A LOSING PROPOSITION

Corruption everywhere

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/29/AR2008052903679.html
The White House named a special inspector general to search for possible fraud and abuse in the funding of Afghanistan's reconstruction yesterday, three months after a congressional deadline for the appointment. . . .

Well, obviously, they didn’t replace ENOUGH of them

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/24_us_attorneys_say_congress_c.php
24 Former U.S. Attorneys Say Congress Can Subpoena White House . . .

Another stupid blinder from McCain – but don’t worry, he’s the “expert” on Iraq

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/30/143234/516
“I can look you in the eye and tell you it is succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels.”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/197786.php
[Josh Marshall] In his statement today John McCain said that "we have drawn down to pre-surge levels." But of course that that's not remotely accurate. We won't even be fully down to pre-surge levels this summer. And now in response to criticism on this point, the McCain camp is now attacking the Obama campaign and any press outlet that picks this up for "nit-pick[ing] the tense of the verb." . . .

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/in-all-fairness-to-mccain-maybe-english.html
[John Aravosis] He's lost his mind. . .

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/according-to-mccain-campaign-expecting.html
[Joe Sudbay] The McCain campaign can't explain why McCain gets the facts wrong -- over and over and over. . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/mccain-says-we-have-130000-to-135000.html
Labels: confused, john mccain, surge

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/05/new_math_or_new_grammar.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obama_campaign_winning_todays.php

http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/007467.html
[WP] Sen. John McCain has attacked Sen. Barack Obama for not traveling to Iraq to see the "facts on the ground." But a recent statement by McCain about troop levels has his opponents raising questions about his own knowledge. . .

Obama responds, and you can see how they’re going to keep sticking it to McCain until he explodes again

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obama_on_mccains_troop_gaffe_a.php
He's been proposing a joint trip to Iraq that's nothing more than a political stunt. He's even been using it to raise a few dollars for his campaign. But it seems like Senator McCain's a lot more interested in my travel plans than the facts, because yesterday - in his continued effort to put the best light on a failed policy - he stood up in Wisconsin and said, "We have drawn down to pre-surge levels" in Iraq.

That's not true, and anyone running for Commander-in-Chief should know better. As the saying goes, you're entitled to your own view, but not your own facts. . . .

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/going_to_iraq.php
[Matt Yglesias] Obviously, a political gimmick is what a political gimmick is, but there's really something very strange about the conceit that flying to Iraq and taking a guided tour courtesy of the U.S. military is the best way to learn about the country. . . .

McCain uses the military in ads (which is against the rules)

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mccain_uses_image_of_petraeus.php

More: http://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/nationalsecurity/2008/05/is-sen-mccain-p.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15713.html
[Steve Benen] This morning, the McCain campaign insisted there was nothing wrong with using pictures of Gen. David Petraeus, without his permission, in their fundraising solicitations. This afternoon, McCain himself admitted the campaign was wrong and said it “will not happen again.”

McCain’s campaign is obviously coordinating strategy with a 527 (which happens to be illegal)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/30/34315/4047

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/is-mccain-coordinating-attacks-against.html

Howls of laughter!

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/before_rick_davis_began_servin.php
[Andrew Tilghman] Before Rick Davis began serving as John McCain's campaign manager, his lobbying firm had a pretty cosmopolitan set of clients.

For example, Ukranian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, who has several business links to Iran. . . [read on]

Using McClellan to bash McCain

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/30/04245/7142

http://cliffschecter.firedoglake.com/2008/05/30/should-john-mccain-be-investigated-in-light-of-scott-mclellans-revelations/

It could get worse: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/30/mcclellan-on-countdown-where-did-things-go-wrong/
[Scarecrow] No wonder Bush loyalists and McCain's staff are in a panic. The wheels have been falling off the Straight Talk Bus as McCain was pummeled for his campaign and spiritual choices; he's voted consistently with Bush and has repeatedly praised Bush's war policies. McCain hoped to wear Petreaus' surge as armor, but if he has to defend why we invaded Iraq in the first place, he'll have to share the emperor's clothes. . .

Video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/29/scott-mcclellan-on-countd_n_104194.html

Here’s a line McCain may live to regret

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mccain_uses_image_of_petraeus.php
“My friends, it's clear Senator Obama was driven to his position on the War in Iraq by his ideology and not by the facts on the ground. . .”

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-mcclellan30-2008may30,0,2091481.story
If McCain wants to be taken seriously as a more honest, competent and moderate Republican than Bush, he's going to have to answer some of the questions he has avoided. To wit: Does he believe the administration "spun" the public to justify the overthrow of Saddam Hussein? Does he agree with McClellan that it was "a political propaganda campaign?"

More: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/29/mccain-mcclellan/

Heh

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/30/211439/913
[Hunter] As the week draws towards a close, I would just like to take a quick moment to congratulate John McCain and the Republican Party for doing everything they could this week to focus the public's attention on the Iraq War. I think they are doing wonderfully, and will no doubt win in November if they simply keep doing what they are doing. We are very frightened of this new strategy, which is very clever and working out perfectly. . . .

I’ve said it before: beating McCain is going to be easier than people realize. Watch this

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/05/ouch.php

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/30/la-times-john-mccain-has_n_104407.html
LA Times: John McCain Has A "Nightmare" YouTube Problem . . .

Scotty says the media was derelict in not pressing him for more facts in the lead-up to the war. Well, that’s a funny thing to say, since he was a main force in concealing them

http://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/nationalsecurity/2008/05/what-happened.html

Video: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/197787.php

It looks as if the DNC rules committee meeting today is going to be the beginning of the end – they’ll come up with a compromise on MI and FL, and unless the Clinton campaign decides to appeal and take it all the way to the convention (which is highly unlikely) the final numbers will be tabulated after the primaries next week. Then we’ll know

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/rbc_a_possible_scenario.php

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/rbc_meeting_watch_carl_levin.php

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/30/19169/9591

http://www.slate.com/id/2191007

Hillary is tired

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/clinton_campaign_takes_a_turn.php
"I am tired," said Clinton with exasperation. "I am tired of politicians and people in the press saying we can’t do things. . . .”

You know what, Hillary, so are we

http://www.findingavoice.com/2008/05/30/anxiety-from-the-white-house-to-the-campaign-trail/
[Ann Davidow] From the White House to the campaign trail there’s a lot of anxiety going on. Senator Clinton and her staff keep up a barrage of reasons to legitimize her continued candidacy. Senator McCain gives one uninspiring speech after another, animated only when tossing insults in Barack Obama’s direction, telling ‘his friends’ he will never surrender in Iraq, or delivering one liners with a maniacal grin and a giggle. The administration on the other hand is busily trying to exert damage control and contain the uproar caused by Scott McClellan’s book about his tour as presidential press secretary.

Common to all these anxious moments is a growing sense of how badly the American people have been and continue to be treated. If Hillary is able to say she has more popular votes, and McCain can claim superior national security credentials, and the president and his cohort can swear that author Scott McClellan just isn’t the Scottie they all knew and loved, the ensuing credibility gap requires an enormous leap of faith even among true believers. At the core of all these assertions is a continuing effort to dissemble, twist, distort and, in the end, trash the truth. Unfortunately, by the time that realization bubbles up in the collective American mind unspeakable damage to the country’s institutions has been done.

In a way it’s kind of fun to tweak some of the devious rationales the various camps put out in support of their positions. . . . [read on]

Bonus item: the GOP campaign style, becoming a parody of itself

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/197737.php

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/against_ricearoni.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 12:41 AM

 
DON’T PICK A FIGHT YOU CAN’T WIN

Hey guys, don’t make Scotty angry – he has even more to tell

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/enthusiastic-puppets-by-dday-i-didnt.html
[Dday] [C]onservatives are throwing the mother of all hissy fits in response to this. The wingnut blogosphere is blaming the messenger as they always do, attacking McClellan as a liberal, a liar, a charlatan trying to sell books, and claiming they never liked him anyway.

The White House is perhaps even more spittle-flecked than the bloggers, calling McClellan "disgruntled" and even a traitor. . . . [read on]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/washington/30scottcnd.html
Responding to criticism that he did not voice his objections when he was in the White House, Mr. McClellan said that he was swayed at the time by his affection for the president and respect for the president’s policy team. “I gave them the benefit of the doubt, like a lot of Americans,” he said. Mr. McClellan said he later concluded that “things went terribly off course” in Iraq after he left what he termed “the White House bubble,” where outside views often were not considered. . . .

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080529/pl_politico/10681;_ylt=AoeDpJF845_Qs9gFpQyLUeqs0NUE
Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan, speaking out for the first time since publication of his searing memoir, told NBC's "Today" show on Thursday that he erroneously believed what President Bush was saying about the war but now is answering to a higher loyalty: “a loyalty to the truth.”

“The White House would prefer that I not talk openly about my experiences,” he said . . .

Did Bush approve the Plame leak?

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/29/on-the-serendipity-of-mis-readings/
[Emptywheel] During the interview, Scottie revealed the two things that really pissed him off with the Bush Administration. First, being set up to lie by Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. And second, learning that Bush had--himself--authorized the selective leaking of the NIE. . . . [read on]

More: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/29/george-bush-authorized-the-leak-of-valerie-wilsons-identity/

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/29/14034/4676

More

http://www.first-draft.com/2008/05/mcclellan-expla.html
McClellan also recounts another "clinker," when Bush singled out Michael Brown, the beleaguered head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with the infamous, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

"Even Brown looked embarrassed and no wonder; most Americans had already concluded that the FEMA director was in over his head," said McClellan, who adds that it helped cement an image that Bush is overly loyal even after poor performance. . . .

Back when Scotty ruled the podium: a video review

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/197610.php

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/29/9258/03852

The enablers

http://www.newsweek.com/id/139165

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/29/04019/8501

Our pliant press

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/29/yellin/index.html
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think the press corps dropped the ball at the beginning. When the lead-up to the war began, the press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives, frankly, to make sure that this was a war that was presented in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation and the president's high approval ratings.

And my own experience at the White House was that, the higher the president's approval ratings, the more pressure I had from news executives -- and I was not at this network at the time -- but the more pressure I had from news executives to put on positive stories about the president. . . . They would turn down stories that were more critical and try to put on pieces that were more positive . . . [read on]

Iraq: still falling apart

http://www.juancole.com/2008/05/sunni-arabs-pull-out-of-talks-with-al.html
[Juan Cole] On Wednesday, the Sunni fundamentalist Iraqi Accord Front (IAF, Tawafuq) withdrew from talks on rejoining the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of the Shiite fundamentalist Islamic Mission Party (Da'wa). . .

The collapse of these talks and the failure of al-Maliki to achieve substantial reconciliation with Sunni Arabs are blows to the success of the US troop escalation ("surge"), which was advertised as necessary to move Iraq toward communal peace. This Sunni-Shiite reconciliation was one of four major benchmarks announced by George W. Bush in January of 2007, which he said should be achieved by June, 2007. In the subsequent year and a half, al-Maliki's national unity government collapsed, the Sunnis have remained in the opposition, and hundreds of thousands of Sunni Arabs have been ethnically cleansed from Baghdad in the meantime. Many of them are sweltering in Syria as refugees, their life savings dwindling, their former homes occupied by Shiite squatters. . . .

Joe Lieberman: how his support for the war distorts EVERYTHING else

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080616/alterman

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/just_like_moses.php

McCain’s chief economic advisor is in a heap o’ trouble

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_346.php

McCain paying a price for his disavowal of Hagee, Parsley

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15696.html

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/28/AR2008052803037.html

McCain switches (again) on telecom immunity

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/29/121812/034

McCain wants to introduce Obama to the bright, shining, new and improved Iraq

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mccain_obamas_position_on_iraq.php
"It's been 871 days since he was there and I'm confident that when he goes he will then change his position on the conflict in Iraq because he will see the success that has been achieved on the ground."

Hillary helps, again

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/05/29/clinton-recalls-her-trips-with-mccain-to-conflict-zones/
During one of those candidate-drops-into-a-diner-for-a-chat rituals in eastern South Dakota today, Sen. Hillary Clinton took an indirect jab at Democratic front-runner Sen. Barack Obama. . . .

McCain, who has visited Iraq eight times, has used the issue to criticize Obama’s foreign policy credentials. Obama, he says, “does not have the knowledge or the experience to make the judgments. Presidents have to listen and learn. Presidents have to make judgments no matter how popular or unpopular they may be.”

In her campaign stops, Clinton customarily pauses to praise McCain for his service to the country before going on to criticize his policy positions and cast them as a continuation of the Bush administration. But as she campaigns in South Dakota in advance of its Tuesday primary, Clinton added an extra recollection to her intro. “I have the highest respect and regard for Sen. McCain, he and I have actually gone to Iraq and Afghanistan together,” she said. “And I honor his service to our country and his patriotism.” . . .

Here’s a good reply

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/05/comeback.php
[Mark Kleiman] If I were Obama, the next time I was asked this I would just say, "Our brave men and women fighting in Iraq have better things to do than babysit one more tourist from Washington."

And an even better one

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15698.html
[Chief Obama strategist David Axelrod] In a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday with The Huffington Post, David Axelrod began with a bit of political thunder, accusing McCain of failing to question the White House as it used “deception and propaganda to essentially lead America to war.”

“What does all his experience get us?” asked Obama’s strategic guru. “What do all those visits [to Iraq] get us?”

He continued: “The fact that he goes to Iraq and gets a tour apparently does little to provoke the kinds of questions that should be asked, and what Sen. Obama has been asking since the beginning. So it is not a question of longevity in government. It is a question of judgment, it is a question of a willingness to challenge policies that have failed. And he seems just dug in.” . . .

“We are talking on a day where the president’s press secretary released a book where they frankly acknowledged that they engaged in deception and propaganda to essentially lead America to war. Senator Obama saw through that and raised the appropriate questions. Sen. McCain didn’t,” he said.

More: http://www.timesnow.tv/NewsDtls.aspx?NewsID=8987

Pelosi, Reid, Dean tell the superdels: you’ve got a week to decide

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/breaking-cnn-says-pelosi-calling.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/reid-says-he-pelosi-and-dean-will-push.html

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15700.html

Is this the final compromise for Florida and Michigan?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/a_developing_compromise_for_fl.php

WTF? http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/hillary-reportedly-using-mccain-and.html

House and Senate races: a review

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/29/13348/7041

Bonus item: Oh, christ

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/29/fdl-late-nite-mission-accomplished-ii/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 12:39 AM

 
TRUE, BLUE

In the Bush world, you’re either a hard-core loyalist and true believer, or you are an enemy to be destroyed. Scott McClellan crosses the line, with predictable results

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/28/mcclellan.book/index.html
The White House Wednesday said it was "puzzled" by a former spokesman's memoir in which he accuses the Bush administration of being mired in propaganda and political spin and at times playing loose with the truth. . . .

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino called McClellan's description of his time at the White House "sad."

"Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House," Perino said. "For those of us who fully supported him, before, during and after he was press secretary, we are puzzled. It is sad. This is not the Scott we knew."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/washington/28cnd-mcclellan.html
Speaking on Fox News, where he is now a commentator, Mr. Rove said Mr. McClellan was not even present at many of the meetings he describes and suggested that he was not writing truthfully.

“First of all, this doesn’t sound like Scott. It really doesn’t,” he said. “Not the Scott McClellan I’ve known for a long time. Second of all, it sounds like somebody else. It sounds like a left-wing blogger.

“If he had these moral qualms,” he added, “he should have spoken up about them.” . . .

[NB: ". . . and then we would have fired him"]

More: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/05/28/mcclellan/index.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15685.html

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/28/wingnuts-run-their-standard-attack-the-messenger-playbook-on-mcclellan/

McClellan’s main revelations -- not one of which the Bush gang denies. It's all ad hominem.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10649.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15678.html

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/the_harsh_tone_of_former.php

http://www.juancole.com/2008/05/mcclellan-bush-in-permanent-campaign.html

Here’s a little tidbit from McClellan’s book: Bush on his previous cocaine use

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/mcclellans-book-bush-cant-remember-if.html

(Not that this makes McClellan a hero)

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/28/24783/
[Scarecrow] Shorter Scott McClellan: I'm shocked, shocked that the Bush White House was filled with scheming, dishonest people, which I never figured out 'till later, and I'm really upset Rove and Libby put me out in front to mislead the American people . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/28/6429/00483
[BarbinMD] More than two years after leaving the White House, former press secretary Scott McClellan has grown a conscience. And all it took was a lucrative book deal . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/28/75553/1722
[Bill in Portland] MASSIVE JEERS to Scott McClellan. The latest former Bush lapdog---he was press secretary from '03 to '06---to come out of the woodwork has several juicy nuggets in his hot-off-the-presses tell-all book. Bottom line: he confirms everything that we dirty hippie bloggers were screaming about at the top of our lungs, but which the traditional media ignored because...well, because Scott McClellan stood at his little White House podium and denied it all . . .

More: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/27/now-this-is-scottie-mcclellan-news/

McClellan on the media

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/28/mcclellan/index.html
If anything, the national press corps was probably too deferential to the White House and to the administration in regard to the most important decision facing the nation during my years in Washington, the choice over whether to go to war in Iraq.

The collapse of the administration's rationales for war, which became apparent months after our invasion, should never have come as such a surprise. . . . In this case, the "liberal media" didn't live up to its reputation. If it had, the country would have been better served. . . . [read on]

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/197369.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/28/152833/731

Pentagon auditor: I can’t do my job!

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/pentagon-auditor-i

Another major lobbyist problem for John McCain – this time he’s going to lose his chief economic advisor

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/197274.php
[Josh Marshall] On the McCain/Gramm/UBS front (noted in yesterday evenings posts), it seems that not only is Sen. McCain's top economics advisor, fmr Sen. Gramm, lobby and work for UBS, but according to today's Financial Times the company is advising members of its private banking team not to step foot in the United States in order to avoid indictment. . . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/lobbyists-in-closet-by-dday-john-mccain.html
[Dday] Gramm's execrable Senate record, which includes easing regulation on energy trading (which directly led to Enron), and undoing the Glass-Steagall Act (which almost directly led to the mortgage mess), ought to be enough to disqualify him from any advisory economic role. But his lobbying for the very companies seeking to stop homeowners facing foreclosure from rewriting their mortgages, which was SUCCESSFUL lobbying, by the way, is really just beyond the pale. The compromise bill worked out in the Senate is far more friendly to the terms set out by Gramm's bosses, and, significantly, John McCain.

I don't think you can go wrong making Phil Gramm a major face of the McCain campaign. The guy is as perfect a symbol of failed conservative policies as there is, and he makes the deregulation and lobbyist-run federal oversight policies of the Bush Administration look like the second coming of Teddy Roosevelt.

We could add to this the fact that Joe Lieberman and Lindsay Graham are violating the ethics rules laid out by the McCain campaign, serving on the board of an organization running 527 attack ads against Barack Obama. But let that go for a second. Practically McCain's entire staff has major ties to lobbying organizations. The reformer image is virtually dead and buried.

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/28/mccains-cronies-phil-gramm-r-enron-and-his-ubs-lobbying-problem/

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15679.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/mccains-lobbyist-problems-continue-will.html

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/28/mccains-cronies-handling-gramms-enronubs-baggage/

McCain: caught up in the Renzi investigation?

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/28/will-mccain-turn-over-requested-documents-to-the-renzi-prosecutors/

McCain VP choice not acceptable to the party base

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15683.html

Why McCain will lose

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/bums-rush-by-digby-marc-ambinder-notes.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-poor-excuse-for-political-party-by.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/with-friends-like-these-by-digby-long.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15688.html
McCain voted with Bush 100% of the time . . .

Theocracy watch: how creepy and insane is John Hagee?

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6028

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15687.html

Upcoming Senate races

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6022
[Bruinkid] There are 35 seats up for election because of a scenario in Wyoming and Mississippi where both seats are up, due to the passing of Craig Thomas and the resignation of Trent Lott, respectively. Now obviously, quite a few of the races are considered "safe" for the incumbent. So I'll rank these in terms of tiers. The top tier will be the races where the party holding the seat has a real shot of switching. The second tier are races that could become top tier races, but are not at this point. Tier III are ones where a major event would need to happen for the seat to come into play. . . . [read on]

What’s going to happen when the DNC rules committee meets to discuss the Michigan and Florida primary cases? Well, there’s one thing we know WON’T happen

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15681.html
[Steve Benen] After having first endorsed the decision to strip Florida and Michigan of its convention delegates, the Clinton campaign reversed course and insisted that the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee seat the full delegations from both states, even though voters in the states were told in advance that their votes wouldn’t count, and even though the candidates didn’t campaign in either state.

This morning, the Democratic Party’s lawyers explained that the Rules and Bylaws Committee can’t grant the Clinton campaign’s request — the committee, even if it wanted to, simply doesn’t have the authority. . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/memo-party-rules-requires-that-fl-and.html
Party rules require that FL and MI lose at least half of their delegates . . .

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/the_rbc_meeting_a_preview.php
Almost certainly, Hillary Clinton will be disappointed at the results. . . .

More: http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/politicalinsider/2008/05/previewing-saturdays-dnc-rules.html

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/key_points_of_the_dnc_staff_an.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/28/131524/628

Bonus item: “Nixonland” – looks like a great book

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/28/9451/75570

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/upon-finishing-nixonland-by-tristero-by.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 1:22 AM

 
STOP THE TORTURE

This is good. Let’s get McCain on record NOW

http://www.harpers.org/subjects/NoComment#hbc-90002973
[Scott Horton] This post is about “No Torture. No Exceptions.” It’s an initiative with which I am deeply involved, dedicated to making certain that each presidential candidate makes stopping torture part of their campaign platform. . . .

All the remaining Presidential candidates–John McCain in the Republican Party, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Party–have publicly stated their opposition to the use of torture. Now each of these presidential candidates must get their parties to adopt at their Conventions a party platform plank that returns America to its historic position of absolutely rejecting torture–anywhere, on anyone, for any reason. . .

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/reject-torture-by-digby-scott-horton.html

Whoa

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/27/the-cia-oig-made-five-criminal-referrals-during-its-investigation-of-cia-interrogation-techniques/
The CIA OIG Made Five Criminal Referrals During Its Investigation of CIA Interrogation Techniques . . .

CNN is STILL using one of the Pentagon’s rent-a-generals as a supposedly objective commentator

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/pentagon_shill_returns_to_cnn.php

Corruption on the US border

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/buying_off_federal_border_guar.php

The man from the EPA

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/197162.php

Scotty! Welcome back!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/washington/28mcclellan.html
President Bush “convinces himself to believe what suits his needs at the moment,” and has engaged in “self-deception” to justify his political ends, Scott McClellan, the former White House press secretary, writes in a critical new memoir about his years in the West Wing.

In addition, Mr. McClellan writes, the decision to invade Iraq was a “serious strategic blunder,” and yet, in his view, it was not the biggest mistake the Bush White House made. That, he says, was “a decision to turn away from candor and honesty when those qualities were most needed.” . . .

He fingers Rove and Libby too: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/27/now-this-is-scottie-mcclellan-news/

The White House wants you to know: Bush is not on the ticket this fall

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/27/12502/4083

Meanwhile: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/behind-closed-doors-mccain-will-be.html
Behind closed doors, McCain will be "snuggling up" to Bush . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15669.html

Obama calls him on it

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/obama_chides_mccain_on_bush_fu.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15676.html

The silly season: Obama mixes up the names of two concentration camps. This is, according to the GOP and some in the press, a major scandal

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/27/191613/927

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/05/27/obamas_uncle_and_the_liberatio.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/holocaust-museum-confirms-obamas-uncles.html

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/jackinthebox_politics_obamas_u.php

THIS, on the other hand, is a real scandal

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/197229.php
[Josh Marshall] For months, John McCain has been bragging on the fact that he's got fmr. Sen. Phil Gramm as his key economics advisor. That's scary enough as it is, if you're familiar with Gramm's policy predilections and legislative history. But now it turns out that Gramm, who advised McCain on his mortgage relief policy and speech, was also a registered lobbyist for the Swiss bank UBS, which is obviously heavily concerned with the mortgage crisis. According to MSNBC, which has just broken the story, UBS only deregistered Gramm on April 18th of this year, which I'm pretty certain was after McCain rolled out the policy that Gramm had a hand in crafting.

It gets better: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/197233.php

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/corruption_in_washington_/2008/05/john_mccain_phil_gramm_and_ubs.php

McCain smears Obama, Democrats with the “surrender” brush

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15667.html

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/26/monday-late-nite-the-two-faces-of-mccain/

Pssst. Hey, McCain’s lying (again)

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/mccains_fantasy_war_on_earmark.html
"I can eliminate $100 billion of wasteful and earmark spending immediately . . .”

McCain was against telecom amnesty (before he was for it)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/27/13194/0043

McCain again manages to articulate a policy stance even dumber than Bush’s

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15675.html

More red state troubles for the Republicans

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/poll_senate_gop_leader_mcconne.php
[Kentucky] Senate GOP Leader McConnell Trailing Democratic Opponent

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/gop_senate_seat_at_risk_in_dee.php
[Mississippi] In a sign that Republicans may sense they are at risk of losing a Senate seat in even the deep-red state of Mississippi . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/27/125444/276

http://cliffschecter.firedoglake.com/2008/05/27/huge-campaign-news-out-of-kentucky/

Thanks Hill: Clinton crowd boos Obama

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/27/clinton-rallies-union-in-puerto-rico/

More: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/27/1066389.aspx

Shut up, Bill

http://news.aol.com/elections/story/_a/bill-clinton-alleges-cover-up/20080526155309990001?icid=1616058736x1203051545x1200309086
Former President Bill Clinton said that Democrats were more likely to lose in November if Hillary Clinton is not the nominee, and suggested some were trying to "push and pressure and bully" superdelegates to make up their minds prematurely.

"I can't believe it. It is just frantic the way they are trying to push and pressure and bully all these superdelegates to come out," Clinton said . . .

More from Bill: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/197106.php

Does the popular vote matter in the primaries? Should it? A mini-debate

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/a_sane_discussion_of_hillary_a.php

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/25/122452/698

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/27/14622/0000

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/27/92144/7994

The end

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/05/27/race_should_end_next_week.html
[Taegan Goddard] Sen. Barack Obama's aides told the New York Daily News the freshman senator is "now just 49 delegates away" from clinching the Democratic presidential nomination.

On Good Morning America, George Stephanopoulos said the race is "almost certain to end" after the final primaries next week. He also predicted -- as Jimmy Carter did over the weekend -- that "several dozen" superdelegates will move to back Sen. Barack Obama after next Tuesday.

More: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/obama_campaign_banks_superdele.php

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/27/20650/5638

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/27/1916/05898

The changing calculus of “swing states”: How Obama is trying to reshape the electoral map

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/27/10831/4557
Obama has been campaigning in the states of NV, NM, and CO . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/197134.php
Of course, he wants to start wooing swing states for the general election. But I suspect he began with these three because he also wants to start shifting the media narrative about where he needs to win in November to capture a majority of electoral votes. . . .

Will it work? http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/obama_and_the_west.php

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/26/182414/123

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/27/0464/66294

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/05/27/mccain_ad/index.html

Joe Lieberman continues his sad, slow decline

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/joseph-lieberman-to-headl_b_103624.html
Senator Joseph Lieberman is scheduled to headline Pastor John Hagee's 2008 Christians United For Israel Washington-Israel Summit this July 22. In accepting Hagee's invitation, Lieberman became the most senior elected representative confirmed to appear at the annual gala. Last year, when Lieberman spoke at Hagee's summit, he compared the Texas televangelist to the biblical prophet Moses, dubbing him "an Ish Elochim," or "a man of God." . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/27/115450/882

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15670.html

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/27/holy-joe-from-self-hating-dem-to-self-hating-jew/

Bonus item: Stop it, please

http://www.correntewire.com/haw

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 1:49 AM

 
WHAT NEXT?

Unless everything I read is wrong, a week or so from now the Democratic nomination will be settled beyond a reasonable doubt. People are starting to turn their attention to what it will take to re-unify the party after a bitter and sometimes downright poisonous fight between Clinton and Obama. Paul Krugman starts us off

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/opinion/26krugman.html
Mr. Obama will be the Democratic nominee. But he has a problem: many grass-roots Clinton supporters feel that she has received unfair, even grotesque treatment. And the lingering bitterness from the primary campaign could cost Mr. Obama the White House. . . . [read on]

Reactions: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15665.html

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/26/174214/751

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/26/does-obama-need-hillarys-supporters/

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/26/164730/280

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/05/paul_krugman_admits_the_obvious.php

Clinton loses Atrios . . .

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_05_25_archive.html#1771859349757149962
I know I'm not alone in the League of Mostly Nonaligned Bloggers in being rather puzzled by Clinton supporters. I don't mean all people who supported her, but the ones who are still pushing for her candidacy. As far as I can tell they want her to be the candidate and really just don't care how that happens as long as it does. At this point only a drastic rule change combined with a massive shift in support from superdelegates even gets her close to the nomination. In another words, cheating combined with the smoke-filled room residents overturning the outcome of the primary process.

I never really cared all that much about who won this thing, but at some point Obama became the only one with a legitimate path to the nomination. I just stare and scratch my head and wonder what it's all about. I appreciate that there are people who don't like Obama for whatever reasons and prefer Clinton for whatever reasons. But he, you know, won?

How the Internet helped Obama

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/opinion/26cohen.html

US Attorney General argues AGAINST upholding the law

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/26/mukaseys-troubling-historical-argument/

Looking into the Pentagon’s propaganda program

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_345.php

WHO supports the troops?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/mccain-and-bush-taking-to-task-for.html
[NYT] President Bush opposes a new G.I. Bill of Rights. He worries that if the traditional path to college for service members since World War II is improved and expanded for the post-9/11 generation, too many people will take it.

He is wrong, but at least he is consistent. Having saddled the military with a botched, unwinnable war, having squandered soldiers’ lives and failed them in so many ways, the commander in chief now resists giving the troops a chance at better futures . . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/they-have-to-earn-it-by-digby-in-his.html
[AP] McCain said he opposed Webb's measure because it would give the same benefit to everyone regardless of how many times he or she has enlisted. He said he feared that would depress reenlistments by those wanting to attend college after only a few years in uniform. . . .

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/05/losing_potential_noncoms_the_gi_bill_v_blackwater.php
[Mark Kleiman] John McCain's argument against improving the GI Bill is that offering good benefits to servicemembers who leave after one tour will make it harder to develop the cadre of long-service non-coms that is the backbone of any fighting force. Commenter "oddball" on the WaPo politics blog makes a point I hadn't thought of in this regard: if it's a bad idea to tempt potential non-coms away from the service by paying their college tuition, why is it a good idea to let Blackwater and other mercenary companies tempt them away by offering them six-figure salaries, which will eventually be billed through to the taxpayers with overhead added? . . [read on]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/26/83543/6501
Democrats introduce a common-sense bill to compensate service members affected by the President's excessive use of the "stop loss" policy . . .

Mr. Straight talk does it again

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/26/12222/8235
[BarbinMD] Now that John McCain has rejected the endorsement of Rod "It’s America’s destiny to destroy Islam" Parsley, and Parsley has taken back that endorsement, it seems that there is one point that should be clarified.

It was just a few short months ago that McCain said that Parsley was:

. . . one of the truly great leaders in America, a moral compass, a spiritual guide, Pastor Rod Parsley.

But now that McCain is rejecting Mr. Parsley for his hateful rhetoric, how does the McCain campaign explain those earlier, glowing words? Easy. According to a McCain spokesman, McCain said that Parsley was:

. . . a spiritual guide, not his spiritual guide.

Fox News analyst suggests that offing Obama would be a pretty good idea – but she was JUST JOKING, get it?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/197035.php

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/liz-trotta-fox-news-analyst-laughed.html

http://www.juancole.com/2008/05/lotta-take-obama-out.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15659.html

Bonus item: Didn’t watch “Recount,” but here are some reactions from others

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/recounting-recount-by-digby-i-dont-know.html
[Digby] I don't know about you but last night after watching Recount, I had nightmares. . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15662.html
[Steve Benen] A friend of mine asked me yesterday whether I planned to watch HBO’s “Recount,” a movie about the 2000 election fiasco in Florida. I admitted that I would not. It’s not that it doesn’t look like a good movie. In fact, I’m sure it’s great — the cast is terrific, and it was directed by Jay Roach, whose work I usually like.

The problem is, the subject matter is just a little too painful. . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 12:26 AM

 
DAMAGE CONTROL

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/24/on-the-road-clintons-very-bad-day/
[Katharine Seelye] Friday might have been one of the worst days of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s political career. . . [read on]

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hillary_hits_critics_for_takin.php
Hillary has written an exclusive Op-ed piece for Sunday's New York Daily News in which she discusses her comments about RFK's assassination and hits unnamed critics for taking her remarks out of context to twist their meaning.

"Almost immediately, some took my comments entirely out of context and interpreted them to mean something completely different -- and completely unthinkable," she wrote. "I want to set the record straight: I was making the simple point that given our history, the length of this year's primary contest is nothing unusual." . . .

[NB: Look, I’m willing to grant that this was her purpose – but then why mention assassination?]

Taken out of context? OK, let’s look at the context of Hillary’s comments. Read this entry and tell me if it changes how you view her assassination reference

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5981
Bruce Wilson . . . has a diary at DKos . . . that's a good deal more than just expressing outrage. It presents a timeline of assassination remarks related to Barack Obama-a timeline including FIVE separate incidents involving Hillary Clinton's campaign. . . [read on]

More: http://troutfishing.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/25/72329/5825/322/522410

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/shameless-hiillary-blames-all-of-us-for.html

Hillary supporters attribute the controversy over this to mere Clinton-hating. She did nothing wrong – it’s all the Obama camp’s fault for whipping up outrage over it. (Don’t they see that they’re doing exactly the same thing in reverse?)

What Obama’s people said: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hillary_hits_critics_for_takin.php
After her remarks were blared on Drudge on Friday afternoon, Obama spokesperson Bill Burton quickly put out a statement calling her remarks "unfortunate." . . .

Nor did anything change when, after the story blew up, Obama senior strategist David Axelrod explicitly stated that he didn't believe she'd meant the worst, claiming that he didn't think she was hoping that a "tragic, catastrophic event" would "intervene." . . .

What Obama said: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15654.html
Barack Obama passed up an opportunity to pile onto Hillary Clinton’s problems Saturday, essentially giving her a pass when asked about her recent remarks about Robert Kennedy’s assassination.

“I have learned that when you are campaigning for as many months as Sen. Clinton and I have been campaigning, sometimes you get careless in terms of the statements that you make,” Obama told Radio Isla in Puerto Rico, where he and Clinton stumped in advance of the June 1 primary. “And I think that is what happened here.

“Sen. Clinton says that she did not intend any offense by it and I will take her at her word on that,” Obama continued.

Here’s how Obama-haters choose to spin this: http://www.correntewire.com/obama_kabuki
[Myiq2xu] His campaign covertly fans the flames, then he claims credit for displaying class in attempting to put out the fire. . . .

http://www.correntewire.com/its_time_for_obama_to_make_the_second_best_speech_about_race_evah
[Vastleft] Hey, Mr. Unity, when are you going to step up and say something like this…?

“I only destroyed the Clintons so I could complete my hostile takeover of the Democratic Party . . .”

By the way, privately even her own staff says it was a dumb thing to say

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0805/25/le.01.html
BORGER: Look, I think the comments were really unfortunate. She had made them before, Wolf, in an interview with TIME magazine. I think we have to take her at her word that she misspoke and she -- everyone in her campaign understands that she should not have said this. . . .

Here’s how bad it is: read this (to my view) perfectly fair, moderate comment on Hillary’s gaffe, then watch what the folks at Corrente do with it . . .

http://www.correntewire.com/six_degrees_of_obama
[Melissa McEwan] “Briefly, my opinion is that it was an ill-considered statement that warranted an apology, irrespective of intent. FWIW, I don’t think she intended to suggest anything nefarious, but it was not a particularly sensitive example to use to make her point, and careless in its disregard of the history of violence against black leaders. It was inevitable, and of course not unreasonable, that people would consider her competitor Obama within the frame she built, to upsetting results, even if she didn’t specifically mention him.” . . . [read on]

One last thing on this – when Democrats make comments like this, it makes it harder to attack the Republicans (like Huckabee and this nitwit from Fox News) for doing so

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196939.php
Here's Liz Trotta, a Fox News contributor, discussing the incident, first mixing up Osama and Obama, then offhandedly suggesting that "knocking off" both would be great "if we could". . . [watch]

How the length of the Obama/Clinton fight is hurting DNC fundraising

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/does-howard-dean-even-want-to-beat-john.html

More: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20080523/pl_cq_politics/politics2883461;_ylt=AoMFfTwmXybhpdHP0Jo0q9es0NUE

Michigan/Florida: it’s not complicated

http://www.alternet.org/election08/86359

[NB: Thought experiment: imagine that Obama had won Michigan and Clinton won Florida, everything else being the same. Do you think we would be having this sanctimonious fight over "every vote must be counted"? Of course not.]

OK, let’s move on. Here’s an intriguing new choice for Obama’s VP

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15656.html

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/25/12303/6806

McCain’s lobbyist hypocrisy

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013790.php

More: http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/007432.html

Mr. Irrelevant

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/38319.html
In a week of dramatic developments in the Middle East, the most dramatic development of all may have been the fact that the United States, long considered the region's indispensable player, was missing in action.

As its closest allies cut deals with their adversaries this week over the Bush administration's opposition, Washington was largely reduced to watching.

More painful for President Bush, friends he's cultivated — and spent heavily on — in Lebanon and Iraq asked the United States to remain in the background, underlining how politically toxic an association with the U.S. can be for Arab leaders. . .

It’s becoming a growing theme from the Bush gang (and you can see why): it doesn’t matter if people broke the law, so long as they were doing it in response to 9/11

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/05/mukasey_defends_author_of_soca.php
Attorney General Michael Mukasey is defending former government lawyers who drew up the legal basis of the Bush administration's use of harsh interrogation methods against terror suspects. . .

[NB: Telecom immunity, etc. Expect some huge blanket pardons before these people leave office.]

Why does Karl Rove keep going on tv to talk about what he won’t talk about in front of Congress (under oath)?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196894.php
[Josh Marshall] On This Week this morning George Stephanopoulos asked Karl Rove if he denied contacting the Justice Department prosecuting former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman. He responded with a textbook non-denial denial. . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15658.html

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/corruption_in_washington_/2008/05/rove_siegelman_and_executive_privilege.php

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/25/rove-once-again-saying-things-on-teevee-he-claims-he-cant-say-to-congress/

Bush logic

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/25/17716/5017
[McJoan] Check out this plot hatched deep in the bowels of the Interior Department: slash forest fire prevention budgets, then propose that the shortfalls in budgets be made up by selling off the timber that would have otherwise had to have been protected from fire. That's a downright clever plan for this crowd. . . .

The Republicans “panic”

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15653.html

Bonus item: Getting ready for the GOP convention

http://www.discourse.net/archives/2008/05/fbi_recruiting_infiltrators_for_gop_convention_protestors.html
[Michael Froomkin] [T]he FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is recruiting people to infiltrate anti-GOP protest groups in the run-up to the upcoming Republican convention.

The law is clear that police may attend public meetings undercover to see what people are up to. And of course undercover operations in private settings are also legal . . .

But this story raises a number of serious questions.

First, there’s this: the FBI told the potential informant that he “would be compensated for his efforts, but only if his involvement yielded an arrest. No exact dollar figure was offered.” . . . [read on]

[NB: I think that is called a “bounty.”]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 1:41 AM

 
UNFORGIVABLE

No, I’m not quite ready to let this go yet. I really don’t think you can give an entirely innocent interpretation of Hillary’s assassination comments. At the very least, the kindest thing you can say is that it was a thoughtless, irresponsible thing to say.

Why even bring up the topic of RFK’s assassination in 1968 if the point was to describe cases where the Democratic nomination process ran into the summer? (There are better historical examples to draw from, if that was her point. The Dems got squashed that year because they were a divided party.)

Any other assessment of her comment goes downhill from there, depending on how intentional and calculated one might think it was.

Remember, she has said it before.

And just think, JUST THINK, what will come of this if something were to actually happen to Obama

The press weighs in: http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/say-what-hillary-clinton-does-it-again/
[NYT] We have no idea what, exactly, Hillary Clinton was thinking when she referred to the assassination of Bobby Kennedy in explaining her decision to keep on campaigning when it looks like there is virtually no hope of her winning the Democratic nomination. . . .

[NB: The NYT, which endorsed her!]

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/05/24/2008-05-24_hillary_clintons_colossal_blunder_simply-2.html
[Michael Goodwin] Hillary Clinton's colossal blunder simply the last straw . . .

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/more-coverage-of-hillarys-assassination.html

Her defenders carry on the argument

http://www.correntewire.com/this_is_the_end_of_the_innocence
[Vastleft] Watching the feeding frenzy over Hillary Clinton’s completely innocuous RFK comment, I am now officially afraid. . . .

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/012577.php
[Eriposte] Sen. Clinton's comments on RFK were unfortunate because they could be misinterpreted by those unwilling to take the trouble of checking out the facts independently - but it is clear reviewing her statement and the context that her observation (one that she has made before) was not offensive and that the outrage spewing forth against her is beyond ridiculous. . . .

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/012578.php
[Turkana] Hillary Clinton made a clumsy comment about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, and the reaction was typical. . . .

http://www.correntewire.com/the_rovification_of_the_media_and_the_so_called_progressive_blogosphere
[Frenchdoc] Anyone, with a functioning brain not demented by Clinton Derangement Syndrome, can see that she is making a matter of fact statement: some primaries go all the way to June. Could she have put it better? Yes, probably . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15645.html
[Steve Benen] As I see it, there are three possible interpretations to consider . . .

Her critics are having none of it

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/assassination-begins-with-ass.html
[John Aravosis] Hillary is guilty as sin, and here's why. When you write or speak publicly for a living, sometimes you screw up, but there's still an internal censor that shuts you off when certain topics come to mind . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/23/AR2008052302789.html
[Libby Copeland] Smart candidates don't invoke the possibility of their opponents being killed. This seems so obvious it shouldn't need to be said, but apparently, it needs to be said. . . .

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/012574.php
[Steve Soto] Senator, it's time to go. Now.

Sure, many people are giving you the benefit of the doubt, saying that certainly you didn't mean to suggest that you need to stay in the race in case something sad happens to Barack Obama. Others are saying that you must have been tired at the back end of a long campaign. Sorry, no sale. Because today's disaster isn't simply a gaffe from a tired candidate; she brought up RFK's assassination to justify a continued candidacy months ago to Time magazine. Well, others may be willing to give you a pass, but I am not. And I was one of your earliest supporters . . .

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/24/hrc-rfk/

Her “apology”

http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/say-what-hillary-clinton-does-it-again/
[NYT] But she could, at least, have apologized.

Instead, she issued one of those tedious non-apology apologies in which it sounds like the person who is being offended is somehow at fault: “I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation, and particularly for the Kennedy family was in any way offensive.”

If?

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/business/hancock/blog/2008/05/hillarys_conditional_apology_o.html
[Jay Hancock] I love these conditional apologies from people who have made public gaffes and insults. A genuine apology -- an expression of regret and an implicit request for forgiveness -- should be unconditional. It should be an acknowledgment that a wrong has been committed -- no ifs ands or buts. . . . [read on]

Obama responds

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/012579.php
[CBS] "I have learned that when you are campaigning for as many months as Senator Clinton and I have been campaigning, sometimes you get careless in terms of the statements that you make and I think that is what happened here," Obama said in a radio interview today.

"Senator Clinton says that she did not intend any offense by it and I will take her at her word on that."

Criminal neglect

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/world/middleeast/23audit.html
A Pentagon audit of $8.2 billion in American taxpayer money spent by the United States Army on contractors in Iraq has found that almost none of the payments followed federal rules and that in some cases, contracts worth millions of dollars were paid for despite little or no record of what, if anything, was received.

The audit also found a sometimes stunning lack of accountability in the way the United States military spent some $1.8 billion in seized or frozen Iraqi assets, which in the early phases of the conflict were often doled out in stacks or pallets of cash. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/24/72530/1481
The Senate yesterday passed by unanimous consent a bill prohibiting federal contractors from avoiding Social Security and Medicare taxes by hiring workers through offshore shell companies.

Earlier this week, the House of Representatives also voted unanimously to ban the practice, used by former Halliburton subsidiary KBR to avoid payroll taxes for more than 10,000 American workers in Iraq.

The bill, which appears to have veto-proof support, now goes to President Bush. The White House has not indicated whether he supports it. . . .

[NB: Well, he has to ask Dick Cheney first]

How George Bush wants to “support the troops”

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/24/152529/270
This Memorial Day, I ask all Americans to honor the sacrifices of those who have served you and our country. One way to do so is by joining in a moment of remembrance that will be marked across our country at 3:00 p.m. local time. At that moment, Major League Baseball games will pause, the National Memorial Day parade will halt, Amtrak trains will blow their whistles, and buglers in military cemeteries will play Taps. You can participate by placing a flag at a veteran's grave, taking your family to the battlefields where freedom was defended, or saying a silent prayer for all the Americans who were delivered out of the agony of war to meet their Creator. Their bravery has preserved the country we love so dearly. . . .

[SusanG] All the pious trappings of a national holiday, but no new GI bill . . .

McCain too: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/05/mccain_and_the_veterans_talk_v_action.php

Ouch!

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10599.html
President Bush is scaling back next week’s fundraising swings for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at the request of the campaign, which wants the events closed to the press, POLITICO has learned. . . .

The Arizona event, which was to be at the Phoenix Convention Center, was the first time Bush was to have appeared with McCain since their White House meeting in March.

A McCain aide said: “The McCain campaign has a policy that fundraising events are closed press. In keeping with that policy, the campaign requested the event be moved to a private home.” . . .

And on Wednesday, Bush was to appear at Salt Lake City’s Grand America Hotel with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at a McCain for President and Republican National Committee Victory Reception (followed by a more exclusive dinner at the Romneys’ Park City home).

Now, both of the public events will be at private residences. . . .

The Phoenix Business Journal reports that other factors also played a part: “Sources familiar with the situation said the Bush-McCain event was not selling enough tickets to fill the Convention Center space . . .”

More: http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/05/19/daily77.html

Pssst. . . people are starting to notice: John McCain is running a terrible campaign

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/us/politics/25mccain.html

McCain’s immigration ploy: it’s backfiring

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15649.html
[Steve Benen] John McCain’s incoherence on immigration policy has quickly gone from problematic to humiliating. The poor guy has spun himself into a box he can’t seem to get out of. . . [read on]

More: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/05/the_nativists_are_restless.php

McCain alienates religious conservatives (again)

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/05/a_very_bad_day_for_gramps.php

McCain’s budget numbers don’t add up

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15652.html

McCain on trade: more nonsense

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/mccains-trade

Are these PARTIAL releases of McCain health records and tax returns going to fool anybody?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15648.html

The decline and fall of modern conservatism

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196722.php

More: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/05/26/080526fa_fact_packer

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/24/late-night-the-autumn-of-wingnuttia/

Theocracy watch: Sunday school edition

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/watching_conservatives_/2008/05/clarification.php
[Mark Kleiman] John Hagee wants you to understand that when he says that Adolf Hilter was doing God's will in killing all those Jews he doesn't mean that Hitler was doing something good.

As long as that's clear.

More: http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_05_18-2008_05_24.shtml#1211625446

Getting retroactive immunity into the FISA bill: a full-court press from the telecoms

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/24/telecoms/index.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/cheap-insurance-by-digby-glenn.html

Has this been thought through?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/24/13320/8074/668/522088
[McJoan] The great minds in Bush's Homeland Security department came up with a doozie this year: let's move the facility where we study the most infectious and dangerous disease among livestock from the isolated island it's now on (accessible only by ferry or helicopter) and put it where there are lots of livestock operations. Brilliant! . . . [read on]

JEB Bush ("the smart one") polishes his credentials for dishonesty

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15647.html
Florida’s Constitution contains strong language barring the diversion of tax money to religious schools and institutions. As it turns out, the Florida high court struck down the voucher plan on other grounds, declaring by a 5-2 vote that it ran afoul a provision requiring a uniform system of free public schools. Bush’s response was to hatch a plan to rewrite sections of the Florida Constitution.

The legislature balked, so Bush, in cahoots with current Gov. Charlie Crist, stacked an obscure state body, the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, with voucher stooges. The tax commission, which meets every 20 years, has the power to put initiatives directly on the ballot by a two-thirds vote. The 25-member board promptly did their bidding and voted to put Amendments 7 and 9 on the ballot.

Here’s where it gets interesting: Neither amendment mentions the word “voucher.” Amendment 7 is titled “Religious freedom.” It would remove the prohibition on tax aid to religious schools. Number 9’s title reads, “Requiring 65 percent of school funding for classroom instruction; state’s duty for children’s education.” It would do that – and also state that Florida does not have to rely exclusively on public schools to educate its children, flinging the door open for vouchers.

Religious freedom sounds good to most people. Spending 65 percent of school funding in the classroom also sounds good. Clearly, Bush & Co. are hoping Florida voters won’t look any deeper and will rubber stamp these proposals.

Newspapers in the state have not been fooled. . . .

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/television/sunday_show_preview_85578.asp
NBC Meet the Press: CBN's David Brody, New York Times' Maureen Dowd, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Washington Post's Ruth Marcus, Newsweek's Jon Meacham and NPR's Michele Norris.

CBS Face the Nation: Clinton Campaign Director of Communications Howard Wolfson , McCain supporter Sen. Lindsey Graham and Obama supporter Sen. Dick Durbin.

ABC This Week: Karl Rove and Obama Senior Advisor David Axelrod, and a roundtable with Vanity Fair's Dee Dee Myers, Washington Post's E.J. Dionne, ABC News' Matthew Dowd and George Will.

Fox News Sunday: Clinton Campaign Chairman, Terry McAuliffe, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) Chairman National Republican Congressional Committee, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) Chairman Democratic National Campaign Committee, Col. Michael Colburn, Director President’s Own US Marine Band and a panel with Brit Hume, Washington Managing Editor of Fox News, Nina Easton, Fortune Magazine & Fox News, Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard & Fox News, Juan Williams, National Public Radio & Fox News

CNN Late Edition: Major Gen. Mark Hertling, Commander, Multi-National Division-North, Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), Rep. David Dreier (R-CA), Robert Reich, former Clinton Labor Secretary; Obama supporter, Gene Sperling, Clinton economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain economic adviser, Mary Tillman, Pat Tillman's mother; author, "Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman", Bill Schneider, CNN senior political analyst, Suzanne Malveaux, CNN White House correspondent, Gloria Borger, CNN senior political analyst

Bonus item: Terry McAuliffe, goofball

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196822.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 12:14 AM

 
THINGS THEY WISH THEY HADN’T SAID

She – said – WHAT??!!??!!!!!

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/breaking-hillary-reportedly-invoked.html
[AP] "Sen. Hillary Clinton referred Friday to the assassination of Robert Kennedy in 1968 Democratic campaign as a reason she should continue to campaign despite increasingly long odds."

[NB: Everyone who is a thinking person knows that the assassination of Barack Obama is a very real threat. And everyone who knows the ambition and cynicism of the Clintons has realized that part of why she hasn’t stepped aside is that she knows this is a possible avenue to the Presidency. Of course she doesn’t wish for it. But to say it, to actually say it. I’m speechless with shock.]

Disastrous. They desperately try to take it back

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/get_ready_get_set_parse.php
A Clinton campaign spokesman said Clinton "was simply referencing her husband in 1992 and Bobby Kennedy in 1968 as historical examples of the nomination process going well into the summer. Any reading beyond that would be inaccurate."

More b.s. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196732.php

Hillary apologizes . . . to the Kennedy’s

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/23/17853/8470

A mistake?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/23/192111/929
[BarbinMD] But this isn’t the first time she has made this same, offensive comparison. In March of this year. . . .

Once might be a mistake, twice and it’s a tactic. . . .

Defending HRC: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/23/20319/4465

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/23/18633/7466

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/05/bobby_kennedy_was_assassinated_in_june.php

Attacking HRC: http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/23/18533/5596

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/23/171038/941

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/keith-olbermanns-special-comment-about.html

Bush explains why we’re (still) in Iraq

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/bush-or-yuri
“Some of our fellow citizens wonder whether the mission in Iraq is worth the cost. I strongly believe it is. And here is why: The enemy has made clear that Iraq is the central battleground of the great ideological struggle of our time. This is a struggle between those who murder the innocent to advance their hateful objectives and those of us who love liberty and long for peace. We saw that these enemies -- what these enemies intend for our country on September the 11th, 2001 -- and we must do everything in our power to stop the enemy from attacking us again.

Withdrawal from Iraq before we have achieved success would embolden al Qaeda and give them new safe havens from which to plot attacks on the American homeland. Withdrawal before success would embolden Iran in its nuclear weapons ambitions and its efforts to dominate the region. Withdrawal before success would send a signal to terrorists and extremists across the world that America is weak, and does not have the stomach for a long fight. Withdrawal before success would be catastrophic for our country. It would more likely -- be more likely that we would suffer another attack like the one we experienced on September the 11th. It would jeopardize the safety of future generations. And we must not, and we will not, allow that to happen.”

[Spencer Ackerman] Every word of this is a lie. . . [read on]

More lies: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/23/13251/5619

This hardly surprises us anymore

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Afghan-Marine-Shooting.html
Marine Corps general has decided not to bring criminal changes against two officers whose unit was accused of killing as many as 19 Afghan civilians in 2007. . .

Will Congress investigate the Pentagon propaganda program?

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/23/tell-congress-to-investigate-the-psyops-propaganda-generals/
[Joe Galloway] Once upon a time, it was widely believed that one of the greatest sins the U.S. government or its temporary political masters could commit was to turn a propaganda machine loose on the American people.

Congress viewed this so seriously that every appropriations bill passed since 1951 has contained language that says no public money "shall be used for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States" . . . [read on]

More: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-analysts23-2008may23,0,3695504.story

Marcy Wheeler (Emptywheel) calls this “pixie dust”: how John Yoo ignored the plain language of the FISA law to make its exclusivity clause just – poof! – disappear

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_344.php

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/23/125150/214

House bill to require videotaping all interrogations

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/lets-go-to-the

Given the choice between self-preservation and going down with the sinking U.S.S. Bush, congressional Republicans choose . . .

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/gop-shifts-from

http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/cr_20080524_7554.php

More: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/watching_conservatives_/2008/05/conservatives_are_stuck_with_bush_and_the_republicans.php

Now this: the GOP at war with itself

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/23/11502/6967

John Conyers is not going to let go of Karl Rove

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/05/23/BL2008052301438.html

Let’s see, they tried the “Obama’s a Muslim” line, then they tried the “well he was RAISED as a Muslim” line, and now they’re trying the “well, other Muslims CONSIDER him a Muslim” line . . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/apostate-lines-by-digby-i-must-admit

More: http://isbarackobamamuslim.com/

The rules don’t apply to McCain, I guess

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15635.html
[Steve Benen] There’s been a casual agreement in recent campaign cycles that presidential candidates with military backgrounds tout their service, but they don’t necessarily denigrate their rivals for not wearing a uniform. In each of the last five races, one presidential hopeful had considerably more military experience than his rival, and in each instance, the one who served resisted the temptation to attack the other for not having served.

This year, that’s apparently off the table. . . .

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/23/mccain-only-veterans-can-talk-about-military-matters/

Does it really ask too much for the press to expect McCain to tell the truth?

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/i_like_the_snark

Nothing to hide? Why did McCain choose such a secretive and indirect way to release his medical records?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15634.html

Maybe he was trying to hide THIS

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/mccain-had-cancer-surgery-in-february.html
[John Aravosis] McCain had cancer surgery in February, and didn't disclose it . . .

McCain isn't cancer-free if he had cancer 3 months ago. . .

So, to clarify AP's headline "McCain appears cancer free, healthy" - they really meant "this month." . . . What a ridiculously sloppy AP headline

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/23/mccains-medical-records-the-nodes-know-were-still-in-the-dark/

[NB: Gee, do you think this is something GOP primary voters might have wanted to know about, when they were voting at the time?]

This is going to cost him

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15639.html
When John McCain’s presidential campaign faltered badly last summer, there were a variety of problems, but near the top of the list was McCain’s work on a comprehensive immigration reform measure, which most Republican activists hated with a vengeance. McCain ultimately decided to abandon his own legislation, and announced earlier this year that he wouldn’t even vote for his own bill.

Now that he’s locked down the Republican nomination, McCain has decided to reverse course again, re-embracing the position he abandoned in order to gain GOP support. . . . [read on]

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/23/the-far-right-turns-on-mccain-again/

Grumpy old man

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013779.php
[Kevin Drum] I think Barack Obama has accidentally discovered the easiest way to defeat John McCain this November: make him mad. . .

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/05/bad_day_for_john_mccain_part_ii_anger_management.php
[Mark Kleiman] When a candidate has well-known anger-management issues, he really needs to be careful about the tone of his statements. . .

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/22/mccain-judges-obama-that-young-man/
Senator John McCain mocked Senator Barack Obama here today at an airport rally, repeatedly calling him a “young man” with “very little experience.” . . .

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/are-we-clear-by-digby-if-john-mccain.html

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/05/bad_day_for_mccain_part_iii_grandpa_is_cranky.php

How many votes has McCain missed while he is busy running for President?

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2008/05/mccain_leads_in_missed_votes.html

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/23/1101/67742

Hillary: VP . . . or else?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hillarys_top_fundraiser_says_t.php
[Greg Sargent] Hillary's top campaign fundraising official said in an interview that there's a "risk" that Hillary's political and financial supporters won't get behind Obama in time for him to win in November if she's passed over for the veep slot. . .

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/hillarys-top-fundraiser-admits-dragging.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15636.html
CNN is reporting, based on word from Hillary Clinton’s “inner circle” is pushing for some kind of “compromise” . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196672.php
[David Kurtz] Rarely do the two chief campaign flacks, Howard Wolfson and Bill Burton, agree. But they both tell TPM Election Central that CNN's report this morning that there are formal talks between the Clinton and Obama campaigns over her dropping out of the race and getting the VP nod are "100% false."

Now that doesn't necessarily mean there aren't some sort of back-channel communications going on. . . .

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196714.php

Blatant hypocrisy – there’s no nice word for it

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/hillary-was-against-florida-primary-but.html

A better choice for VP

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/barack_obama_/2008/05/webb_for_vp.php

Bonus item: ooooh, bet he’s sorry he said that

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15642.html
[August 2000] LEHRER: Finally for the record, you have not lost your desire to be President of the United States have you?

McCAIN: Certainly it’s been put in deep cold storage. (laughter)

LEHRER: You haven’t lost it?

McCAIN: Well, in 2004, I expect to be campaigning for the reelection of President George W. Bush, and by 2008, I think I might be ready to go down to the old soldiers home . . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 12:08 AM

 
LAST STANDS

The few, the brave, who stood up to the Bush gang over torture

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/21/AR2008052102668.html
Five years ago, as troubling reports emerged about the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a career lawyer at the Justice Department began a long and relatively lonely campaign to alert top Bush administration officials to a strategy he considered "wrongheaded."

Bruce C. Swartz, a criminal division deputy in charge of international issues, repeatedly questioned the effectiveness of harsh interrogation tactics at White House meetings of a special group formed to decide detainee matters, with representatives present from the Pentagon, the State Department and the CIA.

Swartz warned that the abuse of Guantanamo inmates would do "grave damage" to the country's reputation and to its law enforcement record . . .

Swartz was joined by a handful of other top Justice and FBI officials who said the abuse would almost certainly taint any legal proceedings against the detainees.

Now their predictions appear to be coming true. . . .

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_343.php

Karl Rove gets a subpoena

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/house_judiciary_committee_subp.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/22/144523/081

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15631.html

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/22/roves-subpoena/

More to come: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/justice_department_watchdog_co.php
In conjunction with issuing the subpoena to Rove, the committee released a letter from the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility confirming that it has launched an investigation of "allegations of selective prosecution relating to the prosecutions of Don Siegelman, Georgia Thompson, and Oliver Diaz and Paul Minor.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/22/213836/684
Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman filed a 99 page appeal brief today. . [read on]

Former Rove protégé and US Attorney hack gets assigned as chief oppo researcher for the RNC. Isn’t this proof of the kind of people who were being put into US Attorney posts in place of career professionals?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196459.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/republican_national_committee.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15625.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/unleashing-hell-by-digby-so-i-hear-that.html

GI Bill passes, McCain AWOL

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_05_18_archive.html#839547295686378989

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15628.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/vote-on-webbs-gi-bill-today-will-show.html

Obama criticizes McCain, who then has a real meltdown

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/22/172711/919
“I respect sen. John McCain's service to our country. He is one of those heroes of which I speak. But I can't understand why he would line up behind the President in his opposition to this GI bill.”

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mccain_questions_obamas_lack_o.php
“I take a backseat to no one in my affection, respect and devotion to veterans. And I will not accept from Senator Obama, who did not feel it was his responsibility to serve our country in uniform, any lectures on my regard for those who did.”

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obama_hits_mccain_for_schoolya.php
"I am proud to stand with Senator Webb and a bipartisan coalition to give our veterans the support and opportunity they deserve. It's disappointing that Senator McCain and his campaign used this issue to launch yet another lengthy personal, political attack instead of debating an honest policy difference. He should know that this is not about John McCain or Barack Obama -- it's about giving our veterans a real chance to afford four years of college without harming retention. Senator Webb's bipartisan bill will do this, and the bill that John McCain supports would not. These endless diatribes and schoolyard taunts from the McCain campaign do nothing to advance the debate about what matters to the American people."

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/22/172711/919
"It is typical, but no less offensive that Senator Obama uses the Senate floor to take cheap shots at an opponent and easy advantage of an issue he has less than zero understanding of. . . .” [read on]

The news media starts to pay attention to the Charlie Black story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/21/AR2008052103006.html
Longtime uber-lobbyist Charles R. Black Jr. is John McCain's man in Washington, a political maestro who is hoping to guide his friend, the senator from Arizona, to the presidency this November.

But for half a decade in the 1980s, Black was also Jonas Savimbi's man in the capital city. His lobbying firm received millions from the brutal Angolan guerrilla leader and took advantage of Black's contacts in Congress and the White House. . . .

In addition to Savimbi, Black and his partners were at times registered foreign agents for a remarkable collection of U.S.-backed foreign leaders whose human rights records were sometimes harshly criticized, even as their opposition to communism was embraced by American conservatives. They included Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, Nigerian Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre, and the countries of Kenya and Equatorial Guinea, among others. . . .

The NRO tries a very lame “Obama has lobbyists working for him too” story

http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTQ3MzcxNmE5MDUwNTM0Njk2ZTI4MDk0MTc5M2I0ZTA
Daniel Shapiro, one of Obama's foreign policy advisers . . . counts some of America's biggest corporate names among his clients, including beermaker Anheuser-Busch, carmaker Daimler Chrysler, the American Petroleum Institute and Freddie Mac. . . .

Three political aides on Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) payroll were registered lobbyists for dozens of corporations, including Wal-Mart, British Petroleum and Lockheed Martin . . .

[NB: See? Just like Zavimbi and Marcos]

McCain to release his medical records . . . well, kinda sorta

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/why-john-mccain-will-only-release-his.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/22/122053/300
* only a small, select group of reporters will have access to the records in a secure room in Phoenix, AZ
* access is limited to only three hours, between 7 and 10 AM on Friday
* no copying of the records is permitted

McCain on gay marriage and civil unions – he STILL can’t keep his story straight

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15627.html

http://cliffschecter.firedoglake.com/2008/05/22/mccains-rhetoric-on-ellen-degeneres-does-not-match-his-record/

McCain is finally shamed into disavowing John Hagee. Okay, now onto the next religious wacko who’s endorsing him

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196545.php
[Josh Marshall] As you can see, Sen. McCain has now definitively "rejected" John Hagee's endorsement. Yesterday's story about Hagee's suggesting that God used Hitler to facilitate the departure of the Jews (sort of a gentle word) from Europe, broken by Huffpo, was I guess the final straw. . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/another-mccain-pastor-islam-is.html
Despite his call for the U.S. to win the "hearts and minds of the Islamic world," Sen. John McCain recruited the support of an evangelical minister who describes Islam as "anti-Christ" and Mohammed as "the mouthpiece of a conspiracy of spiritual evil." . . .

McCain sought the support of Pastor Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, Ohio . . . At a campaign appearance in Cincinnati, McCain introduced Parsley as "one of the truly great leaders in America, a moral compass, a spiritual guide."...

"America was founded with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed," Parsley says . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15629.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013768.php

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/mccain-rejects-hagee-endorsement.html

Parsley dumped too? http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196594.php

Republican insiders express real concerns about the McCain campaign

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/05/22/mccain/index.html
McCain has been battered in recent weeks. He has lost five staffers, and his image as an enemy of special interests took a beating when it was revealed that a handful of his top campaign aides had lobbying ties, including some with connections to the Burmese government. McCain has issued new conflict of interest guidelines for his staffers to try to stave off future problems. McCain's campaign also trailed both Democratic candidates' in fundraising in April; he brought in $17.8 million to Obama's $30.7 million. McCain's campaign sputtered last summer after he raised only $11 million in the second quarter of 2007 and two top aides resigned. . . .

The Clinton team’s last-ditch battle to save their campaign – the Michigan/Florida fight – seems to have alienated even many of her defenders

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196378.php
[Josh Marshall] For the last week it's seemed that Sens. Clinton and Obama were adhering to their tacit truce, continuing the primary campaign but avoiding the harsh exchanges that make later party unity a dimmer and dimmer prospect. Clinton particularly had deescalated her rhetoric. Then we have a speech like Sen. Clinton's yesterday in Florida in which she compared the controversy over seating the Florida and Michigan delegates to the Florida recount debacle and many of the great voting and civil rights battles of the 20th century. She is of course also claiming that whatever the delegate count, she leads in the popular vote and that that is what really counts. Never mind of course that even if you count Michigan and Florida she's still not ahead in the popular vote without resorting to tendentious methods of counting.

I've always assumed, as I think most people have, that once the nomination is settled the Florida and Michigan delegates will be seated. And I can see if Sen. Clinton wants to embrace this issue to claim a moral victory even while coming short of her goal of the nomination. As things currently stand, seating them would still leave Sen. Clinton behind in delegates.

But Sen. Clinton is doing much more than this. She is embarking on a gambit that is uncertain in its result and simply breathtaking in its cynicism. . . . [read on]

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15621.html
[Steve Benen] I've defended Clinton, more than once, when people said she was putting her own interests above those of the party and the nation. But after seeing her tactics yesterday, I'm done defending Hillary Clinton. I'm 35, and have been following politics for quite a while, and I've never been so disappointed with a politician I've admired and respected. Yesterday's tactics weren't just wrong, they were offensive.

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/22/131237/105

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/its-official-everybody-hates-her.html

“The Nuclear Option”? http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196455.php

“Desperation”? http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/top_hillary_supporter_says_she.php

http://liberalvaluesblog.com/?p=3298

Will unifying the party be possible after the Clinton/Obama fight? Some encouraging signs

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/22/12239/7807

Bonus item: From Leon Kass, Bush’s “ethics” specialist

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=05&year=2008&base_name=stop_the_conelicking#106631
“Worst of all from this point of view are those more uncivilized forms of eating, like licking an ice cream cone--a catlike activity that has been made acceptable in informal America but that still offends those who know eating in public is offensive. ... Eating on the street--even when undertaken, say, because one is between appointments and has no other time to eat--displays [a] lack of self-control: It beckons enslavement to the belly. ... Lacking utensils for cutting and lifting to mouth, he will often be seen using his teeth for tearing off chewable portions, just like any animal. ... This doglike feeding, if one must engage in it, ought to be kept from public view, where, even if we feel no shame, others are compelled to witness our shameful behavior.”

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 12:30 AM

 
BROKEN PROMISES

Aren’t you proud?

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4894921
U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay allegedly softened up detainees at the request of Chinese intelligence officials who had come to the island facility to interrogate the men -- or they allowed the Chinese to dole out the treatment themselves, according to claims in a new government report. . . .

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_342.php
[David Kurtz] The focus of the news coverage of the report released yesterday by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine has been on what involvement the FBI had, if any, in the "enhanced interrogations" undertaken by the Bush Administration -- and to a lesser extent how the FBI's concerns were ignored at the highest levels of government. . . .

But as you dig down into the 370-page report, it's most revealing for what it shows the U.S. government was actually doing to detainees. Because of the limited jurisdiction of the DOJ inspector general, the report was focused on the FBI. But in establishing the environment in which the FBI was operating, the report paints a picture of ghastly treatment of detainees by the United States on a consistent long-term basis. . . [read on]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/05/21/BL2008052100638.html
[Dan Froomkin] Top White House officials waved off early warnings from the FBI that interrogation tactics being used on detainees might be illegal, according to a new report from the Justice Department's inspector general. . . .

Gitmo forever!

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/stuck-by-dday-bob-gates-says-were-stuck.html

The fight over FISA “exclusivity” – and why it matters

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/20/fisa-update-and-why-is-john-boehner-crying-again/

More: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/21/the-yoo-exclusivity-opinion-more-outrageous-hackery/

You can always count on Bush’s EPA for jaw-dropping chutzpah

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_341.php

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/johnsons_stonewalling_drives_w.php

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/20/did-george-bush-break-the-clean-air-act/

Will the Senate act? http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/senate_one_step_closer_to_reve.php

The Siegelman case: bigger than Watergate?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/20/10452/1368

Obama and McCain go after it hammer and tong

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/21/1050316.aspx
"Senator Obama has consistently offered his judgment on Iraq, and he has been consistently wrong. . . .”

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/McCain_goes_after_Obamas_judgment_on_the_war.html
“While I always appreciate hearing the news from John McCain, he should explain to the American people why almost every single promise and prediction that he has made about Iraq has turned to be catastrophically wrong, including his support for a surge that was supposed to achieve political reconciliation. While John McCain offers his poor judgment in supporting George Bush's war and a failed foreign policy that has left us less secure, I will continue to make the case for a new foreign policy that deploys all elements of American power - including tough, principled and direct diplomacy. It's stunning that in such a lengthy written statement, John McCain could not articulate a single new idea that hasn't been tried - and failed - over the last eight years.”

Obama starts translating “Change” into details

http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4685

John McCain is one cynical politician, isn’t he?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mccain_i_can_demagogue_about_i.php

McCain’s ongoing Hagee problem

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013765.php
[Kevin Drum] According to pastor John Hagee, whose endorsement John McCain says he's glad to have, the Holocaust was God's way of punishing European Jews for not emigrating to Israel quickly enough and Hitler was His divine instrument for getting this done. Charming . . .

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/21/mccain-backer-hagee-said_n_102892.html

The GOP style of campaigning – has it become a parody of itself?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196023.php

Dumb, dumb, dumb

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080522/ap_on_go_co/bush_farm_bill
The House overwhelmingly rejected President Bush's veto Wednesday of a $290 billion farm bill, but what should have been a stinging defeat for the president became an embarrassment for Democrats.

Only hours before the House's 316-108 vote, Bush had vetoed the five-year measure, saying it was too expensive and gave too much money to wealthy farmers when farm incomes are high. The Senate then was expected to follow suit quickly.

Action stalled, however, after the discovery that Congress had omitted a 34-page section of the bill when lawmakers sent the massive measure to the White House.

That means Bush vetoed a different bill from the one Congress passed, raising questions that the eventual law would be unconstitutional. Republicans objected when Democrats proposed passing the missing section separately and sending that to Bush.

In order to avoid those potential problems, House Democrats hoped to pass the entire bill, again, on Thursday under expedited rules usually reserved for unopposed legislation. The Senate was expected to follow suit. The correct version would then be sent to Bush under a new bill number for another expected veto. . . .

Looking ahead to the 2010 Senate races: a filibuster-proof majority?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/20/12501/2123

Chuck Hagel, our favorite Republican

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/20/chuck-hagel-takes-on-mcca_n_102775.html

More: http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/hagel_muses_about_impeachment.php

Joe Lieberman, their favorite Democrat

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/05/21/lieberman/index.html

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/21/165150/857

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121132806884008847.html

Clinton’s loss: is it because of sexism?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/you-can-believe-us-by-digby.html

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/us/politics/19women.html

Oh, come on!

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/05/21/politics/fromtheroad/entry4116567.shtml
Desperate to get attention for her cause to seat Florida and Michigan delegates, Hillary Clinton compared the plight of Zimbabweans in their recent fraudulent election to the uncounted votes of Michigan and Florida voters saying it is wrong when “people go through the motions of an election only to have them discarded and disregarded.” . . .

More: http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/05/21/clinton-s-shocking-florida-gambit.aspx

Clinton’s campaign chair, May 8

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mcauliffe_this_race_wont_go_to.php
McAuliffe: This Race Won't Go To The Convention. . . .

Clinton yesterday

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hillary_i_will_take_fight_over.php
Hillary: I Might Take Fight Over Florida And Michigan To Convention!

Now, I assume this is all Clinton campaign kabuki to ramp up the pressure on the DNC in advance of their May 31 meeting – here’s what to expect

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/21/172330/705

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/21/164646/957/812/519910

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/21/224644/084

Still movin’ them goalposts

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/196122.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15610.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/21/103836/968

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 12:00 AM

 
FALSE COMPARISONS

McCain tries to gin up a totally phony and ridiculous controversy with Obama over whether Iran is a bigger threat today than the Soviet Union was during the Cold War

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/05/mccain-challeng.html

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mccain_hits_obamas_inexperienc.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obama_responds_to_mccain_stron.php
[Obama] "Here's the truth: the Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear weapons, and Iran doesn't have a single one. But when the world was on the brink of nuclear holocaust, Kennedy talked to Khrushchev and he got those missiles out of Cuba. Why shouldn't we have the same courage and the confidence to talk to our enemies? That's what strong countries do, that's what strong presidents do, that's what I'll do when I'm president of the United States of America." . . .

"What are George Bush and John McCain afraid of"?

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15589.html

Are the Dems finally figuring out how to argue with the Republicans about foreign policy?

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15588.html

Hey, Obama met with an imam in Michigan – more proof that he’s a terrorist-loving, America-hating, secret Muslim agent. He. . . . wait . . . . oh . . . . well . . . never mind

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/19/143249/347

Tennessee GOP targets Obama through his wife

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/were-to-believe-that-mccain-and-rnc-can.html

Obama responds: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obama_gop_should_lay_off_my_wi.php

But just remember, OBAMA is the “elitist”

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/elitist_5260.html
A man who can't remember if he has eight homes or nine. . . . .

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/elitist.html

McCain’s lobbyist troubles are just going to get worse

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/19/you-cant-clean-the-stench-out-of-the-straight-talk-for-lobbyists-express/

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/mccain-senior-adviser-charlie-black.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/19/9551/42961

http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4684

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/19/mccain-pushes-free-trade-deal-supported-by-campaign-aidelobbyist-for-foreign-government/

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/mccain_and_the_lobbyists_part_1.php

Look at the last twelve postings on McCain’s web site

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5879

McCain’s Social Security problem

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/obama-calls-out-mccain-on-social.html

McCain’s campaign money troubles continue

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/us/politics/19donate.html
Senator John McCain, whose fund-raising has badly trailed that of his Democratic counterparts, is leaning on the Republican National Committee. Mr. McCain’s efforts to raise money suffered a blow this weekend when a key fund-raiser, Tom Loeffler, resigned because of a new campaign policy on conflicts of interest.

Mr. McCain is likely to depend upon the party, which finished April with an impressive $40 million in the bank and has significantly higher contribution limits, to an unprecedented degree to power his campaign, Republican officials said.

To that end, Republican officials said they were enlisting President Bush, a formidable fund-raiser who has raised more than $36 million this year for Republican candidates and committees, for three events on Mr. McCain’s behalf. They will appear together at a fund-raiser in Phoenix on May 27, and the next day the president will take part in a luncheon with Mitt Romney in Salt Lake City and then an exclusive dinner at Mr. Romney’s vacation home in Park City, Utah. . . .

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/20/02533/6148

But the GOP is strapped for money too

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/19/republicans-hemorrhaging-money-for-fall-elections/
[USAT] The number of Republicans leaving Congress will cost the GOP millions of dollars in party-building funds for the fall congressional elections, campaign-finance records show.

Of the 32 Republicans who have resigned or announced plans to retire, 26 have political action committees known as leadership PACs — which members of Congress typically use to make donations to colleagues facing tough campaigns. Those 26 PACs raised $17 million in the last campaign cycle, but only $5.3 million for this election, a USA TODAY analysis of the latest campaign reports filed in March and April shows.

More bad news for the Republicans in the Fall

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/19/14263/4526

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/19/121117/846

Assault on FOIA: Bush invents a whole new category for keeping government information secret

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_340.php

How the FBI tried to keep its distance from interrogation methods it knew were illegal and wrong

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/ap_report_on_fbi_role_in_inter.php

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/main-core-by-digby-i-have-heard-some.html

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/19/main-core/

Arrest ‘em all and sort it out later

http://www.slate.com/id/2191781
[Daniel Politi] USAT emphasizes that simply because the U.S. military acknowledges that the vast majority of Iraqi detainees aren't part of an extremist group it doesn't mean commanders are "suggesting that U.S. forces captured innocent men." But it's difficult to reach any other conclusion when defense experts point out that it's not easy to separate who might be an enemy in Afghanistan and Iraq. "[T]he reality of those wars is we don't really know who we're holding," one defense analyst tells the paper.

Bush’s thugs at HUD

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hud.
[David Kurtz] We've documented Alphonso Jackson's tenure at HUD pretty thoroughly here: the cronyism, the politicization, the stonewalling of congressional investigators.

But let's not forget retaliation as a tool to further those ends. . .

Bush’s EPA, no better

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/19/AR2008051902337.html

Oooh, snippy, aren’t we?

http://www.first-draft.com/2008/05/today-on-hold-4.html
Q The White House has denied that it knew about the Pentagon program that used TV military analysts --

MR. STANZEL: We've been through this before. Do you have a question?

Q Yes. There's something new. Last week emails surfaced that showed that Pentagon officials, including Donald Rumsfeld, communicated with White House officials, including Karl Rove and Stephen Hadley, about the program. One email written by a Pentagon official mentioned that Rove was approached about arranging a meeting between the military analysts and the President --

MR. STANZEL: Your question is?

Q My question is, what was the nature and extent of the involvement of Karl Rove, Stephen Hadley and President Bush in the military analyst program?

MR. STANZEL: Well, the idea that people in the administration would brief people who are talking to reporters about our programs and our policies doesn't seem like to be that far-fetched of an idea to me. So in terms of the emails, I haven't been monitoring the staff emails here, so I can't tell you what their conversations were like. But it's not unusual for administration officials to brief people who are talking about our plans and our policies. Much like I'm standing here today, briefing all of you --

Q Right, and why was the program kept secret?

MR. STANZEL: -- and much like I'm standing here answering your question, and you go out on your liberal blog and talk about the way that you see things; we brief people who talk about the President's policies.

Q Why was the program kept secret?

MR. STANZEL: You can talk to the Defense Department. It was their program -- which they've discontinued.

Q Who was in charge at the White House?

Myths of the “white working class”

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5880
[Mike Lux] Some people who agree with me on the need to appeal to these kinds of voters believe that we have to move to the right to win them over. I don't believe that is true. . . .

Clinton’s people launch a pre-emptive strike

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hillary_camp_obamas_plan_to_de.php
“Senator Obama's plan to declare himself the Democratic nominee tomorrow night in Iowa is a slap in the face to the millions of voters in the remaining primary states and to Senator Clinton's 17 million supporters.”

One little problem: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obama_wont_declare_victory_tom.php
Although Barack Obama could end up with a majority of the pledged delegates after tomorrow's voting in Kentucky and Oregon, Obama himself declared yesterday in Oregon that this "does not mean we declare victory." . . .

More: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/clinton_camp_on_obamas_slap_in.php

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/19/13470/8527

Remember the words of Rahm Emanuel

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/19/15746/2175
“The way the loser loses will determine whether the winner wins in November.”

Geraldine Ferraro, still making trouble

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/sorry_sweetie_geraldine_ferrar.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/19/143937/115

With friends like this . . .

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/19/superdelegates-turned-dow_n_102450.html
One of Sen. Hillary Clinton's top financial supporters offered $1 million to the Young Democrats of America during a phone conversation in which he also pressed for the organization's two uncommitted superdelegates to endorse the New York Democrat, a high-ranking official with YDA told The Huffington Post.

Haim Saban, the billionaire entertainment magnate and longtime Clinton supporter, denied the allegation. But four independent sources said that just before the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, Saban called YDA President David Hardt and offered what was perceived as a lucrative proposal: $1 million would be made available for the group if Hardt and the organization's other uncommitted superdelegate backed Clinton. . . .

Escape from “Hillaryland”

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/former_hillary_campaign_manage.php
Patti Solis Doyle, one of the closest of Hillary confidantes, is informally discussing the possibility of working for Obama in the general election. Already.

That the woman who actually coined the expression "Hillaryland" would be discussing this at this juncture -- when the official position of the Hillary campaign is that this thing is far from over -- is pretty striking. . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/19/14121/6952/292/518380
[Kos] I'd love to see Clinton's group of Latino staffers and experts transition over to the Obama team. That crew was pretty darn good.

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15591.html

Another Clinton post-mortem

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/us/politics/20nagourney.html

Bill Kristol’s waste of space in the NYT

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/19/kristol/index.html

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15590.html

http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2008/05/kristol-wrong-again.html

Bonus item: the kind of people they ARE

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/19/135621/485
Georgia Republican Party chairwoman Sue Everhart said Saturday that the party's presumed presidential nominee has a lot in common with Jesus Christ.

"John McCain is kind of like Jesus Christ on the cross," Everhart said as she began the second day of the state GOP convention. "He never denounced God, either."

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/19/monday-late-nite-mccain-316/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:19 AM

 
72,000

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/05/obamamayvisit.html
Tens of thousands jammed Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland today to watch Barack Obama wrap up a busy weekend in Oregon and a historic campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Portland Fire Bureau estimated the crowd at 72,000. . . .

But Oregon is still very much in play.

Neither candidate can gain enough delegates with the primaries in Oregon and Kentucky on Tuesday to clinch the nomination. But Obama hopes Oregon will give him the majority of the pledged delegates. Meanwhile, Clinton, who is behind in Oregon and ahead in Kentucky, could use a strong showing to prove she's the best candidate to face Republican John McCain in November.

Clinton left Oregon for Kentucky after a televised town hall meeting Friday, but former President Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea stayed behind Saturday and today to crisscross the state talking to voters.

Sporting a blue "Hillary 2008" baseball cap, the former president told more than 1,000 people at Salem's sun-drenched Riverfront Park to ignore the growing news media consensus that Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has all but wrapped up the nomination. . . .

Clinton, Obama campaigns start to plan for merger

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15578.html

Watch – this – video. It’s been clear for a while that the fall ad campaign against McCain is going to consist largely of video clips of him saying diametrically opposing things on different occasions. But even I underestimated how devastating the effect is. This is beyond flip-flopping

http://www.discourse.net/archives/2008/05/too_good_to_wait_for_next_friday.html

McCain has to let another senior advisor go

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5853
[Chris Bowers] In the past eight days, the McCain campaign already had to dismiss four aides for their lobbyist activities on behalf of, among other reputable organizations, the Burmese government. Today, that number has grown to five . . .

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013744.php
[Kevin Drum] This is ridiculous. Except for Shirley, whose sins are a little different, all of the other four headed up or worked for big lobbying outfits. The press is reporting this as if it's just one embarrassment for McCain after another that he keeps finding out he's got lobbyists working for him, but that's not the story here. The real story is that McCain obviously knew these guys were lobbyists long before anyone pointed it out to him. You don't hire the CEO of the DCI group without knowing that the guy is a lobbyist.

Only a child would believe that McCain didn't know who these guys were when he hired them. The press really needs to step up their game a notch on this story. . .

More to come? http://cliffschecter.firedoglake.com/2008/05/18/another-mccain-lobbyist-bites-the-dust/

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15577.html
[Steve Benen] I have a hunch it’s not over yet. . . . [read on]

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15580.html

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/mccain_and_the_lobbyists_part.php
[Marc Ambinder] A few others are expected to leave within the week, according to outside campaign advisers. . . . [read on]

John McCain, tree-hugger

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/18/eco-friendly-mccain-disdain-from-all-sides/

McCain is OLD, really old

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013745.php

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/wisdom-of-ancients-by-digby-some-of-you.html

The GOP has a great new strategy for the Fall: try to trick people into thinking they’re Democrats!

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013742.php

More: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5852

Karl who?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/18/185655/492
[Brownsox] Well, that Permanent Majority sure didn’t last long. . . . [read on]

Will Bush veto the G.I. Bill?

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/18/webb-gi-bill-veto/

It’s what they do. Republican AG in Texas investigates voter fraud and comes up with 26 cases

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/195725.php
[Josh Marshall] All 26 cases involved Democrats, and almost were either blacks or Hispanics.

Of the 26, 8 appear to have been genuine cases of fraud, two of which were cases of people actually casting fraudulent ballots, as opposed to bogus registrations.

The remaining 18 cases all involved eligible voters casting legitimate mail-in ballots. . . .

You knew it was going to get ugly. It’s the only way Republicans know how to run a campaign

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15579.html
“Barack Obama claims he’s against HAMAS and Hezbollah and is offended by President Bush’s speech in Israel about Obama’s ethos of ‘appeasement.’ So why is he meeting with one of Hezbollah’s most important imams and agents in America, Imam Hassan Qazwini?” . . .

“BHO isn’t even officially the Democratic nominee yet and already he’s meeting terrorist supporters — and Iran by proxy.” . . . [read on]

Obama’s a faggot?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/practically-lactating-by-digby-i-looks.html

Obama’s an ape?

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/18/curious-george-and-the-men-in-the-pointy-white-hats/
The T-shirts are being peddled by Marietta bar owner Mike Norman at his Mulligan's Bar and Grill in Cobb County. They show a picture of Curious Georgie peeling a banana, with the words "Obama '08" underneath. . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 5:40 AM

 
SLOW LEARNERS

Making friends

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/17/iraq.quran/index.html
A soldier used the Quran -- Islam's holy book -- for target practice, forcing the chief U.S. commander in Baghdad to issue a formal apology on Saturday. . . .

The kind of people they are

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15576.html
[Kathleen Parker] Full-bloodedness is an old coin that’s gaining currency in the new American realm. Meaning: Politics may no longer be so much about race and gender as about heritage, core values, and made-in-America. Just as we once and still have a cultural divide in this country, we now have a patriot divide. . . .

Who “gets” America? And who doesn’t?

The answer has nothing to do with a flag lapel pin, which Obama donned for a campaign swing through West Virginia, or even military service, though that helps. It’s also not about flagpoles in front yards or magnetic ribbons stuck on tailgates.

It’s about blood equity, heritage and commitment to hard-won American values. And roots. . . . [read on]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/17/parker/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] In one of the most repellent columns one will ever read . . .

Running Washington like a small-town patronage operation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702336.html
The small Texas property-management company had no experience overseeing hundreds of defaulted homes across the country. It did have two former Reagan administration officials at the helm and warm relations with senior Republican appointees at the federal housing agency. . . .

It’s only “appeasement” when Democrats do it

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-scoblic17-2008may17,0,647492.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/17/opinion/17sat2.html

McCain’s Hamas problem

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15574.html

McCain’s lobbyist problem

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/17/john-mccains-green-credentials-were-developed-by-an-active-energy-lobbyist/

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/17/174427/581

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/_political_action_for_immediat.php

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/charlie_black_and_zaire.php

More on McCain’s latest ad: what a silly piece of nonsense it is

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/195651.php
[Josh Marshall] Your promises about what you're going to accomplish in four years are implicit, and often explicit, in every presidential campaign. But taking a victory lap over your list of accomplishments that you haven't even accomplished yet does come off a little silly. . . .

McCain is like Lincoln. Really

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-republicans-natio,0,1951380.story

John Hagee is a nut, and sooner or later McCain is going to have to give his own “Wright” speech denouncing him (thanks to Buzzflash for the link)

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/5/15/141520/281

More: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/politics/stories/MYSA051708.1A.Hagee.397499d.html

Obama really IS running a different kind of campaign

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_05_11_archive.html#2725006034736336483

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/corruption_in_washington_/2008/05/what_could_we_do_if_we_broke_the_power_of_money_in_politics.php
[Mark Kleiman] What could we do if we broke the power of money in politics? . . . [read on]

In the rear-view mirror

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702367.html
Obama has not completely forgotten about his battle against Clinton. . . .

But at one point in his speech here, Obama pointedly used past-tense to describe the primary battle with Clinton, saying it "was hard-fought."

"She was relentless and very effective," he added. . .

The damage Hillary has done

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/17/17218/2778

More: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/17/virginia-and-tom-davis-plan-to-save-the-gop-brand/

In 1974, because of Watergate and Nixon’s disastrous war policies, Dems won in districts they never were competitive in before. This gave them numbers, but brought into the party a bunch of social and economic conservatives who never quite all fit together with other Democrats from a policy and governing standpoint. Are we about to see the same thing again?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/conundrum-by-digby-im-curious-as-to.html
[NYT] While much of the Congressional political focus has been on the declining fortunes and numbers of House Republicans, House Democrats have their own problem – they are winning too many elections. . . .

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/television/sunday_show_preview_85035.asp
NBC Meet the Press: Sen. Jim Webb (D) and a roundtable with former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D), Mike Huckabee, Republican strategist Mike Murphy and Democratic strategist Bob Shrum.

CBS Face the Nation: FL Gov. Charlie Crist, Republican Strategist Ed Rollins, former NY Gov. Mario Cuomo and former CO Gov. Roy Romer.

ABC This Week: Joe Biden and House Minority Leader John Boehner, and a roundtable with New York Times Magazine's Matt Bai, Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile and George Will.

Fox News Sunday: Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) Republican Whip/McCain Surrogate, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), Karl Rove, Former White House Senior Advisor/Fox News Contributor, Big Brown's trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr. is the Power Player of The Week and a panel with Brit Hume, Washington Managing Editor of Fox News, Mara Liasson, National Public Radio & Fox News, Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard & Fox News, Juan Williams, National Public Radio & Fox News

CNN Late Edition: Carlos Gutierrez, U.S. Commerce Secretary, Trent Lott (R), former U.S. Senator; McCain supporter and CNN's John King, Jessica Yellin and Dana Bash

Bonus item: Funny web site – “Things That Are Younger Than John McCain”

http://www.thingsyoungerthanmccain.com/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:29 AM

 
NO MORE APPEASEMENT

One thing the Democratic candidates have learned is to come back hard after the GOP’s smear tactics. Obama shows how it’s done

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15562.html
“They’re trying to fool you. They’re trying to scare you. And they’re not telling you the truth [because] they can’t win a foreign policy debate on the merits,” Obama said. He went on to call the Bush/McCain approach “naive and irresponsible.” [read on]

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/195484.php

McCain calls this an “hysterical diatribe”

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15563.html
“It was remarkable to see Barack Obama’s hysterical diatribe in response to a speech in which his name wasn’t even mentioned. . . .” [read on]

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mccain_americans_should_be_afr.php

Obama hits back hard again

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/16/182713/026
"What's reckless is continuing the Bush-McCain foreign policy that has cost us thousands of lives and a trillion dollars in Iraq, strengthened Iran, enabled Hamas to take Gaza, took our eye off al Qaeda, failed to capture Osama bin Laden, failed to finish the job in Afghanistan, and left us less safe and less respected in the world. No amount of utterly predictable fear-mongering and tough talk can change the fact that John McCain is running to continue the most disastrous foreign policy in recent American history”

The Bush gang tries to say they were referring to . . . Jimmy Carter. But they’re lying, of course

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5824
[Mike Lux] [T]he way Obama is hammering Bush and McCain on this Knesset speech is a really good sign. Now Bush's people are back-pedaling, another good sign. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/16/11201/8064

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/the_white_house_changes_target.php

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/obama_camp_white_house_has_its.php
NBC (John Yang): Speaking on background, a senior administration official says the president's language to anyone -- the official specifically mentioned Obama . . . .

CNN (Ed Henry): While the words Barack Obama were never used White House aides privately admit the President referring not just to Barack Obama but other Democrats . . .

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/05/16/BL2008051602115.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

The McCain gang tries to deny that their candidate ever called for negotiations with Hamas

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/16/63130/5839

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/195384.php

[NB: I detect a distinct shift in the coverage of Mr. Straight Talk – he is spending more and more time trying to redefine and explain his shifts in position.]

More flip flops

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2008/05/16/mccain_iraq/

McCain rewrites history

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/16/mccain-lies-away-the-iran-contra-scandal/
“I believe that it’s not an accident that our hostages came home from Iran when President Reagan was president of the United States. He didn’t sit down in a negotiation with the religious extremists in Iran, he made it very clear that those hostages were coming home.'’ [read on]

McCain’s lobbyist problems

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15558.html
[Steve Benen] On Saturday, John McCain had to get rid of the man he tasked with managing the Republican National Convention when we learned he’d run a lobbying firm that represented Burma’s military junta. On Sunday, McCain had to get rid of a regional campaign manager because he’d been the lobbyist responsible for managing the junta’s account. Yesterday, McCain had to get rid of a campaign advisor who was working simultaneously for McCain and an independent “527″ group opposing Democratic candidates. This morning, McCain dropped another aide, energy lobbyist Eric Burgeson, who had lobbied for Qatar and Serbia. . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/16/18011/7455

Bush can’t get his good friends the Saudis to help ease up on gas prices

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_05_11_archive.html#1754398290513345452

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/saudis-tell-bush-to-go-f-himself-oil.html

Reconstruction continues

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/17/world/asia/17detain.html
The Pentagon is moving forward with plans to build a new, 40-acre detention complex on the main American military base in Afghanistan, officials said, in a stark acknowledgment that the United States is likely to continue to hold prisoners overseas for years to come. . . .

You probably saw that the Bush gang severed all ties with Chalabi, who was once their promised savior in Iraq. Instead they found out he was pedaling information to Iran and playing both sides of every issue. Well, here’s the backstory

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mcclatchy_us_ditched_chalabi_t.php

An outrage. This deserves condemnation from every corner

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/16/huckabee-jokes-about-obama-ducking-a-gunman/
During a speech before the National Rifle Association convention Friday afternoon in Louisville, Kentucky, former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee — who has endorsed presumptive GOP nominee John McCain — joked that an unexpected offstage noise was Democrat Barack Obama looking to avoid a gunman.

“That was Barack Obama, he just tripped off a chair, he's getting ready to speak. . . Somebody aimed a gun at him and he dove for the floor.” . . .

More: http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/05/huckabee_jokes/

It took a while, but the Dems stood firm and won this one

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/breaking_spakovsky_withdraws_a.php
[Paul Kiel] After a five-month standoff, Hans von Spakovsky has withdrawn his name as a nominee to the FEC. The move likely clears the way for the deadlock over the FEC to be resolved. . . .

Democrats have opposed Spakovsky's nomination ever since last year, but it was the opposition of Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Russ Feingold (D-WI), who refused to allow any vote on the nominees together, that ultimately led to his withdrawal. Republicans, on the other hand, refused to allow Spakovsky to be voted on separately. . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/16/182048/697

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/friday-news-dump-alert-by-dday.html

Another victory

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_05_11_archive.html#5447621015923399327
Thursday night, the Senate cast a near-unanimous vote to reverse the Federal Communication Commission's December 2007 decision to let media companies own both a major TV or radio station and a major daily newspaper in the same city. . . .

But the fight never ends

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_339.php
The Bush administration is on the verge of implementing new air quality rules that will make it easier to build power plants near national parks and wilderness areas, according to rank-and-file agency scientists and park managers who oppose the plan. . . [read on]

Will Blackwater EVER be held accountable?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/blackwater_xmas_shooting_guard.php

Another Clinton post-mortem

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=f7a4a380-c4a4-4f84-b653-f252e8569915

Still, there are corners of the blogosphere where people think that Clinton is WINNING

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/16/173211/720

http://www.correntewire.com/clinton_election_juggernaut_accelerates_0

House and Senate prospects for the fall

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/16/144235/757

Bonus item: the fight to oust John Yoo from Berkeley

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/05/uc_berkeleys_to/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:31 AM

 
SUCKER PUNCH

It’s not surprising, really, but now we see how the Republicans are going to play it this year. Hey, they only can play 3 or 4 notes, and all they can do is play them louder.

Still, there are supposed to be rules to this game, and you JUST DON’T DO THIS, stand before a foreign audience to play partisan domestic politics.

Bush goes before the Knesset to compare Obama with appeasers of the Nazis. Very subtle, George

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/15/bush-suggests-obama-wants-appeasement-of-terrorists/
In a particularly sharp blast from halfway around the world, President Bush suggested Thursday that Sen. Barack Obama and other Democrats are in favor of "appeasement" of terrorists in the same way U.S. leaders appeased Nazis in the run-up to World War II.

"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," said Bush, in what White House aides privately acknowledged was a reference to calls by Obama and other Democrats for the U.S. president to sit down for talks with leaders like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"We have heard this foolish delusion before," Bush said in remarks to the Israeli Knesset. "As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American Senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history." . . .

Watch for the smirk: http://hotair.com/archives/2008/05/15/video-knesset-applauds-bushs-condemnation-of-appeasement/

Obama responds

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ggw1eZa-rfbs8Eq4wiNE0JV0eAYgD90M50O02
"It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack," Obama said in the statement his aides distributed. "George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel."

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obama_camp_hits_back_at_bushs.php

Other Dems respond

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/15/131149/912
[Joe Biden] This is bullshit, this is malarkey. This is outrageous . . .

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Clinton_defends_Obama_from_Bush.html
[Clinton – and good for her] President Bush’s comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is both offensive and outrageous on the face of it, especially in light of his failures in foreign policy. This is the kind of statement that has no place in any presidential address and certainly to use an important moment like the 60th anniversary celebration of Israel to make a political point seems terribly misplaced. Unfortunately, this is what we’ve come to expect from President Bush.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/15/president_bushs_despicable_att/
[John Kerry] First, it's absolutely shameless that an American President would use a speech in front of a foreign government to launch such a petty political attack. President Bush has abused the dignity of the office . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/15/131149/912
[Nancy Pelosi] We have a protocol, sort of a custom, informally around here that we don't criticize the president when he is on foreign soil. One would think that that would apply to the president that he would not criticize Americans when he is on foreign soil . . .

More Dems: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/15/131149/912

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/15/bush-compares-obama-to-na_n_101859.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/does-president-have-no-shame.html

More well-deserved slams

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_constanc_080515_bush_ebarrasses_usa_.htm
[Constance Lavender] George W. Bush is a little man. Of that, there can be little doubt. He is an immoral man. He is a pathetic and desperate man. . . .

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/15/135010/226
[Todd Beeton] As Bush's disastrous tenure as president winds down, we've seen him devolve into a bizarre, almost court jester-like persona. . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/195314.php
[Josh Marshall] [E]ach time President Bush shames his office by transgressing the unwritten rules of the American polity, it's incumbent on everyone to rebuke him. . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15546.html
[Steve Benen] It’s cheap; it’s ugly; and it’s beneath of office of the President of the United States. . . . The president of the United States, in other words, flew halfway around the world to honor the 60th anniversary of the birth of Israel, only to deliver a cheap and foolish shot at the likely Democratic nominee. Bush sure can act like a sad, little man sometimes. . . .

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/15/bush-compares-obama-to-na_n_101859.html
President Bush has said repeatedly that he would not insert himself into the presidential race. . .

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/15/1371/95542
[Big Tent Democrat] Not only is George W. Bush the worst President in history, he is the most tasteless and disgusting. . . .

By the way: read that line in the CNN report again: “in what White House aides privately acknowledged was a reference to calls by Obama and other Democrats.” Then read this:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ggw1eZa-rfbs8Eq4wiNE0JV0eAYgD90M50O02
The White House said Bush's comment wasn't a reference to Obama. "It is not," press secretary Dana Perino told reporters . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15552.html

What Bush means when he says “there are some who believe. . .”

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/15/16431/3990

Those who fail to learn from history . . .

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/195323.php

Some more “appeasers”

Prescott Bush (Dubya’s granddaddy): http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/15/grandson-of-nazi-enabler-decries-talking-to-nazis/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar

Sect’y of Defense Robert Gates, on Iran: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/14/AR2008051403553.html
"We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage . . . and then sit down and talk with them," Gates said. "If there is going to be a discussion, then they need something, too. We can't go to a discussion and be completely the demander, with them not feeling that they need anything from us."

Bush’s slander is picked up, of course, by John McCain and his troll sidekick, Joe Lieberman

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mccain_obama_cant_defend_ameri.php
[McCain] "I think [it] . . . shows that Senator Obama does not have the knowledge, the experience, the background to make the kind of judgments that are necessary to preserve this nation's security."

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/15/19152/1728
[Obama spokesman] "It is the height of hypocrisy for John McCain to deliver a lofty speech about civility and bipartisanship in the morning and then embrace George Bush's disgraceful political attack in the afternoon. Instead of delivering meaningful change, John McCain wants to continue George Bush's irresponsible and failed Iran policy by refusing to engage in tough, direct diplomacy like Presidents from Kennedy to Reagan have done."

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/15/lieberman-bush-appeasers/
[Lieberman] President Bush got it exactly right today . . .

Why this may be bad politics for the Republicans

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15551.html

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/politics_did_the_white_house_s.php

Oh, and one more “appeaser” to add to the list

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051503306.html
[James Rubin] If the recent exchanges between President Bush, Barack Obama and John McCain on Hamas and terrorism are a preview of the general election, we are in for an ugly six months. Despite his reputation in the media as a charming maverick, McCain has shown that he is also happy to use Nixon-style dirty campaign tactics. By charging recently that Hamas is rooting for an Obama victory, McCain tried to use guilt by association to suggest that Obama is weak on national security and won't stand up to terrorist organizations, or that, as Richard Nixon might have put it, Obama is soft on Israel.

President Bush picked up this theme yesterday. Without naming Obama during his speech last night to Israel's Knesset, Bush suggested that Democrats want to "negotiate with terrorists" while Republicans want to fight terrorists.

The Obama campaign was right to criticize the president for his remarks and for engaging in partisan politics while overseas. Many presidents have said things abroad that could be construed as violating this unwritten rule of American politics. But it is hard to remember any president abusing the prestige of his office in as crude a way as Bush did yesterday. . . .

McCain, meanwhile, is guilty of hypocrisy. . . . McCain is the last politician who should be attacking Obama. Two years ago, just after Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections, I interviewed McCain for the British network Sky News's "World News Tonight" program. Here is the crucial part of our exchange:

I asked: "Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?"

McCain answered: "They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another . . .”

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/15/exclusive-video-mccain-wa_n_102031.html

On Bush’s pledge not to pay golf as penance for the war he’s caused

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/05/14/BL2008051401929.html
[Dan Froomkin] The nation is in despair over the war in Iraq and the toll it is taking on our troops and their families. But President Bush shows no outward sign of inner pain.

He is chipper in his public pronouncements. His weekly bike rides and daily workouts have put a perpetual spring in his step. He's always ready with a wisecrack. He just hosted his daughter's wedding at his multi-million dollar estate in Texas. He takes more vacations than any president in history. He has made clear that he doesn't lie awake at nights.

And yet now it turns out that Bush has indeed made a personal sacrifice on account of the war. According to the president yesterday, his decision to stop playing golf five years ago wasn't just an exercise in image control or a function of his bum knee -- it was an act of solidarity with the families of the dead and wounded . . . [read on!]

John McCain promises us we only need five more years of war in Iraq – and that’s the GOOD news?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/i-can-win-that-war-in-5-years-win-that.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15549.html
“By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy . . .”

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/15/sorry-john-mccain-youre-not-our-strong-daddy/

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013730.php

In a similar vein, look at his new ad: Imagine a time when . . . .

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/rncs_web_ad_2013.php

[NB: Nothing about HOW to do these things, or if it’s even possible. And he accuses Obama of an empty language of “hope”?]

More simplistic nonsense from McCain

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/195319.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15547.html

McCain has to “re-vet” his entire staff

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/mccain_campaign_to_revet_entir.php
One of the questions asks: "Have you ever been a registered lobbyist at either the Federal or State level?" Another asks: "Have you ever been a registered foreign agent? A third asks staff members to list all of their previous lobbying or foreign government clients. . . .

Guess who’s defending John Hagee now?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/14/17138/0848

The conventional wisdom is that John Edwards’ endorsement of Obama didn’t really mean that much. Don’t believe it

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15553.html

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/15/the-brilliance-of-the-edwards-endorsement/

Obama’s state-of-the-art fundraising operation

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200806/obama-finance/3

May 20

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obama_could_clinch_majority_of.php
Obama Could Clinch Majority Of Pledged Delegates On May 20th -- Even If Florida And Michigan Are Seated!

Hillary for Supreme Court?

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/15/obey-wan-kenobi-in-the-house/

John Conyers is losing patience with Karl Rove, I guess

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0508/Conyers_Were_closing_in_on_Rove.html
Just off the House floor today, the Crypt overheard House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers tell two other people: "We're closing in on Rove. Someone's got to kick his ass."

Asked a few minutes later for a more official explanation, Conyers told us that Rove has a week to appear before his committee. If he doesn't, said Conyers, "We'll do what any self-respecting committee would do. We'd hold him in contempt. Either that or go and have him arrested." . . .

More: http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/will-conyers-get

GOP “panic”

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013731.php

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10366.html
Many House GOP operatives are privately predicting that the party could easily lose up to 20 seats this fall.

Combined with the 30 seats that the GOP lost in 2006, that would leave the party facing a 70-vote deficit against Democrats in the House — a state of powerlessness reminiscent of Republicans’ long wilderness years in the 1960s and ’70s.

Things are not particularly more hopeful on the Senate side, where most analysts say Democrats have a strong chance of adding five or more seats to their current majority. . . .

More: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/05/15/gop_insiders_see_loss_of_20_house_seats.html

A party in disarray: Republicans vote “present” on Iraq war-funding bill

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5800

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5797

Analyses of the California Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriages

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/15/california/index.html

http://www.slate.com/id/2191530

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/16/1339/18337

Bonus item: I guess ANY idiot can get a right-wing talk radio gig

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/195339.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:25 AM

 
BACKING THE WINNER

Hillary got to ride the high wave of being the favorite candidate of West Virginia for only a day. Now the inevitable starts to unfold . . .

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/05/14/edwards_endorsement/index.html
Speaking before a raucous crowd in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Wednesday, John Edwards finally delivered the endorsement Democrats had been waiting on for months and announced his support for Barack Obama. And the crowd -- which the Obama campaign estimated at 12,500 people, some of whom had begun to line up practically at the crack of dawn on Wednesday morning -- loved just about every minute of it.

Obama even got to make a joke out of the endorsement, and the dispute over Michigan's primary and its delegates, as he introduced Edwards. Referencing the fact that he, like the other Democratic candidates, did not campaign in Michigan before the primary there because the state broke party rules about the timing of the contest, Obama said, "I felt guilty about not campaigning. And so, as a consequence, I decided that I would try to give you something special. . . .”

Things that make you go “hmmmm . . .”

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/05/14/edwards_told_aides_he_would_consider_veep_role.html
Though John Edwards said last month he would decline a vice presidential nomination, the New York Times reports that "privately, he told aides that he would consider the role of vice president . . .

More: http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/politicalinsider/2008/05/the-case-for-edwards-as-obamas.html
Here's the case for picking Edwards . . .

Ooooh, ouch, that must hurt

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/naral_endorses_obama_hillary_s.php
Obama scores the endorsement of NARAL . . .

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Naral_for_Obama.html
[Ben Smith] That's a big deal, a sign of the party coalescing around its nominee.

And, as you might expect: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/emilys_list_hits_back_at_naral.php
[EMILY’S LIST] “I think it is tremendously disrespectful to Sen. Clinton . . .”

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/naral_pca_members_outraged_at_obama_endorsement.php
"I have never been so disgusted. How dare you claim to represent pro-choice women and then turn your back on one of the most influential women's right advocates in recent history?" . . . [read on]

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/14/183856/960
The National Women’s Political Caucus is disappointed . . .

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/05/15/naral_pushback/index.html
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said "we feel abandoned by this organization today," and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) called the endorsement "a betrayal."

http://www.correntewire.com/naral_endorses_obama_update
NARAL, under Nancy Keenan’s leadership, long ago lost its credibility in defending a woman’s right to choose. . . .

More on the ridiculous “Obama is an apostate Muslim” story

http://www.juancole.com/2008/05/is-obama-apostate-or-bush-reply-to.html
[Juan Cole] It is just so discouraging that such an ignorant and illogical comment was made by a prominent American pundit, and that the New York Times leant its pages to this complete drivel. . . [read on]

Swift Boat 2.0 – same people, same agenda. And what will John (“Civil Campaign”) McCain do about it?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/swift_boat_vet_operative_promi.php
"We will attack Obama viciously on all fair issues . . .”

On Bush’s claim that he’s given up golf out of sympathy and support for our troops fighting overseas ("I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal”) – well guess what?

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/05/14/countdown-special-comment-to-president-bush-shut-the-hell-up/
[Keith Olbermann] Yet there is an Associated Press account of you playing golf as late as Columbus Day of that year — October 13th — nearly two months later. . . [read on]

More: http://www.americansunitedforchange.org/page/invite/bushgolf

Ah, Donald, we’ve missed you

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/the-presidents
President Bush is "pretty much a victim of success." . . . [read on]

Crimes against humanity

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/immigration/cwc_d4p1.html
The U.S. government has injected hundreds of foreigners it has deported with dangerous psychotropic drugs against their will to keep them sedated during the trip back to their home country . . .

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/35281prs20080514.html
The American Civil Liberties Union has obtained previously withheld documents from the Defense Department, including internal investigations into the abuse of detainees in U.S. custody overseas. Uncensored documents released as a result of the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit shed light on the deaths of detainees in Iraq and internal disagreement within the military over harsh interrogation practices used at Guantánamo Bay.

"These documents provide further evidence that the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody abroad was not aberrational, but was widespread and systemic," said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney with the ACLU. "They only underscore the need for an independent investigation into high-level responsibility for prisoner abuse." . . .

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/35291prs20080514.html
The American Civil Liberties Union expressed outrage today at the Pentagon's announcement of a June 5 date for the arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other detainees accused of crimes related to September 11 before all of the defendants have met with their prospective lawyers.

According to the Military Commissions Act, defendants must go before the military commission within 30 days of the formal filing of charges. The Pentagon just announced charges against the five detainees yesterday.

As part of the ACLU's John Adams Project formed in partnership with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to provide counsel to Guantánamo detainees, civilian attorneys David Nevin and Scott McKay have offered to represent Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. However, the government is delaying approval of their security clearances, preventing them from meeting with Mohammed. In addition, not all of the detainees scheduled for arraignment have met with military defense counsel. . . .

A Bush official steps down

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/14/clements-departure/
Yet another Bush legal official, even now at the commanding heights of power, admits that the administration's policies are largely discredited. In its defense, he says without a hint of irony or sarcasm, "Not everything we've done has been illegal." He adds, "Not everything has been ultra vires" -- a legal term referring to actions beyond the law.” . . .

What happens to whistleblowers on Iraq

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_337.php
[Paul Kiel] You'd think that an Iraqi anti-corruption crusader who testified before Congress about his travails would find no great difficulty in obtaining asylum in the United States. You'd think the U.S. would be grateful for the news that $18 billion worth of corruption had virtually "stopped" reconstruction in Iraq. But not so much.

Former State Department officials told Congress earlier this week that, though Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, the former head of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, was able to get access into the U.S., he is not allowed to work and is living hand to mouth. Why has he fallen through the cracks?

It's always a toss-up between negligence/incompetence and malfeasance with this administration. . . . [read on]

This is hardly surprising: the WH and Karl Rove were involved with the Pentagon’s propaganda program

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/14/201014/764

Rove has his answer on whether he can answer Congressional questions in writing without having to testify under oath before them

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/conyers_to_rove_no.php

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/14/conyers-to-rove-no-its-not-an-open-book-test/

McCain’s lobbyist buddies: how far can his hypocrisy go before the press starts to pay attention?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/when_lobbying_for_dictators_is.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/195061.php

Looks like Cindy McCain is preparing for the time when her financial records will have to become public – even the WASHINGTON TIMES (not the Post) is calling her out on it

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/14/105257/551
Cindy McCain's 'privacy' charade . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/cindy-mccain-sells-2m-in-sudan-related.html
Cindy McCain sells $2m in Sudan-related investments

Why now? http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/15/divest-your-hypocrisy-before-the-media-starts-covering-you/

McCain tries to get on the right side of the GI bill

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/14/17409/8835

The Dems file a lawsuit against McCain

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/judge_dems_must_wait_until_jun.php

A little schadenfreude for the GOP’s electoral torment

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/195012.php

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/us/politics/15repubs.html

http://www.slate.com/id/2191483
[Daniel Politi] [T]he NYT also points out that Tuesday's loss in Mississippi highlighted that the Republican strategy of linking Democratic congressional candidates in conservative districts to Obama doesn't seem to be working. It was once thought that Obama would be a liability for conservative Democrats, but now it appears that his candidacy "might have the effect of putting into play Southern seats that were once solidly Republican," says the NYT. Meanwhile, aides to Sen. John McCain said the special-election losses have strengthened their resolve to mark sharp contrasts between the senator from Arizona and Bush. . . .

Here it comes: voter suppression in Missouri

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/here-we-go-again-by-digby-theres-big.html

It’s an old story but it won’t go away: what was the White House’s involvement in directing illegal campaign shenanigans in New Hampshire?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/new_hampshire_phone_jamming_th.php

Bonus item: “Change You Deserve”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/14/AR2008051403186.html
[Dana Milbank] House Republicans may be heading off a cliff in November, but give them credit for perseverance. Even after the new slogan they floated -- "The Change You Deserve" -- was discovered to be trademarked ad copy for the antidepressant drug Effexor, GOP leaders decided to go with the rollout anyway. . . .

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) called reporters into his office. "Democrats, not drugs, is what the American people need," he said. He flashed the Effexor side effects on a large flat-screen television. "Nausea, up to 58 percent," Hoyer said. "Actually it's higher than that for Republicans."

"Are depression symptoms keeping you from where you want to be?" Effexor's maker, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, asks in its promotions. "Not feeling as good as you used to?"

For House Republicans, the diagnosis is obvious: They are suffering from Election Anxiety Disorder. . . .

And Hoyer didn't even mention the warning label, which states that patients should be watched to see if they are "becoming agitated, irritable, hostile, aggressive, impulsive, or restless." . . . [read on]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:32 AM

 
ANTIDEPRESSANTS

Sometimes, you just gotta laugh . . .

Well, I guess we all find our own ways to share in the sacrifices of those dying in George Bush’s war

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080513/pl_afp/usiraqpoliticsbushgolf_080513212030;_ylt=Aqk5FEu.LNO_bWEPXZ0GTKysOrgF
"I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal” . . .

John Yoo (inadvertently) makes the case for impeaching George Bush

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/yoo_impeach_bush_why_not.php

Bush’s handyman: Yoo comes up (again) with a quick post-facto legal rationalization, this time for Cheney’s order to shoot down civilian airplanes on 9/11

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/13/yoo-issued-an-opinion-on-911-about-scrambling-planes/

Clinton wins big in West Virginia. Here’s her speech

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/194897.php

Analysis: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15531.html

One thing we can look forward to once Clinton steps aside is no more Terry McAullife on tv. Don’t miss it:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/194907.php

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/if-you-vote-for-obama-terry-mcauliffe.html

Yes, Virginia, some day the media will apply the same scrutiny to John McCain that they apply to every other national political figure. Some day

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15527.html

Hilarious: three GOP Senators about the same age as McCain say they’re “too old” to be Vice Presidents

http://www.discourse.net/archives/2008/05/the_age_issue.html

McCain backer John Hagee now says, so sorry, I really didn’t mean to call the Catholic Church “The Great Whore.” Good – now here are some other things he can apologize for

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/194770.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/194782.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15525.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/so-when-is-mccains-buddy-hagee.html

No, the Republicans aren’t going to let go of the “Obama is a secret Muslim” theme. It’s just their kind of issue – dirty and unfair and rooted in appeals to the worst aspects of nativist hatred and suspicion. In a post 9/11 environment, it’s too good to waste. So while their proxies on Fox and talk radio continue to spread the lie directly, they find indirect ways to tap into the same fears: the “friend of Hamas” line that McCain and Lieberman are running; the “not really a patriot” smear – and now, this

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/13/AR2008051303239.html

More: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/05/the-goldberg-va.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15518.html

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/13/obama/index.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/global-test-ii-by-dday-four-years-ago.html

The media helps: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/good-morning-america-helps-promote.html

You think it couldn’t get worse? It just got worse: today’s must-read

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/13/late-nite-when-life-hands-you-obama-is-not-a-muslim-make-obama-is-not-a-muslimade/
[Edward Luttwak] As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. . . .

His conversion, however, was a crime in Muslim eyes; it is “irtidad” or “ridda,” usually translated from the Arabic as “apostasy,” but with connotations of rebellion and treason. Indeed, it is the worst of all crimes that a Muslim can commit, worse than murder (which the victim’s family may choose to forgive).

With few exceptions, the jurists of all Sunni and Shiite schools prescribe execution for all adults who leave the faith not under duress . . . [read on!]

The Democrats win a very red Mississippi House seat – and the GOP is terrified

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/194902.php
[A]n 8 point spread. Not even close.

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/democrat-childers-wins-mississippi.html
Stunning . . .

The GOP responds: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/cole_be_warned_republicans.php
“We are disappointed in tonight’s election results. . . .’ [read on]

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/wave-builds-by-digby.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013723.php

The terrain for the Fall elections could hardly be worse for them, and they know it

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_05_11_archive.html#8477155022015544931
[ABC] Overall, Democrats hold a 21-percentage-point advantage over Republicans as the party better equipped to handle the nation's problems. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/13/172038/782
American voters now trust the Democrats on all ten key electoral issues tracked regularly by Rasmussen Reports. . . .

More: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5742

The GOP’s new “brand”? Already being used by an antidepressant drug

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/12/gops-new-slogan-already-b_n_101376.html
“Change you deserve” . . . [read on]

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013716.php

Bonus item: Jon Stewart takes on Doug Feith

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=168544&title=douglas-feith-uncut-pt.-2&to=2

Extra bonus item:

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:43 AM

 
BALL GAMES

Soft ball

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/194628.php
[From the Pentagon document dump] ”hi. jed babbin, one of our military analysts, is hosting the michael medved nationally syndicated radio show this afternoon. he would like to see if general casey would be available for a phone interview any time between 3 and 6 pm. topics would be: status of operations in iraq and if troop levels should/can/will be reduced. . . . if the general can/would be available for the interview. this would be a softball interview and the show is 8th or 9th in the nation.”

A short time later a press flack from the Office of the Secretary of Defense writes back ...

“Hi Thanks for sending this. Just fyi, probably wouldn't put "softball" interview in writing. If that got out it would compromise jed and general casey.”

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/dont_say_softball.php

Hard ball

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/doj_lawyers_congress_ought_to.php
DoJ Lawyers: Congress Ought to Play Hardball to Get White House Testimony . . .

They’re right: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-play-game-by-dday-this-is.html

Curve ball

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_335.php
[Paul Kiel] The president has said that his administration is employing every tool at their disposal to foil terrorists while protecting the civil liberties of Americans. For some reason, The Los Angeles Times opted not to take him at his word.

The secrecy necessary for counterterrorism prosecutions has combined with the rampant secrecy of the Bush administration to make it all but impossible to measure that balance. But the Times chooses a method, however imperfect, to gauge what's going on. Simply put: spying is up while counterterrorism prosecutions are down. . . . [read on]

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/13/another-mission-accomplished/
[MSNBC] The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks . . .

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013713.php

Meat ball

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/dod_official_politicized_gitmo.php
[Paul Kiel] If you thought the military commissions in Guantanamo Bay couldn't get any uglier, you were wrong. On Friday, the judge presiding over the Salim Hamdan case, Capt. Keith J. Allred, disqualified a top Pentagon official from any more involvement in the case. The reason? His aims seemed too political, his cheerleading for the prosecution too obvious to allow him to remain involved. . . [read on]

Foul ball

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/05/exstate_officials_allege_corru.php
[AP] The Bush administration repeatedly ignored corruption at the highest levels within the Iraqi government and kept secret potentially embarrassing information so as not to undermine its relationship with Baghdad, according two former State Department employees. . .

Hidden ball

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2008/05/rove_tells_house_panel_hell_an.html
Former White House political adviser Karl Rove has declined a request to testify before Congress about the criminal case against former Gov. Don Siegelman and instead made a counteroffer to answer questions in writing . . .

Was Rove involved with the Pentagon propaganda program? http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/13/rove/index.html

Low ball

http://www.abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/Politics/story?id=4836138&page=1
Eighty-two percent of Americans now say the country's seriously off on the wrong track, up 10 points in the last year . . .

Obama goes after McCain

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15516.html
[Steve Benen] I’ve been obsessing over John McCain’s incoherent opposition to a modernized GI Bill for veterans, so I was especially pleased to see Barack Obama, at a campaign stop in West Virginia, help elevate the issue and hammer McCain for his misguided position. . . .

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Obama_on_McCain_speech_Breathtaking_not_in_a_good_way.html
What Obama needs: More arguments on issues with John McCain. . .

To that end, he responded to McCain's speech on the environment just now, hitting McCain on that long Senate record we're going to learn a lot about this year . . .

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obama_hits_mccain_for_failing.php

Obama turns to general election states

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080512/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_23;_ylt=AqBlvKqrirtfv_tyoZ4Gry7Cw5R4

More Obama VP speculation

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5713

More: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5729

Job openings

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obama_campaign_seeking_staff_f.php
“While Barack continues to campaign hard in the upcoming primary states, we have begun collecting resumes for communications staff for the general election. Pls send resumes of friends and colleagues who you would recommend to become part of our organization . . .”

Hillary: the Appalachia factor

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/12/134251/930

More post-mortems

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLINTONS_FALL?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
[AP] Hillary Rodham Clinton began her presidential quest armed with talent, tenacity, fame, money, connections and a team that knew how to win.

Many people believed her victory in the Democratic nomination battle was a sure thing. . . .

McCain: I am not Bush 2.0

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15513.html
[Steve Benen] When pressed on his differences with George W. Bush, John McCain now relies on a three-prong answer: McCain is more committed to cutting spending than Bush has been, McCain disapproved of the Rumsfeld strategy, and McCain cares more about the environment.

All three struggle under scrutiny. . .

“McCain’s Christian problem”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/11/AR2008051101786.html

Three key players in the McCain campaign we ought to hear more about

http://cliffschecter.firedoglake.com/2008/05/12/breaking-mccains-murderers-row/

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/05/some_splainin_to_do.php

Joe Lieberman continues his fall to the lowest levels of demagoguery

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/lieberman_obamas_alleged_endor.php
[Greg Sargent] It was only a matter of time, really. If you ever doubted that Joe Lieberman would be using what's left of his "Independent Democrat" credentials to legitimize the GOP's bogus "Hamas endorsed Obama" attack, here he is on CNN doing just that . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15515.html

It’s too early to put much stock in these, but here are some preliminary election maps for the fall (I think they have too much of an anti-Obama tilt, but then what do I know?)

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/the_general_election_map.php

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/12/132344/570

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/012516.php

Pro-Obama: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/194650.php

The Republicans decide they need to “rebrand” themselves. Yep, that’s their problem . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15512.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/12/145055/073

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/12/83822/1536/939/513673
[Bloomberg] Republicans in the U.S. Congress are petrified about a November debacle . . .

Obama’s problem?

http://mediamatters.org/items/200805120002
[Financial Times] "I heard that Obama is a Muslim and his wife's an atheist," said Mr Simpson, drawing on a cigarette outside the fire station in Williamson, a coalmining town of 3,400 people surrounded by lush wooded hillsides. . . .

[NB: Yes, the problem is a press that prints stories like this without making clear that these opinions are utterly false . . .]

McCain’s base

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15507.html
[Steve Benen] Last week, after Barack Obama suggested that John McCain had “lost his bearings,” the McCain campaign responded with a lengthy memo that, among other things, went after campaign reporters for not favoring McCain enough. As Mark Salter insisted, Obama is “hopeful that the media will continue to form a protective barrier around him, declaring serious limits to the questions, discussion and debate in this race.”

For anyone who’s watched any aspect of the campaign for more than five minutes no doubt realizes, the McCain’s campaign’s response was a kind of projection. Nevertheless, on “Meet the Press” yesterday, the NYT’s John Harwood briefly touched on the subject.

For those who can’t watch clips online, Harwood explained that the McCain campaign, in a move that “many Republicans would find ironic,” is pushing the line that the press is friendlier to Obama. . . .

Bonus item: Winner of the MoveOn ad contest

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/winner-of-moveon-ad-campaign.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:52 AM

 
PUBLIC RELATIONS

The Bush gang vowed to remake the political landscape of the Middle East – and they’ve certainly done that

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/11/164641/761

Bush: “bring ‘em on” (AGAIN!?!!)

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/10/reid-bush-bring/

Funny that the Bush gang is fighting so hard over the FISA rules, since it’s already said it doesn’t think it needs to follow them

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/10/i-dont-think-exclusivity-means-what-john-yoo-thinks-it-does/

More rules for government secrecy

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/11/1452/19451

The Pentagon’s media propaganda program: an inside look

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/10/analysts/index.html

Another example of the military’s increasingly sophisticated media strategies

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/the_air_forces_war_on_us.php

Another example of why they need them

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/09/us-makes-changes-to-crema_n_101084.html
The Pentagon is recommending changes in the handling of troops' remains, after it was revealed that a crematorium contracted by the military handles both human and animal cremations.

A military official said there have been no instances or charges that human and pet remains were mixed. . . .

And another. . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/us/07gitmo.html
One lawyer for Guantánamo detainees said he replaced his office telephone in Washington because of sounds that convinced him it had been bugged. Another lawyer who represents detainees said he sometimes had other lawyers call his corporate clients to foil any government eavesdroppers. . . .

In interviews and a court filing Tuesday, lawyers for detainees at Guantánamo said they believed government agents had monitored their conversations. The assertions are the most specific to date by Guantánamo lawyers that officials may be violating legal principles that have generally kept government agents from eavesdropping on lawyers. . . .

The Justice Department declined to comment Tuesday. But in a legal response in March, its lawyers said they could neither confirm nor deny that detainees’ lawyers had been targets of such surveillance “because doing so would compromise the United States Intelligence Communities sources and methods.” . . .

[NB: Sounds like the answer is “Yes”]

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/10/11302/7228

And another. . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/washington/11gitmo.html
A decision by a military judge on Friday to disqualify a top Pentagon official from any further role in a Guantánamo war crimes case was a major new challenge to the Bush administration’s legal approach to the war on terrorism. . .

At issue is the role of a Pentagon office called the “convening authority,” which oversees the military prosecutors and has extensive power over the defense lawyers and judges in the cases against Guantánamo detainees. One role of that office is to be a neutral arbiter, deciding such matters as allocation of resources for both the defense and prosecution and which charges brought by prosecutors should go to trial.

But military defense lawyers and other critics have said officials running that office have overstepped the bounds of impartiality by pushing prosecutors to charge more detainees and to use evidence obtained under coercive interrogations.

Lawyers said the ruling set the stage for new challenges that could slow even the administration’s highest priority Guantánamo prosecution, against six detainees for the 2001 terrorist attacks. . . .

More like this please: GOP leader says a McCain presidency would be like a “third Bush term”

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/house-gop-leader-says-mccain-will-be.html

McCain on abortion: twisted into knots

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15500.html

Oh, the general campaign will be fun: look at the list of issues on which McCain will have to play defense

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/11/82636/0334

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15498.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15506.html

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5680

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/11/141034/067

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/11/AR2008051101964.html

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/194376.php

Cindy McCain’s money IS a legitimate campaign issue

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/10/135620/056

Who is Cindy McCain? (thanks to AG for the link)

http://www.snopes.com/politics/mccain/cindy.asp

GOP Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell reveals his philosophy of governing

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15499.html
“When I woke up after the election in November 2006,” Mr. McConnell says, “I realized I was going to be the Republican leader and not the majority leader. That was the bad news.” The one-time county judge continues: “The good news is that 49 is not a bad number in a body that requires 60. The United States Senate is the only legislative body in the world where a majority is not enough.” . . . [read on]

Can it get any worse for the Republicans?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/10/AR2008051002441.html
Since losing 30 seats and their 12-year stranglehold on power in 2006, House Republicans have kept asking themselves the same question: Can it get any worse?

On Tuesday, they may get another answer they won't like. . .

Yes, it can get worse – and probably will: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10238.html
In case you’ve been too consumed by the Democratic race to notice, Republicans are getting crushed in historic ways both at the polls and in the polls.

At the polls, it has been a massacre. In recent weeks . . .

More voter suppression from the GOP

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/show-us-your-papers-by-digby-and-so-it.html

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/us/politics/12vote.html

More on Obama’s VP options

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/05/11/strickland_eyed_as_possible_veep_for_obama.html

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5633

From a Hillary supporter: pick Clinton of course http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/11/45229/4976

Has the bruising primary battle weakened or strengthened Obama for the general election fight?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/weekinreview/11leib.html

The number is 2025, not 2209. Michigan and Florida don’t count, a party decision Clinton (and all the candidates) agreed to. What’s likely to happen is that Obama will reach the magic number, then HE will help negotiate a way to get those delegations represented at the convention. Their primaries violated party rules, and they CAN’T be the factor that determines who gets the nomination – but they should have representation at the convention, of course.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24564374/page/3/
MR. RUSSERT: Back in February, Howard Wolfson, the communications director for the--Hillary Clinton, had several phone calls and he always said the same thing. Here it was: "Neither of the candidates will get to the number needed to secure the nomination - 2,025 - without the support of superdelegates." Two thousand twenty-five.

MR. McAULIFFE: Yeah.

MR. RUSSERT: Clinton campaign said it, the Obama campaign said it. Suddenly this week we had a new number. [Howard Wolfson] "It becomes clearer and clearer that 2,025 is not the operative number. ... The number is not 2,025. It's 2209." Suddenly, including Michigan and Florida. . .

MR. McAULIFFE: Yeah

More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-change_dems_bd11may11,0,3951922.story

Superdelegate trends: a very revealing chart

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/05/09/us/politics/20080509_SUPERS_GRAPHIC.html

In the next couple of weeks, we’re likely to see a showdown between a Clinton campaign that wants the months between now and the convention to keep up their fight, press for superdelegate switches, argue over MI and FL, and hope that Obama does something to raise further questions about his electability – and a party establishment that has made up its mind that Obama is inevitable and that it’s time to wrap this up and start the campaign against McCain. If Clinton wants a long-term leadership role in the party, if she wants to be a possible candidate again in the future, she can’t burn too many bridges now. But the campaign has given every indication that they are in this until the last dog dies. How will it play out?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/opinion/10herbert.html

Don’t think that women unanimously support Clinton (and the kind of campaign she’s run)

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/gee-now-theyre-pulling-woman-card.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/should-hillary-get-special-treatment.html

Can Hillary be bought off?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/09/obama-suggests-offer-mayb_n_101082.html
On Friday, Barack Obama publicly raised the possibility of helping Hillary Clinton pay off more than $25 million in debts, including the $11.42 million she loaned her own campaign to keep it afloat in recent months. . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15496.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/10/154245/021

People I trust and respect tell me that “Women’s Voices, Women Vote” is a legitimate organization that does good work, registering voters and getting out the vote. It’s pro-Hillary, but anyone who is bringing more progressive voters into the process deserves credit. But then WHY do they have such a lousy record, in state after state, of sending out inaccurate information that has the effect of voter-suppression of poor and black voters? Sloppiness? Incompetence? Or something else? They keep explaining and they keep apologizing – but they KEEP DOING IT

Background: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5489

A few questions: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/1/10121/58318
[Adam B] What steps are being taken to correct any misinformation? . . .

Who is Lamont Williams, and why was an African American male voice used for a voter registration drive (presumably) targeted at unmarried women? . . .

Why no disclosure on the calls as to your sponsorship of them? . . . [read on]

What’s happening now in West Virginia: http://www.dailymail.com/News/election08/200805090050
A group called "Women's Voices. Women Vote" sent out more than 16,000 mailers to unmarried women in the state after April 22, the last day to register in time to vote Tuesday. . . . [read on]

Theocracy watch: Florida teacher fired for doing magic trick in class

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15503.html
“You’ve been accused of wizardry” . . .

How they do it: conservative media “watchdog” re-edits Gore quotes

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013702.php

Bonus item: The “top fifty” pundits. Would it surprise you to know that four of the top six are hard-right? And that three of the top four from the left are comedians?

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5685

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:49 AM

 
THE WINNER

I must admit, I really underestimated how quickly the press would turn on Hillary right after the Indiana/North Carolina primaries. I thought a split might keep her in play longer

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/its-over.html

http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
Rasmussen Reports has been tracking the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination daily for nineteen months… since November 2006. For the last few months, the most remarkable feature of the race has been its consistency and stability. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are both running historic campaigns and both have captured the votes and hearts of distinct and important constituencies within the Democratic Party. Obama has won Primaries in states where the demographics favor his campaign and Clinton has won in the states that favor her campaign.

However, while Senator Clinton has remained close and competitive in every meaningful measure, she is a close second and the race is over. It has become clear that Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee.

At the moment, Senator Clinton’s team is busily trying to convince Superdelegates and pundits that she is more electable than Barack Obama. For reasons discussed in a separate article, it doesn’t matter. Even if every single Superdelegate was convinced that the former First Lady is somewhat more electable than Obama, that is not enough of a reason to deny him the nomination.

With this in mind, Rasmussen Reports will soon end our daily tracking of the Democratic race and focus exclusively on the general election competition between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama. . . .

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=4818637&page=1
Obama Takes Lead in Superdelegate Tally . . .

Other s.d. tallies: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/ap_obama_has_effectively_caugh.php

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15480.html

So, the only question left, it seems, is what Hillary’s price will be for going quietly and playing nice (it actually looks as if she is ratcheting UP her attacks as a prelude to negotiations)

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/clintons-endgame-strategy/index.html
Let’s throw this into the mix of speculation about what Senator Hillary Clinton is up to with those remarks about whites and a new letter today from 16 House members to superdelegates in the House: maybe they are part of an elaborate bargaining package. . .

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hillary_campaign_emails_out_el.php

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5648

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/07/big-rewards-await-clinton_n_100694.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013697.php

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/campaign_debts.php

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Paying_Hillarys_debts.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121027865275678423.html?mod=opinion_columns_featured_lsc

The general election begins

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obamas_speech_on_economy_is_al.php
[Greg Sargent] Barack Obama just gave a speech on the economy today in Oregon, and the prepared remarks just landed in my inbox.

Number of paragraphs drawing a contrast with McCain on everything from taxes to health care to gas prices to Iraq: Nine.

Number of mentions of Hillary . . .

The Republican lie machine starts gearing up

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/05/09/rnc_ad/index.html?source=refresh
The Republican National Committee has just rolled out a new Web site -- and a new Web ad -- devoted to attacking Barack Obama. The site and the video share the same title, "Can We Ask?" and portray Obama as "a questionable candidate." . . .

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/09/kudos-for-mcclatchy-for-practicing-journalism/
Those Right-Wing Obama Lies Will Not Die . . .

How they do it: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5679

Does McCain think this sort of disingenuous nonsense fools anyone?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mccain_obama_has_nothing_in_co.php
[Eric Kleefeld] John McCain has offered a creative new justification for the use of Obama's alleged endorsement by Hamas as an issue in the campaign: Even though Obama clearly has nothing in common with the organization, people will care about it, anyway.

"It's very obvious to everyone that Senator Obama shares nothing of the values or goals of Hamas, which is a terrorist organization," McCain said. "But it's also a fact that a spokesperson from Hamas said that he approves of Obama's candidacy. I think that's of interest to the American people."

Obama prepares a massive, state-of-the-art voter registration drive. This is the way Democrats should have been running campaigns for years - instead it’s been the Republicans who have expanded the mandate. Now it’s a Democratic candidate bringing in new voters and it’s the Republicans who are trying to suppress the vote. Let’s run on that

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/obamas_massive_voter_registrat.php
For weeks, core volunteers have been staffing and organizing phone banking events, signing up volunteers for the Obama campaign's massive voter registration rallies in 110 cities across the country. . . . [read on]

Voter ID = Voter suppression

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5655
Project Vote normally uses this update to give news roundups on voting rights-related stories from the past week. However, with the reverberations from the Supreme Court's Crawford vs. Marion County voter identification decision just starting to filter down into statehouses across the country, we felt it was necessary to spend this update concentrating solely on voter ID, giving progressives a concise summary of the problems associated with it and offer some framing devices to help fight against it. . . . [read on]

Obama VP speculation continues

http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/article.php?id=GMP2008050801
Jim Webb?

John Edwards, playing it cute. Too cute

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/9/115651/6319
John Edwards on MSNBC's Morning Joe said he's made up his mind and the person he voted for in the N.C. primary is the one he will ultimately endorse. . . .

[NB: He’d better hurry, or his endorsement will become irrelevant. Basically, it already has. It’s seemed for quite a while that he was holding back until he saw an inevitable winner, then would jump on board. This timing and phrasing reinforces that suspicion. And who knows who he voted for in NC anyway?]

How nice of the Washington Post to give regular column space to a former Bush speechwriter who uses the venue to produce openly partisan boilerplate against Barack Obama. It’s not interesting, smart, or insightful stuff – it does nothing but recycle standard GOP talking points against him. It’s repetitive even of its own recycled crap. So what exactly does this precious column space in a leading US newspaper contribute to the public discourse? (The NYT does the same thing with Bill Kristol, of course.)

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15484.html
[Steve Benen] Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, best known for having been George W. Bush’s chief speechwriter, has devoted an enormous amount of ink to hitting Barack Obama from just about every angle. Given that most of the columns are unimpressive, the attacks are starting to get tiresome.

In February, Gerson told us Obama is “too liberal.” In March, Gerson predicted that Obama’s foreign policy vision would be catastrophic, which is why he believes Obama would abandon his campaign promises once elected. Two weeks later, Gerson bashed Obama’s Iraq vision again. A few days later, Gerson dismissed Obama’s heralded speech on race relations, saying it “did little to address his strange tolerance for the anti-Americanism of his spiritual mentor.”

In April, Gerson said Obama’s pro-choice position represents “extremism.” A few days later, it was back to bashing Obama’s position on Iraq again. A week later, Gerson hammered Obama on his “bitter” remarks. Two weeks later, Gerson went after Obama for being “patronizing.”

And today, Gerson talks about flag pins and elitism. . . .

A human disaster in Myanmar: the government is withholding UN food aid from its starving people. And what is Bush doing about it?

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/09/condi-rice-and-bush-do-the-katrina-thing-in-myanmar/
[David Neiwert] Didn't anyone else think it was kind of weird when, earlier this week, the Bush administration sent out First Lady Laura Bush to chastise the Myanmar regime for its failures to respond adequately to last week's killer typhoon? It's not as though Laura has either a background in foreign relations or a reputation for presenting the image of toughness usually called for in those circumstances.

Indeed, it was basically a signal that Bush was content to shake a naughty finger at the Myanmar junta, give itself a compassion beard, and let it go at that. Normally, if it isn't the president himself making such denunciations -- and we can understand why Bush wouldn't be eager to get up on a podium and denounce another government for its lack of responsiveness in the face of natural disaster -- it's a cabinet member, most often the Secretary of State. Where was Condi?

Well, Condi is almost certainly the source of the problem . . .

The path to victory in Iraq?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/iraq-treadmill-by-dday-after-day-of-top.html

Despicable

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/feds_unlikely_to_charge_blackw.php
[AP] Blackwater Worldwide, the security contractor blamed by an angry Iraqi government for the shooting deaths of 17 civilians, is not expected to face criminal charges -- all but ensuring the company will keep its multimillion-dollar contract to protect U.S. diplomats. . . . [read on]

We keep learning more about Bush’s lawless expansion of executive power, largely through the efforts of people like Marcy Wheeler

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/09/publicizing-pixie-dust/

Bush will veto the $300 billion farm bill, and you know what? Maybe he’s right on this one

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5665
[Mimikatz] Congress has finished the Farm Bill and is due to send it to the President. Bush says through his Agriculture Secretary that he will veto it. . . .

Congressional leaders hope to override because of all the goodies, including much-needed food aid, that would be lost if the prior program has to be extended. But remember that the folks who can't quit subsidies for rich non-farmers are some of the same folks who can't fund educational subsidies for our troops or an expansion of the SCHIP children's health program because of "budget concerns." This is lawmaking at its worst, when a supposed "win-win" turns into a big loss for the public interest.

The Dems’ inevitable FISA capitulation draws closer and closer, it seems

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5666

The Republican style of governing: blocking the mortgage crisis bill

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/09/late-night-fdl-throwing-mom-under-the-bus-or-whats-eating-boehner/

Rumsfeld’s a well-confirmed liar. He might think this will snow some people, but it won’t snow the judgment of history

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/05/09/rumsfeld_generals/index.html

Is John McCain starting to lose his Mr. Clean image with the press?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_334.php

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/yet-another-shady-deal-involving-mccain.html

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15481.html

Ooooh, not good Johnny

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/mccain-told-numerous-witnesses-he-didnt.html
McCain told numerous witnesses he didn't vote for Bush in 2000 . . .

Witnesses: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/what-john-mccain-told-me_b_100183.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/09/AR2008050902642.html

McCain: “full of it”

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15489.html

Which party will be more unified at their convention?

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/05/09/infighting_rains_on_mccains_party/

Theocracy watch: tell the Supreme Court to get ready on this one

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15487.html#more-15487
Federal tax law, as it relates to tax-exempt religious ministries, is pretty clear — houses of worship may not legally intervene in political campaigns, either in support of or opposition to a candidate or a party. Those who violate the law run the risk of losing their tax-exempt status. With some regularity, the IRS reminds houses of worship about this, warning them about the dangers of ignoring the law.

A far-right group in Arizona, however, has an idea: conservative churches should ignore the law — and in the process, test the law — on purpose. . . .

Valerie Plame tries to renew her lawsuit

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/05/plame_seeks_to_resurrect_lawsu.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:10 AM

 
PROUD LEGACIES

Torture, drugging, abuse, “extraordinary rendition.” The proud legacies of the Bush administration

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/senators_call_for_investigatio.php
[Paul Kiel] John Yoo's 2003 torture memo authorized the use of drugs on detainees . . .

Today Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI), Joe Biden (D-DE) and Chuck Hagel (D-NE) followed up and signed letters to both the CIA and Defense Department inspectors general calling for an investigation. . . .

[NB: That should be Chuck Hagel (R-NE).]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/194015.php
[Miami Herald] A military judge in the trial of Canadian captive Omar Khadr threatened Thursday to suspend the terror trial unless the prison camp releases a detailed log of Khadr's treatment in more than five years of detention . . .

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/08/pixie-dust-and-the-john-yoo-memos/

Those Pentagon-funded “military analysts” who went onto the air waves (supposedly as independent commentators) to recycle Pentagon talking points? How much in the bag do you think they were?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/audio_military_analysts_laud_t.php
[O]ne analyst at one point proclaiming that Rumsfeld need[ed] to get out there on the "offense," because "we'd love to be following our leader, as indeed you are. You are the leader. You are our guy." . . .

“A deafening silence” from the media: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10204.html

Good news: the EFF and ACLU beat back the FBI police state

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_333.php
[Paul Kiel] National Security Letters have been the FBI's favorite toy for the past several years, and who can blame them? With none of the hassle of a warrant and a gag order that ensures stealth, the NSL is a counterterrorism investigators best friend. The FBI issues tens of thousands of NSL requests each year (nearly 50,000 in 2006). After a major review by the Justice Department's inspector general last year found a host of abuses, FBI Director Robert Mueller promised that the FBI would clean up its act. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the number of NSLs issued has gone down -- just that agents are on alert that they can't be so sloppy.

Yesterday, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and ACLU announced that they'd succeeded in getting the FBI to back down from an NSL request issued in late 2007. The request had gone to the Internet Archive and had requested personal information about one of the Archive's users, including the individual's name, address, and any electronic communication transactional records. It just so happens that the Archive's Digital Librarian Brewster Kahle is on EFF's board of directors, and he decided to fight the request. Except it wasn't easy due to the gag order that accompanied the letter: "Because they initially were not allowed to discuss the NSL over the phone, Kahle and his attorneys had to drive to one another's offices whenever they wanted to talk about the case." . . .

Bad news: the telecoms are DICTATING TERMS to the Democrats about the kind of retroactive immunity they want (and Steney Hoyer (D-MD) and others seem ready to give it to them)

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/8/0165/02924
[Politico] Telecom companies have presented congressional Democrats with a set of proposals on how to provide immunity to the businesses that participated in a controversial government electronic surveillance program . . .

[BarbinMD] Have Dem leaders really moved in the discussions from whether to provide amnesty to how to provide it? Beyond that, why in the hell do the telcos have a seat at the negotiating table on this issue at all? . . . . [read on]

More: http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0508/Congressional_action_heats_up_on_FISA.html

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/08/the-commission-on-warrantless-wiretapping-and-fisa-compromise/

Hey George, Congress passes bills, then you decide whether to sign or veto them. That’s the way it works. He seems to think that he still has the leverage to THREATEN to veto something, thereby preventing Congress from passing it at all. Those days have gone

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/washington/09housingcnd.html

Bush offers an FEC “compromise” that includes keeping the guy he wants and dropping a guy McCain doesn’t want (some compromise). But never mind: the Senate Republicans won’t even go along with THAT

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mcconnell_spikes_fec_compromis.php

Bush’s approval AMONG REPUBLICANS is only 60%!

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/attention_charlie_black.php

Not a good sign for McCain – about a quarter of Republican voters are still looking for someone else to vote for

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/05/republicans_sti.html
In Indiana on Tuesday, McCain won 78 percent of the vote, while Mike Huckabee won 10 percent, Ron Paul won 8 percent, and Mitt Romney 5 percent. In that state's open primary, about 11 percent of voters in the Democratic primary were self-identified Republicans who crossed over.

In North Carolina, the anti-McCain vote was ever higher. McCain drew 74 percent, Huckabee 12 percent, Paul 8 percent, and Alan Keyes 3 percent. Four percent of voters went to the polls and picked "no preference."

In Pennsylvania two weeks ago, McCain also only won 73 percent of the vote. He effectively clinched the nomination after the March 4 primaries, which forced Huckabee from the race. . . .

A new alternative? http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0508/Bob_Barr_to_run_as_Libertarian_.html

It’s time to start putting McCain on record over Bush’s policies – if he wants to embrace them, fine

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/08/does-mccain-support-the-poisoning-of-mis-voters/

Here is McCain’s dilemma: if he wants to run as a bipartisan compromiser (as suggested in the video below) he can’t do it by endorsing the divisive policies of the Bush administration – but he can’t distance himself too much from Bush because he needs his help

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/this_youtube_is_circulating_in.php

McCain’s no-good, very bad health care proposal

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/08/mccains-ideology-collapses-in-the-emergency-room/

Honest John

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/08/AR2008050803494.html
Sen. John McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers.

Initially reluctant to support the swap, the Arizona Republican became a key figure in pushing the deal through Congress after the rancher and his partners hired lobbyists that included McCain's 1992 Senate campaign manager, two of his former Senate staff members (one of whom has returned as his chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who was a major McCain donor and is now bundling campaign checks.

When McCain's legislation passed in November 2005, the ranch owner gave the job of building as many as 12,000 homes to SunCor Development, a firm in Tempe, Ariz., run by Steven A. Betts, a longtime McCain supporter who has raised more than $100,000 for the presumptive Republican nominee. Betts said he and McCain never discussed the deal. . . .

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/09/mr-straight-talk/

McCain, elitist

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/05/07/john-mccains-top-10-out-of-touch-moments/

Get this: his multimillionaire wife says she will NEVER release her tax forms. Never. (Think the Dems can make an issue out of this?)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193985.php

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15477.html

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/9/04441/15472

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/8/145559/9008

His wife also says he is “absolutely opposed to any negative campaigning.” Well, I’ll believe it when HE says so (and does something about it)

http://mediamatters.org/items/200805080004

McCain continues to dally with bigoted religious leaders. When will he start paying a price for this?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013689.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15478.html

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/08/john-mccain-hearts-wack-job-ministers/

Karl Rove, whistling in the dark . . .

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/05/08/rove_warns_gop_of_tough_race.html
Sen. John McCain "is the best candidate Republicans could have picked . . .” [read on]

Obama says McCain is “losing his bearings” in making smear comments about Obama and Hamas (no negative campaigning, eh John?). McCain chooses to interpret this not as “losing his direction and principle” (which it is), but as “losing his marbles,” i.e. a slander against his age. Nice try, boys

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/08/obama-mccain-is-losing-his-bearings/

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/08/mccain-camp-accuses-obama-of-making-age-an-issue/

It’s time to start the general election

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002718960

Obama is moving on

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/05/08/obama_shifts_strategy.html
The Los Angeles Times reports Sen. Barack Obama "hasn't managed after months of political combat to force" Sen. Hillary Clinton "out of the presidential race, so he's about to try another approach: ignoring her."

"Confident that he has built a near-impregnable lead, his campaign aides said Wednesday that Obama would begin shifting his focus toward the general election." . . .

Meanwhile, the New York Daily News notes the Obama campaign "has begun talks" with Clinton administration "loyalists" in an attempt to "recruit field organizers, finance officials and press officers."

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15476.html
[Politico] Not long after the polls close in the May 20 Kentucky and Oregon primaries, Barack Obama plans to declare victory in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. . . .

The post-mortems begin

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1738331,00.html
The Five Mistakes Clinton Made . . .

Six: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/05/08/clinton_strategy/index.html

Okay, the Michigan Democratic party finally gets together on a compromise plan over what to do with their delegates. It seems reasonable and fair – but it’s THEIR proposal

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/michigan_dems_suggest_compromi.php

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5645

Clinton says no: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hillary_campaign_says_no_to_ne.php

The steady drumbeat of moving superdelegates continues; even Clinton’s supporters are wavering

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080508/ap_on_el_pr/superdelegates;_ylt=Ai5P1QVfRsd9B_xdCMrhwa6s0NUE

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/05/08/bonior_will_back_obama.html

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/new_york_congresswoman_hillary.php

Another ugly Republican scandal

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5646
Soon, there won't be any Republicans left . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15474.html

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/08/vito-agonistes/

Fox News: the Manchurian Candidate channel

http://mediamatters.org/items/200805080003

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:14 AM

 
IN OR OUT?

The Bush style of governing

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/washington/07cnd-bush.html
As the House prepared to vote on a housing-relief bill offered by Democratic leaders, President Bush on Wednesday told the lawmakers, in effect, not to bother. . . .

The Bush art of compromise: you give me my way and then we’re good

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193700.php
[Josh Marshall] As you may know, there's been a nominations standoff which has left the FEC essentially shuttered through this election cycle. Most of the controversy has centered around voter suppression guru (he's for it) Hans Von Spakovsky, a medium level player in the US Attorneys firing scandal. Now President Bush has submitted a new slate of nominees, purportedly to resolve the conflict. . . .

Spakovsky actually remains on the list. And the big change is the removal of David Mason. . . . Mason is the Republican Chair of the FEC who has refused to allow John McCain to break the rules by pulling out of the public financing system after using it to leverage enough money to win the Republican nomination.

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_332.php

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/deal-and-no-deal-by-dday-good-news.html

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/07/bush-stacks-fec-to-help-mccain/

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/07/new-fec-maneuvers-von-spakovsky-still-a-nominee-but-to-get-separate-vote/

Wow. The Scott Bloch story gets even more astounding

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/bloch_party.php

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/watchdog_doc_shows_bloch_ginne.php

What’s going on? http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/07/the-flying-fur-at-osc/

The Bush EPA – worse than useless

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/breaking_hillary_spokesperson.php

“I went to visit the White House, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt”

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15464.html

“7 reasons why Hillary should quit”

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/7_reasons_why_clinton_should_q.php

“7 reasons why Hillary should stay in”

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/reasons_why_clinton_should_sta.php

“It’s over”

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/05/07/its_basically_over.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/us/politics/08media.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/us/politics/08campaign.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080507/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_speaking_softly;_ylt=AqBkOk6RCDGbtJ2QUc1GMvGs0NUE

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/7/75716/07167

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/video-every-superdelegate-should-see.html

Even though Hillary can’t win, I do agree that she owes it to her supporters to stay in until the last primary vote. I’m sure she wants to take credit if Michigan and Florida eventually get seated at he convention. She needs to raise money to pay off her debts. But the question is, what kind of campaign will she run? She and her people need to temper their attacks on Obama and focus their efforts on the real target now, McCain

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/36305.html
Out of money, Clinton's only options risk her party's unity . . .

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/congressional-leaders-promise-that.html
[NYT] Top Democratic officials said privately that Congressional leaders were content to have the race play out as long as it did not take on a negative tone. Attacks on Mr. Obama by the Clinton campaign or its surrogates could lead to a leadership push for superdelegates to show their hand and bring the race to a close, said aides, who did not want be identified discussing internal strategy. . . .

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/would-you-like-some-cheese-with-that.html

Hillary had to loan her campaign $6.4 million: will she hold out until Obama pays off her campaign debt?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/breaking_hillary_spokesperson.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193872.php

No, no, no, no, no. Hillary does NOT want to be Obama’s VP, and he won’t ask her

http://abcnews.go.com//Politics/story?id=4808341&page=1

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193860.php

Double ouch!

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5K0ixrClx4MMHJ-UyiPrUnwaa5AD90GSOQG5
McGovern, former Clinton backer, endorses Obama . . .

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/A_flip_to_Obama.html
Virginia's state representative and DNC member Jennifer McClellan has flipped from Clinton to Obama . . .

More: http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/pressure-builds-on-clinton-to-drop-out-2008-05-07.html

Strong Clinton supporter Dianne Feinstein privately tells Hillary it’s over. Could DiFi be a VP candidate?

http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/feinstein-asks-clinton-for-her-primary-game-plan-2008-05-07.html

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193872.php

VP? http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/07/whats-difi-up-to/

More VP speculation

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5633

This . . . must . . . stop

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hillary_chief_strategist_north.php
[Greg Sargent] On the Hillary conference call, Hillary chief strategist Geoff Garin made the case for her electability in some of the most explicitly race-based terms I've heard yet.

Garin argued that the North Carolina contest, which Obama won by 14 points, represented "progress" for Hillary because she did better among white voters there than she did in Virginia. . . .

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1737725,00.html
One key Indiana player said the Clinton camp, by questioning Obama's electability, had been "blowing the dog-whistle on race" in Lake County, which helps make up northwestern Indiana's 20%-25% of likely Democratic primary voters. He and other Indiana aides say Clinton surrogate attacks on minority-focused get-out-the-vote efforts in the region were racially based. Others said Clinton's choice of venues, especially "white flight" towns in southern Lake County, were chosen to send racial cues, and to target fertile ground for the coded message of "electability." . . .

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-05-07-clintoninterview_N.htm
Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed Wednesday to continue her quest for the Democratic nomination, arguing she would be the stronger nominee because she appeals to a wider coalition of voters — including whites who have not supported Barack Obama in recent contests.

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

"There's a pattern emerging here," she said.

Clinton's blunt remarks about race came a day after primaries in Indiana and North Carolina dealt symbolic and mathematical blows to her White House ambitions . . .

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/05/the_finale_when_and_how.php
[Mark Kleiman] “Hard-working Americans, white Americans"?! . . . Either HRC has completely lost her moral and political senses, or she's just so tired she's not capable of saying what she means. . . .

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/clinton-disses-black-voters-three-times.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/05/07/2008-05-07_ugly_truth_why_hillary_clinton_wont_quit.html

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_05_04_archive.html#8375348015322310554

Others don’t mind waving the race flag for her either

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/7/192845/4889

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/7/14423/05860

Okay, I don’t want to hear ANY more about how McCain will be a milder, more moderate version of Bush

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/07/mccain/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] According to John McCain, then, executive power in the U.S. now is exactly what it should be, perfectly in line with what the Founders envisioned -- except that it is too constrained by a judiciary which "show[s] little regard for the authority of the president." To McCain, the only real problem with our system of checks and balances is that the judiciary has too much power, and the President not enough. . . [read on]

Who’s the bigger anchor: Wright for Obama or Bush for McCain?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/7/75716/07167

The Arizona reporters who know McCain best have been mysteriously silent since he got the GOP nomination. Why?

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=05&year=2008&base_name=journalism_alert

This is the way Fox News will cover the election – get used to it

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193717.php

Bonus item: Looks like Rush Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” did help Hillary – what an amazing statistic (thanks to Buzzflash for the link)

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1738215,00.html
Perhaps the most disturbing indicator for Clinton was the fact that 15% of those who voted for her on Tuesday said they would not back her in November . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:07 AM

 
CLOSING THE DEAL

I’m out of the country at the moment, but I heard something about some primary votes or something that happened yesterday? Here are the facts. Obama wins North Carolina by 14 points, Clinton wins Indiana by less than 2. Obama ADDS to his delegate lead and his popular vote lead. Clinton has some primaries ahead she can win (Kentucky, West Virginia, and Puerto Rico), and she will almost certainly stay in the race. But what has been apparent for months is now starkly obvious: there is no formula for her to win the nomination. None.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obamas_popular_vote_gains_toni.php
[Greg Sargent] The Hillary campaign was hoping, at a minimum, that tonight's two contests would more or less cancel each other out, thus keeping it not out of the realm of possibility that she could ultimately close the popular vote gap, including Florida, with a string of future wins.

Those hopes have been dealt a pretty severe blow tonight.

Not only were Indiana and North Carolina not a wash, but Obama's popular vote gains tonight have effectively wiped out her pop vote gains from her resounding win in Pennsylvania.

With 99% reporting in North Carolina, Obama is ahead by about 233,000 votes. Subtract from that the 20,000 that Obama is now trailing by in Indiana, with 92% reporting, and you have roughly a 213,000 gain for Obama.

Hillary won Pennsylvania by 214,000 -- a gain that has now been erased.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193606.php
NBC just reported that Hillary Clinton is holding no public events tomorrow. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/7/03414/56052
Olbermann notes that the latest Clinton fundraising email doesn't have a money ask.

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/breaking-wesley-clark-reportedly-called.html
[Joe Sudbay] We've just been told that General Wesley Clark, a strong Clinton supporter and fellow Arkansan, called Hillary tonight to tell her it's over. . .

Here are some analyses

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/07/AR2008050700065.html
After failing to win the decisive sweep in North Carolina and Indiana that could have reshaped the Democratic race, disappointed aides to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton conceded it would be difficult for her to catch Sen. Barack Obama in either delegates or overall votes in the six remaining contests. . .

"Absent some sort of miracle on May 31st, it's going to be tough for us," said a senior Clinton official who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to be frank. "We lost this thing in February. We're doing everything we can now . . . but it's just an uphill battle." . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/us/politics/06cnd-campaign.html
Clinton advisers acknowledged that the results of the primaries were far less than they had hoped, and said they were likely to face new pleas even from some of their own supporters for her to quit the race. They said they expected fund-raising to become even harder now; one adviser said the campaign was essentially broke, and several others refused to say whether Mrs. Clinton had loaned the campaign money from her personal account to keep it afloat. . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obama_campaign_aide_tonights_r.php
Tonight's big win in North Carolina has Obama advisers increasingly confident that they have a shot at effectively putting away the race by May 20th, an Obama campaign aide confirms.

The idea is that May 20th, the date of the Kentucky and Oregon primaries, is the Obama campaign's D-Day. That is, it's the date when Obama will clinch a majority of the 3,253 pledged delegates -- a number Obama advisers can take to the super-delegates and argue that the time has come for them to support Obama . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15454.html
[Steve Benen] Late last week, Hillary Clinton seemed to be taking something of a risk raising expectation in North Carolina, telling voters, “This primary election on Tuesday is a game changer. This is going to make a huge difference in what happens going forward. The entire country — probably even a lot of the world — is looking to see what North Carolina decides.”

In retrospect, that probably wasn’t the best idea. . .

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/06/primary-late-night-ii-indiana-flips/
[David Neiwert] One of tonight's talking heads mentioned that exit polling indicated that Hillary's adoption of the gas tax holiday idea actually backfired on her. I'd like to see those polls, but it's quite clear that the Rev. Wright controversy got blown away by these results. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/7/0245/01216
The media narrative is clear: It's over.

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5619
Why the Obama-Clinton Race Ended Tonight . . .

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/7/53225/37686

http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4665

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/russert-its-over-for-hillary-she-lost.html

http://www.slate.com/id/2190780

http://www.slate.com/id/2190778

“Hillary, don’t drop out (yet)!”

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/6/221033/3197

Obama’s speech

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/05/06/obama_speech/index.html
[Alex Koppleman] Barack Obama's surrogates were dancing on Hillary Clinton's grave Tuesday night. But in his speech for the night, Obama himself was a uniter, not a divider -- at least when it came to the Democratic Party.

Obama did get in a couple jabs at Clinton, but for the most part his message was conciliatory, and aimed at bringing together the Democratic Party -- and the American people generally -- to change the country, and, of course, to guarantee a Democratic victory over presumptive Republican John McCain this fall. . . .

Full text: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/in_north_carolina_victory_spee.php

Watch: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193577.php

Clinton’s speech

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/06/primary-late-night-did-we-hear-hillary-concede-tonight/
[David Neiwert] I know, I know. Hillary's victory speech in Indiana tonight was not a concession speech. She vowed to keep fighting on. Florida and Michigan and all that.

But it sure sounded, and looked, and felt like a concession speech. The thank-yous. Bill crying (at least it looked like it from certain shots). The resigned tone. She certainly didn't sound like someone who was fighting any longer. . . .

Watch: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/06/video-hillarys-victory-speech-in-indiana/

Shut UP, Donna!

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/6/231410/6620
BEGALA: But I think Hillary is still going to make the case that she can win those blue-collar white voters that Barack still can't, that may very well along with Latinos be the key to this general election. That's what's so interesting about this primary, why I think it's good for my party, because the voters who are in play in this primary are the exact voters who are going to decide the general election as well, working-class white folks and Latin Americans. . . .

BRAZILE: Well, Lou, I have worked on a lot of Democratic campaigns, and I respect Paul. But, Paul, you're looking at the old coalition. A new Democratic coalition is younger. It is more urban, as well as suburban, and we don't have to just rely on white blue-collar voters and Hispanics. We need to look at the Democratic Party, expand the party, expand the base and not throw out the baby with the bathwater. . . .

BEGALA: When people say things -- I love Donna and we go back 22 years. We've never been on different sides of an arguments in our entire lives. But if her point is that there's a new Democratic Party that somehow doesn't need or want white working-class people and Latinos, well count me out.

BRAZILE: Paul, baby, I did not say that.

BEGALA: We cannot win with egg heads. Let me finish my point. We cannot win with egg heads and African-Americans. . . .

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/6/221614/3546

Fox is no better: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193552.php

More on the white working class vote: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4403

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/6/23159/49157

A disturbing poll number – if it means what it says

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/06/primary-night-wholl-vote-in-the-fall/
[David Neiwert] CNN has been running disturbing poll numbers indicating that many of the current crop of Hillary Clinton voters are saying they won't vote for Obama in the fall . . .

These poll numbers do reveal a potential vulnerability for Obama -- namely, the persistence of racism as a motivating factor in voter behavior, and its possible appearance here. As we've said, merely waving a magic wand of "transcending politics" won't make it go away. Certainly, some of these "dropouts" just don't like him as a candidate, but some are doing so for troubling reasons.

However, you can't help but wonder if the reality that at least some of these "working class white voters" who are coming out for Hillary are actually doing so at the behest of people like Rush Limbaugh . . . [read on]

Did “Operation Chaos” help Clinton in Indiana?

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/05/limbaugh_issues.html
The Indianapolis Star reported online today that it appeared that droves of "hard-core" Republicans are crossing over to vote in the Democratic primary in GOP strongholds in Marion County and suburbs. . . .

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/06/exit-polls-limbaugh-effec_n_100488.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/limbaugh-is-succeeding-in-getting-his.html

http://thepage.time.com/2008/05/06/chaos/

2025. That’s the threshold for the Democratic nomination. Florida and Michigan DON’T COUNT – and those aren’t Obama rules, they’re Democratic party rules that Clinton agreed to

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/07/AR2008050700065.html
As voters went to the polls yesterday, Clinton tried to recast the terms of the race, telling reporters that the number of delegates needed to win is "2,209," rather than the 2,025 needed without Michigan and Florida. . .

In a late-night speech here, Clinton said that "it would be a little strange to have a nominee chosen by 48 states." . . .

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/6/184647/2144

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/politicalinsider/2008/05/moving-the-goal-posts-again.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/now-hillary-says-obama-wont-be-winner.html

Can Obama afford to make a deal now on Florida and Michigan?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/nbcs-chuck-todd-even-if-you-give.html
NBC's Chuck Todd, who is brilliant and highly respected on such things, just said that you can give Hillary Florida and Michigan - on her terms - and she still loses the nationwide delegate count and the popular vote. She still loses the nomination. . . .

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/6/223741/1951
Howard Fineman reported that Obama campaign officials in Chicago are now saying that they are "willing to talk about a deal over the Florida and Michigan delegates" at the May 31st rules committee meeting.

Why now? Two things. First, they think after tonight's results that they will be "firmly in the driver's seat by then" and "won't really need" the Michigan and Florida delegates for the nomination. Secondly, according to Fineman, they see it as part of the process to heal the party that Obama started to do in his speech tonight.

Fineman's take: "it's a measure of their confidence." . . .

Endorsement update: Edwards says no – Gore says maybe

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20197952,00.html

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/06/gore-speaks-i-still-may-endorse/

In other news. . . .

Unnamed Bush officials are planting stories with friendly NYT reporters about what a threat Iran is. Sound familiar?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/world/middleeast/05iran.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/and-story-gets-more-baroque-by-tristero.html

http://www.juancole.com/2008/05/khatamis-charges-provoke-row-in-iran.html

We’re gonna see this report, sooner or later

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193272.php
[Paul Kiel] Earlier this week, I noted an excerpt from the new book by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, where he told how Donald Rumsfeld had ordered a report by the Joint Warfighting Center of the bungled occupation of Iraq, but when Rumsfeld got the results, he'd ordered it squelched.

Sanchez writes that he was told by one of the people who'd done the study that when they'd presented their findings to Rumsfeld, he'd "just shut us down" and said "This is not going anywhere." According to Sanchez, the report validated his account that the entire Pentagon leadership knew that he'd had inadequate support when he'd been in command of the U.S. forces in Iraq after the fall of Hussein . . .

The Republican way of governing

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/05/mccain-kyl-iraq-oil/
McCain Supporter Jon Kyl: ‘We Must Never Make It Appear As If We Went Into Iraq For Its Oil’

Oh, we can just trust them can’t we?

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/no-copies-of-white
[Matthew Blake] The intricate legal battle over missing White House emails could be going somewhere. Theresa Payne, the White House's chief information officer, has admitted that there are no backup tapes of Executive Office of the President emails between March 1, 2003 and May 22, 2003. This timeframe roughly coincides with the invasion of Iraq (which was March 19, 2003) and "Mission Accomplished" victory declaration (May 1, 2003). . . .

It's what they do: http://kcblueblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/breaking-investigation-reveals-blunt-or.html
An independent investigation has revealed that either Republican Gov. Matt Blunt or top staffers ordered the destruction of public e-mail tapes that hold the copies of all e-mails sent. . . . [read on]

A question of priorities

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_331.php
[Paul Kiel] Forget about the frustration at the slow pace of the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. You know it's got to really burn the administration to miss a good chance for a PR coup.

But as The Washington Post reports this morning, things are moving at such a glacial pace down in sunny Guantanamo that it seems impossible at this point that any of the September 11th suspects will begin trial before the election -- or even before the Bush administration leaves office. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/6/105214/6227

Congress gets aggressive

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/washington/06cnd-subpeona.html
A House subcommittee investigating the Bush administration’s approval for harsh interrogation methods voted on Tuesday to issue a subpoena to David S. Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney and a major proponent of the methods, which some legal experts have condemned as illegal torture.

Two former administration officials, John Ashcroft, the former attorney general, and John C. Yoo, who wrote controversial legal opinions justifying harsh techniques, have agreed to give public testimony to a House Judiciary subcommittee, staff members said. . .

More to come: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/yoo_agrees_to_testify.php

[NB: Set your DVR’s]

Using the leverage that you have

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/gi-bill-on-the-move
House lawmakers plan to attach an updated GI Bill to the $178 billion Iraq spending package set to hit the chamber floor Thursday -- a move that could lead to a showdown with the Bush administration, which opposes the proposal. . . .

This is an unbelievable story

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/washington/06cnd-inquire.html
The office of the official responsible for protecting federal workers from political interference was raided by F.B.I. agents on Tuesday as part of an investigation into whether he himself mixed politics with official business.

The raid took place at the office of Scott J. Bloch, the head of the Office of Special Counsel . . .

The Office of Special Counsel gives advice to federal employees on which activities are proper and which are not allowed under the Hatch Act, which is supposed to guard against direct political interference in governmental affairs. Mr. Bloch’s duties including shielding whistle-blowers who disclose such political meddling.

Mr. Bloch was in the news a year ago when his office began to look into political briefings given to employees of several agencies by aides to Karl Rove, who was then President Bush’s chief political adviser. The White House insisted at the time that the briefings met the definitions of allowable activities.

Mr. Bloch’s critics quickly accused him of announcing an inquiry into the Rove-inspired briefings simply to draw attention away from his own shortcomings. . . .

More: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/06/bloch-raid-mafia-turf-war/
[Looseheadprop] A 2007 WaPo article tells us that Bloch was hard on the trail of Karl Rove . . .

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/06/bloching-justice-or-obstructing-justice/

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/fbi_raids_home_office_of_offic.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15449.html

McCain flippity-flops, this time over immigration

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15450.html
[Steve Benen] Maybe we could get all the various John McCains together in a room, let them debate one another on the various issues on which they’re diametrically opposed, and the Republicans can get back to us once they’ve figured out a policy platform. . . . [read on]

McCain, post-Wright, starts to distance himself from Hagee

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/05/mccain-hagee-vetting/
n addition to having previously referred to Catholicism as “The Great Whore,” controversial pastor John Hagee said on NPR in September 2006 that Hurricane Katrina was the result of God condemning New Orleans because “there was to be a homosexual parade there” the day the hurricane hit — a belief he recently reaffirmed.

Despite Hagee’s radical and bigoted beliefs, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) sought and received Hagee’s endorsement for president — one McCain said he was “very honored” to have. Since then, Hagee’s views have garnered more attention, sparking wider questions as to why McCain would accept such an endorsement.

In a recent article on the McCain/Hagee saga, Newsweek reports that McCain aides attribute the courting of Hagee’s support to “poor vetting.” But some from McCain’s own party wonder how his views could have “slipped through the cracks” . . . .

Bonus item: “WTF?” indeed

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193485.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 5:55 AM

 
NOTHING CHANGES

Looks like Obama and Clinton will split the primaries today, which will leave us in another “Groundhog Day” situation: “Why can’t he close the deal?” “What kind of campaign is Hillary running?” "What will the superdelegates do?”

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/5/195250/0904/860/509692

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/north_carolina_indiana_poll_ro.php

Well, here’s what the superdelegates are doing. . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/clinton_only_about_15_superdel.php
Monday's super-delegate activity shows that the pace of endorsements isn't slowing down ahead of the primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. And what's more, the overall direction isn't good for Hillary Clinton . . .

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=05&year=2008&base_name=the_state_of_the_race
Two of the five superdelegates aligned with Clinton who spoke at the annual California Democratic Convention here said they would reconsider their support if rival Barack Obama maintained his lead in elected delegates and the popular vote after the last contests on June 3. . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15438.html
Clinton needs to win over about two-thirds of the remaining uncommitted superdelegates, which would be quite a challenge. . . . [read on]

Playing the expectations game

http://www.correntewire.com/nc_in_primary_thread
[Lambert] NC Obama by 15 (He’s been leading by 20, so let’s spot him 5. The more people see of him the more they like him.)

IN Obama by 5 (It’s next door to his home state, which is the only other big state he’s won, and the media markets overlap.)

At this point, what Obama needs to do is close the deal with the voters. So, if he doesn’t meet those numbers in both states, he loses. . . .

George Bush, Mr. Irrelevant

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/05/AR2008050502204.html

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/05/05/BL2008050501147.html

Veto this!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/washington/06house.html
Defying President Bush, House Democrats are preparing to forge ahead with a war spending measure that would include extended unemployment assistance and new educational benefits for returning veterans. . . .

Donald Rumsfeld, Mr. Unaccountable

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_330.php

More from Gen. Sanchez: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013664.php

Why the Iraqis hate us

http://thinkprogress.org/attackerman/2008/05/05/blackwaterisheretohelp/

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/culture_clash.php

Torture on a case-by-case basis

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/05/the-sliding-scale/

The role of Inspectors General is to conduct tough, objective internal evaluations of govt depts. Over the Bush years, we have seen (not surprisingly) a steady erosion of their independent powers. Congress would like to give those back – and guess who’s standing in the way?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/senate_gop_blocks_doj_ig_from.php

Lurita Doan, not going quietly

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/doan_fired_for_being_a_distrac.php

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/doan-speaks

Hillary Clinton, working class hero

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/35929.html
Sen. Hillary Clinton excluded nearly $24 million of her husband's earnings from Senate financial statements from 2004 through 2006 . . .

Will the Clinton campaign follow the “nuclear option”?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/04/clinton-camp-considering_n_100051.html

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/05/983419.aspx

http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/4662

Mark Kleiman unloads his own nuclear option on Hillary’s cynical gas tax proposal

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/campaign_2008_/2008/05/contempt.php

“Break up OPEC”?

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Clinton_OPEC_can_no_longer_be_a_cartel.html
"We’re going to go right at OPEC," she said. "They can no longer be a cartel, a monopoly that get together once every couple of months in some conference room in some plush place in the world, they decide how much oil they’re going to produce and what price they’re going to put it at," she told a crowd at a firehouse in Merrillville, IN.

"That’s not a market. That’s a monopoly," she said, saying she'd use anti-trust law and the World Trade Organization to take on OPEC. . . .

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193299.php

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/clinton_vs_opec.php

A case for Hillary: from an Obama supporter

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/193250.php
[RP] By being a 'fighter' and playing to the lowest kind of populism (and wow do we hate it), Hillary is showing that if she were somehow to get nominated, she'll run exactly the kind of stay-on-the-offensive campaign that will force mistakes from McCain and make it more likely that she'll win in November. She's also making it clear that Obama will never run that kind of campaign.

McCain is 71. Running for President will be an immense strain on anyone, let alone someone of that age. Even in the best of times, he's prone to shocking outbursts. With Hillary running, for the first time in anyone's memory, a Republican-toned campaign as a Democrat, she's showing that she can force McCain to make a 'macaca'-style gaffe. When Republicans grumble about McCain's temper, they're not worried about how he'll behave as President (since when has actual job performance mattered to them?); they're worried about how he'll campaign. They're frightened of a Phil Mickelson-esque implosion.

Obama, by contrast, will run a high-minded campaign and may well win on merit. And he'll always be on the defensive. As I said, I favor him Obama a wide margin. But I favor a Democrat over a Republican by an even wider margin. . . .

Aside from the benefits of not having a crop of incompetent government-haters running government, one of the benefits of a winning Hillary campaign would be to relieve a blight on our country: the Atwater/Rove school of Republican campaign mudslinging. It's not about fighting back. It's about taking the first shot. She won't let them get their Swift Boats in the water to start with. If both sides are Atwatering it, yes, it'll be very very ugly, cue the 'Unity12' theme music and hand-wringing by the delicate. But I think we're in for ugly no matter what, because they're not going to stop. We may as well engage or get used to losing.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/us/politics/05clinton.html

Funny math

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/5/153546/6616
[Rhodes Cook] Mrs. Clinton boasts that she has the [popular vote] lead already, but her count includes the votes in the unsanctioned primaries in Florida and Michigan. A fairer calculation would eliminate the ballots cast in those two states, as well as the votes from caucuses where no statewide tally of the actual vote was compiled. (Those states are Iowa, Maine, Nevada and Washington; Mr. Obama won three of them.) Territories that do not possess any Electoral College votes should be ruled out, too. . .

More: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/5/16102/68699

“Why the Press Turned on Obama”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/04/11/LI2005041100587.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:29 AM

 
FAIRY TALES

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080504/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_growing_the_green_zone
Forget the rocket attacks, concrete blast walls and lack of a sewer system. Now try to imagine luxury hotels, a shopping center and even condos in the heart of Baghdad.

That's all part of a five-year development "dream list" — or what some dub an improbable fantasy — to transform the U.S.-protected Green Zone from a walled fortress into a centerpiece for Baghdad's future. . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15431.html

Yeah, but we got Saddam, dad gummit

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/03/AR2008050302047.html
Almost eight years after al-Qaeda nearly sank the USS Cole with an explosives-stuffed motorboat, killing 17 sailors, all the defendants convicted in the attack have escaped from prison or been freed by Yemeni officials. . . .

Yes, they are

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dean-gop-uses-hate-and-race-baiting-to-win-2008-05-04.html
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Sunday that Republicans are using “hate and divisiveness” to win elections. . . . [read on]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/04/1988/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] For those reasons, just as is true now, the GOP operatives running Bush the First's campaign -- Lee Atwater and Roger Ailes -- realized that they could never win the election if Americas voted on the basis of substance, policy positions and issues. They thus resolved to shift the playing field away from issues to manipulative, adolescent questions of patriotism, manliness, and personal likability. Hence: Dukakis is an effete elitist who doesn't believe in the Pledge of Allegiance; he looks dorky bowling wearing a helmet; he proved he wasn't a man when he failed to show primal rage when asked in a debate about his wife being hypothetically raped, etc. etc.

With the help of a media enthralled to such shallow, easy-to-chatter-about attacks, they succeeded in electing a highly unpopular figure from a scandal-plagued, discredited party. And Republicans, with their media partners, have been using that depraved playbook ever since, and will continue to do so this year. . . . [read on]

Willie Horton 2.0: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050401847.html

The free ride the press is giving McCain

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013660.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/5/22658/23810

How YouTube is going to help defeat flip-flopper McCain

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/4/1402/86139

“Socialized medicine” – that’s all the Republicans can say about any Democratic proposal on health care. They fear this issue, and they’re right to

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15425.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/4/9713/11829

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/health_care_/2008/05/the_mccain_plan_health_insurance_for_people_who_dont_need_health_care.php

An amazing story, with serious repercussions. McCain is very superstitious. . . I mean VERY superstitious. It goes beyond a personality quirk to something kind of creepy

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15429.html

Sooner or later, McCain is going to have to answer for his “100 years in Iraq” comments

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24426770/

Now, HERE’S a find: McCain says he’s just fine with 100 years in Iraq. Here’s Hillary saying she’d be happy with 50

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/hrc_/2008/05/hrc_in_2005_50_years_in_iraq_would_be_just_peachykeen.php
“Senator McCain made the point earlier today, which I agree with . . .”

“Obliterate Iran”?!!???

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/hrc_/2008/05/not_a_gaffe.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15430.html

Clinton’s other nuclear option

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/05/04/will_clinton_go_nuclear_at_convention.html

Who said it?

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/in-2000-bill-clinton-opposed-hillarys.html
[On cutting the gasoline tax] “But the problem I have with it, apart from what it might do to the Highway Trust Fund and the spending obligations that have already been incurred by the acts of Congress, the budgets, is that I’m not sure that the savings would be passed along to the consumers”

When you don’t have the experts on your side, attack the experts

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/04/clinton-gas-tax-holiday-h_n_100025.html
Former Clinton labor secretary, and now Obama supporter, Robert Reich, asks some Clinton economic advisers about her comments this morning:

When asked this morning by ABC News' George Stephanopoulos if she could name a single economist who backs her call for a gas tax holiday this summer, HRC said "I'm not going to put my lot in with economists."

I know several of the economists who have been advising Senator Clinton, so I phoned them right after I heard this. I reached two of them. One hadn't heard her remark and said he couldn't believe she'd say it. The other had heard it and shrugged it off as "politics as usual." . . .

Meanwhile, Politico's Ben Smith notes that Clinton's campaign is arguing that the gas tax distinction is a character issue:

Clinton has been sharpening her argument that policy distinctions between the candidates -- on health care, on banning foreclosures and on the gas tax -- are really a character issue, making her in touch and Obama out of touch.

Clinton aide Howard Wolfson put it as clearly as the campaign has on a conference call just now. Obama, he said, is "somebody who just doesn't seem to understand that middle-class families are hurting, working-class families are hurting, that they need relief. He would rather side with the oil companies over the interest of middle-class families."

More: http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2008/05/hillary-clinton-doesnt-listen-to.html

An anti-Clinton analysis: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15427.html

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/hrc_/2008/05/pandering_as_a_character_issue.php

A pro-Clinton analysis: http://www.correntewire.com/well_shes_got_my_vote

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/30/clinton_exuding_confidence.html

The electability argument: a brief for the Clinton case

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/4/155610/0557

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/4/14246/40859

Dueling polls

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/4/185110/6758
CBS/NY Times: Voters Approve of Obama's handling of Wright

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/5/5/15812/47818
USA Today/Gallup Poll: Obama "Significantly Hurt" by Wright

Who’s running this ad?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hillary_drops_new_indiana_mail.php

Oops! http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Clinton_mailings_gun_gaffe.html

George Stephanopoulos: still working for the Clintons

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/watch-stephanopoulos-help-hillary-lie.html

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/has-any-journalist-interviewed-fellow.html

CNN signs up another former Bushie, because the conservative point of view just isn’t getting enough advocacy on the air

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15428.html

Minority leader John Boehner thinks this will be a great fall election for the Republicans. Really, he does

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15426.html

Bonus item: The creationists hate Darwin of course, but here’s how far they’re willing to go to discredit him

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/4/83433/90547

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 10:59 AM

 
ERRATA

Oops, sorry

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/world/middleeast/04iraq.html
The ugly daily fight for ground in the poor Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City unfolded Saturday at a small mosque next door to a hospital, damaging the hospital and many of its ambulances, and near a group of children who were injured by the violence as they gathered tin cans to sell for salvage.

The first hit, close to the Sadr General Hospital, was American. After a night of clashes in the neighborhood, the Americans fired at least three “precision-guided munitions” at a small building next door to the hospital that neighbors said was used as a place of prayer for hospital employees, pilgrims and neighborhood residents.

Twenty-eight people were wounded in the attack near the hospital, said Abdul Hussain Qassim, a hospital official.

The circumstances of the other strike are in dispute. The Americans said claims that they had attacked the children were “preposterous.” And the area where the hit occurred is near heavily contested ground. Shiite militias trying to hit nearby Iraqi Army and American forces have sometimes misfired, hitting areas near there in recent fighting.

But both instances underline sad truths about urban warfare . . . [read on]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/05/03/hiatt/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] Long-time war cheerleader Fred Hiatt of The Washington Post has a truly incoherent Editorial this morning in which he cites the problems he says are created by air strikes of the type the U.S. just carried out against an alleged Al Qaeda leader in Somalia in order to argue that it's better, instead, to invade and occupy countries such as Iraq. Here are the problems that he says arise when we merely bomb -- rather than bomb, invade and occupy -- other countries:

[WP] But Thursday's U.S. operation had a distinct downside: At least two dozen other people were killed in the attack, some of them apparently civilians. . . . [read on]

Mission NOT accomplished

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/opinion/03sat1.html
[NYT] Mr. Bush no longer declares “Mission Accomplished.” Quite the opposite. He has made clear that he will keep troops in Iraq until he leaves office — and then abandon the mess to his successor. . . .

7000 more troops for Afghanistan

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4778646

Is ANYBODY keeping track of what we’re spending on this war?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/3/10502/25056

What. A. Mess. Not enough officers in the military means greater reliance on private contractors

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/03/AR2008050301678.html

Shoddy electrical work by contractors in Iraq is killing and injuring our troops

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/world/middleeast/04electrocute.html

Here’s what we’ve learned about McCain – he is prone to rash and intemperate off-the-cuff remarks, which then have to be pulled back or redefined after the fact. The criticism that he’s hot-headed and impulsive isn’t just about his temper – it’s also about a flippancy that is a pretty disturbing quality in a President. Think anyone will notice?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/03/mccain.iraq.ap/index.html
Republican Sen. John McCain has been forced to clarify his comments suggesting the Iraq war involved U.S. reliance on foreign oil. He said he was talking about the first Gulf War and not the current conflict. . . .

More: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mccain3-2008may03,0,5383307.story

Trying to make things better, but making things worse

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/03/mccain-stumbles-while-attempting-to-explain-his-iraq-oil-remarks/
But then when specifically asked by an Associated Press reporter if, when he made the statement, he was “thinking about the first Gulf War,” he said no.

“No, I was thinking about - it’s not hard to - we will not,” McCain stumbled. “By eliminating our dependency on foreign oil, we will not have to have our national security threatened by a cut off of that oil. Because we will be dependent, because we won’t be dependent, we will no longer be dependent on foreign oil. That’s what my remarks were.” . . .

More: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15419.html

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/mccain_oil_and_war.php

A serious lack of discipline

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/3/3114/79178
[BarbinMD] Twice in the past two days, the media has reported on outrageous or downright disturbing claims made by John McCain on the campaign trail to whip up the faithful, and then have described his backpedaling as "clarifications," rather than the flip-flopping, damage control that they are. . . . [read on]

More, more, more: http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15421.html

The gang that can’t shoot straight

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/02/AR2008050201183.html
Slowly but surely, Republican presidential candidate John McCain is putting some distance between himself and unpopular President George W. Bush. . . .

http://www.mgwashington.com/index.php/2008electionblog/blog_index/mccain-and-bush-staffs-talk-everyday/931/
A senior adviser to John McCain says the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign is now talking with senior White House staff everyday.

President Bush and McCain, former GOP rivals, “have an excellent relationship,” Charlie Black said . . .

100 years in Iraq. Take away all the risk of attacks on our troops. Imagine a Korea-like peacekeeping mission. Assume they WANT us there for a 100 years. (No, none of those things is remotely realistic, but let’s just say.) Here’s why it’s still a terrible idea

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/192813.php
[Josh Marshall] [T]he nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office did a study of what a 50 year 'Korea model' presence in Iraq would cost. . . .

The study was done with highly conservative estimates, figuring a much smaller contingent of troops, and basically all the best case scenario numbers, including everything being basically chill over there like McCain says it'll be.

They came up with an additional $2 trillion over 50 years. . . . [read on]

More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/192871.php

If McCain thinks that the focus on his “100 years in Iraq” comments is so unfair, all he has to do is explain how long he DOES think we should stay in Iraq

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24426770/

Here’s the latest GOP attempt to discredit the perfectly factual “100 years” ad (and no, it DOESN’T say McCain wants the war to last 100 years)

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-many-years-until-100-years.html
[T]he Republican National Committee has learned that the ad features footage from Michael Moore’s 2004 conspiracy theory, “Fahrenheit 9/11.” . . .

Poor Steve Chapman. He actually believes that Republicans should be held to the same standards that apply to Democrats

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0504chapmanmay04,0,6238795.column
Can a presidential candidate justify a long and friendly relationship with someone who, back in the 1970s, extolled violence and committed crimes in the name of a radical ideology—and who has never shown remorse or admitted error? . . . .

Obama has been justly criticized for his ties to former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers, who in 1995 hosted a campaign event for Obama and in 2001 gave him a $200 contribution. The two have also served together on the board of a foundation. When their connection became known, McCain minced no words: "I think not only a repudiation but an apology for ever having anything to do with an unrepentant terrorist is due the American people."

What McCain didn't mention is that he has his own Bill Ayers—in the form of G. Gordon Liddy. Now a conservative radio talk-show host, Liddy spent more than 4 years in prison for his role in the 1972 Watergate burglary. That was just one element of what Liddy did, and proposed to do, in a secret White House effort to subvert the Constitution. Far from repudiating him, McCain has embraced him. . . .

Poor Frank Rich (who believes it too)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/opinion/04rich.html
BORED by those endless replays of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright? If so, go directly to YouTube, search for “John Hagee Roman Church Hitler,” and be recharged by a fresh jolt of clerical jive.

What you’ll find is a white televangelist, the Rev. John Hagee, lecturing in front of an enormous diorama. Wielding a pointer, he pokes at the image of a woman with Pamela Anderson-sized breasts, her hand raising a golden chalice. The woman is “the Great Whore,” Mr. Hagee explains, and she is drinking “the blood of the Jewish people.” That’s because the Great Whore represents “the Roman Church,” which, in his view, has thirsted for Jewish blood throughout history, from the Crusades to the Holocaust. . . .

Mr. McCain . . . told George Stephanopoulos two Sundays ago that while he condemns any “anti-anything” remarks by Mr. Hagee, he is still “glad to have his endorsement.”

I wonder if Mr. McCain would have given the same answer had Mr. Stephanopoulos confronted him with the graphic video of the pastor in full “Great Whore” glory. But Mr. McCain didn’t have to fear so rude a transgression. Mr. Hagee’s videos have never had the same circulation on television as Mr. Wright’s. A sonorous white preacher spouting venom just doesn’t have the telegenic zing of a theatrical black man.

Perhaps that’s why virtually no one has rebroadcast the highly relevant prototype for Mr. Wright’s fiery claim that 9/11 was America’s chickens “coming home to roost.” That would be the Sept. 13, 2001, televised exchange between Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, who blamed the attacks on America’s abortionists, feminists, gays and A.C.L.U. lawyers. (Mr. Wright blamed the attacks on America’s foreign policy.) Had that video re-emerged in the frenzied cable-news rotation, Mr. McCain might have been asked to explain why he no longer calls these preachers “agents of intolerance” and chose to cozy up to Mr. Falwell by speaking at his Liberty University in 2006. . . .

Does Obama still have to prove that he can be tough?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/135157
[Eleanor Clift] Can Barack Obama throw a punch? If there is an upside to the shots Obama has taken from his former pastor, it's the opportunity created for him to show his mettle. The superdelegates who hold the balance of power appreciate the nobility of his high-minded rhetoric, but they're also taking his measure as a future commander in chief (and as a ticket-topper for the party). For them, and for the voters, it was a relief to see the always cool Obama reach his threshold and get angry . . . [read on]

Uh, does this count? http://www.samefacts.com/archives/gas_tax_holiday_/2008/05/obama_strikes_back.php

Clinton’s gas tax proposal: a wrong note

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15418.html
[Steve Benen] Years ago, I was having a conversation with a jazz pianist who told me, “When I hit a wrong note, I keep hitting it — so the audience will think it’s intentional.” . . . [read on]

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=5538
[Chris Bowers] Clinton is framing the gas tax holiday as "taking on the oil companies." Exactly how is removing a tax on gas "taking on the oil companies?" Lowering the taxes on a product a company sells will inevitably boost that company's revenue. . . .

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/clinton-and-mccain-attacking-obama-and.html

Clintonism

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/3/17545/92756
[Todd Beeton] Clinton is on strong political ground using this as a wedge issue but the political play wouldn't have been complete without a little help from Obama himself: he needed to oppose it and he does. Now, putting aside for a moment the actual merits of the gas tax holiday concept and looking just at the politics of it, look at both candidates' rhetoric from the stump today and you tell me who's winning this politically. . .

Clinton called the upcoming North Carolina primary a “game-changer.” Now her people say, it’s no big deal

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/3/104455/6935
Clinton Camp: It's "absurd" to suggest she must win North Carolina . . .

Clinton argued that her ability to win big states was her decisive advantage over Obama. Now her people say. . .

http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/hurdles.php
CLINTON ADVISERS think their candidate is being held to an unreasonable standard. Why should she have to consistently demonstrate her capacity to win in major states?

“Electability” cuts both ways

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/opinion/03blow.html

Campaign 2008 in a nutshell? Obama is a Mac, Clinton a PC

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/technology/04link.html

Pretty classless, I admit, but kinda funny

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/05/clinton-says-sh.html
Toward the end of her speech, Clinton . . . attempting to show that there will be party unity, said, “If Sen. Obama is the nominee, you better believe I'll work my heart out for him.”

The crowd erupted into a chant for Obama, leaving Clinton speechless for a few seconds while she waited for them to finish. During her speech, Clinton also mentioned Gov. Mike Easley, who has endorsed her candidacy, and she was momentarily rendered speechless while the crowd booed him.

It’s NOT funny! http://www.correntewire.com/stay_classy_obamaites

Hillary fans, don’t read these items. Stop now. I warned you

http://www.slate.com/id/2190556

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/33204

The tipping point?

http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2008/05/obamaclinton_contest_doing_har.html
A growing number of Democrats believe that the continuing contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is "doing more harm than good'' for the Democratic Party.

Six in ten - 62 percent - of the Democrats surveyed by the Gallup Poll over the last weekend said so. . . .

Arianna Huffington: another treasure the Greeks have given modern civilization

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/03/arianna-huffingtons-right-is-wrong/
Arianna Huffington's latest book -- Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe -- thoroughly documents the most influential fact in our political life: namely, that the right-wing faction which has taken over the Republican Party is radical, deeply hostile to America's core political traditions and values, and incomparably destructive. As she puts it: "they don't believe in evolution but believe in torture." . . . [read on]

Turning red states blue: a long-time Republican seat goes Dem in Louisiana

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/us/04louisiana.html
A Democrat took an open Congressional seat long held by Republicans in the conservative district around Baton Rouge in a special election Saturday, giving the party an early boost in its quest for an increased majority in the House of Representatives . . .

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/05/democrats_win_la_special_elect.html
The contest on Saturday, which came on the heels of Democrats' victory in an Illinois special election to replace former House Speaker Dennis Hastert earlier this year, is likely to be seen as further evidence of Republicans' problems at the ballot box.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/3/234258/9159
[Jonathan Singer] There is no overstating it: This was a huge win for the Democrats. . . . [read on]

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/television/sunday_show_preview_83970.asp
NBC Meet the Press: Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL).

CBS Face the Nation: House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) and former Gov./Richmond Mayor Doug Wilder.

ABC This Week: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) does a town hall meeting.

Fox News Sunday: Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and former DNC chairmen Joe Andrew and Terry McAuliffe. The Power Player of the Week is RNC Victory Chair Carly Fiorina and a roundtable with Brit Hume, Washington Managing Editor of Fox News, Nina Easton, Fortune Magazine and Fox News, Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard & Fox News and Juan Williams, National Public Radio & Fox News.

CNN Late Edition: North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley (D), former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, Clinton economic adviser Gene Sperling, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, CNN contributor Roland Martin, and a roundtable with CNN's John King, CNN's Dana Bash and CNN's Candy Crowley.

Bonus item: Aside from all their resignations, the Republicans are having a hell of a time finding qualified candidates to run for open seats. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Brock Olivo

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/3/16351/18266

More: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/27/9476/25242/324/464447

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:17 AM

 
WITH US OR AGAINST US?

I think today is the day that Hillary Clinton jumped the shark. She adopts a Republican gas tax-cut plan which is almost universally criticized by economists as bad policy. It sounds good, but only returns to individual consumers a small amount of money, while depriving the government of a significant overall total that is needed for highway and bridge repair. It certainly looks like a case of pseudo-populist pandering.

But yesterday she made it worse. Vowing to file a bill before Congress, she says she will force reluctant Democrats to go on record for or against this popular but bad bill. Then adds the infamous Bushian words, “You’re either with us or against us.”

Problem is, a lot of those same Congressional Dems are uncommitted superdelegates who don’t like being shown up in this way – and are starting to say so.

Hillary, if you want to put it that way, they’re mostly against you

The candidates: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/clinton-presses-on-gas-tax-holiday/index.html
[Clinton] “I believe it is important to get every member of Congress on the record. Do they stand with hard pressed Americans who are trying to pay their gas bills at the gas station or do they once again stand with the big oil companies? That’s a vote I’m going to try to get, because I want to know where they stand and I want them to tell us - are they with us or against us?”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080502/ap_on_el_pr/democrats;_ylt=AnYnizda5dzsYQ_3n8VfSm2s0NUE
[Obama] "It's a Shell game. Literally," Obama said to laughter from his campaign audience, adding it would mean little for hard-pressed consumers.

More: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/lying_in_politics_/2008/05/ooooops.php

The ads: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hillary_airs_another_negative.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/obama_goes_up_in_indiana_with.php

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/05/02/obama_ad/index.html

The economists: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/192585.php
[Bloomberg News] Economists have a different take: They say the oil companies may end up the biggest beneficiaries, while the aid to families wouldn't be enough to buy a $35 backpack. . . . [read on]

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/gas-tax-dagger
If there is reason in this world, then a proclamation surfacing today should be the final word on the debate over whether eliminating the federal gas tax for the summer makes good economic sense.

Signed by 138 economists -- including three Nobel laureates -- the short message indicates that a "gas-tax holiday" would encourage consumption, add to deficits and enrich oil companies, all while providing little relief to consumers. . . .

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5heT2FH76BMm7KrBdyWrHAEUNGLMQD90D0ABG0
[Michael Bloomberg] "It's about the dumbest thing I've heard in an awful long time, from an economic point of view. We're trying to discourage people from driving and we're trying to end our energy dependence ... and we're trying to have more money to build infrastructure."

The pundits: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/01/AR2008050102858.html
[Eugene Robinson] The nonsense du jour is the "proposal" by Republican John McCain and Democrat Hillary Clinton to suspend the federal gasoline tax. I put the word proposal in quotes because it's obvious that neither candidate is serious about this. They both must know that it won't happen, and they both must know why it shouldn't. . . .

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15404.html
[Steve Benen] Making matters slightly worse, the Clinton campaign acknowledged yesterday that every policy expert of every ideological stripe has described the McCain-Clinton idea as nonsense, but they don’t care. . .

It’s cynical politics at its most disappointing. Worse, since low-information voters vastly outnumber high-information voters, this demagoguery might even work.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/192781.php
[Josh Marshall] Given how much money they're pouring into ads on it I'm thinking that the Clinton campaign must be seeing this gas tax holiday thing helping them a lot in Indiana -- even though virtually everybody agrees it's a bad idea that's basically a giveaway to the oil companies. Guess we'll see.

The congressional superdelegates: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/gas-tax-holiday-is-doa-2008-05-01.html
The gas tax holiday supported by presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) will be dead on arrival in the House, Democrats made plain Thursday. . . . [read on]

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/pelosi-to-panderers
[Nancy Pelosi] “First of all, there is no reason to believe that any moratorium on the gas tax will be passed on to the consumer, first and foremost. This has not been the history of a lower gas tax being passed on to the consumer. Second of all, it would defeat everything that we have been trying to do to lower the cost of oil. . . .”

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/mark_udall_a_key_undecided_sup.php
[Mark Udall, uncommitted superdelegate] "Senator Clinton claimed yesterday that I either stand with her on this proposal or stand with the oil companies. To that I say: I stand with the families of Colorado, who aren't looking for bumper sticker fixes that don't fix anything, but for meaningful change that brings real relief and a new direction for our energy policy. We can't afford more Washington-style pandering while families keep getting squeezed.

"It is exactly the kind of short-sighted Washington game that keeps us from getting real results to our energy problem."

A serious miscalculation? http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/2/163723/5270
Undeclared Superdelegates Don't Like "With Us Or Against Us"

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hillary_are_members_of_congres.php
Are Members Of Congress "With Us Or Against Us"?

“Gross incompetence”

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/ExIraq_commander_says_Bush_Administration_grossly_0502.html
In a new memoir set to be published May 6, the former commander of US forces in Iraq provides new intimate details of the goings-on at high levels of the Bush Administration in the first year of the Iraq war.

His sharp tongued conclusion: "Hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars were unnecessarily spent, and worse yet, too many of our most precious military resource, our American soldiers, were unnecessarily wounded, maimed, and killed as a result. In my mind, this action by the Bush administration amounts to gross incompetence and dereliction of duty."

http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/007347.html
[General Sanchez, in Time] After the meeting ended, I remember walking out of the Pentagon shaking my head and wondering how in the world Rumsfeld could have expected me to believe him. Everybody knew that CENTCOM had issued orders to drawdown the forces. The Department of Defense had printed public affairs guidance for how the military should answer press queries about the redeployment. There were victory parades being planned. And in mid-May 2003, Rumsfeld himself had sent out some of his famous "snowflake" memorandums to Gen. Franks asking how the general was going to redeploy all the forces in Kuwait. The Secretary knew. Everybody knew.

So what was Rumsfeld doing? Nineteen months earlier, in September 2004, when it was clearly established in the Fay-Jones report that CJTF-7 was never adequately manned, he called me in from Europe and claimed ignorance, "I didn't know about it," he said. "How could this happen? Why didn't you tell somebody about it?"

Now, he had done exactly the same thing, only this time he had prepared a written memorandum documenting his denials. So it was clearly a pattern on the Secretary's part, and now I recognized it. Bring in the top-level leaders. Profess total ignorance. Ask why he had not been informed. Try to establish that others were screwing things up. Have witnesses in the room to verify his denials. Put it in writing. In essence, Rumsfeld was covering his rear. He was setting up his chain of denials should his actions ever be questioned. And worse yet, in my mind, he was attempting to level all the blame on his generals. . . .

Why Muqtada al-Sadr is winning

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/the-insurgent-as

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/sadr-continues-to-consolidate-power-in.html

Head of the Joint Chiefs: the election is a dangerous thing for US security

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/us-military-chief-seems-to-question.html

Govt admits it destroyed interrogation tapes

http://www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/us_government_admits_it_destroyed_videotape_in_enemy_combatant_case/
[G]overnment lawyers stated that government officials decided "in good faith" to destroy the tapes because they believed they were no longer necessary for intelligence purposes.

So far, government officials have described only one tape, which shows Almarri being "manhandled" and resisting the forcible application of duct tape to his mouth and face.

Court papers filed today made it clear that the DIA still has videotapes of nine interrogation sessions. These have not been released to the public or to Almarri's attorneys. . . . [read on]

Looks like David Addington (“Cheney’s Cheney") is going to testify before Congress

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_329.php

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/is-john-conyers

Looks like Karl Rove is going to keep trying to stonewall Congress

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/05/02/BL2008050202043.html

The EPA firing looks a lot like the US Attorney firings (and military officer firings, etc. etc): You’re hired to fall in line with executive policies, not question them or exercise independent judgment

http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/last-straw-for-epa

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/whitehouse_epa_regulator_firin.php

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15406.html

Jim Webb is right: John McCain IS “full of it”

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2008_04_27_archive.html#7256313083903416620
“My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will - that will then prevent us - that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East.”

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/mccain-caught-lying-to-media-about-iraq.html
[John Aravosis] McCain caused quite a stir earlier today when he said that the Iraq war just about oil . . . Now here's McCain's subsequent explanation of how he didn't mean what he just said . . .

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/02/just-another-mccain-moment/
Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Thursday backed off his assertion that pork-barrel spending led to last year's deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis. . .

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/5/2/22620/96204
[Jonathan Singer] It's getting awfully difficult to be John McCain -- or at least his press flacks. In recent days, the McCain campaign has been in full spin mode in an attempt to convince the elite media (and through them the American public) that McCain himself did not say that he would be content leaving American forces in Iraq for 100 years, which he most certainly did say. They have also tried to play down McCain's clearly absurd claim that earmarks caused the interstate bridge to collapse in Minnesota. Now they're trying to spin themselves out of another McCain-made mess regarding Iraq . . .

Just what is the “context” that explains McCain’s plain words that he’s fine with keeping troops in Iraq for 100 more years?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/192728.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/192737.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/192778.php

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/192763.php

Why McCain CAN’T explain his comments

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15411.html

The AP keeps channeling GOP talking points

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/2/172942/5860
Republican John McCain defended himself Friday against television ads that accuse him of advocating a 100-year war in Iraq. . . .

Faux populism

http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/gborger/2008/05/01/clinton-and-mccain-are-born-again-as-populist-candidates.html
[Gloria Borger] In the alice-in-wonderland world that has become presidential politics lately, it has come to this: Hillary Clinton, who has resided in a chauffeur-driven bubble for the past 20 years, is portraying herself as a man of the people. Barack Obama, raised by a single mother and who paid off his college loans just a few years ago, is the elite snob. And John McCain, married to a beer heiress, charges that Obama is "insensitive to the hopes and dreams and ambitions" of millions of Americans. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/2/01733/90124
[Bill Clinton] "The great divide in this country is not by race or even income, it's by those who think they are better than everyone else and think they should play by a different set of rules," he said. . . . [read on]

Elitist? ELITIST? http://www.washingtonindependent.com/view/elitist-charge-not

Hmmm. . . Clinton calls the North Carolina primary (which she is expected to lose) a “game changer.” Are they already spinning a smaller-than-expected margin of victory for Obama? Do they really think she can win it? I give them this: if she does win there, it will force a critical reassessment of Obama’s viability. It’s probably the only thing that could change his momentum toward the nomination at this stage – a split between Indiana and NC isn’t enough

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/hillary_tuesdays_voting_will_b.php

Did you miss Hillary on Bill O’Reilly? Here are the highlights

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/192677.php

Don’t think the defection of Joe Andrew didn’t shock the Clinton campaign

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080501/ap_on_el_pr/democrats

Another former DNC chair comes out for Obama

http://thepage.time.com/obama-release-on-kirk-endorsement/

The facts on the ground

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/us/politics/02delegates.html
[NYT] [D]espite a series of trials that have put Mr. Obama on the defensive and illustrated the burdens he might carry in a fall campaign, the Obama campaign is rolling along, leaving Mrs. Clinton with dwindling options.

Mr. Obama continues to pick up the support of superdelegates — elected Democrats and party leaders — at a quicker pace than Mrs. Clinton. . . .

Obama is a “Manchurian Candidate,” a secret Muslim agent infiltrated to undermine the American government. Where is this being talked about? The Freepers or other paranoid right-wing blogs? Rush Limbaugh? Fox News? How about CNN?

http://mediamatters.org/items/200805010004

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/2/9502/47595

The sharks are eating each other

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/gop_rep_staffer_call_don_young.php

Bonus item: Uh, John? John? WE HAVEN’T VOTED YET!

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/02/mccains-already-crowned-himself-president/

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/2/154149/7367

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:34 AM

 
WHAT DOESN’T GET SAID

Our good friends

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aIeRxYfHWIKw
Iraq, holder of the world's third- largest crude reserves, will experience a surge in oil revenue this year on record prices and a drop in attacks on pipelines.

Iraq may earn $70 billion from exports, twice the initial estimate . . .

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-oil-money_slymay01,0,6996714.story
As Congress gears up to debate the Bush administration's latest request for an additional $108 billion in war funding for Iraq and Afghanistan, Iraqis are fuming at suggestions being floated by lawmakers that Baghdad should start paying a share of the war's costs by providing cheap fuel to the U.S. military.

"America has hardly even begun to repay its debt to Iraq," said Abdul Basit, the head of Iraq's Supreme Board of Audit, an independent body that oversees Iraqi government spending. "This is an immoral request because we didn't ask them to come to Iraq, and before they came in 2003 we didn't have all these needs." . . .

Telecom immunity: don’t worry, it’s all been taken care of

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/secret_docs_show_telecoms_admi.php
[Newsweek] The Bush administration is refusing to disclose internal e-mails, letters and notes showing contacts with major telecommunications companies over how to persuade Congress to back a controversial surveillance bill . . . [read on]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/1/9451/79728
[McJoan] If one thing in the whole amnesty debate wasn't already clear, this information absolutely crystallizes it. This fight has nothing to do with national security. It has everything to do with megacorporations breaking the law and doing everything in their power to get away with it--including getting advice from the Department of Justice about how to do so! . . . [read on]

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/coordinated-effort-by-dday-digby-is.html
[Dday] [T]he Administration knows they're legally liable for spying on American citizens and they're desperate to squash any knowledge of it. . . . [read on]

More: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/05/01/the-uncounted-wiretaps/

Held in Gitmo for six years without charges – now released

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0114411520080502
An Al Jazeera cameraman held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay for six years without charge has been released . . .

The Bush gang plays peek-a-boo with torture documents

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/todays_must_read_328.php
[A]n official from the Office of Legal Counsel promised that the Department would allow members of the intelligence committees to see them -- but lawmakers won't be able to keep paper or electronic copies. . . .

Karl Rove calls “stress positions” torture – but not when the Bush gang does it

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/04/30/karl-rove-s-short-memory.aspx

John Conyers takes Rove’s claim that he’s eager to defend himself under oath at face value – “come on down, brother” – but suddenly Rove’s not so anxious to talk

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/conyers_threatens_rove_with_su.php

What Bush’s EPA does to people who actually CARE about the environment

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/epa_official_fired_for_role_in.php

More science-based policy. Everyone in my line of work knows that the “Reading First” program is just another Bush patronage scam, using NCLB rules to funnel money to campaign supporters and loyalists. Now the Institute of Education Sciences, the research branch of the Dept of Ed – the unit that says all policy must be based on rigorous scientific evidence – concludes that Reading First is a lousy program. Okay, now there’s scientific evidence: so what’s the response?

Background: http://www.elladvocates.org/nclb/reading.html
The Bush Administration has been using the Reading First program to reward political cronies and ideological allies, ignoring a legal mandate to make funding decisions that reflect "scientifically based research," according to federal investigators. These and other findings are detailed in a report by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education, released on 22 September 2006. . . .

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-05-01-reading-first_N.htm
A $1 billion-a-year reading program that has been a pillar of the Bush administration's education plan doesn't have much impact on the reading skills of the young students it's supposed to help, a long-awaited federal study shows. . . .

While critics will likely say the data portray Reading First as an expensive failure, [IES head Grover] Whitehurst speculates that the study may simply suggest that schools need to spend even more time on phonics and the like.

But he also notes that states that got Reading First money earlier in the program's history actually got worse results than those that more recently got their federal funding. The difference may be unrelated to years spent in the program, Whitehurst says . . .

Education analyst Mike Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington think tank that supports Reading First, says the study was poorly designed and "certainly not the last word on Reading First's effectiveness." . . .

U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings had no immediate comment, but in a statement, Amanda Farris, the deputy assistant secretary who oversees Reading First, said Spellings consistently hears from educators and administrators "about the effectiveness of the Reading First program in their schools” . . .

[NB: So, there you have it. The Bush Education Dept condemns policies based on anecdotal evidence – but when their favored program is challenged, conclusive research results have to take a back seat to defending the program.]

Alice does NOT want to talk about the Pentagon’s propaganda program

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15393.html
“Look, I didn’t know — look, I think that you guys should take a step back and look at this — look, DOD has made a decision, they’ve decided to stop this program. But I would say that one of the things that we try to do in the administration is get information out to a variety of people so that everybody else can call them and ask their opinion about something.

“And I don’t think that that should be against the law. And I think that it’s absolutely appropriate to provide information to people who are seeking it and are going to be providing their opinions on it. It doesn’t necessarily mean that all of those military analysts ever agreed with the administration. I think you can go back and look and think that a lot of their analysis was pretty tough on the administration. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t talk to people.”

And with that, she abruptly ended the press briefing.

Wow. Bush, less popular than Nixon when he resigned in disgrace

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/01/poll-bush-most-unpopular-in-modern-history/
"No president has ever had a higher disapproval rating in any CNN or Gallup poll; in fact, this is the first time that any president's disapproval rating has cracked the 70 percent mark"

McCain defends Bush (and himself) on “Mission Accomplished”

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15401.html

What McCain said: http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/01/john-mccain-conflict-in-iraq-is-over-because-mission-accomplished-banner-said-so-video/

At what point will the press take notice of McCain’s incredible inconsistency on issue after issue: clear quotes reversing himself, and often reversing himself again? Here he is on keeping troops in Iraq

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/29/politics/animal/main4055175.shtml

McCain blames Minnesota bridge collapse on DC’s earmark spending

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15398.html

More idiocy: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_05/013645.php

http://firedoglake.com/2008/05/02/never-a-scandal-with-john-mccain-no-matter-what-he-does/

It’s an ugly thing to say – and three witnesses swear McCain said it, to his wife

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/mccain-asked-if-he-called-his-wife-ct.html

http://www.discourse.net/archives/2008/05/dont_ask_mccain_to_discuss_things_he_doesnt_want_to_talk_about.html

No one in this country seems to have noticed Clinton’s threat to “obliterate” Iran – but you can be sure that Iran has noticed

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/iran_doesnt_like_clintons_obli.php

This is a big endorsement – and if you don’t think so, just watch the Clinton team’s reaction to it

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/us/politics/03cnd-campaign.html
Joe Andrew, a superdelegate who was the Democratic National Committee chairman under President Bill Clinton, announced Thursday that he had switched his allegiance from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to Senator Barack Obama in the race for the presidential nomination. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/1/102837/5934/498/506979
“I believe that Bill Clinton will be remembered as one of our nation's great Presidents, and Senator Clinton as one of our nation's great public servants. But as much as I respect and admire them both, it is clear that a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue this process, and a vote to continue this process is a vote that assists John McCain.”

The Clinton team’s strange reaction: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/192454.php
[Josh Marshall] I really don't get what it is with the Clinton campaign sometimes. . . . [read on]

What they said THEN: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/4/30/1859/62554
[November 2007] The Clinton Campaign today announced the endorsement of former Democratic National Committee Chair Joe Andrew . . . "Joe was a strong leader who put the Democratic Party on the right path,” Clinton said. "I'm honored to have his support."

The superdelegates have made up their minds

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/192556.php

Yes, she said it. Hillary Clinton, the working-class hero. And now her people are lying about it

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/5/1/195036/4055
“God bless us” rich people

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/clinton-spokesman-outright-lies-about.html

Obama has to carry the baggage of Wright into the general election, and it has hurt him. But let’s not forget the baggage that Clinton and McCain are carrying too

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10010.html

More: http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/what-obama-wont-say-because-he-has.html

George Stephanopoulos made the transition from political operative to media figure. Okay, he’s hardly the first to do that. But especially after his performance in the last debate, its clear that he’s having trouble keeping these roles separate

http://www.americablog.com/2008/05/stephanopoulos-is-holding-campaign.html

Everyone knows that Sid Blumenthal is the Clintons’ id – he happily says the things out loud that they can’t say. Here’s what he’s saying now

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/hrc_/2008/05/questions_for_hillary_rodham_clinton.php

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/sidney-blumenthal-uses-fo_b_99695.html

Obama/Wright versus McCain/Hagee: a media comparison

http://mediamatters.org/items/200804300007

Hagee’s a scary nut: http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2008/05/01/somethin-ain-wright-with-that-boy/

Bonus item: The Lincoln-Douglas debate, according to Fox News

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/those-were-days-by-digby-this-is.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:54 AM