You got a warrant? Yeah, I keep it in my shoe!

"There's only two rules, and thats all... But don't ever forget them. Number one we enforce the law equally. Number two, any man caught taking a bribe gets his head knocked off by me."

Kos:

The more I read stuff like this (from Stephanopolous on Good Morning America Weekend Sunday), the more comfortable I am with Biden's selection.

I have never seen a vice-presidential candidate, in the announcement, come out with THAT KIND of ferocity. Usually, you see it a little bit later in the campaign – not at the announcement. But Joe Biden showed one of the main reasons that Barack Obama picked him. They WANTED a scrapper out there. They WANT a fighter out there. They know Senator Biden will be able to get UNDER Senator McCain’s skin. They’ve known each other for an AWFUL long time – more than 35 years. As one Obama aide told me yesterday: We know that Joe Biden can go out there with a 2-BY-4 if he has to.

There's really no faster way to my heart than having a Democrat go after Republicans with a (rhetorical) 2-by-4.

Biden's "The Guy" Afterall

Well, it looked to be more than a rumor when the AP and CNN said it was confirmed, and then when ABC reported: Secret Service Headed To Biden's House, it was all but certain, but now we have this...

Obama's website:


So much for "I'm not the guy."

So be it. Let's get down to business then.

Sen McCain Fathered Illegitimate Bat Child

Given all the attention they've gotten lately by their actually breaking a true story that's now dominating the news cycle, I'm kind of surprised I hadn't noticed until Digby pointed it out, that the Enquirer, the same magazine that for years has mercilessly pilloried every presidential hopeful including the Clintons, the Kerrys, and the Bushes, has been especially nasty to the Obamas this year, but one White House aspirant and family has been suspiciously missing...

Digby:

There must be some explanation as to why there have been no stories about Vicki Iseman, no drug stories about Cindy, no stories about McCain's legendary temper tantrums. Why?

That's a good question.

[Excerpt is Digby's, but the links are my addition]

Looking Good

Despite several talking heads in the last few days gloating about how well McCain is doing in this or that poll, here's the Princeton Election Consortium using its meta-analysis of all available state polling to graph "all possible outcomes" if the election were held today (via Ezra):


That basically mirrors what pollster.com has been showing (note that Obama could literally cede every tossup state to McCain and still win):

What He Said.

Hearing on Limits of Executive Power: Vincent Bugliosi

Indicted For War Crimes, Sudan Cites U.S. As Example Why It Needn't Comply

Last week, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) filed charges for the first time against a sitting head of state, charging President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan with three counts of genocide, five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes. Fareed Zakaria had Sudan's ambassador to the United Nations on his CNN show, GPS, to discuss the charges, which he called "a joke" and cited the U.S.' 2002 withdrawal from the ICC treaty as an example of why Sudan does not recognize the court's authority and will not cooperate with it:

ZAKARIA: Will your government mount a defense in the International Criminal Court?

MOHAMAD: We have no relation with the International Criminal Court. We don't recognize its authority. We are not going to cooperate with it.

ZAKARIA: But of course, you know that other governments that did not recognize the Criminal Court were still forced to extradite their leaders. I'm thinking of Yugoslavia.

MOHAMAD: No. I don't care about them. As far as we are concerned, we are not members. We have been told these days repeatedly that the ICC is an independent body. And so, OK, if it's an independent body, I am not a U.N. organ. We have full right to be part of it or not. And we choose not to be part of it, like the United States.

[...]

ZAKARIA: Are you worried that men like yourself, who are defending the regime and defending its actions, could be charged with complicity for genocide?"

MOHAMAD: "This is absolutely a joke. What complicity you are talking about? If you want to address genocides, then you have to address situations in Iraq and Afghanistan and in Gaza.…(full transcript)

Complicating the ICC's ability to pursue war crimes charges, as referenced in the interview by Sudan's UN ambassador, is President Bush's "unsigning" of the International Criminal Court treaty in 2002. Though President Bush has publicly denounced the killings in Sudan as genocide, the administration has soft-pedaled sanctions against the Sudanese government to preserve its extensive intelligence collaboration with Sudan, once a safe haven for bin Laden that has become a crossroads for Islamic militants making their way to Iraq and Pakistan.

The most major impediment to ending the genocide in Darfur has been China's longstanding diplomatic protection and economic support in return for its access to the 500,000 barrels of oil that Sudan produces daily. China, also not a signatory to the ICC treaty, was revealed in a report about a week ago by the BBC to be in violation of the UN arms embargo there through its export of weapons and training of fighter pilots.

Supporters of Barack Obama who would like to see the United States reembrace the International Criminal Court (ICC) treaty, thereby reaffirming its commitment to human rights, have created a group on the candidate's website, my.barackobama.com.

WaPo's The Fix: Get To Know Sheldon Adelson

Chris Cilizza:

Adelson, the third richest man in America according to Forbes magazine, has in recent years turned his attention and, more importantly, his wallet to American politics. Adelson has donated more than $229,000 to various state and national Republican committees and candidates over the last three elections but his real influence is felt in the contributions he has -- and continues to make -- to 527s and 501(c)(4)s that engaged in public education/political efforts

Adelson is one of the prime movers and major backers of Freedom's Watch, the independent, conservative-aligned group expected to play a major role in House and Senate races this year. He has reportedly donated $30 million to fund the groups activities, but because Freedom's Watch is a 501(c)(4), it is not required to make public its donors.

Although Adelson has lurked in the shadows for years, two new profiles -- one by the Wall Street Journal (subscriber-only, boooo!), the other by the New Yorker -- bring him into sharp relief. ...(more)

Adelson sees his role in the coming fall election as "the cavalry coming over the hill, bugles blaring." Look for him to play a significant role financing groups that will try to smear Obama and other Democrats in the months to come.

He is also the financier behind the Defense of Democracies attack ads in the FISA fight and is also very active in Israeli politics, as Cilizza goes on to explain, he "started a free daily newspaper known as Israel Hayom that is widely seen as a vehicle to re-install conservative Benjamin Netanyahu as the country's prime minister."

More links:

TPMmuckraker: NJ: Big Money for Pro-War Group Comes from Casino Mogul
TPMmuckraker: NJ: Casino Mogul Funded Anti-Dem Surveillance Ads
WaPo: Casino Executive Contributes $1 Million to Gingrich Group
RightWeb Profile: Sheldon Adelson
SourceWatch Profile: Sheldon Adelson
Mother Jones: Sheldon Adelson: The Right's White Knight?

Where the Hell is Bush?

My video response to Matt's video (the post below).

Joie de Vivre

I know I haven't been posting too much lately. Been taking a bit of a break from the rat-race since Obama locked up the nomination.

Had to interrupt the hiatus for this though. This is absolutely my favorite video ever. No other even comes close.

Where the Hell is Matt? 2008

HQ version here at wherethehellismatt.com.

I love everything about Matt and his videos, especially this latest one. It's just beautiful on every level. It's virtual heroin and I'm totally hooked on it.

And the song is fantastic. Composed for the video, the song is Praan by Garry Schyman, and the beautiful voice is Palbasha Siddique, whose story and how Matt's girlfriend Melissa stumbled upon her is worth checking out. The lyrics are a Bengali translation of the poem "Stream of Life" by Rabindranath Tagore:

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

Perfect.

Sen Hillary Clinton Brings it on Home

Well done. As much as I will admit I was predispositioned to not be easily sated by whatever she said just because it was days (weeks, imho) late in coming, Sen Clinton "nail'd it."

Jed: Tom DeLay is a Klansman

Jed Report:

And he hates America. Unless he proves me wrong, that is.

How else do you respond this?

Oh, and if you though Jed was bad, check Hunter:

Unless he proves me wrong, Tom Delay lures children into his van with candy, gasses them to death with bug spray, and uses their powdered bones as an aphrodisiac when making love to all the animals at the San Antonio Sea World.

omg. I'm not even going to try to photoshop that.

Rep Dana Rohrabacher's Obsession

TPMmuckraker's Kate Klonick:

Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine was on Capitol Hill this morning to testify to the House Subcommittee on International Relations, Human Rights and Oversight, about his report on the FBI's role in detainee interrogations, released two weeks ago.

While some saw the hearing as a long-awaited chance for a serious examination of the torture techniques at Guantanamo Bay, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), the ranking Republican on the subcommittee, took an almost frat-boy glee in the torture details. In a statement of just 13 minutes, Rohrabacher managed to use the phrase "panties on [someone's] head" eight times. ...(more)

That does make me wonder just what all kind of stuff did Dana and his friends do when he used to run around with his Taliban/mujahideen buddies?

So Much for Hillary Clinton's Word

Today's the day for the Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting that will attempt to disenfranchize all of the voters who believed what the DNC (and the candidates including Hillary said) and stayed home because they were told the election wouldn't count.



Hillary Clinton, 10-11-07:

"I signed the DNC pledge not to campaign, not to spend money in any of the states that did not comply with the rules established by the DNC.... It's clear this election they're having is not going to count for anything."

Josh Marshall makes the same point I did above ...

If the DNC were now to turn around and decide to make these contests count after all, these non-participating voters would be disenfranchised no less than the people who did turn out would be if the DNC sticks to the rules and doesn't seat any of the delegates. The simple fact is that large numbers of people, acting on accurate knowledge and in good faith, decided that there wasn't a real primary being held in their state on the day in question and on that basis decided not to participate.

Now, the question is how can we really know how many people didn't show up because they were told it wasn't a real election? There is of course no way to arrive at a direct answer, at least no practical one. But this post by Eric Kleefeld, which on a statistical analysis by Gregory P. Nini and Glenn Hurowitz, makes a very strong statistical case that as many as one million voters in Florida and probably more than a half million voters in Michigan did not vote who otherwise would have if they had not believed that the results would not be counted. Take a look.

Fox News Jokes About Killing Obama

First it was Huckabee, then Hillary, and now it's just a big joke.

This is someone named Liz Trotta from earlier today who first referred to Obama as "Osama" and then laughed that they should both be killed. Here's a longer clip for more context. H/T Scarce.

Update: Liz Trotta apologizes:

That's exactly what needed to be said. Good for her. The Clinton campaign would do well to watch this. Words like "I am so sorry" and "I sincerely regret it and apologize to anybody I've offended." go a long way to diffuse this kind of thing.

Hillary's Asinine-ation Comment and Her Non-Apology Still Burns

I've resisted weighing in on Hillary Clinton's outrageous comment on Friday for several reasons. I was really angry about it and didn't want to say anything brash. Now, after two nights of sleeping on it, I have to say I'm even more pissed about it.

Here's her outrageous comment that started it all:

Here's what the NYT Editorial Board (the same one that endoesed her) calls her "tedious non-apology" apology for it:

And here's Keith Olbermann's must-see response.

Although I do think K.O. went a little overboard, I must say I do agree with almost every word, except for the pretense that it is "unforgivable." If she would have just apologized for it to all those that she so offended instead of offering excuses it would have made the world of difference to me, and I'm sure many others. She owed Obama and his family an apology just as much or more than the Kennedy family, and she needed to actually use the words "I'm sorry" or at least an "I apologize" without any excuses, not an "I regret if ..." That was just simply pathetic, and made me even more offended than before.

I'm not even going to get into the ramifications of her invoking "assassination" into this race except to say that since she had repeated the "assassination" comment more than a month earlier, her excuse that she said it this time because the "Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy" is yet another lie from her. She was saying it long before. That and I'll say that THE most important context that Hillary and her supporters obviously fail to grasp is the fact that Barack Obama is the most popular black leader this country has ever had who has not (I'm tempted to add a 'yet.' ugh.) been assassinated, and on that matter Keith Olbermann totally speaks for me. Please watch it if you already haven't.

I still have plenty to say about it though. I think it was hands down the most damaging campaign gaffe ever in our country's history, not just to her campaign but to the entire Democratic Party. It's her macaca moment only worse. Just her using 1968, the year of the riots in Chicago as an example for staying in, is telling.

Hillary Clinton was still a Goldwater Republican in 1968. Her own campaign website says she was "a Goldwater Girl." She interned for the war-hawk Republican congressman Melvin Laird that year and attended the Republican National Convention in Miami. She also claims to have been present in Chicago during the Democratic convention that year, saw the riots and 'smelled the teargas.' She wasn't inside the convention (back then even party officials couldn't necessarily get inside the convention, thus why they created the superdelegates, not to overturn the will of the voters, but to get party officials and Dem insiders into the convention), but somehow watching the riots helped turn her from a Republican into a Democrat.

So, no doubt she remembers full well the affect all that had on party unity. Of course, that year the Dems lost.

If she takes this all the way to the convention I seriously doubt there will be any unity, and that will be all her fault, not mine and everyone else who doesn't support her's. It will be the fault of Hillary Clinton and her doomsday-cult of supporters that seem hellbent on following her all the way to Jonestown Denver instead of doing what every other remotely sensible Democrat like I had to do when my candidate, John Edwards, had the decency to bow out as soon as it became apparent he couldn't win.

I can't wait to see what, if anything, the Sunday morning talkingheads have to say about it.

Update: Jake Tapper has more: The Fallacy of Clinton's 1968 Analogy

Is Barack Obama a Muslim?

Matt points to this site that provides answers to whether or not Barack Obama is a Muslim.

On that thought, here's another site that answers questions regarding a collection of quotes from two books written by Senator Barack Obama that have been circulating the internets.

HUGE Obama Campaign Turnout in Portland OR - 50 to 75,000

75,000 ATTEND OBAMA RALLY IN PORTLAND

Here's the dispatch from NBC/NJ's Athena Jones... Some 75,000 people flocked to Portland’s waterfront Sunday to watch Barack Obama speak, making it the biggest rally the campaign has held to date. Thousands stood on the lawn, dozens watched from boats and from the bridge stretching across the Willamette River. A few kayakers held their paddles and tried to keep their kayaks straight as they watched the candidate, who stood on a makeshift platform. ...(more)

YES, WE CAN!

Oliver North, Fox News' Appeasing & Emboldening Revisionistorian

After lauding Oliver North for his new book that apparently has more pictures than it does pages (No doubt North’s picture-book tells a much different story than the truth-laid-bare photos and accounts from an award-winning unembedded photojournalist like Dahr Jamail, but I digress), Sean Hannity asks North for his opinion on whether the President was right to compare the want to hold diplomatic talks with Iran to the appeasement of Nazis in the 1930’s.

Oliver North: "As you know, I’m the history guy at Fox News Channel, right? I’ve done this WWII series – 52 of our episodes about WWII. Had it not been for Chamberlain going to sit down with Adolf Hitler and try to cut a deal in Munich, WWII might never have happened, but it emboldened the dictator. That’s what the President said yesterday in Jerusalem. And a little reminder today, a shot across the bow here at the NRA, when John McCain got up and said, ‘You cannot have these kinds of unconditional, no preconditions discussions, with despots and dictators’ - dead on the mark."

For someone who should have spent the better part of the last two decades making license plates for 35¢ a day, it's astounding he would dare touch this topic. This is the guy who oversaw the arms for hostages deal with Iran in 1985 (among other crimes), right in the middle of the Iran-Iraq war in which the US was actively and openly arming and supporting Saddam Hussein. Ollie North didn’t just talk with Iran at a time they were our enemy in a proxy-war, he actually helped to arm them, bypassing Congress by violating the Boland Amendment to help fund an illegal war in Nicaragua.

Lacking even a shred of credibility, Fox News’ “history guy” is to the truth in the historical record what Dick Cheney is to gun safety. He shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the subject, and anyone who believes a word of what he says about it is a fool.

Negotiation is not appeasement and there are zero parallels between simply opening up a diplomatic dialogue with Iran and the capitulation to Adolf Hitler in the Munich Agreement. It’s a ridiculous assertion, especially considering that the Bush administration itself has negotiated with Libya and North Korea, yet Iran’s previous offers to put everything, including its nuclear program, on the table and peacefully negotiate have been completely ignored even after Iran had been important ally of the coalition against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Oliver North, just like John McCain and other conservatives, don’t even have a clue what they are talking about. Apparently no one in this administration ever thought to ask Bush’s own Sec. of Defense, Neville Chamberlain Robert Gates, for his opinion:

We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage with respect to the Iranians and then sit down and talk with them. If there’s 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.

Exactly.

The Arizona Republic: "McCain Not a Maverick"

McCain's home state paper:

In Tight Senate Votes, McCain Not a Maverick
When it matters the most, he seldom bucks his own party

Over the years, Sen. John McCain has publicly condemned Republican Party leaders and occasionally voted against the GOP on selected issues.

But an Arizona Republic analysis of his Senate votes on the most divided issues in the past decade shows that McCain almost never thwarted his party's objectives.

The presumptive Republican nominee arguably cast the decisive vote 14 times since 1999 to ensure Republicans got their way, and he had five other close cases where his vote may have made a difference, Senate records show. By comparison, McCain effectively handed Democrats a win on roll-call votes four times in the same period. On one of those occasions, Republicans could still have won if Vice President Dick Cheney had cast a tie-breaking vote.

The numbers are based on a review of Senate roll-call votes since 1999 that ended in a tie or were settled by one vote. The closest votes in that period included momentous, partisan-charged legislation, such as President Bush's tax cuts. More often, they were procedural votes on deal-breaking amendments to bills that would otherwise pass.

They partly reflect how rarely Senate votes come down to a single person, even though the chamber has been narrowly divided on party lines most of the past decade. But the votes also suggest that when McCain broke from Republicans, others often joined him, keeping the votes from being so close.

And his chronic absence in the Senate has seldom come in the most divided debates, the records show. ...(more)

Toast

I guess this is Hillary's reward for buddying up with Rupert Murdoch.

Why Rev Wright is No Big Deal To Obama Campaign

Lest we forget 1992.

Excerpts from "The War Room" documentary of Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. Well worth your time to check out the entire thing if you haven't seen it before.

Compared to what Bill Clinton faced - allegations, with incriminating tapes, of extramarital affairs and leaked DOD documents re: draft dodging - Wright is nothing.

Add to that this from Kos:

43 percent of respondents are concerned about the 71-year-old John McCain's close ties to George Bush.

36 percent have concerns about Clinton's political opportunism, and 27 percent are concerned about Bill Clinton being back in the White House.

34 percent have problems with Obama's "bitter" remarks and 32 percent give a damn about Jeremiah Wright.

As good as Bill Clinton's 92/96 team was/is, and they were/(are?), they are getting their asses handed to them by the Obama camp by every metric. Obama's campaign is the Clinton 92 team 2.0 + the Dean Machine 2.0.

I know I've never seen anything like it.

The Vast Clinton Wing Conspiracy

I took a haitus from posting here lately for a variety of reasons like a job change, but mostly just because the extended primary season has been sucking the life right out of me. Anywho, this news really pisses me off. Sidney Blumenthal, current Hillary Clinton campaign advisor and former senior advisor to President Bill Clinton, has been utilizing the VRWC for his sources to spread smears of Barack Obama.

Peter Dreier breaks the story at HuffPo:

Sidney Blumenthal Uses Former Right-Wing Foes To Attack Obama

Former journalist Sidney Blumenthal has been widely credited with coining the term "vast right-wing conspiracy" used by Hillary Clinton in 1998 to describe the alliance of conservative media, think tanks, and political operatives that sought to destroy the Clinton White House where he worked as a high-level aide. A decade later, and now acting as a senior campaign advisor to Senator Clinton, Blumenthal is exploiting that same right-wing network to attack and discredit Barack Obama. And he's not hesitating to use the same sort of guilt-by-association tactics that have been the hallmark of the political right dating back to the McCarthy era....(read on)

So now we have proof (and read it. There's proof) that the Clinton machine is behind the smear attacks on Obama, from Wright to Ayers and on and on.

Still, I'm not worried. I firmly believe there is no possible way Hillary Clinton can win the Democratic nomination without fracturing the party, and if she does manage to steal it I hope for a schism. Let Rush's dreams come true for all I care if that happens. Perhaps we'll get a viable third party out of the deal in the long run and honestly I'm starting to think a one term McCain Presidency saddled by solid Dem majorities in both houses looks good compared to her.

It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.

Clueless John 'More Wars' McCain

Here's a mashup I made for the new website 'StraightTalkMcCain.com' on McCain's recent statements alleging that Iran has been offering support to al Qaeda in Iraq.

Center for American Progress:

The Maverick Makes It Up

This week during a trip to the Middle East, McCain severely undermined his frequent claims to be "the one best to address a national security crisis" by repeatedly stating that Iran was supporting al Qaeda in Iraq. McCain claimed that Iranian operatives were "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back." He insisted that it was "common knowledge...that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and coming back into Iraq from Iran." McCain's confusion over Iran and al Qaeda puts him in lockstep with the rest of the Bush administration. As the Washington Post notes, "The last five years have produced ample evidence that American leaders were woefully ill-informed about the country they came to rescue." [...]

THE FACTS: Though Iran is 90 percent Shiite and al Qaeda is a Sunni group, it is not inconceivable that some aspects of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard are supporting some aspects of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), or that AQI members have ever crossed the border into Iran. However, there is simply no evidence to support McCain's claim that Iran is "training" AQI in Iran. Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno stated last July, "We don't see any evidence, significant evidence, that shows that [Iranian-controlled] groups that are funding and providing arms to Shi’a extremists are directly related to al Qaeda." In a CNN interview on Wednesday, Gen. David Petraeus backed away from CNN's Kyra Phillips's statement that "it stands firm that Iran is funneling weapons and supporting al Qaeda." Petraeus said, "We're concerned very much about the lethal accelerants...that do come from Iran," but also emphasized that "the flow of foreign fighters and of suicide bombers that help al Qaeda typically is through Syria." "The point is that John McCain’s misstatement is typical of conservatives, who have, through intentionally deceptive language, constantly tried to elide the differences between groups with different goals and ideologies in order to create the illusion of a united Islamofascist enemy.

"WHERE'S THE STRAIGHT TALK?: After press coverage of McCain's gaffe, his campaign issued a statement claiming the senator "misspoke and immediately corrected himself." In an interview, McCain himself insisted that he "corrected it immediately," and that he "just simply misspoke." However, as video proves, it was not until Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) whispered a correction in his ear that McCain corrected his mistake. Moreover, McCain conflated Iran and al Qaeda at least three times, not including another time last month -- hardly a case of "misspeaking." By Thursday the McCain campaign had reversed course, insisting McCain did not misspeak at all. McCain advisor Max Boot asked Thursday, "[W]hat gaffe?" and insisted, "There is copious evidence of Iran supplying and otherwise assisting Al Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni terrorist groups (including Al Qaeda central)." Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser, told the New York Sun, "There is ample documentation that Iran has provided many different forms of support to Sunni extremists, including Al Qaeda as well as Shi’ia extremists in Iraq. It would require a willing suspension of disbelief to deny Iran supports Al Qaeda in Iraq." ...(more)

The Media Attacks Obama

Fox spews it, and the rest of the media picks it up and runs with it.

MoveOn (via email):

Media watchdog group Media Matters has chronicled how FOX spent months trying to smear Obama by associating him with Reverend Wright's words. Greenwald's new video shows how the attacks successfully migrated to the mass media—Tim Russert repeated Sean Hannity's smears virtually word-for-word!

Meanwhile, the big networks all but ignored Pastor John Hagee, whose endorsement John McCain was "honored" and "proud" to receive. Hagee says Katrina was God's punishment for homosexuality, Jews are to blame for anti-Semitism, and Catholicism is the "Whore of Babylon" and "a cult."

It gets worse. At the same time they relentlessly reported on Obama's pastor, most network journalists also ignored Rick Parsley, a televangelist who McCain called his "spiritual guide" when accepting his endorsement last month. Parsley has said:

I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed...

Ignoring McCain's spiritual advisers while going after Obama's is what we expect from FOX, which is more a Republican mouthpiece than a real news organization. But when real news outlets follow FOX's lead, we have to hold them accountable. Otherwise, FOX will continue to elevate smear after smear against Democrats into the mass media in 2008. Click here to see the new video and sign the petition.

The attacks on Obama are so bad that this morning Fox anchor Chris Wallace called the network out and Brian Kilmeade even stormed off the set (in part) because of it. Just take a look at this unedited version of a sermon by Obama's pastor Wright and compare it to what all of the networks have been playing over and over:

There's a war going on, our current administration is corrupt and drunk with power, the future of the planet is being ignored, our economy is teetering, and all that's on the tv is what Obama's pastor said. Our media is corrupting the entire electoral process. Enough is enough.

Jim Cramer: "No! No! No!" Don't Sell "Bear Stearns is not in trouble!"

Jim Cramer, March 11, 2008, reading "Mad Mail":

Cramer:

Peter writes, 'Should I be worried about Bear Stearns in terms of liquidity and get my money out of there?'

(screaming, of course) No! No! No! Bear Stearns is fine! Do not take your money ou.. -- This is rea.. -- If there's one takeaway other than the plus four hundred (garbled). Bear Stearns is not in trouble! I mean if anything, they’re more likely to be taken over. Don’t move your money from Bear! That's just being silly! Don't be silly!

When Cramer said that Bear Stearns was still trading at over $60 a ahare.

The news, six days later:

JPMorgan to Buy Bear Stearns for $2 a Share

(Reuters) JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Sunday it would buy stricken rival Bear Stearns (nyse: BSC - news - people ) for just $2 a share in an all-stock deal that values the U.S. investment bank at the centre of the credit crisis at about $236 million. [...]

Bear's stock closed on Friday at $30.85, valuing it at $3.5 billion, after tumbling 46 percent that day. Shares in the fifth largest U.S. investment bank hit a record high of more than $171 in January 2007...

McBush's Third Term

h/t Hobson's Choice


McCain: McSame as Bush

O'Reilly Defends Saying Arianna Is No Different Than a Nazi

Pot, meet kettle.

Why does Bill O'Reilly still have a job?

Even if we leave out the fact that Bill O'Reilly himself is just as guilty of doing the exact same thing he's slandering Arianna Huffington for (which is nothing other than allowing anyone to post an offensive comment on her website that only stays up until a moderator is able to edit or delete it), how is calling someone a fascist, racist, genocidal murderer not much worse than calling a women's basketball team slutty with racial overtones?

O'Reilly Says Arianna Huffington Is No Different Than Nazis/KKK

You know, a week ago when Bill O'Reilly was threatening Michelle Obama with "a lynching party", I thought that was one of the most outrageous things he'd ever said. Well, it sure didn't take him long to top it.

Bill O'Reilly: "What's the difference between the Ku Klux Klan and Arianna
Huffington? What's the difference?" [...] "I don't see any difference between
Huffington and the Nazis. I don't see any difference."

O'Reilly continues his assault on progressive blogs by attacking them for anonymous comments that could have been made by anyone of the thousands and thousands of people who comment on Huffington Post every day - comments that very well could have been made by people intentionally trying to set the site up for this smear. In any case, as Bill O'Reilly knows because he has a website with comments too, the hateful comments are subsequently removed in short order (something his site is no better at doing). his attacking Arianna Huffington personally and comparing her to Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan is something that should cost him his job, but why do I think it probably won't?

Media Matters: O'Reilly continued to attack Daily Kos while ignoring objectionable comments on his own site

Media Matters: O'Reilly continued to compare Daily Kos to Nazis and the KKK

Americablog: Bill O'Reilly's Web site threatens Hillary's life

Oh yeah, that's why. What a douche bag. Maybe it's time for another Falafel Day.

"Defense of Democracies" Attack Ad Against Rep Nancy Boyda

TPMmuckraker Paul Kiel:

Stepping up the pressure on House Democrats, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies has launched a national ad campaign criticizing Democrats for not passing the Senate's surveillance bill.

According to the group's press release, the ad "will be seen on cable and satellite stations throughout the country and is also seen locally in 17 media markets across the United States." The ads target 15 House Democrats, such as Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN). Brian Wise, the spokesman for the group, told me that the group had chosen the 15 because they were Dems "who we believe understand the issue and who would be the most effective to pushing the House leadership to vote on this." He added: "politics really has nothing to do with it."

It's similar in tone to an ad the House Republicans put together last week -- and similarly misleading. It claims that the lapse of the Protect America Act has meant that "new surveillance against terrorists is crippled."

Dems, including Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), the force behind the Senate bill, vehemently disagree. And as even The Washington Times concluded, the lapse of the law would have "little effect" on surveillance collection. ...(more)

Also, I noticed this: Sourcewatch: Foundation for the Defense of Democracies

If that's the same group, it's list of "Directors, Fellows, Personnel" of the group is comprised of many PNAC neocons and many Democrats too. Why are (or were?) Democrats incl, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Rep. Jim Marshall (D-GA), Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) etc (and Donna Brazile) affiliated with a group that would be running these ads?

UPDATE: Begged question answered. Mcjoan:

Who's behind the shadowy organization isn't entirely clear, but it is definitely an offshoot of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, an organization that until a few days ago listed among its board of advisors Donna Brazile, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Rep. Jim Marshall (D-GA), Zell Miller, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY). Engel, Schumer and Brazile have all resigned form the board, with Brazile making this statement [...]

There's another board member listed at FDD as "Distinguished Advisor" who hasn't resigned as a result of these false attacks. Three guesses who that would be. Yup, our old buddy Joe Lieberman.

'What Better Way for Walter Reed to Shed its Reputation as a (ahem) Mickey Mouse Operation?'

Sometimes this stuff just writes itself.

Washington Independent:

On Wednesday the House oversight committee's national security and foreign affairs subcommittee will hold a hearing, "One Year After Walter Reed." It's intended to assess how much the Army medical center's improved upon the scandalously bad care given to returning Iraq soldiers that the Washington Post documented last February.

Well, today's Post describes one indication of a new Walter Reed. Tongue firmly in cheek, Steve Vogel reports that the Army is paying the Walt Disney Corporation $800,000 to bring a positive mental attitude to hospital staff. This can mean medical workers watching slides of a cranky Donald Duck frustrated by unresponsive nurses or doctors. Or a glowing Snow White showing how customer service is done. ...(more)

60 Minutes: AL Gov Don Siegelman Story - Framed By Karl Rove?

Part 1

Part 2

You can read their article (basically, a transcript) and see the full segment on the CBS website here.

Laura Rozen:

Harper's Scott Horton does some truth-squading of Rove and his attorney on Siegelman, the subject of a 60 Minutes story tonight. Horton's post broadcast write up here.

Also, RawStory's Larisa Alexandrovna notes that there was a Media Blackout of 60 Minutes story in Alabama.

Ralph Nader Officially Announces 2008 Spoiler Presidential Candidacy

Here we go again. this morning on Meet the Press:

Um, Message to Ralph Nader:

Maybe if Nader had actually spent any time in the last eight years building a viable third party instead of throwing Hail-Mary passes and accepting dirty cash and support from Republicans and reichwing orgs, I’d still have a shred of respect for him. As it is, he deserves no respect whatsoever for a number of reasons.

"GOP donors funding Nader Bush supporters give independent’s bid a financial lift"

"Nader defends GOP cash Candidate says he’s keeping money"

"Nader’s Republican pipe dream"

Look at the groups that Nader gets his support from: Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation, a corporate front funded by Exxon, Hertz Corp., Philip Morris, Amoco, Bell Atlantic, Citibank, General Electric and General Motors and so on.

more: Organized Crime Ring: Killer Koch’s Citizens for a Sound Economy - (Nader's buddies)

Let's face it. Nader doesn't give a rat's ass about being viable or building a third party. This is just another way he can bleed the corporations and Republicans some more because he knows they will spend millions supporting his candidacy, and that is all he has ever really cared about.

Complete Democratic Debate in Austin TX, Feb 21, 2008

The full-length debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton at the University of Texas, in Austin. (1hr 35min)

Also see:
Complete Democratic Debate at UNLV 11-15-07
Full Democratic Presidential Debate at Drexel University 10-30-07
ABC News Iowa Democratic Debate 8-19-07

Would You Like Sick Cow With Those Fries?

NYT:

A Humane Society video revealed the way workers beat or otherwise abused sick cows at the California company so they would appear well enough to be slaughtered. It is not for the faint of heart, but the gruesome evidence is here:

l

After viewing the footage and launching its own investigation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has shut down the California plant and assured consumers that these animals had not reached the market. That gives little comfort, however, given the department’s spotty record of identifying “non-ambulatory” cows. ...(more)

And then this (CBS News):

USDA Recalls 143M Pounds Of California Beef
California Slaughterhouse Already Under Investigation For Mistreating Cattle

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse, the subject of an animal-abuse investigation, that provided meat to school lunch programs. [...]

"Today marks the largest beef recall in U.S. history, and it involves the national school lunch program and other federal food and nutrition programs," said U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, chairman of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. "This begs the question: how much longer will we continue to test our luck with weak enforcement of federal food safety regulations?"...(more)

H/T Jamie

Ann Coulter's repeated use of "B. Hussein Obama" and "President Hussein"

I really don't have anything else to say about Ann's latest offensive absurdity other than the 2 min clip speaks for itself. She refers repeatedly to Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama as "B. Hussein Obama," five separate times, and then says "It's shocking that he's probably going to be our next president, President Hussein."

btw, this is me just kicking the tires on RedLasso with my first clip from there. It's a really neat service with the slogan "Find it, Clip it, Share it" that provides a keyword search feature for recorded tv and radio that allows you search, find and edit a clip from the raw file and then link to or embed it like YouTube, only better. With RedLasso you don't have to record, edit, convert and upload a video - you don't even need to have a tv or anything other than a computer and internet. RedLasso lets you search out a key word or a phrase to find and then edit out a clip all online. In this my first attempt - "Ann Coulter" returned too many results, I had to limit the time and channel and search for "Hussein"before I found the clip I was looking for. Here's a short how to video.

As far as I can tell at this point you have to request an invite to be able to register and use the service or even just to use the search tool to find clips. I get that they might want to limit the total number of us yahoos in there editing and posting clips, but I'd have thought they'd allow anyone to be able to search, find and embed clips that us yahoos have already made. No? I think its still a bit in the beta stage though so I imagine it will get more user friendly over time, and it took me more than one request attempt and a little while before I received mine, but I can tell already it was well worth the wait. Now when I get a tip or see a comment that someone just saw or heard someone say something on Fox/CNN/CSpan etc I can just go to RedLasso and 'Find it, Clip it, and Share it.' (also RedLasso Blog)

60% Or More

This list just keeps getting more and more impressive, and every network now has Obama with the lead in total delegates.

States Obama won with (so far) more than 60% of the vote:

Alaska 75%
Colorado 67%
District of Columbia 75%
Georgia 67%
Idaho 79%
Illinois 67%
Kansas 74%
Maryland 60%
Minnesota 67%
Nebraska 68%
North Dakota 61%
Virginia 64%
Virgin Islands 90%
Washington 68%

States Clinton won with (so far) more than 60% of the vote:

Arkansas 70%

When I first posted this list on Sunday (before yesterday's additions to it), I forgot to h/t Laura & Kos for starting it.

FBI “Clean Team” Scrubbed Torture Evidence For 9/11 Death Penalty Cases

There truly is no bottom to the depths of depravity that the Bush administration will stoop to to try and keep their skeletons buried, at least until they are out of office. Read my latest on this at C&L

[Update] Spencer Ackerman* has more.

* You may remember Spencer from his days at TPMmuckraker. Do check him out at at his new muckraking home, The Washington Independent, a classy new upstart in new media.

John McCain: No, You Can't

Barely Political of Obama Girl fame did a spoof on the Obama "Yes, We Can" video too.

It may not have been quite as good as Andy Cobb's "John.He.Is" though, imho (at least partly because Andy and crew beat it to the punch), but still it's clever and really well done.

New Iraqi Law Requires Waiting Period For Suicide Vest Purchases

ONN:

John.He.Is

A simultaneously hillarious and scary parody of the great Obama viral video "Yes, We Can."

I don't know how, but Andy Cobb and friends somehow manage to keep outdoing themselves.

Bravo!

Here's a few of their other recent YouTube hits.

Message To Ralph Nader
Democrats For Romney
The Loneliest Icelander

[Update] As SBT pointed out in the comments, I left out perhaps their best one of all.

The Record Breaking 2008 Youth Voter Turnout

Cafferty and his emailers weigh in. These are some exciting times in election history.

Young Voters Turning Out in Big Numbers

Something big is happening in our democracy – young people are voting. Already, young people turned out in record numbers at the nation’s first caucus and primary contests of 2008. The youth vote:

* More than tripled in the Iowa caucuses
* Increased by 25 percent in the New Hampshire primaries
* Nearly tripled in the South Carolina primary (Democratic)
* More than tripled in the Florida primaries ...(more)

60% Or More

States Obama won with (so far) more than 60% of the vote:

Alaska 75%
Colorado 67%
Georgia 67%
Idaho 79%
Illinois 67%
Kansas 74%
Minnesota 67%
Nebraska 68%
North Dakota 61%
Washington 68%

States Clinton won with (so far) more than 60% of the vote:

Arkansas 70%

And there are caucuses going on today in Maine in which Obama is currently leading at 59% with 99% reporting.

Michael Moore: Voting for Hillary Clinton would be "an Immoral Act"

I guess this is his way of Endorsing Barack Obama. I really like and respect Michael Moore, but I wish he would have just kept that thought to himself. I don't see how saying that was very helpful to anyone.

Ottawa Herald's Gary Sillett - Obama is a "Muslim Fundamentalist"

h/t Wonkette

You know, fresh off of the huge turnout here in Kansas in the Democratic caucuses and finding out that the new(er) DailyKos front-pager is a Kansan too (and had very much the same experience as I did Tues night), I was just starting to think that maybe there's not so much the 'matter with Kansas' any more, and then this idiot has to come along, and not just him either. His editors took the time to attempt to hide some (but not enough) portions of his article from appearing online, but as Ken Layne points out "were too stupid to remove the entire retarded text from appearing when you click to read the comments." The entire printed version of the column can still be seen in their PDF edition here (jpg screenshot here for when they take it down) If there ever was a desperate plea for more attention, this is one. The Ottawa Herald's contact info (please do be civil): [also, see update below]

Jeanny Sharp, Editor and Publisher jsharp@ottawaherald.com
Gordon Billingsley, Managing Editor gordon@ottawaherald.com
Address: 104 S. Cedar, Ottawa KS, 66067
Web site: ottawaherald.com
Fax: 785-242-9420
Letters to the Editor: letters@ottawaherald.com

I know this is just a podunk paper in nowhere KS, kind of like where I'm currently residing, but this really pisses me off. Clearly this column is what caused Barack to capture only 74% of the Kansas vote. lol. Seriously though, there is quite a bit of this around and it's not the Democrats who voted in Tues' caucus who believe this tripe and perpetuate it. It's the Republicans here that it plays to that I'm worried about that will come out en masse in Nov and vote because of it. I did quite a bit of GOTV canvassing for Super Tues and these myths persist in great abundance here in Kansas and are hard enough to smack down without having the hometown paper spreading them.

Here's the brainless bigot's article in full:

Don’t betray your heritage for Obama’s ‘change’
By GARY SILLETT, Community Viewpoint

A couple years ago, President Bush thought it would be a good idea to turn over control of one or more vital seaports in the continental United States to an Arab-owned conglomerate. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth including from me.

How could this be? we asked. In the aftermath of 9/11, as we now remember it, that would be like handing the keys of New York City to Osama Bin Laden. I believe there are some of you who remember who he is?

The hue and cry was deafening. To suddenly find our seaports our points of entry, our gateways to the world in the hands of Muslim fundamentalists was not only abhorrent, but also frightening. Even with countless reassurances from Bush administration officials, Arab corporation executives, et al, there was no convincing us this was a good idea for us or for the future of America. That dog don t hunt.

Well, now comes another bad idea ... maybe even worse. The Democratic Party actually intends to put a Muslim fundamentalist in the White House. Yes, you read it right. They want to put a man of Muslim origins in the White House.

Barack Hussein Obama hit the campaign trail from nowhere and continues to gain momentum as his political handlers crank out generic catchphrases to lure the unsuspecting voter with words like hope and change.

Now there s nothing wrong with hope or change. It has been our tradition as a nation that when we get tired of something or someone, we exercise our constitutional rights and throw them out. That s why we asked our representatives for term limitations. But to even consider turning over the reins of government to a Muslim fundamentalist would be, as my grandmother used to say, throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Some Web sites suggest Obama will not recite the Pledge of Allegiance. He refuses to wear an American flag lapel pin. He will not face the flag during the playing of the National Anthem nor will he sing it or even mouth the words. [Editor s note: Other reputable Web sites refute each of those claims and show Obama leading the Pledge of Allegiance in the Senate.]

I know, there are some of you out there right now who are ready to say these are only symbols: Icons of days gone by; Relics of the past. You want change. We should all remember that these relics, symbols and traditions are not just representative of some coffee clache or sewing circle. These are traditions handed down from father to son, mother to daughter. They represent the deep-seated patriotism that brave men and women have given their lives to uphold for more than two centuries.

To elect Barack Obama to the highest office in the land would be nothing less than spitting on the graves of the victims of 9/11, as well as the memory of the countless thousands of American loyalists who have pledged and given their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor in defense of those tired old symbols and icons of the greatest nation on earth. In many cases, these things are all that is left to families of American heroes who heard the call and stepped forward and defended not only their heritage, but the legacies of millions in foreign lands.

Hold fast to these symbols and icons, I say. Hold them up every day and pledge that they are still important to us all. Keep reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Sing the National Anthem. Place your hand over your heart in remembrance of all those who gave their lives so that we all may do so. Remember that they are the very fabric of which our nation is made. Our flag is not just a symbol. It is representative of our soul as a nation. It embodies all the hopes, dreams and aspirations of those who have gone before us, those who are defending freedom today and those who will choose to do so in the future.

Beware of wolves in sheep s clothing, it s been said. Don t betray your heritage simply for the sake of change. Heed the voices of your fellow Americans, past, present and future who call upon you to uphold the principles of the United States and protect them from pretenders like Barack Hussein Obama.

Gary Sillett is a Princeton resident and a pressman at The Ottawa Herald.

[emphasis mine]

[Update} Kansas Newspaper Sort Of Regrets Calling Obama A Muslim Fanatic