what's any less ethical about finding Nash at random to come on and slam Obama about whether he believes in the flag versus seeing her in the Times and saying, 'Wow, this woman clearly has it in for Obama. Wouldn't that make for great TV giving her a chance to crap on Obama's head in front of a nationwide audience?

I think there's something wrong with it. And part of it is that you usually assume that these citizen questions come from people who are at least partly conflicted about their support if not undecided. But it does reinforce my sense that the disgraceful nature of the debate wasn't just something that came together wrong, some iffy ideas taken to far, but was basically engineered to be crap from the ground up.

Besides giving the impression they planned to stack the debate, here's what else is wrong with what ABC did:

1. They went into their debate prep with a preconceived notion of the topics they wanted to push to the forefront as opposed to taking the pulse of the electorate and prioritizing.

2. They took the lazy way out and copped a source from the NYT. How many registered voters are there in PA? How hard is it to do your own legwork and find someone to talk about the issues that matter to him/her?

and perhaps the most egregious of the errors...

3. They gave Nash McCabe and her stupid question an audience of 10+ million on prime time TV. ABC legitimized the dumb dumb dumb lapel pin discussion by default. If you couldn't find anyone but the exact same lady quoted by the NYT, then maybe that would have been a good indication that skipping the topic altogether was the way to go.

Bad lazy sloppy embarrassing journalism. Read More......

BREAKING: Secretly recorded tape reveals Hillary blasting MoveOn & Democratic activists

The Huffington Post has uncovered a tape of Hillary telling some fundraisers at a private meeting that she hates the Netroots and Democratic activists, especially MoveOn. Ironically, it was also the Huffington Post that revealed Obama's private meeting with fundraisers that led to the entire "bitter" debacle.

(Funny, Hillary spoke to MoveOn just last year, and praised their work (listen to the audio, it's good). She "personally welcomes" MoveOn's work and says "I am grateful for your work." And let's not forget why and how MoveOn started. They wanted Congress to MoveOn from impeaching Bill Clinton over Monica Lewinksy. This is yet another example of the Clinton's throwing a key ally, a key defender, under the bus when it's expedient.)

You see, MoveOn and the rest of the Netroots is made up of people who aren't very American or patriotic. They didn't even support the war in Afghanistan, Hillary claims, so these are the kind of people she has to deal with. They're also the reason that Hillary didn't win the caucuses, because of those crazy MoveOn people - I hear they would even threaten Hillary's poor caucus-going supporters. And what's more, those MoveOn people raised a ton of money for Obama, Hillary claims, so in reality, Obama didn't raise that much money from real Americans. So Hillary's entire argument, as always, is that everyone really loves her, nobody really likes Obama, but somehow the system is screwing her and making it look like she's losing, when she's really not. She's winning. Sure, she's not winning in delegates, or popular vote, or number of states won, or in donations, but she's winning in the area that really matters: Excuses.

Here is what Hillary had to say:

"Moveon.org endorsed [Sen. Barack Obama] -- which is like a gusher of money that never seems to slow down," Clinton said to a meeting of donors. "We have been less successful in caucuses because it brings out the activist base of the Democratic Party. MoveOn didn't even want us to go into Afghanistan. I mean, that's what we're dealing with. And you know they turn out in great numbers. And they are very driven by their view of our positions, and It's primarily national security and foreign policy that drives them. I don't agree with them. They know I don't agree with them. So they flood into these caucuses and dominate them and really intimidate people who actually show up to support me."

Oh, and guess what? Hillary lied. MoveOn's Executive Director Eli Pariser just gave the following statement to the Huffington Post:

"Senator Clinton has her facts wrong again. MoveOn never opposed the war in Afghanistan, and we set the record straight years ago when Karl Rove made the same claim.

The larger irony is that Obama never did a lot of outreach to the Netroots. His outreach was actually the worst of any of the big campaigns (Edwards was the best, and Hillary's was still better than Obama's, which didn't really exist at all). Yet, somehow, the Netroots still ended up supporting Obama over Hillary, even though they didn't know his people, but they sure knew hers. Just food for thought.

It's funny. Hillary was a big fan of the online grassroots (or Netroots, as we call it) when ABC was defaming her husband in its fictional account of September 11, "The Path to 9/11." At that time, we led a ferocious counterattack that put ABC in its place by exposing the serious errors in ABC's bizarrely inaccurate account of that day's fateful events. The Clintons didn't seem to have much of a problem with the Netroots when we came to their rescue. But now that we're defending Obama against the same biased attacks from ABC, Hillary dismisses us with a wave of her regal palm.

To paraphrase Rev. Martin Niemöller, Hillary has embraced so many right-wing talking points in her campaign, and bashed so many core Democratic constituencies (blacks, gays, gun control advocates, and now the Netroots), that pretty soon she'll have no more Democrats left to blame. Nor will she have any Democrats left to support what has become a truly pathetic caricature of what was once a great Democratic family. Read More......

Oil hits new high, Dow burst with excitement

A warm welcome to yet another record high with oil prices. I'd say it's safe to say that the $115 support level has been thoroughly tested and it folded faster than Iraqi troops in Basra. Oil closed at $116.79, with $120 looking like an easy target. See what happens when you let industry choose the energy policy of a country?

There is something so wrong about the recent surge from the Dow which celebrated 9,000 job cuts from Citi just after 3,000 from Merrill Lynch. Strange days, though strange days tend to meet reality sooner or later. I'm thinking sooner. Read More......

Huff Post: "Hillary slams Democratic activists"

Developing story over at the Huffington Post. I hear you won't be pleased when you find out what she said. Stay tuned... Read More......

Hillary's donors are on the attack again

Last month, Hillary's fundraisers attacked Nancy Pelosi.

Today, they are on the attack again. This time the target is Howard Dean.

Don't these rich people have better things to do? Just a suggestion, but it might be a wiser use of their time to raise the money to pay off Hillary's debts, which were $8.7 million at the end of February -- and also start paying some of the small business owners who have been getting stiffed by the Clinton campaign.

NOTE FROM JOHN: Well, that didn't take long. You'll recall that I predicted the following less than 24 hours ago:

Get ready for the Hillary donors to once again threaten to destroy our majority in the Congress, and help John McCain become president, if Hillary's divine right of kings isn't honored.

Read More......

National Defense Institute: Iraq is "an incubator for terrorism"

DKos reports that the National Defense Institute has just come out with a paper on the Iraq war, calling it "a major debacle," "an incubator for terrorism," and then blasting Condi Rice and Stephen Hadley, among others. This would be the war that John McCain says is going really well. Read More......

Ignoring the 800 pound question in the room

ABC's George Stephanopoulos in today's Washington Post, defending his handling of the Democratic presidential debate earlier this week:

"You can't do a tougher question for Senator Clinton than 'six out of 10 Americans don't think you're honest.' "

Oh please. How about any question that starts with the words "Monica Lewinksy."

The fact is that ABC thought it would be rude and boorish to ask anything about Monica or Bill Clinton's affairs, even though we will most certainly be hearing about them in the fall should Hillary be the nominee. (And after all, isn't that ABC's standard for smut? If it's going to come up in the fall, we'll ask it first!) And it didn't have to be a sex question for Hillary, it could have been a character question.

For example... I spoke a short while back with a women's rights leader about Hillary, and asked her why she was upset with Hillary for not leaving Bill Clinton. I argued - believe it or not - that Hillary was right to get some return on her investment in this marriage in order to finally help her career too. The women's leader responded: "Your self-respect is more important than a job." That's the kind of Monica question ABC could have asked Hillary, one that would have been relevant to her character. But they didn't.

ABC went there with Obama - I mean, come on, asking him if his pastor loves America? - but ABC didn't go there with Hillary. I'm not sure going there with both candidates would have made anyone happier, but please don't insult our intelligence and suggest that there were no harsher questions you could have asked Hillary. ABC decided to make no topic untouchable in Obama's life. But they did in Hillary's. Read More......

WWII vets ticked at Mrs. Cheney for abusing Iwo Jima symbol

Iwo Jima vets are just LIVID with the vice president's wife, Lynne Cheney, for using the symbol of the Iwo Jima memorial to sell her children's book, America: A Patriotic Primer. Here's Cheney's cover:



Wow. Imagine taking the image of the Iwo Jima memorial and using it for your own purposes as a cover to a publication. Man, that Mrs. Cheney is an evil one. No wonder the vets groups are so upset with her. Oh, wait a minute. Mrs. Cheney's use of the memorial is fine, it's TIME magazine's use of the memorial as a cover for a publication that isn't fine with the vets groups because, uh, you know, Mrs. Cheney's book uses Arial font and TIME uses, um, Garamond? I mean, duh.



In all fairness to the vets, I'm sure they didn't know that Mrs. Cheney also absconded with their sacred symbol of untouchable patriotism and uber-manliness, so we should be hearing them excoriating Mrs. Cheney any time now. (Hat tip to ABlog reader Robert for finding the Cheney book cover.) Read More......

Cliff's Corner

4/18/08

Another week, more preposterousness to report.

Many have already pored over the ins and outs of a Democratic debate tailor-made for "Enquiring minds" earlier this week on ABC. Well guess who just happens to be coming to dinner...or This Week, this weekend?

Why none other than John McCain!

So in the spirit of seeing how all the candidates deal with "scandal," or just being queried about everyone they have associated with since that 6th grade teacher who crossed the street against a red light (do you denounce her Senator Obama? Denounce and reject her!?! Or perhaps just reject?), here are some questions that John McCain should be asked on your show this weekend, Mr. Stephanopoulos (sorry, old habit from when I had you as a professor at Columbia).

First a great list I came across, and then a few of my own I found in my research for my book The Real McCain. This list is from Perrspectives, a fantastic compilation, in my always humble opinion:

1. Do you agree with Pastor John Hagee that war with Iran is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy?
In February, you shared a stage with Pastor John Hagee and said you were "very proud" to have his endorsement. You also called the Reverend Rod Parsley, a man who said of Islam "America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed", your "spiritual guide." Do you believe America's mission is to destroy Islam? Do you join Pastor Hagee in believing the United States must attack Iran to fulfill the biblical prophecy of Armageddon in Israel in which 144,000 Jews will be converted to Christianity and the rest killed? Is that why you joked about "bomb bomb Iran?" If not, why will you not renounce the support of Hagee and Parsley?

2. Doesn't your legendary temper make you too dangerous to be trusted with the presidency of the United States?Your anger, even toward friends and allies, is legendary. You purportedly dropped the F-Bomb on your own GOP colleagues John Cornyn and Chuck Grassley. In the book, The Real McCain, author Cliff Schechter claims you got into a fist-fight with your fellow Arizona Republican Rick Renzi. Allegedly, you even publicly used a crude term, one which decorum and the FCC prohibit us from even saying on the air, to describe your own wife. Which if any of these episodes is untrue? Don't your anger management problems make you too dangerously unstable to be president of the United States?

3. Doesn't your confusion regarding basic facts about the war in Iraq, including repeatedly citing a nonexistent Al Qaeda-Iran alliance, make you unfit for command?
On four occasions in one month, you confused friend and foe in Iraq by describing Sunni Al Qaeda as being backed by Shiite Iran. Then you showed a misunderstanding of the U.S. chain of command when you claimed you would not back shifting forces from Iraq to Afghanistan "unless Gen. [David] Petraeus said that he felt that the situation called for that," a decision which Petraeus himself told you and your Senate colleagues only the week before rests not with him but with his superiors. Doesn't your lack of understanding and judgment when it comes to basic facts of America's national security disqualify you as commander-in-chief?

4. Given your past adultery, should Americans consider you a moral exemplar of family values?
You are the nominee of a Republican Party which claims to support so-called "family values." Yet you commenced an adulterous relationship with your current wife Cindy months before the dissolution of your previous marriage to your first wife Carol. Should Americans consider you to be a moral exemplar of family values?

5. Doesn't your flip-flop on Jerry Falwell being an "agent of intolerance" show your opportunistic pandering to the religious right?
In 2000, you famously called the late Jerry Falwell "an agent of intolerance," a statement which may have cost you the decisive South Carolina primary. But as you ramped up your next presidential run in 2006, you embraced Falwell and gave the commencement address at his Liberty University. When Tim Russert asked that spring if you still considered him an agent of intolerance, you said, "'no, I don't." Why shouldn't the American people consider you a flip-flopping opportunist who cynically courted the religious right to further your 2008 presidential ambitions?

6. Given your wealth and privileged upbringing, aren't you - and not Barack Obama - the elitist?
You have called Barack Obama an elitist. Yet you recently returned to your exclusive private high school, one which now costs over $38,000 a year to attend. Your wife is the heiress to a beer distribution company, reputedly owns 8 homes and has a net worth well over $100 million. Your children all attended private schools, academies which also happened to be the primary beneficiaries of funds from your supposed charitable foundation. Shouldn't the American people in fact view you as the elitist, and a hypocritical one at that?

7. What is your religion, really? And has the answer in the past changed as the South Carolina primary approached?
I want to ask about your seemingly ever-changing religious beliefs. In June 2007, McClatchy reported, "McCain still calls himself an Episcopalian." In August 2007, as ABC reported, your campaign staff identified you as "Episcopalian" in a questionnaire prepared for ABC News' August 5 debate. But as the primary in evangelical-rich South Carolina neared, in September 2007 you said of your religious faith, "It plays a role in my life. By the way, I'm not Episcopalian. I'm Baptist." But in March 2008, Pastor Dan Yeary of your North Phoenix Baptist Church refused to comment on why you have refused to finally undergo a baptism ceremony. Congressional directories still list you as an Episcopalian. In the past, you've said, "When I'm asked about it, I'll be glad to discuss it." So what is your religion? And couldn't Americans be forgiven for assuming your changing faith is tied to your changing political needs?

8. Didn't President Bush betray you with his signing statement on the Detainee Treatment Act? You claim to be against torture, but aren't you a hypocrite for voting "no" on the Senate waterboarding ban?
You've said that "we can't torture or treat inhumanely suspected terrorists we have captured". And in December 2005, you famously reached a compromise with President Bush on the Detainee Torture Act banning cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees. But just two weeks later, President Bush issued a signing statement making it clear he would ignore the compromise you just reached. Then in February 2007, you voted "no" on a Senate bill banning waterboarding. Isn't it fair to say President Bush betrayed you with his December 30, 2005 signing statement? And isn't it fair to say you caved to the right-wing of your party on the issue in order to win the Republican nomination?

9. Why did you flip-flop on the Bush tax cuts you twice opposed? Why do you now support making them permanent for the wealthiest Americans who need them least?
You twice voted against the Bush tax cuts. Now you support making them permanent. In 2001, you said, "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who need tax relief." Now, according to the Center for American Progress, your tax plan would cost more than $2 trillion over the next decade and "would predominantly benefit the most fortunate taxpayers, offering two new massive tax cuts for corporations and delivering 58 percent of its benefits to the top 1 percent of taxpayers." Isn't it true that you flip-flopped on the Bush tax cuts? Isn't it fair to say that you now favor a massive expansion of the federal budget deficit in order to fund a tax giveaway to the wealthiest Americans who need it least?

10. With the economy tanking, shouldn't Americans be concerned over your past statements that "the issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should?"
Americans consistently report that the economy is the issue that concerns them most. Yet more than once, you proclaimed your ignorance when it comes to the economy. In November 2005, you told the Wall Street Journal, "I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." Then in December 2007, you admitted, "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should." Shouldn't the American be worried about President McCain's ability to lead the United States out of recession? Given your past statements, shouldn't the American reject out of hand your claim that "I know the economy better than Senator Clinton and Senator Obama do?"

All of these are fantastic questions, now let me add two from The Real McCain:

11) How can you call yourself a straight-talker in light of the fact that you have changed your positions or rhetorically flip-flopped on the following issues: Abortion, Creationism in science class, immigration, intervention abroad, tax cuts for the wealthy, civil unions, a Martin Luther King holiday, the Confederate Flag, the Christian Right, Bob Jones University, whether Rumsfeld did a good job, whether Dick Cheney is doing a good job, whether President Bush is an honest man, a Patient's Bill of Rights, global warming, campaign finance reform in general, public financing of campaigns specifically, lobbying reform, whether the War in Iraq would be "easy," whether Sunni and Shiite are working together, whether "Iraqi blood should be traded for American blood," military readiness, how many troops are necessary for the surge to succeed in Iraq, ethanol subsidies, the continuing existence of a minimum wage, closing the gun-show loophole, healthcare for children...and I could go on, but how about we start with those?

12) Finally, if Barack Obama must account for everyone he has ever passed within a 100 square mile radius of, then here are some associations you might want to explain, with the indicted, the white supremacists and the downright corrupt: Rick Renzi (indicted), Terry Nelson (racist ads against Harold Ford in 2006), Trent Lott (pining for a Strom presidency), The Wyly Brothers (corrupt), Bob Perry (Chief Swift Boater), Richard Quinn (white supremacist), Rev. Richard Land (homosexual hate), Ken Blackwell (Ohio election suppression), Charlie Black (lobbyist and according to John Gorenfeld's new book, Bad Moon Rising, Reverend Moon lover). That would be a start.

I don't write this to pile on Mr. Stephanopoulos. I have usually found you to be a fair-minded host. Yet, if you are to right the wrongs of that debate, please give equal time, and make John McCain answer for aspects of his political career which are much more relevant than a flag lapel pin to whether he or Barack Obama would make a better president.

Cliff Schecter is the author of The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him And Why Independents Shouldn't. Read More......

I'm bitter about Hillary constantly mentioning "San Francisco" to curry favor with the religious right

Anyone else notice that Hillary and her staff keep gratuitously mentioning "San Francisco" when talking about Obama's "bitter" comments? Markos noticed it too: "I remember the good ol' days when only Republicans used to demonize San Francisco," Markos wrote yesterday. A DailyKos diarist noticed it too, as did the readers at popular gay news and culture site Datalounge. As did some folks interviewed by the SF Chronicle:

So the most shocking part of the whole incident, he said, has been the appearance that "Hillary Clinton wants to ... throw in with the critique from the far right" in appearing to feed the image of an out-of-touch "San Francisco-style Democrat."

It suggests "that the Clintons are so committed to the political tactics that they'll do virtually anything to advance a step without regard for the long term implications," he said. "Most Democrats and most Republicans will not attack their opponent in such a way as to give massive fodder to the other side in the general election."

But "she's just writing the playbook for the Republicans in November..."

And we all know what San Francisco is code for. Now let's examine what Hillary was after. From the NYT:

Some Clinton advisers also said that the focus on Mr. Obama’s “guns or religion” comment was a way to put him on the spot with so-called values voters...

Value voters. That's PC media slang for the religious right. Here are a few examples of Hillary dropping the SF-bomb concerning the bitter thing:

Hillary's appearance at the Alliance for Manufacturing Forum in PA:

"I am well aware that at a fundraiser in San Francisco, he said some things that many people in Pennsylvania and beyond Pennsylvania have found offensive.

Then at the Compassion Forum (irony much?) on April 13, she did it again:

CAMPBELL BROWN: But, senator, you’ve been out there on the stump attacking him pretty aggressively over this. And his response has been, and he said it pretty bluntly tonight, shame on you. You know that he is a man of faith—this is what he's saying—and to suggest that he is demeaning religion is you playing politics.

HRC: I do think it raises a lot of concerns and we've seen that exhibited in the last several days by people here in Pennsylvania, in Indiana where I was yesterday, and elsewhere, because it did seem so much in line with what often we are charged with. Someone goes to a closed door fund-raiser in San Francisco and makes comments that do seem elitist, out of touch and, frankly, patronizing.

Again, why throw in San Francisco?

Then check out Hillary's Web site. It's littered with "bitter" San Francisco references, including the last one, that's quite damning. Here, here, here, here, and especially here:

MT Endorsement Watch: “Yellowstone County Commissioner Bill Kennedy says he is endorsing Hillary Rodham Clinton…[Kennedy said:] ‘In Montana, going to church or going hunting is part of our heritage, not something we ‘cling to’ out of bitterness or frustration…Sen. Obama showed a real disconnect with rural Montana. It might work to look down on us from San Francisco, but it won’t sell when he comes back to Montana.’”

Really? From San Francisco? What is that supposed to mean? Oh, and before I have to deal with all the "Hillary is SUPER pro-gay" responses, yes she is. She's also super pro-black, pro-gun-control, and pro-NAFTA. But when it became expedient for her campaign to race-bait, embrace guns, and then claim she was always anti-NAFTA, Hillary flipped on a dime.

As for the gays, yes, the Clintons are very pro-gay, until they're not. Remember DOMA, and Bill Clinton's radio ads touting his support for the anti-gay bill? Here's the NYT coverage of the ads at the time:

In a radio advertisement aimed at religious conservatives, the Clinton campaign is showcasing the President’s signature on a bill banning gay marriages in spite of earlier White House complaints that the issue amounted to ”gay baiting.”…

Mr. Clinton signed the law early on a Saturday morning, minimizing news coverage. He said he had long agreed with the principles in the bill but hoped it would not be used to justify discrimination against homosexuals…

Longtime Clinton friend David Mixner reminds us:

In fact, after proclaiming to the community how painful it was for him to sign it, President Clinton’s reelection campaign had ads up in the South touting the legislation within two weeks!

Let's also revisit my post of last June in which we learned that Bill Clinton was advising John Kerry to endorse the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment. What kind of advice do you think Bill is giving Hillary about how to reach "values voters" - well, we already know his advice, throw the gays under the bus - and do you really think she's not taking it?

Let me also share the story of how Hillary's people freaked when Joe and I told them we were going to ask Hillary a "gay" question at the Democratic National Committee winter meeting a year ago (I mean, the question was about DOMA and civil unions, hardly anything she hasn't answered before). Joe literally got yelled at for even suggesting that we were going to ask Hillary something about DOMA. We were told that we had to give Hillary and her people the question in advance. We refused. We were then told that we couldn't ask her about DOMA since her husband signed it into law - apparently, it would be embarrassing to her. You'll be surprised to hear that we never got the interview. And remember that a year ago February, we were one of the only top blogs that even liked Hillary. Senator Dodd, on the contrary, had no problem answering the same question at the same meeting. Wesley Clark gave a great answer as well. Read More......

NYT: "Superdelegates unswayed by Clinton's attacks"

I think I finally figured out what's going on with the SuperDelegates. Why half of them are refusing to makeup their minds. First check out this quote from today's NYT:

[D]espite giving it her best shot in what might have been their final debate, interviews on Thursday with a cross-section of these superdelegates — members of Congress, elected officials and party leaders — showed that none had been persuaded much by her attacks on Mr. Obama’s strength as a potential Democratic nominee, his recent gaffes and his relationships with his former pastor and with a onetime member of the Weather Underground.

Then read this, the paragraph that I think explains everything:

John W. Olsen, an uncommitted superdelegate from Connecticut and president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. there. “I also want to wait and hear from all of the Democrats in the primaries and caucuses who haven’t had a chance to choose and vote yet.”

Here's what's going on. The SuperDs are scared of Hillary and Bill, and their supporters, and while they plan on voting for Obama, they want "cover." And their "cover" is going to be waiting until almost every primary is done - at least the big primary in PA - so they can THEN say "gosh, Obama got the majority of the public and the majority of the delegates - who knew?! - I guess I'll have to support him now." Obviously, that same argument applies now - there is no mathematical way that Hillary can win the popular vote or the delegate count from the primaries and caucuses - but the SuperDs are scared of picking sides. So they want a clearer fait accompli, one they think they'll have after Pennsylvania votes.

It's a bit immature. But there you have it. They're going to vote for Obama, they're just waiting until it's "safe." Whatever. Read More......

"Bosnia and Back Again" is a YouTube blockbuster

Wednesday, we posted Jed's latest video, "Bosnia and Back Again." So did a lot of other people. The video has had over 244,000 253,000 268,000 282,000 views on YouTube and lots of honors - including 6th most viewed video on all of YouTube. Ari Melber from the Nation wrote about the video and Andrew Sullivan posted it. Yesterday, it was the top story on Digg.com with over 6100 Diggs.

It's a YouTube blockbuster worthy of a YouTube Oscar for Jed.
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NBC's Chuck Todd, et.al.: "The left-wing blogosphere is MUCH more powerful than what you see on the right this cycle." SuperDelegates take note.

NBC's Chuck Todd is one of the more astute political observers out there (we thought this before he penned this morning's post, below).

Curious of what the bitterness and anger could look like if Obama is somehow denied the Democratic nomination? Check out the reaction from the ObamaNation over Wednesday’s debate. To put it simply, ABC was under siege yesterday. This may only be a taste of how the ObamaNation would react to a Clinton nomination. If MoveOn is motivated to do a petition campaign against the media over a debate, imagine what Clinton delegates and undecided superdelegates would face this summer if there is doubt. And as the Politico’s Ben Smith pointed out yesterday, it’s also what the GOP would face in the general election, especially if Obama is nominee. The level of devotion among Obama's supporters rivals what Bush had with his flock in 2004. The left-wing blogosphere is MUCH more powerful than what you see on the right this cycle and it reminds us of the advantage Bush had in '04. While we all know about that so-called right-wing voice machine, don’t forget that there is now a left-wing noise machine (on the internet) as well. And it has found its voice.

Here's what Ben Smith had to say:

The ABC debate, according to the network, got 10.7 million viewers.

It also triggered the most furious outrage I've seen from the huge, and growing, Obama activist base, which in this case merged with the liberal Netroots -- which aren't always on the same page -- to generate a volume of complaints about the first 45-minutes of questioning that are pretty impossible to miss.

It's just a small glimpse, I think, of the level of heat the media is going to take in the general election, and John McCain doesn't seem to have any equivalent.

Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Republicans have an amazing ability to turn defeat into victory (and Democrats, the opposite), and they've been playing the media refs for going on 3 decades now. But I've been telling people for a while that the right-wing blogosphere is next to non-existent in power as compared to the left. In a future post, I'll try to analyze why this is. But for now, suffice it to say, there's a reason we bloggers do what we do. You, and we, together make up a rather relevant and powerful force in Democratic, and overall US, politics. Be proud. Be vigilant. And be active. It matters. Read More......

WaPo-ABC poll: Americans pessimistic on economy and Iraq

This is seriously bad news for McCain as he runs for a third Bush term. When the Democrats lock down their Presidential candidate, McCain is in for some rough seas. A few highlights of note:

The percentages of Democrats and independents advocating withdrawal and seeing Iraq as distinct from the U.S. terrorism fight are also at or near high marks. And three-quarters of Democrats and nearly six in 10 independents do not see significant progress in Iraq.

And...

Two-thirds of Democrats call the economy downright "poor," as do a majority of independents. But while a wide majority of Republicans rate the economy negatively, only about three in 10 describe conditions as that dire, and most have a positive take on the future. Most Democrats and independents, however, hold pessimistic views about the next 12 months.

Economic ratings are flagging across partisan lines, and overall optimism is at a new low among all Americans: Nearly six in 10 said they feel pessimistic about the economy for the coming year, a seven-point increase since early February. And those who think the situation is already in poor shape do not have high hopes for recovery anytime soon; nearly three-quarters of them have a negative view about the next 12 months.

The Republicans can write off Democrats - they can't write off independents. Read More......

AP/Yahoo News Poll: Obama Now More Electable

Seems the drawn out nomination process is officially backfiring...on Clinton. Anecdotal evidence is one thing. Now we're getting the numbers to back it up:

By tracking the same group throughout the campaign, the AP-Yahoo! News poll can gauge how individual views change. It suggests that Clinton has paid a price for hammering Obama since early February on several issues as she tries to overcome his lead in delegates and the popular vote. Among those Democrats who no longer consider her the more electable of the two, most now see her as less likable, decisive, strong, honest, experienced and ethical than they did in January.

Meanwhile, those same voters are more likely to see Obama as strong, honest and refreshing than before.

Here's the graph (ps. I just noticed the source date is wrong at the bottom of the graph. I think it should be April 2008 not 2007):

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Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Finally, it's Friday. This just seemed like a long, long week.

I missed the all new South Park on Wednesday night because of the debate. Says a lot about the state of the media when I think Stan, Kyle, Cartman and even Kenny make more sense than Stephanopoulos and Gibson. I did watch the new episode last night. Very funny episode, "Over Logging" for all of us who might be a little too dependent on our internet. It's also a little frightening to realize that South Park keeps me sane.

Anyway, what do we need to know? Read More......

Iraqi troops abandon positions, again

This ought to be a real boost to the pro-war crowd in Congress and McCain who keep telling us we need to stay for 100 years. If the Iraqi troops don't want to stand up, why should US troops or voters support the ongoing war? Let the GOP and their Big Oil friends fund this fiasco or ask Iraq to use their oil wealth but enough is enough.

A company of government troops abandoned its positions in Sadr City when the forces came under attack from Shiite militiamen who took advantage of a sandstorm to attack, police said Friday.

The clashes overnight killed two people and injured nine, a police commander said. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release the information, said it was unclear whether there were any casualties among the soldiers.

The reports of the latest setback for the Iraqi army come after government officials acknowledged that during fighting last month against Shiite militias in the southern city of Basra, more than 1,300 Iraqi soldiers and police deserted or refused to fight.

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'Jingle mail' catching on as Americans walk away from houses

It's no surprise that the banks are adjusting their risk calculations and receiving more 'jingle mail' (house keys in the envelope) as housing prices decline. Since McCain is talking about the economy now, can we see his detailed record from his long Senate history, where he speaks out against the system that his party and advisers created? What's that? He supported all of this? Oh...nevermind.

Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com estimates that 10.6 million homeowners will have zero or negative equity by the end of June, or 21 percent of first mortgage holders.

The impact of a new wave of defaults will also be potentially important.

Banks and other investors in mortgages, as has been seen, will take further hits to their already weakened capital.

While few might shed tears for banks, this means a longer and deeper credit crunch.

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China ships 77 tons of military equipment to Zimbabwe

Oh the Olympic spirit! Nothing says 'Olympic spirit' quite like a massive new arsenal of guns and ammo for a dictator to repress a nation who just voted him out. All of the critics of communist China should just understand that Robert Mugabe has the full authority to kill and torture anyone and everyone because it's an internal matter and has nothing to do whatsoever with human rights or the world community. The world should ignore such violations and mind their own business. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Thabo Mbeki is also doing the right thing by allowing safe passage of weapons because after all, the papers are all in order. That's fair, right?

A Chinese cargo ship believed to be carrying 77 tonnes of small arms, including more than 3m rounds of ammunition, AK47 assault rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, has docked in the South African port of Durban for transportation of the weapons to Zimbabwe, the South African government confirmed yesterday. It claimed it was powerless to intervene as long as the ship's papers were in order.

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Does it matter what's in your fridge?

Some people think so. OK, I have white wine but also red, smoked duck breast, mango smoothie, Spanish ham, organic pasta, butter with sea salt but of course, also olive oil and whatever yogurt was on sale but probably the store brand. Definitely no bourbon but surely gin. And Badoit...have to have Badoit.

IF there’s butter and white wine in your refrigerator and Fig Newtons in the cookie jar, you’re likely to vote for Hillary Clinton. Prefer olive oil, Bear Naked granola and a latte to go? You probably like Barack Obama, too.

And if you’re leaning toward John McCain, it’s all about kicking back with a bourbon and a stuffed crust pizza while you watch the Democrats fight it out next week in Pennsylvania.

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Pope says Americans are "angry." I can't wait for Hillary to denounce him.

Come on, Hillary - get 'em.

Benedict examined American society, saying he detected anger and alienation, increasing violence and a "growing forgetfulness of God."

Seriously, now that Hillary is an agent of our Lord, smiter of irreverent pastors and defender of the armed faithful, let's hear what she has to say about the Pope, since he pretty much just called Americans bitter. (H/t to ABlog commenter Nigel.) Read More......

AP found two people who liked the ABC debate, but doesn't bother telling you they're both conservative pundits

Funny how the Associated Press "forgot" to tell its readers that the two authorities it found who really liked last night's ABC Democratic presidential candidate debate - David Brooks, who AP simply calls a "columnist" at the New York Times, and HotAir.com, which AP simply calls a "Web site" - are both conservative partisans. Even worse than not identifying Brooks as a conservative (at least by citing his name, some readers would know who he was), calling HotAir.com a simple "Web site" is cute, considering it's a Web site run by top conservative blogger and firebreather Michelle Malkin. Kind of relevant that the two sources cited by AP as proof that the Democratic debate might have been fair after all are conservative political partisans, no? I mean, of course THEY liked the debate - it was a right-wing talking point trash-the-Democrats fest with a particular focus on Swift Boating the guy the Republicans are most worried about facing in the fall. Read More......

Howard Dean: SuperDelegates need to decide now

If this isn't a reaction to last night's debate debacle, I don't know what is.

An increasingly firm Howard Dean told CNN again Thursday that he needs superdelegates to say who they’re for – and “I need them to say who they’re for starting now.”

“We cannot give up two or three months of active campaigning and healing time,” the Democratic National Committee Chairman told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “We’ve got to know who our nominee is.”

Dean clearly wasn't happy with what he saw last night. It's no longer just Hillary using right-wing talking points in an effort to destroy the guy who will be running against McCain in the fall, now the mainstream media has bought into the "let's destroy Obama" game. As Ben Smith notes, this is the first time the mainstream media has delved into the William Ayers issue, one of the many below-the-belt zingers that Hillary has been trying to throw at Obama:

Barack Obama took his first public grilling on his relationship with Bill Ayers last night, and between the moderators' pressing and Clinton's follow-up, it had exactly the effect the Clinton campaign hoped: finally injecting the issue into the public discussion.

At the moment, "Ayers" is the fifth most searched term on Google, according to Google Trends; "Ayers Obama" is 15th. "William Ayers" is 26th.

ABC, with Hillary's help, has now made yet another right-wing talking point a legitimate point of public debate about Obama. If this keeps up, every Swift Boat style attack against Obama will be considered a serious issue by the media, all because Hillary made it so. Dean has, in my opinion, had enough. He's watching Hillary's kamikaze attack on Obama metastasize into a media feeding frenzy against the guy who won our nomination two months ago. Hillary isn't going to win, Dean knows it, we all know it. The only question is whether she's going to take all of us down with her. Howard Dean is apparently now, finally, belatedly, saying "no."

Get ready for the Hillary donors to once again threaten to destroy our majority in the Congress, and help John McCain become president, if Hillary's divine right of kings isn't honored.

ABC may have just ended Hillary's run for the presidency. Read More......

Airline pilot reports claim airlines risking safety with fuel limits

The problems in the airline industry just keep getting worse. Two weeks ago I spent almost 30 minutes circling before landing so news like this is a major concern. Where were all of the business leaders a few years ago when the GOP was busy making fun of energy conservationists and telling everyone to consume as much as they like? If we had a serious policy a few years ago - including during the Clinton years - we might not have such deep problems both for consumers and business.

As cash-strapped airlines pack more passengers on flights into ever-busier airports, pilots are filing internal complaints warning that airline cost-cutting on fuel supplies could be creating a major safety risk.

The complaints, compiled by msnbc.com and NBC News from a database of safety incident reports maintained on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration, reveal wide-ranging concern among pilots that airlines are compelling them to fly with too little fuel.

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ABC Newz, becuz politikz iz hard

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Hillary feeds the right wing noise machine

No one knows better than Hillary Clinton how the right wing noise machine operates. Like this:
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Let's talk about the weather

AP's got a good fact check up breaking down what was said last night and what's true re: the Weather Underground:

Facts were loose in both Democratic presidential campaigns Thursday as Clinton sought advantage from her rival's association with William Ayers, a college professor who was once part of the violent Weather Underground group.

The dustup arose in their debate the night before and enveloped both candidates.

Obama struck back by calling attention to Bill Clinton's decision to pardon one former Weather Underground member and commute the sentence of another, clearing two women who — unlike Ayers — had been convicted of crimes from that era.

It's interesting. You know why? Because I didn't know much about the Weather Underground. Now I do. You know who else probably didn't know much about the Weather Underground? Most of the people watching last night's debate hoping to get information about stuff that really matters. Read More......

The next bailout: Sallie Mae?

Good grief, it will never end. Did anyone in the Bush administration or GOP ever stop to ask questions? Just like on Wall Street or Iraq or post-Katrina, oversight has been completely lacking. And this is what McSame wants more of for the US. How many more surprise bailouts can we afford?

Sallie Mae , the largest U.S. student loan company, on Thursday affirmed its 2008 profit forecast, but warned of a "train wreck" in the $85 billion education financing market without urgent government intervention.

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Does John McCain require his mistress to wear a flag pin?

ABC's George Stephanopoulos is arguing that he brought up the issues during last night's debate that Obama will likely face in the fall campaign. Now, no one thinks that John McCain is going to raise any of the issues Obama talked about - wearing the American flag, whether his pastor loves America - no, what will happen in the fall, and Stephanopoulos knows it, is some shadowy GOP Swift Boat organization will raise all of these issues. But in any case, the Stephanopoulos standard for questioning a candidate is what issues the bad guys will raise against that candidate in the fall. (Though, using this standard, it's odd that Stephanopoulos didn't ask Hillary anything about Monica Lewinsky last night, since that topic has come up too since the last debate, and it's a good bet the GOP will be making us all talk about Monica if Hillary wins the nomination (also, Chelsea has been asked about it repeatedly recently, and has claimed that the issue isn't relevant)). Okay, I'm game. McCain is going on Stephanopoulos' show this Sunday, so I'm hoping Stephanopoulos will be pushing McCain hard on the following issues...

Oh, and before the outrage machine kicks in - ABC just asked a presidential candidate on national television if his pastor loves America. After that little ditty, what isn't fair game?:

1. Adultery. McCain reportedly was seeing his second wife while still married to his first wife. And, then we have the issue of the blond lobbyist who looks like McCain's second wife. America deserves answers.

2. Does John McCain require his mistresses to wear a flag pin?

3. McCain working for the enemy. If a US soldier made propaganda tapes for the enemy (like John McCain did), then went on to run for president as a Democrat, the Republicans would eviscerate that candidate. I want George Stephanopoulos to ask John McCain if he loves America as much as soldiers who didn't make propaganda tapes for the enemy while in captivity. Oh, and in case you think I'm kidding, here are McCain's own words:

Later, I made a second, feebler attempt at suicide. On the fourth day, I gave up. I signed a confession that "I am a black criminal and I have performed the deeds of an air pilot".

The guards ordered me to record my confession on tape. I refused, and was beaten until I consented.

Well, I'm sure a POW has never been beaten before, so it's totally understandable why McCain betrayed his country during his "hero" years in Vietnam. (Or are we to assume that all American POWs betray their country while in captivity, right?)

4. Old age. John McCain is old, everyone knows it. I love my parents, they're in their late 70s, they're great people, but they probably shouldn't be president at this age. John McCain would be the oldest new president EVER if he gets elected (and we all saw what happened to Reagan in his second term). I hope we'll be seeing some hard hitting questions about McCain being simply too old.

5. That enormous thing on the side of McCain's face. McCain had skin cancer a few years ago. He now has some enormous thing on the side of his face that no one is talking about. I want to know why we shouldn't be worried that John McCain is going to get sick and die in office.

6. Cindy McCain's drug addiction. What message does it send to America's children to have a drug addict, who actually stole drugs, as first lady?

7. Would John McCain quit a church that had his wife as pastor?

8. Is John McCain going to jail for 5 years? McCain has illegally pulled out of the public campaign finance system. That's a crime punishable by 5 years in prison. Is Stephanopoulos going to break media silence on this issue and ask John McCain whether he's too old to go prison?

9. Will McCain make propaganda tapes while he's in prison?

These are some of the questions I'm sure we can expect George Stephanopoulos to ask John McCain come this Sunday. And feel free to add your own questions for John McCain to the comments posted by our readers. Read More......

ABCDenial

Politico's Michael Calderone spoke to George Stephanopoulos via phone today and reports George defended last night's debate:

“The vote for the president,” Stephanopoulos said, “is one of the most personal” decisions that someone makes.

“When people make that choice, they take into account how candidates stand on the issues,” he said, but also are concerned with “experience, character [and] credibility.”

“You can’t find a presidential election where those issues didn’t come into play,” he said.

Stephanopoulos explained that since the candidates are not far apart policy-wise, the “core of the nomination fight” has been about these issues.

“They’ve been fighting it out on this turf,” he said, adding that these are things that “came up between this debate and the last one.”

Experience, character, and credibility are not issues. Healthcare reform, how to stimulate the economy, getting out of Iraq...issues. In fact, if the candidates are not far apart policy-wise, ALL the more reason to hone in on what separates them. I'd like to know the details. A debate would have been a nice forum for that, no?

Spending 45+ minutes on garbage that has already been exhausted elsewhere - just BECAUSE it's been exhausted elsewhere - is inexcusable.

Then there's this:

I asked Stephanopoulos for his reaction to one specific piece of criticism — that of Washington Post critic Tom Shales calling the moderator’s performances “shoddy” and “despicable.”

“I think it just comes with the territory,” Stephanopoulos replied, adding, “I think you’re going to find a wide range of opinions.”

Sure. If you consider "unmitigated travesty" to "really, really horrible" to "the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years" a range.

One more thing: Even though it was a substantive disaster, ABC will tout last night's debate as a HUGE success. Why? Ratings.

NOTE FROM JOHN: I can't wait for ABC to claim that the ratings prove they did a good job. That's like saying I'm appearing in a one-night-only Broadway show. And the show is sold out. That proves that my performance that night was stellar. Uh, no it doesn't. It proves that people thought my performance was going to be stellar, it doesn't prove that it turned out that way after they had already bought their tickets. Read More......

Olympic protests arrive in India

Why do the protesters hate human rights violations? Another proud moment in Olympic history.

Demonstrators lit their own torch at the spot where the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi, Indian pacifist, are buried, and they planned to mount a parallel, peaceful torch relay through the city's streets. Delhi police had granted permission for the protest but had warned that they would extinguish any torches being carried by protesters.

Read More......

McCain raises possibility of eliminating aid to Israel as part of "earmarks reform"

Let the fun begin. Read More......

Does giving up a college deferment and six years on active duty count as loving one's country?

When George Stephanopoulus asked Obama if Reverend Wright loves America, it was one of the dumbest questions of the night -- if not the whole campaign. Decide for yourself:

In 1961, a young African-American man, after hearing President John F. Kennedy's challenge to, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," gave up his student deferment, left college in Virginia and voluntarily joined the Marines.

In 1963, this man, having completed his two years of service in the Marines, volunteered again to become a Navy corpsman. (They provide medical assistance to the Marines as well as to Navy personnel.)

The man did so well in corpsman school that he was the valedictorian and became a cardiopulmonary technician. Not surprisingly, he was assigned to the Navy's premier medical facility, Bethesda Naval Hospital, as a member of the commander in chief's medical team, and helped care for President Lyndon B. Johnson after his 1966 surgery. For his service on the team, which he left in 1967, the White House awarded him three letters of commendation.

What is even more remarkable is that this man entered the Marines and Navy not many years after the two branches began to become integrated.

While this young man was serving six years on active duty, Vice President Dick Cheney, who was born the same year as the Marine/sailor, received five deferments, four for being an undergraduate and graduate student and one for being a prospective father. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both five years younger than the African-American youth, used their student deferments to stay in college until 1968. Both then avoided going on active duty through family connections.

Who is the real patriot? The young man who interrupted his studies to serve his country for six years or our three political leaders who beat the system? Are the patriots the people who actually sacrifice something or those who merely talk about their love of the country?

After leaving the service of his country, the young African-American finished his final year of college, entered the seminary, was ordained as a minister, and eventually became pastor of a large church in one of America's biggest cities.

This man is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the retiring pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, who has been in the news for comments he made over the last three decades.

George never fought for his country either. Although, if I remember from his book, he did have a lot of fights with Bill and Hillary. And, he did star in a movie called "The War Room." So, he must really love America more than all of us. Read More......

China continues to fume over CNN remarks

The communist regime is a bunch of absolute phonies but why stop now? They've been getting away with this for years and have everyone shaking in the boots, afraid of angering their discount business partners. Let China go ahead and cancel all of the European and US TV contracts for the Olympics and see how much money they make. Isn't it obvious that the Olympics mean much more to China than to others countries. (Nike, GE and Coke are another story.) Go ahead and cancel the whole thing. We'll survive.

CNN and other foreign satellite broadcasts can be seen only in hotels, offices and housing developments open to foreigners, meaning very few Chinese would have heard Cafferty's original comments.

Censors also block many foreign news sites on the Internet, pointing to an underlying irony of the ongoing protests — that they profess outrage over foreign media reports that their government does not permit them to view.

The entirely state-controlled media has joined in the vilification campaign, with the criticisms of CNN featuring prominently in Thursday's newspapers and TV shows.

Read More......

Would Hillary quit an anti-gay church? How about a pro-life church?

Last night, during the ABC debate, Hillary made clear that she would quite her church if she didn't agree with her pastor's sermons. Here is what Hillary had to say:



Transcript:

I would have not been able to stay in the church. And maybe it's, you know, just, again, a personal reflection...

Okay, so we know that Hillary would quit her church of twenty years if the priest, or pastor, gave a sermon that she found objectionable. Fair enough. Then this begs the question as to what sermons would Hillary not find objectionable. Would Hillary stay in her church, for example, if her pastor gave a sermon in favor of the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment? How about if her pastor gave a sermon calling for the repeal of Roe v. Wade? Or a sermon calling for America to set up an electronic fence to keep Mexicans out of our country?

I'm quite serious. Hillary went on national TV last night and raised the issue of when and where she would quit her church over the sermons of her pastor. She told all of America that this is an issue we should judge our future president on. Then America deserves to know just what standard Hillary has for quitting her church. Or is gay-bashing, choice-bashing, and Latino-bashing okay in Hillary Clinton's eyes? She raised the issue, we deserve an answer. (Maybe we can beg Sean Hannity to ask ABC to ask her the question?) Read More......

In Memoriam--George Stephanopoulos: Political Hack

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Stephanopoulos got nasty anti-Obama question from Sean Hannity

Well, we just went from the worst debate ever to, I think, a full-fledged PR disaster for ABC generally, and for Stephanopoulos personally. I mean, conspiring with Sean Hannity on the best way to do an "I gotcha" on Obama, and then doing exactly what he told you to do? From ThinkProgress (they have the audio too):

HANNITY: There are two questions that I don’t think anybody has asked Barack Obama, and I don’t know if this is going to be on your list tomorrow. One is – the only time he’s ever been asked about his association with Bill Ayers, the unrepentant terrorist from the Weather Underground who on 9/11 of all days in the New York Times was saying “I don’t regret setting bombs. I don’t think we did enough.” When asked about it by the Politico, David Axelrod said that they have a friendly relationship, and that they had done a number of speeches together and that they sat on a board together. Is that a question you might ask?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, I’m taking notes right now.

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So Hillary's new spin on Bosnia is that she intentionally lied

Did anyone else catch what Hillary said last night during the debate about her Bosnia sniper-fire fiasco? Here's ABC's transcript:

HILLARY: On a couple of occasions in the last weeks, I just said some things that weren't in keeping with what I knew to be the case and what I had written about in my book.

She's now saying that she said things that she knew at the time were not true. And to compound matters, she and her staff and her husband spent two weeks lying about the lie, trying to claim that she only said it one time (she said it four), she said it late at night and was therefore tired (she said it at 9am, the last time), they even sent surrogates out to claim that what she said was true (even though she now says she knew at the time that it wasn't true). So, if Hillary knew that what she said wasn't true, then she intentionally and knowingly coordinated a campaign to cover up her own lie for two whole weeks. And now, the best explanation she can give, is "I intentionally lied." Read More......

Real issues get one line from the Washington Post, while Post's TV critic blasts ABC hosts "shoddy, despicable performances."

Today's front page Washington Post article about the debate last night comprised twenty-five paragraphs. This is the 23rd paragraph:

The debate also touched on Iraq, Iran, the Middle East, taxes, the economy, guns and affirmative action.

That pretty much sums up the debate. It's almost comical. One line, in the 23rd paragraph of a 25 paragraph article. Granted, because of the performance of Stephanopoulos and Gibson, the Post didn't have much to work with.

The political reporters and pundits didn't get what happened last night, but the Post's media critic, Tom Shales did:

When Barack Obama met Hillary Clinton for another televised Democratic candidates' debate last night, it was more than a step forward in the 2008 presidential election. It was another step downward for network news -- in particular ABC News, which hosted the debate from Philadelphia and whose usually dependable anchors, Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, turned in shoddy, despicable performances.

For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news to begin with.

So, it wasn't just the bloggers. Read More......

What debate was the AP watching?

I hate to nitpick, but considering the issues of substance didn't show up until after about 45 minutes of non-factor fluff, the AP's chronological account seems a little disingenuous (emphasis mine):

Obama later erred by saying he had never favored a ban on handguns even though as a state Senate candidate in 1996 he filled out a questionnaire from an Illinois voter group saying he would support such a ban.

"My writing wasn't on that particular questionnaire ... as I said, I have never favored an all-out ban on handguns," Obama said, even though his handwritten notes did appear on its front page. The reponse to the question about guns was typed.

Obama had more explaining to do moments later, when he was asked about his controversial comment that small town Americans become bitter because of economic adversity, and "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them" as a result.

Bitter was the first stop on the crazy train at 8:04pm. Gun control didn't come up until after 9:30pm. Read More......

Philadelphia Daily News endorses Obama: "It's a choice between the past and the future"

A very strong endorsement for Obama from the Philadelphia Daily News. The editorial writers do not mince words here at all:

Contrary to Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign slogan, we believe Barack Obama is more likely to be "ready on Day One" to lead us in a new direction. Because of his experience.

Sure, Clinton has more "experience" of a sort. For one thing, she has 14 more years on earth. How much of this experience is directly applicable to the job of president is, at best, debatable.

We are frankly troubled by her assumption that her husband's administration and accomplishments were her own. And if her equation holds, that the first spouse is an equal partner in the administration, then the reappearance of Bill Clinton in the White House is a prospect we have a hard time reconciling with the work that needs to be done.

THERE IS a way to match Clinton's and Obama's performances on a relatively equal playing field: their campaigns.

A candidate's campaign may be the best indicator of how she or he will govern. If so, an Obama administration would be well-managed, inclusive and astonishingly broad-based. It would make good use of technology and communicate a message of unity and, yes, hope.

It would not be content with eking out slim victories by playing to the narrow interests of the swing voters of the moment while leaving the rest of the country as deeply divided as ever. Instead, an Obama administration would seek to expand the number of Americans who believe that they have a personal stake in our collective future - and that they have the power to change things.

It would motivate them to hold their representatives accountable for making it happen. That is, after all, the only way to get us out of Iraq, to address global warming, to make us energy-independent. It's the only way to resist the forces arrayed against providing universal health care, rebuilding our infrastructure and returning our schools to world-class status. It's the only way to give our children the means to compete with children in other parts of the world who are healthier, better-educated and have more opportunities than many of our own.

An Obama administration would be freer of the the corrupting influence of big-money donors and corporate interests. Obama has raised $240 million overall, with half coming in contributions of less than $200. People who contribute to political campaigns can feel they "own" a candidate and so Obama would owe allegiance to the wide swath of America that has financed his campaign.

Based on his experience in running a quarter-billion-dollar enterprise with thousands upon thousands of volunteers, we could expect an Obama administration to be well-managed and cost-effective, with the president choosing forward-thinking advisers committed to his program, demanding that they work as a team and pay attention to details.

He would be steady and calm, given neither to irrational exuberance or outbursts of anger. He would make mistakes, that's for sure, but he could be expected to recognize them, adjust, and move forward.

He would adjust his views to reality rather than trying to adjust reality to his views.

Obama's unprecedented appeal to younger voters is significant not only because it expands the electorate, which is vital. It's also a validation of his promise as a president to be free of the baby-boomer/Vietnam/segregation-era hangups.

Younger people are more egalitarian, more accepting of diversity, and more comfortable with rapid change. They also are less confined by old resentments or regrets.

AND AN OBAMA administration would lower the tone of the rhetoric that separates us.

Read More......

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Well. It's the morning after the worst debate ever. I wonder how Charlie and George slept last night knowing that their careers will be forever defined by the lunacy of their questioning.

I just can't get past the idea that those two guys had the privilege of asking the next President of the U.S. serious questions about the issues facing our nation. And, those two guys blew it. And, there are very serious issues facing our nation. Life and death issues. That performance last night was a very sad reflection on where America stands. Lest we forget, it was the traditional media that stood by as George Bush led us to into a war based on lies.

And, Hillary Clinton isn't off the hook, either. Her behavior was appalling. Yglesias said it best:

I had thought the Clinton campaign couldn't sink any lower, but thus far she's really just been giving us the full GOP. Listening to her talk about Barack Obama is like reading a Weekly Standard blog post. The lame excuse that she's making this and that outrageous smear because the Republicans will do it later is pathetic. Maybe they will. But she's the one doing it now.

The only person to leave that stage last night with his dignity intact was Obama.

Anyway, let's get it started. Read More......

US finally releases AP photographer in Iraq

I hate it when a kangaroo court fails. That said, I'm sure Bilal Hussein now has a much better idea of what Bush-style freedom and democracy is all about.

Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein was reunited with family and colleagues Wednesday, ending more than two years in U.S. military custody after Iraqi judges dropped all legal proceedings against him.

Read More......

Oil tests $115 support level

UPDATE: Oil tests $115 again, going as high as $115.45 before backing off, though still remaining above $115.

Fortunately it backed down (at the moment, it's $114.74) but with the dollar hitting new lows against the euro, yet again, there's not much out there to prevent oil from breaking through $115 and holding above that level. The Federal Reserve is increasingly pessimistic on the economy though it could be argued that they are only now coming to grips with reality.

The Fed has backed itself into a corner with slashing rates to prop up the biggest sinners from the housing crisis and take a guess who will yet again pay the price? Aren't you glad billions (or even trillions) of Social Security money weren't handed over to Wall Street? Can you imagine? It's no wonder the majority of Americans blame the GOP for this financial situation. Read More......

Does ABC love America as much as you do?

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Wow, major loathing of ABC on the Web tonight. ABC better cancel the welcoming ceremony, I see sniper fire...

TPM: Looking around other sites, I guess I'm not the only one that thought this debate was unmitigated travesty. Maybe the embargo on debate rebroadcast was a pro-human rights stand.

From FDL: Well, that was really, really horrible. Charlie Gibson and Mr. Snuffalupagus fed Clinton and Obama nothing but gotcha questions. Torture never came up, China never came up, unchecked executive power never came up, and it was 50+ minutes in before they asked any questions that could be considered remotely substantive or issues-based.

Atrios: Aside from the lack of policy questions, so far this "debate" has been played entirely on wingnut ground. If BillO and Sean Hannity hosted it the questions would've been the same. In a general election debate it would make sense to get questions from the right like that, but in a democratic primary it's just fucking stupid.

DKos: The questioning in tonight's debate--—mostly straight out of 1988—was an abomination. Gun control. 60's radicalism. Inflammatory black pastors. Respecting or disrespecting the flag. Taxes. Being out of touch with the military. Affirmative Action. I'll bet if they had more time, ABC anchors Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolus would probably have gotten around to asking Obama and Clinton about Willie Horton and Piss Christ.

Editor & Publisher: In perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years, ABC News hosts Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous focused mainly on trivial issues as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off in Philadelphia.

OpenLeft: Halfway through the debate, not a single question on any policy issue had been asked, it was obvious that this debate was prime-time hit job on Obama. The questions so far have been why he doesn't wear a flag pin, whether or not his pastor loves America, why he can't win, and how many people were offended by his bittergate comments. Except for Clinton being asked about why she wasn't trustworthy, and both of them being asked about their vice-presidential choices, that has been the entire debate. As Master Jack said in the comments, nothing on Iraq, nothing on the economy, nothing on health care, nothing on housing, nothing on global warming, nothing on torture. This is nothing but a prime-time hit job on Democrats, although mainly a hit job on Obama.

Tapped: Seriously "does rev. wright love america as much as you?" Really? REALLY?!!! Also, "what will you do when clips" of Wright "play over an over" on TV? [... A woman asks if Obama "believes in the American flag" because he doesn't wear a flag pin. Charlie Gibson says that questions about the flag are "all over the internet" -- along with Pamela Anderson's sex tape, cats with bad grammar, and Rick Astley. Journalism at it's finest.

Huff Post: Why in the world George Stephanopoulos felt compelled to ask Barack Obama if Reverend Wright "loved America" after he had already been made to give another recitation of his repudiation of Wright's remarks is a question that simply defies the imagination. What sort of sensible answer can be given to that question? It would require astral projection to properly gauge another man's emotional state. And if you want to ask Hillary Clinton to account for the odd contortions she advanced on the matter of her Bosnia recollections, just sack up and ask. Don't hide behind the additional, pointless cruelty of a random voter's scoldings that Clinton lost their vote. What a wholly superfluous pile on! And the flag lapel pin question came with this admonishment from Charles Gibson: "It keeps coming up, again and again." Well, no shit, Charlie! It keeps "coming up, again and again" because the media resolutely refuses to obtain the necessary courage to stop doing so. Read More......

Disastrous Debate reprise

Wow. What the hell was that? Seriously, I'm a bit stunned. The level of discourse has reached a new low -- a very new low. To be clear, I don't think the debate was a disaster for Obama. He did fine. I think it was a disaster for our political system.

It was the worst debate ever. Gibson and Stephanopoulos were horrible. The questions were literally right out of right wing talk radio. Atrios provides an opportunity for action:

Complain about this atrocity.

Main ABC switchboard: 212-456-7777 Update: Use this number: (818) 460-7477
Comment via the ABC Web site here

And, for Hillary Clinton to get so giddy about the Wright question was really just sad. She was the official purveyor of fringe talking points. Shockingly so. And, she seemed to enjoy it. There's a reason people think Clinton is dishonest as we saw today in the findings of the Washington Post-ABC News poll. She's not only in this to win, she's in it to win dirty -- and to destroy Obama. She invoked Louis Farrakhan tonight for no reason -- just to say it. Give me a break. Throughout this campaign, Clinton has pursued GOP attacks against Obama. He has not gone there against her.

Jacki: Ok, first off, I went to Facebook to see what people were saying there since ABC promoted it. Seems everyone there agrees with us here. This debate was just horrible. Too much time wasted on useless nonsense. From a media perspective, I am not sure why Stephanopoulos was in the mix at all. He didn't add much, and if anything, his history with the Clintons had the potential to take something away. I thought Gibson was especially rough on Obama, and I think ABC did not do themselves any good with this debate. If I weren't liveblogging, I would have switched to AI. Read More......

Democratic Debate Open Thread

9:51 PM: Finally, it's over. I'll be writing a reprise in a few minutes, but I will say this is the worst debate I've seen so far. George and Charlie were just rumor-mongering right wingers. Charlie thought it was "fascinating." Wrong. It was just very pathetic and disturbing. If you ever question the sad state of affairs in the American political dialogue, tonight's debate was Exhibit A.

9:34PM: Jacki now. Affirmative action's the topic. Obama: Help people who have been locked out of opportunity. Clinton: Me too. Also, let's get rid of predatory college loans. (I like that.) Gas prices now. Clinton: Investigate gas prices. (I like that too). Release oil from reserve. $4 gallon gas should spur windfall profits tax. She's saying good stuff here about energy independence. Obama: Similar plans to Clinton. Agree on windfall profits tax. Raise fuel efficiency standards on cars. Get serious about new technology too.

George: How would you use George W. Bush in your administration? (This is a strong contender for dumbest question of the night) Clinton artfully dodges. Obama goes for HW versus W. Good call. Did I mention this was a dumb question? I can think of a zillion ways Bush can be used but none of them involve being a part of any future administration.

9:33 PM Clinton was a huge advocate for gun control throughout her career. I know that to be true first-hand. Polarizing? Kinda. Obama got the question about DC's gun law as did Clinton. Both of them kept balancing their way through this issue. It's not as cut and dried as George and Charlie want to make it.

9:19 PM: Another break. Charlie Gibson got into social security. A commission. That's the typical DC answer.

9:06PM: Jacki: On economy. Clinton: No taxes. Go to my website. Why does she give the impression she's never actually been to her own website? Obama: Cost going up. Wages and income flat or going down. Lack of oversight and special interests run amok are to blame for current problems. Gibson is arguing with Obama now about the capital gains tax. We got a little into the weeds there. Clinton: Remember my husband? He rocked the 90s. (ok, not really, but that's what she was alluding to). Clinton's speaking in generalities re: the economy now, but you know what's nice? She's attacking Bush and not Obama. Thank goodness for small miracles. She just said she wouldn't raise the capital gains tax above what it was in the Clinton era. So much for subtlety.

8:55 PM: From Joe: What? An Iraq question? Of course, Charlie Gibson can't just let them answer the question from the viewer. No, Charlie has to be the bigger smartie pants.

Clinton is giving a long answer about how we don't know what will happen if we withdraw. Some might say we also didn't know what would happen going in, but she voted that way anyway.

Obama: The Commander in Chief sets the mission.

8:47 PM: Jacki now: 45 minutes and no issues. We just covered nonsense and topics the media's opted to rehash. But no healthcare plans. No plans to get us out of Iraq. No ideas on fixing the economy. Nada. It's like the great gossip debate.

Joe, too: This is the WORST DEBATE EVER. It's shockingly bad. Jacki is right: The great gossip debate. No wonder this country is such a mess.

8:41 PM: Stephanopolous doing the right wing's dirty work...again. Asking about Ayers? This is absurd. Absurd. And, Hillary piles on. She is unbelievable tonight.

Obama comes back strong, I think. This debate is ABSURD. It sounds like right wing radio. And, Obama is showing he can handle it.

8:38 PM:From Joe --Now the flag? Come on. "It's all over the internet"?? What is this tonight? It is a manufactured issue...a distraction.

8:32 PM: Jacki here: Oooo. George to Clinton: PA people don't think you're honest. Clinton: I may be a lot of things, but I am not dumb. I wrote about Bosnia in my book. You're right. I've said some things that weren't in keeping with what I said in my book. Huh? I hope it's something you can look over. Huh? How about I lied? I'm a big liar. When your kid makes stuff up, it's called lying, not "not in keeping with what I wrote once." Having experience traveling abroad gives me a huge advantage. Just don't expect me to be truthful about what happened abroad once I get back. Obama: We comment about Bosnia because we're asked about it. We're both working as hard as we can to make sure we are delivering our message as best we can. I think Sen. Clinton deserves the right to make errors. G-d is he being gracious. He's turning the corner and trying to get to issus. I love it. I fear the moderators will bring it right back around to he said/she said. But no one can say Obama didn't try.

More from Joe: Also, did Clinton just tell us she needed to get more sleep? Like somehow that's the reason she didn't tell the truth about Tuzla? She needed more sleep? On March 17th, when she was so emphatic about what happened in Tuzla, it was the middle of the day. And, if she is so sleep deprived, how can she answer those 3 a.m. calls?

8:29 PM: More on Wright? Come on. Get over this...we still haven't heard ONE question about a real issue. Stop the dumbass questions. This is RIDICULOUS. Asking if Rev. Wright loves America? STOP IT. And, Hillary's piling on is also very, very disturbing. Weird.

8:26 PM: Joe: The Bitter thing, now Rev. Wright. Don't ask the candidates about real issues. Don't ask the candidates about the things that affect real people's lives. (And, Clinton was asked a personal question by Richard Mellon Scaife.) She loves the Wright issue. Wow. C'mon, Hillary, that's pathetic.

8:22 PM: Jacki: Clinton says what's important is what we stand for. She's claiming passion for empowering people. Huh? I thought that was Obama's strength. That was just odd.

8:19 PM: From Joe: Can Obama win? Clinton: "Yes. Yes. Yes." Obama says Clinton can win, then deconstructs her recent criticism of him - reminds us that Clinton was attacked for her "staying home and baking cookies" comment back in 1992.

8:11 PM: From Joe: Okay, the first very stupid question. Come on. Asking about picking each other for V.P. After six weeks with no debate, that's the best question Charlie Gibson could offer. That's a bad signal for this debate. And, pivoting off the Constitution doesn't justify the stupid question. Obama and Clinton did well with their answers...considering.

8:04 PM: Hi all. This is Jacki. And here's my take on opening statements. Obama: As I travel PA, I see core decency and generosity yet frustration. Nice. Frustration = not quite bitter but in the same vein.

Clinton: People do feel government is not solving problems and standing up for them. Listen to what we have to say. Look at records. Look at plans. Go to my website.

And...commercial. Well, that's a momentum killer.

*commercial break*

8:00 PM: Here we go...again. What could be the last debate til the fall starts now. Jacki and I will be live-blogging. We probably won't dissect every answer to every question. But, if there are fireworks or drama, we'll definitely weigh in. And, we'll be watching for the ridiculous questions that the moderators always throw in. Always. Read More......

Bush-FDA strikes again

Imagine that. This is yet another example of how the Bush/GOP-FDA has sided with business over consumers. They don't care if humans suffer the consequences as long as business gets what it wants. Having an effective FDA working for everyone costs money but there are just too many ongoing problems for consumers as a result of GOP hacking. Isn't it time we start considering individuals instead of just business?

A chemical in some plastic food and drink packaging including baby bottles may be tied to early puberty and prostate and breast cancer, the U.S. government said on Tuesday.

Based on draft findings by the National Toxicology Program, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, senior congressional Democrats asked the Food and Drug Administration to reconsider its view that the chemical bisphenol A is safe in products for use by infants and children.

Read More......

High school students design vehicle that gets 2,843.4 miles per gallon

Well, in all fairness, they didn't have any auto industry lobbyist paying them not to design the car or paying them to vote against increased fuel efficiency standards. (Hat tip, reader Daniel.) Read More......

Hillary Clinton on working class white southerners: "Screw 'em"

A blockbuster from Sam Stein at the Huffington Post (remember it's the Huffington Post that broke Obama's "bitter" story as well):

During the past week, Sen. Hillary Clinton has presented herself as a working class populist, the politician in touch with small town sentiments, compared to the elitism of her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama.

But a telling anecdote from her husband's administration shows Hillary Clinton's attitudes about the "lunch-bucket Democrats" are not exactly pristine.

In January 1995, as the Clintons were licking their wounds from the 1994 congressional elections, a debate emerged at a retreat at Camp David. Should the administration make overtures to working class white southerners who had all but forsaken the Democratic Party? The then-first lady took a less than inclusive approach.

"Screw 'em," she told her husband. "You don't owe them a thing, Bill. They're doing nothing for you; you don't have to do anything for them."

The statement -- which author Benjamin Barber witnessed and wrote about in his book, "The Truth of Power: Intellectual Affairs in the Clinton White House" -- was prompted by another speaker raising the difficulties of reaching "Reagan Democrats." It stands in stark contrast to the attitude the New York Democrat has recently taken on the campaign trail, in which she has presented herself as the one candidate who understands the working-class needs.

Stark contrast, indeed. It is important to remember that Hillary Clinton (and John McCain) are making an issue of Obama's recent remarks. It is important to remember that Hillary Clinton is running almost exclusively negative ads in Pennsylvania about Obama's remarks. I'm just saying, this wouldn't be THE issue, if Clinton didn't make it THE only issue for her campaign. Also, a Clinton spokesman now says the quote was "taken out of context" - thus admitting that the words at least are real. Read More......

Troubling data on wealth distribution

There is an interesting story in the NY Times today about hedge funds and the substantial payouts for the leading managers of the big funds. Let's just say they're doing pretty well. What jumped out to me was the information about the previous years in which wealth distribution was so distorted. It should be at least a warning signs of an economy that has gone badly off course for decades.

In the south of France you have a number of beautiful mansions that were built just before the crash of 1929 and a fascinating book came out a few years ago detailing the history of those mansions. Quite a few were built by ultra-rich gamblers much like the hedge fund and Wall Street gamblers of today. One big difference is that back then when they went too far and failed, they really fell. Mansion after mansion was lost as the gamblers had nobody to bail them out as Paulson has done with Wall Street. Was it a good thing that the pre-Crash crowd fell so hard? Maybe not, but nobody forced them to roll the dice and those are the breaks of the game. That's how old fashioned capitalism worked.

Where I have a bigger problem is that this is the crowd who today calls anyone who raises the issue of wealth distribution a communist. I haven't heard the same smears of communism when Wall Street has been bailed out but rest assured, talk about creating an even playing field - which is different from everyone gets equal money - and you know where the GOP and wingnuts will go. Everyone in the US ought to have the same opportunity to be make money but what we have today is eerily similar to what we saw in 1928. The system has broken down and needs to change so we as a nation can move forward. Read More......

US diplomats avoiding Iraq like the plague

Mind you, they're the people who really know what's going on over there. Read More......

"Pennsylvanian" in Clinton attack ad is actually from New Jersey

The problem is that, while this may seem insignificant, it feeds into a growing pattern of deception from the Clinton campaign that is, according to the polls, increasingly hurting Hillary's credibility among voters. This is the kind of thing that will most certainly be used by the Republicans in the fall, should Hillary become the nominee. One of their favorite, and most effective, attacks is labeling Democrats as liars. From the Chicago Trib:

Clyde Thomas, who sports a goatee in the ad and says, “the good people of Pennsylvania deserve a lot better than what Barack Obama said,” is actually registered in New Jersey. He voted there for Clinton Feb. 5.

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Why isn't McCain talking about privatizing Social Security now?

John McCain proudly supported privatizing Social Security to Wall Street a few years ago, so what does he have to say now? Now that the big financials are coughing up more bad numbers (WSJ reporting $6 - $8 billion more write downs for Merrill Lynch) we need to clearly understand how McCain thinks this is such a good idea. Why in the world would anyone want to risk the future of Social Security with Wild West gamblers? It only proves how little he knows about Wall Street and Main Street if he was so eager to outsource our future to these people.

For starters he ought to be talking about the fleecing of American retirement plans due to excessive charges by Wall Street but no, don't expect McCain to offer any common sense talk about protecting normal Americans. McCain doesn't travel in those circles and his advisers are all in the pocket of the Wall Street companies that are looking for their next taxpayer sponsored handout. Read More......

In most of PA, Clinton's running only negative ads

When the kitchen sink isn't enough, do negative ads. That's the Clinton campaign's Pennsylvania strategy based on what Greg Sargent's hearing:

In most of Pennsylvania's markets, the only TV ad Hillary is running right now is a negative one -- the spot hitting Obama over his "small town" comments, a political ad buyer who tracks buys in Pennsylvania tells me.

The buyer says that as of this morning, that ad -- and no positive spots -- are running in the Pittsburgh, Erie, Johnstown/Altoona, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton markets.

This should make all the Clinton staffers, consultants and supporters very, very proud. They can't win the nomination, but they are willing to participate in the effort to destroy the Democratic nominee. Thirty-five years of public service and experience, yet all she can come up with is an ad twisting Obama's remarks, which are remarkably similar to things her own husband said. Wow. It's not only destructive, it's sad and pathetic. And, again, it must make all those Clinton staffers so proud. So proud.

This madness has to end. Read More......

Torture that doesn't sound like torture

I was reading this excellent hilzoy post and it occurred to me that it's probably worthwhile to point out, once again, that the popular conception of torture is often quite different from the reality. For example, I recently read some piece -- I don't even remember what it was -- that was dismissive of sleep deprivation and sensory deprivation as torture. And within the experience of most people, those things don't seem, at first glance, like terrible things.

For anybody who doesn't know much about torture and/or interrogations (which I sort of hope is most of y'all), it's really worth noting that sensory deprivation produces psychosis within hours. It's shockingly fast, and can have severe long-term effects after just a day or two. All you have to do is strap somebody down, put on a blindfold, sound-proof earmuffs, and gloves that reduce tactile sensation, and full-blown hallucinations begin in less than a day. Psychosis is day two.

And sleep deprivation is reliably reported as pretty much the worst feeling in the world -- far worse than starvation, severe dehydration, isolation, etc. Keep somebody up for 72 hours (which isn't that hard), and again with the hallucinations and psychosis. So if anybody defends this stuff with anything along the lines of "Oh, it's only for a day or two, what could be the harm?" they're being profoundly misleading. It's tough to explain to people because it's not intuitive, but it's true nonetheless. Read More......

HBO's Real Sports: Obama's Got Game

Bryant Gumbel: "You can't go to your right, can you?"
Obama: "No."
Gumbel (chuckling): "On anything?"
Obama (smiling): "Don't tell anyone."

Watch it. Read More......

Murtha on McCain: Too Old to be President

It takes one to know one, I suppose. Representative John Murtha (D-PA) told the AFL-CIO's Building Trades National Legislative Conference today that being President is "no old man's job:"

Murtha is 75, four years older than McCain. He says they are nearly the same age, and the rigors and stress of running the country is too much for guys their age.

Murtha's backing Clinton and made the comments while introducing her to the union audience. The AP says the Clinton campaign is backing away from the age remarks:

Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said Clinton "considers Senator McCain a friend, and she respects him. But it's not his age she has a problem with, its his ideas for the future."

It's no mystery I believe age is a very real issue, and if Democrats aren't willing to go there now, they absolutely should come the general.

UPDATE: Reading the first few comments, I realize I should clarify. I suppose I don't mean to suggest Democrats should state the obvious and point out how old McCain is. I agree that's sticky ground and won't get you anywhere. However, I do think the Democratic nominee's campaign shouldn't hesitate to address McCain's antiquated views and old-fashioned perspectives. And if evidence of McCain's weariness due to age does pop up along the campaign trail, I don't think the media should ignore it. I'd want to know whether or not a potential President is physically up to the task. Read More......

Two more PA polls show unexpectedly close race

We knew it would be a week of polling frenzy. And, it is. Two more today, both from credible and reliable pollsters. Both polls have undecideds in the range of 13-14%, so how the undecideds break is critical. But, think back a couple weeks and this race in PA wasn't supposed to be close. It was supposed to be a Clinton blowout.

The poll from Franklin & Marshall University and the Philadelphia Daily News has Clinton leading Obama by a 46% - 40% margin:

WITH THE Pennsylvania primary six days away, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has moved within striking distance of rival U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, according to a new Daily News/Franklin & Marshall Poll.

Clinton clung to a lead of 46 percent to 40 percent for Obama among likely Democratic voters, with 14 percent undecided. In March, Clinton led 51 percent to 35 percent.

But experts said that the survey may not fully show the impact of Obama's statements last week that small-town Americans are "bitter" over their economic status and "cling to guns or religion."

"It's too soon — you'd have to see polls taken Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday," said political consultant Neil Oxman. "It's clear [internal] polling in both campaigns show an uptick in support for her and a downtick for him."

This poll was conducted April 8 - 13, 2008. So, as instructed by Mr. Oxman, let's look at a poll conducted Monday and Tuesday (April 14th & 15th) from PPP Polling -- it shows an Obama lead: 45% - 42%, which is "a statistical tie":Barack

It seems more clear with each passing day that Hillary Clinton's efforts to hurt Barack Obama for his 'bitter' remarks are not working. Earlier this week PPP showed Obama maintaining a 20 point lead in North Carolina, and now for the third week in a row we show the race in Pennsylvania as a statistical tie.

Obama's gain since PPP's poll last week is not attributable to any major shifts of support from any particular demographic. He simply cut Clinton's lead with whites and women, and increases his advantage with men and black voters.

High turnout in the metro Philadelphia area seems likely to be the key to Obama's success or failure. Right now he leads 53-33 in that region, with Clinton showing a strong advantage in most of the rest of the state.

Also, Obama got two key endorsements today: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Bruce. Read More......

McCain's wife plagiarizes recipes for campaign Web site

Sure, the mainstream media will laugh and say "isn't that funny." But imagine if Michelle Obama had put up "home" recipes on the Obama Web site, recipes that she had actually stolen from various cooking Web sites and reposted them as her own "authentic" down-home cuisine? She'd be called a fake populist, an elitist. How are the McCain's any different? Well, first off because the media likes John McCain, so you know, it's just different. Seriously, McCain is now blaming this on an intern. How exactly did an intern get permission to publish something on McCain's official campaign site, without anyone else knowing? Read More......

Bosnia and Back Again, starring Sen. Hillary Clinton

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McCain gas-tax plan could cost tens of thousands of US jobs

But in all fairness, McCain isn't very good at economics. From the Wall Street Journal:

The Arizona Republican and presumptive presidential nominee today urged Congress to institute a “gas-tax holiday” by suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day....

Relief — or fewer jobs? According to a white paper circulated on Capitol Hill last week by the U.S. Transportation Department, every $1 billion of federal highway investment supports 34,779 jobs.

Many economists have also questioned the wisdom of suspending or cutting gas taxes; doing so, they say, simply stimulates more consumption of gasoline.

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Wash Post/ABC News Poll: Clinton "has lost trust among voters, a majority of whom now view her as dishonest"

I won't make any comment on this finding from the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll because the thing speaks for itself -- and it should be speaking to superdelegates:

Lost in the Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign's aggressive attacks on Barack Obama in recent days is a deep and enduring problem that threatens to undercut any inroads Clinton has made in her struggle to overtake him in the Democratic presidential race: She has lost trust among voters, a majority of whom now view her as dishonest.

Her advisers' efforts to deal with the problem -- by having her acknowledge her mistakes and crack self-deprecating jokes -- do not seem to have succeeded. Privately, the aides admit that the recent controversy over her claim to have ducked sniper fire on a trip to Bosnia probably made things worse.

Clinton is viewed as "honest and trustworthy" by just 39 percent of Americans, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, compared with 52 percent in May 2006. Nearly six in 10 said in the new poll that she is not honest and trustworthy. And now, compared with Obama, Clinton has a deep trust deficit among Democrats, trailing him by 23 points as the more honest, an area on which she once led both Obama and John Edwards.

The poll showed Obama leading Clinton by a ten-point margin: 51% - 41%.

Also in today's post is an op-ed from Doug Schoen , Mark Penn's business partner (or maybe not -- the firm is Penn, Schoen and Berland) basically telling Clinton to go negative and "undermine Obama's candidacy." It seems those consultant-types, who got Clinton into her current situation, can't help but give her bad advice. Or, as Josh Marshall says:

But it's getting really hard for me not to conclude that a lot of these guys in the Penn/Clinton consultant world have simply gone insane.

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Big debate tonight. It's on ABC starting at 8 p.m. (Eastern) We'll liveblog it. Hopefully, there won't be any more til the big ones with McCain in the fall.

Michelle Obama did an outstanding job on the Colbert Show last night. Quite an outstanding job.

And, speaking of McCain, he's still breaking the campaign finance laws. (Not that anyone in the traditional media, like CNN's Candy Crowley or the Washington Post's editorial board, would ever call him on it.) Reporters like being on John McCain's good side. After hearing more anecdotes about McCain's volatile temper from Cliff Schecter's book, I'm beginning to think they're secretly afraid of them.

What's going on in the real world? Read More......

ANC breaks with Mbeki on Zimbabwe crisis and 'silent diplomacy'

Moving forward, this is great news both for Zimbabwe and South Africa. For whatever reason (historical perhaps) South African President Thabo Mbeki has never criticized Robert Mugabe and repeatedly has talked of 'silent diplomacy' in Zimbabwe as the way forward. The policy has failed and Mbeki has never been a neutral observer, but a Mugabe supporter.

Leading ANC figures have openly contradicted President Thabo Mbeki, who declared after meeting Mr Mugabe in Harare last weekend that there was "no crisis" in Zimbabwe. A top ANC official, Matthews Phosa – a close ally of the ANC leader Jacob Zuma – said yesterday that a crisis was "evident" in South Africa's northern neighbour. The party's national working committee, in a snub to the president, resolved to open direct contact with Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to promote dialogue.

The deadlock in Zimbabwe has caused frustration in South Africa with Mr Mbeki's brand of "quiet diplomacy" to boil over.

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Does Bush FDA own responsibility for Vioxx deaths?

It's hard not to pass on at least some of the blame to the Bush administration and GOP who have systematically cut funding and resources to the bone. In addition, they've also made it a point to let industry "self regulate" instead of providing the oversight that Americans want and need. People expect business to get away with whatever they can and yes, they do exactly that. Even if information was passed to the FDA it's hard to see them even giving a damn because that might slow business. Merck is in a world of trouble but the Bush-FDA is certainly not looking very competent either. For all of the talk about how precious human life is by the GOP they sure don't treat it that way in the Bush-FDA. Read More......

White Haired Women For Barack Obama

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China isn't the only human rights menace. Next stop, Russia.

A friend of mine asked me to give a shout-out to this issue, and I am, because Russia is in its own way just as scary as China (they have more nukes, for one thing).

Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky is the former leader of Yukos Oil, a privately-owned Russian energy company, and an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. He was thrown in jail shortly after he funded political opposition parties in Russia. Within a year the Russian government seized Yukos' assets and gave them to the state-owned oil company called Rossneft. Additional charges of tax evasion suddenly appeared shortly before Khodorkovksy was scheduled for parole. Everyone from Colin Powell to the late Tom Lantos has called for their release. You can find more information at: www.letthemgonow.org

A couple of months ago, a Russian Human Rights Lawyer named Lev Ponomorev came to the US to try to drum up media attention in the US about the topic. Last week, BBC reported his offices in Russia were raided and occupied by unidentified people. The story is here.

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Foreclosures up 57% from 2007

When the Republicans talk about an ownership society, they mean the banks and collection agencies own everything. I can't wait to hear McCain tell us how his economic plan would have avoided all of this but gee, I don't think he is going to throw his entire economic team who built this system under the bus. Not yet at least:

The numbers, compiled by online foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac, also show increasing numbers of homeowners content simply to walk away from their mortgages as the amount they owe on their homes exceeds their value.

RealtyTrac said there were 234,685 foreclosure findings in March, up 5 percent from February and 57 percent from March 2007. One in every 538 US households received a foreclosure filing -- a default notice, auction sale notice or bank repossession -- during the month.

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Oil does it again, sets new record

Oil hits a new high today and closes at $113.79 after testing $114. We're now in a no mans land and it's not going to take much to test $115. Gordon Brown and Bush can groan all they like but they should have thought about the consequences of invading Iraq and promoting conservation long ago. Since the US and UK invaded Iraq the cost of oil has gone through the roof and it's not going to ease up just because two leaders of two countries that the oil producing countries detest have a public temper tantrum. Read More......

Last night, O'Reilly attacked companies doing business without Iran. But, once again, he left out his boss, Rupert Murdoch

Last month, AMERICAblog exposed yet another act of hypocrisy from Bill O'Reilly. We also showed he's a wimp who is afraid of his own boss:

Earlier this year, arm chair terrorism fighter Bill O'Reilly blasted the chair of General Electric for doing business with terrorist countries like Iran. Bill was in rare form when he took on this issue. But, Bill needs to have on another guest and blast him for cavorting with Iranians and Syrians, possibly even aiding in the recruitment of terrorists and certainly facilitating the spewing of hatred against Israel.

That guest would be Rupert Murdoch, the head of FOX News.

Murdoch owns FOX, for whom O'Reilly works. Murdoch also owns MySpace.com. Therein lies the problem. An astute observer pointed us to some of the users of Mr. Murdoch's site. There are numerous users of MySpace.com in states that sponsor terrorism, like Iran, Syria and Sudan. That alone should warrant intervention from O'Reilly using his own standards for doing business with terrorist nations. But, that's not the biggest problem. It's the Web sites honoring terrorist organizations that give us pause. There is the self-described "Offical Hezbollah MySpace" page.

That post includes links to several of the other terror sites hosted by Murdoch's company. You'd think that would set off Bill O'Reilly. You'd be wrong. Last night, O'Reilly again went after companies doing business with Iran. Again, he failed to mention Murdoch. This is a link to the video, which includes the following exchange:

Millions of Americans hold GE stock in good faith, but this is a bad company. Doing business with people killing American soldiers and Marines is simply unacceptable, and paying a guy $20 million to run a company into the ground is simply breathtaking.

There are more than a few villain CEOs in this country, but Jeffrey Immelt could well be the worst. And that's the memo.

Now, General Electric isn't the only concern doing business with Iran. The government of Switzerland and the French company Total, the oil company, are among other big offenders.

Actually, Bill, Rupert Murdoch is another big offender. Really big offender. Big tough Bill O'Reilly doesn't dare to go after Murdoch. Read More......