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Bill Clinton: GOP hypocritical

In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper Wednesday, the former president said Republicans who condemned MoveOn.org for their recent ad in The New York Times attacking Petraeus are "disingenuous." He also highlighted a string of past questionable campaign commercials targeting Democrats, and suggested Republicans are acting hypocritically.

"These are the people that ran a television ad in Georgia with [former Sen.] Max Cleland — who lost half his body in Vietnam — in the same ad with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein," Clinton said. "That's what the Republicans did. And the person that rode to the Senate on that ad was there voting to condemn the Democrats over the Petraeus ad.

"I mean, these are the people that funded the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. And the president appointed one of the principal founders of the Swift Boat ads to be an ambassador," he continued. "But they're really upset about Petraeus. But it was okay to question [Massachusetts Sen.] John Kerry's patriotism on a blatantly dishonest play that had dishonest claims by people that didn't know what they were talking about."

WHO'S YOUR CADIDATE IN '08

The following is an interesting exercise.... You answer a few questions then click the "find your candidate button" and the program selects the candidate who's position on the issues is most like your own... You may be surprised at what you find...Click the link below...
CLICK HERE FOR THE QUIZ

Hillary And Obama Roughly Tied For Third-Quarter Fundraising

CNN reports that Barack Obama's campaign will take in $18-19 million for the quarter, and Hillary Clinton's campaign will have raised $17-20 million. If true, this means that they are about tied, or Hillary might even have out-raised Obama after two quarters in which he beat her in the money race.

There is of course the chance that the campaigns are both working the expectations game, and could have actually raised more than this. Or, the sources might actually be telling the truth.

For A Collection Of Every Single Byte Of Election News See:

http://ElectionGeek08.blogSpot.com (Non-Partisan)

Friday, September 28, 2007

NY Times Out Polling The GOP In A Fox News Poll

Check out this fascinating number buried in the new Fox News poll:

I'm going to read you the names of several institutions or organizations. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of each one...

The U.S. Military: Favorable 86%; Unfavorable 10%

The Democratic Party: Favorable 50%; Unfavorable 40%

The New York Times: Favorable 47%; Unfavorable 22%

The Republican Party: Favorable 44%; Unfavorable 47%

MoveOn.org: Favorable 11%; Unfavorable 22%

Romney Hypocrisy on Venezuela and Iran

Mitt Romney has been trying to court Republican voters by attacking the
Governments of Venezuela and Iran and, in the case of Iran, urging
divestment. It seems that Romney hasn't been as forthcoming about his ties
to Hugo Chavez and Venezuela's oil company.

On the campaign trail, Republican Mitt Romney has been harshly critical
of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. But that hasn't stopped his
campaign from taking donations from lobbyists who receive millions of
dollars from a Venezuelan government-linked oil company.

Thursday night, supporters of the former Massachusetts Governor hosted
'Rallies for Romney' all over the country. The Washington, DC-event was
hosted at Dutko Worldwide, a lobbying firm whose chairman, Ronald
Kaufman, is a major Romney advisor. Dutko's president, Craig Pattee, is
also a national finance co-chair for the campaign. Furthermore, Dutko
employees have donated at least $15,400 to Romney's campaign, according to
Federal Election Commission records.

The firm is the only registered federal lobbyist for Citgo, a US-based
subsidiary of the Venezuelan government-owned Petroleos de Venezuela,
according to the Senate Office of Public Records. Citgo has paid Dutko
more than $3 million in fees since 1998.

Romney has also been calling for divestment from Iran. Last week it was
reported that Romney had more than $250,000 invested in Iran. Just
another set of flip-flops from Romney?

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For some background on McHenery

Mike Rogers set to out, Rep. Patrick McHenery today.

IMO never- dump bad news on Friday, Always on Monday or Tuesday

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Rush Limbaugh Attacks U.S. Soldiers

Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show that soldiers who favor U.S. withdrawal from Iraq are "phony soldiers."
The assertion -- reminiscent of MoveOn's attack on Petraeus, which generated enormous controversy when Republicans attacked the group -- has the potential to be equally explosive, since some troops who are currently fighting in Iraq, and a handful who have died there, have questioned the war in the media.
Now Dems are stepping forward to blast his remark. First up: the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Here's the statement just released by DCCC chief Chris Van Hollen:

"Rush Limbaugh's personal attack on our men and women in uniform is reprehensible. It minimizes the sacrifice our troops in Iraq and their families are making and has no place in the public discourse. Rush Limbaugh owes our military and their families an apology for his hurtful comments that minimize their service to our country."

More on Rush's radio appearance here.

John Kerry's statement:

"This disgusting attack from Rush Limbaugh, cheerleader for the Chicken Hawk wing of the far right, is an insult to American troops. In a single moment on his show, Limbaugh managed to question the patriotism of men and women in uniform who have put their lives on the line and many who died for his right to sit safely in his air conditioned studio peddling hate. On August 19th, The New York Times published an op-ed by seven members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division critical of George Bush's Iraq policy. Two of those soldiers were killed earlier this month in Baghdad. Does Mr. Limbaugh dare assert that these heroes were 'phony soldiers'? Mr. Limbaugh owes an apology to everyone who has ever worn the uniform of our country, and an apology to the families of every soldier buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He is an embarrassment to his Party, and I expect the Republicans who flock to his microphone will now condemn this indefensible statement."

Rep Patrick Murphy, an Iraq war vet himself.

"Someone should tell chicken-hawk Rush Limbaugh that the only phonies are those who choose not to serve and then criticize those who do. I served proudly, so did two of my fellow paratroopers in the 82nd Airborne who spoke out and died just weeks ago. Generations of American veterans have worn the uniform with pride and we know it is no contradiction to serve your country and still disagree with the Bush-civilian leadership that mismanaged this war."

Download
this clip here

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State Dep't Classifies Publicly-Available Corruption Document

yesterday, Rep. Henry Waxman wrote to Condoleezza Rice to complain, among other things, that her department promptly classified internal assessments of corruption in the Iraqi government when it learned that his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sought them out. Among those documents: an 80-page U.S. Embassy-Baghdad report on pervasive Iraqi corruption leaked to The Nation's David Corn.

As it turns out, Steve Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists obtained a copy of the document last week -- before State had it classified -- and posted it on the FAS webpage. Click here to read the document that State doesn't want Waxman -- or, for that matter, you -- to read.

Here's a characteristic excerpt:

In his letter yesterday, Waxman called State's newfound realization that the document's release will jeopardize national security "absurd."

posted at Talking Points Memo

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Bill Clinton Responds to The GOP's MouthPiece ,The Media's Harping On MoveOn.org

Former president Bill Clinton passionately shared his thoughts on the House vote to condemn progressive group MoveOn.org (More at this link)) over a controversial newspaper ad on CNN's Situation Room.

"There was something completely disingenuous about the feigned outrage of the Republicans and the White House and then the Congress about this. This was classic bait and switch," Clinton said, later adding, "focus on that as opposed to focusing on what's happened [in Iraq]."

Clinton's charges of political posturing reached a high level of specificity in his discussion of the elections in 2002 and 2004. Both years saw the Republicans expand their majorities in Congress and then the re-election of President Bush.

"These are the people that ran a television ad in Georgia with [former Senator] Max Cleland, who lost half his body in Vietnam, in the same ad with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. That's what the Republicans did, Clinton said. "And the person that rode to the senate on that ad was there voting to condemn the Democrats over the Petraeus ad. I mean, these are the people that funded the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth."

The following video is from CNN's Situation Room, broadcast on September 26.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

53 Percent prefer, Dems In Congress Comared to GOP

prefer

Most of the recent national polls have shown widespread discontent with politicians in Washington. Both the White House and Congress are wildly unpopular, leading a lot of conservatives to boast that the new Democratic congressional majority has already lost the electorate. After all, if Americans liked what they saw from the new Democratic Congress, the institutionâ€™s approval ratings wouldnâ€™t be so dreadfully low.

As Republican talking points go, this might sound vaguely persuasive, if it werenâ€™t completely wrong.

Public attitudes toward the two major political parties have not changed much in recent months. Thatâ€™s good news for the Democratic Party, which moved into a superior image position when compared to the Republican Party more than a year ago. Americans not only continue to view the Democratic Party more favorably than the Republican Party in general terms, but they also choose the Democratic party as the preferred party for maintaining the nationâ€™s economic prosperity. And, in a departure from recent history, Americans see the Democrats as the political party better able to protect the country from terrorism.

A new Gallup poll finds the Democratic Party's public image in much, much better shape than the Republicans'. The Dems have a 53% favorable rating and 43% unfavorable, compared to the GOP's dismal 38%-59% figure.

On the issues, the Dems are ahead, too. Asked which party would do a better job keeping the country prosperous, the Democrats holds a 54%-34% advantage over the Republicans. And when asked which party would do a better job protecting the country from terrorism and military threats, the Dems win 47%-42%, just barely inside the polls Â±3 margin of error.

The reason? The GOP's favorability has tracked almost exactly with President Bush. Right now they're at 38% favorable, and he's at 36%, a statistically indistinguishable difference.

READ THE POLL

cross posted at http://RonMills.us

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Veterans still getting shoddy treatment

Veterans still getting shoddy treatment -
A government investigation finds that too little has changed since the
Walter Reed revelations.

Read The Story......

Democrats Who Voted, Against Insurance For Children

As expected, the House passed the SCHIP bill 265-159, a far greater margin than the 225-204 by which it originally passed (before all the publicity and the pressure from constituents). The Democratic leadership was able to rein in 4 of the 10 reactionary knee jerkers who originally voted with the Republicans:

Jim Cooper (D-TN), Heath Shuler (D-NC), Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Brad Ellsworth (D-IN). The other six renegades [Dan Boren (OK), Bob Etheridge (NC), Baron Hill (IN), Jim Marshall (GA), Mike McIntyre (NC), and, of course, Gene Taylor (MS)] all stuck with their soulmates in the GOP-- even as far more Republicans (45) abandoned their sinking party leadership to vote with the Democrats.

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

War Monger And Hate Merchant Rep. Marsha Blackburn

War Monger and Hate Merchant, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R) TN

Knows Chapter and verse about the moveon.org Ad, Does NOT know the name of a

Soldier Killed in Iraq, from her district.

Extremist Republican Iraq War Cheerleader Taken to the Woodshed

David Schuster: Pro War GOP, Hiding From The Media

singling out GOP Senators like Norm Coleman and John Sununu, said:

"If you've been watching cable news programs lately, you may have noticed the disappearance of a certain breed of guest: Specifically, Republican Senators who are up for reelection...

"Interview invitations that we provide almost daily to these Senators are now routinely turned down. The answer appears to be Iraq. These lawmakers have voted to keep the war going but when it comes to explaining their votes on programs like this one, well, forget about it...

"They've come out with public statements and press releases, but when it comes down to brass tacks, they have voted to keep the war going indefinitely."

Watch the video:

Rudy Giuliani: Lie After Lie After Lie

"I'm probably one of the four or five best-known Americans in the world."

Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 in a comment to reporters in London.

911 Families Confront Giuliani, Calls Him A Scumbag

In the name of the victims of September 11 and their families, activists Luke Rudkowski and Sabrina Rivera of WeAreChange.org confronted Giuliani on his unfathomable disregard for human life-- and attempted to bring accountability and justice for his criminal neglect.

Monday, September 24, 2007

O’Hanlon’s Conflict Of Interest Revealed On Fox News’ One-Hour Petraeus Special

Yesterday, Fox News aired "American Commander: Gen. David Petraeus," a one-hour biographical account of the top commander in Iraq. The program, a narrative of Petraeus's life from birth until his controversial Congressional testimony, featured stories from old neighbors to high school buddies to fellow military officials.

One of the most prominent interviewees was Brookings Institution analyst Michael O'Hanlon. Fox highlighted the fact that O'Hanlon has enjoyed a 20-year personal relationship with the general, extending back to graduate school.

More......

Condi owned home, shared credit line with another woman

A new book claims that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice once owned a home and shared a credit line with another woman. Author Glenn Kessler, a Washington Post diplomatic correspondent, spilled the details to Michelangelo Signorile on his Sirius satellite radio show Friday, according to the Web site Raw Story.

Kessler discovered through real estate records that Rice owned the home with female documentary filmmaker Randy Bean. Bean is quoted in the book, The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy, as saying that Rice cosigned a credit line for her when medical costs drained her finances. Rice owned the house with Bean

and gay Stanford professor Coit Blacker, who eventually sold his share to them.

The Advocate - Issue 994, October 9, 2007

According to Raw Story, Kessler told Signorile that he did not know whether Rice and Bean's relationship extended beyond friendship. Kessler noted that older single women like Rice have been scrutinized with regard to their sexual orientation. The secretive official's private life has been talked about since she was thrust into the international spotlight as national security adviser to President George W. Bush during his first term. She then assumed Colin Powell's seat as secretary of state in 2005. (The Advocate)

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Sunday, September 23, 2007

John Grisham Endorses Clinton

John Grisham: Bush Administration Always Had Evil Intend

John Grisham Endorses Clinton

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Thursday, September 20, 2007

In Honor of the out going Sen. Ted Stevens (R) AK

Sen. Ted Stevens explains the internets to us "Tubes"

Alaska senator taped in FBI corruption sting

— The FBI, working with an Alaska oil contractor, secretly taped telephone calls with Sen. Ted Stevens as part of a public corruption sting, according to people close to the investigation.

The secret recordings suggest the Justice Department was eyeing Stevens long before June, when the Republican senator first publicly acknowledged he was under scrutiny. At that time, it appeared Stevens was a new focus in a case that had already ensnared several state lawmakers.

The recorded calls between Stevens and businessman Bill Allen were confirmed by two people close to the case who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under way. They declined to say how many calls were recorded or what was said.

Allen, a wealthy businessman and Stevens' political patron, agreed to the taping last year after authorities confronted him with evidence he had bribed Alaska lawmakers. He pleaded guilty to bribery and is a key witness against Alaska legislators. He also has told prosecutors he paid his employees to renovate the senator's house.

In July, FBI agents raided that house in the Anchorage suburb of Girdwood. Stevens has denied any wrongdoing and said he paid every bill he received for the project. Spokesman Aaron Saunders declined to comment Thursday. Stevens has said he won't discuss the investigation for fear it will look like he's trying to influence it.

Allen testified in federal court last week that he called several people at the FBI's behest.

"It's been a lot of work," Allen said of his efforts for the FBI.

A judge had previously ruled that Allen could not discuss politicians currently under investigation.

Allen is the founder of VECO Corp., an oil services firm that made nearly $1 billion in annual revenue. The company was a powerful lobbying force and its employees donated heavily to federal and state campaigns.

One example of Allen's calls surfaced last week in the trial of former Alaska House Speaker Peter Kott. While working with the FBI, Allen called Kott and asked how Kott's son resolved his financial problems. Kott replied: "It was your check."
Kott, like Stevens, is Allen's longtime friend. Kott's corruption trial is under way in Anchorage.

Beyond the calls Allen made while cooperating, prosecutors also have thousands of conversations the FBI recorded while secretly wiretapping phones belonging to Allen and fellow VECO executive Rick Smith. Agents also secretly videotaped meetings between contractors and state politicians at a hotel suite in Juneau, Alaska's capital.

Bush Winning PR War

TV ads - sponsored by a White House front group known as Freedom's Watch - that seek to shore up waning support for the Iraq war by perpetuating the canard that 9/11 was a Hussein production. In their quest to stoke emotions in defiance of fact, the ad-makers aren't exactly subtle. First, some military vets are shown making the case for staying in Iraq. Then, in the key image, we're back on 9/11. The north tower is burning, the second tower is seconds away from igniting, and these words flash on the screen: They Attacked Us.

The ad doesn't state that "they" refers to the Iraqis, but clever advertising is all about connecting the dots. Almost 40 percent of Americans believe Saddam attacked us on 9/11

1. As early as June 2003, one month after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a monitoring group appointed by the U.N. Security Council announced that it had found no evidence linking Hussein to al-Qaeda.

2. In 2004, the bipartisan 9/11 Commission concluded: "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States."

3. In 2005, a newly declassified Defense Intelligence Agency document concluded that a key terrorist informant had been "intentionally misleading" his American debriefers when he claimed that Hussein had been in cahoots with al-Qaeda. The document, written 13 months before the U.S. invasion, also stated that "Saddam's regime is intensely secular and is wary of Islamic revolutionary movements."

4. In 2006, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence - which, at the time, was still run by the Republicans - concluded in a report: "Postwar information supports prewar intelligence-community assessments that there was no credible information that Iraq was complicit in, or had foreknowledge of, the Sept. 11 attacks or any other al-Qaeda strike."

5. In February of this year, the Pentagon's acting inspector general concluded in a report that President Bush's neoconservative war planners utilized "both reliable and unreliable" information to fashion a Hussein/al-Qaeda link "that was much stronger than that assessed by the [intelligence community], and more in accord with the policy views of senior officials in the administration."

6. In April of this year, At the Center of the Storm, a memoir by ex-CIA director George Tenet, was published, in which we read that "there was never any real serious evidence that Saddam Hussein was an ally of al-Qaeda."

7. Last, even some notable Bush administration officials have debunked the myth. Donald Rumsfeld did it in 2004: Referring to Hussein and al-Qaeda, he told the Council on Foreign Relations, "I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two." And the other debunker, way back on Sept. 17, 2003, was George W. Bush. In a news conference that day, the president said: "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the Sept. 11."

Yet despite all the empirical evidence, a pro-Bush group - financed primarily by some rich Republican donors, and some ex-Bush ambassadors - has nonetheless paid out $15 million to air ads that meet the dictionary definition of propaganda. The ads are airing in 60 districts where Republican congressmen are wavering in their support for the war; Pennsylvania, home to seven targeted GOP House members, is on the front lines of this PR war.

50% Favor Government Guaranteed Health Care Coverage

Half (50%) of American voters favor government guaranteed universal health care coverage. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey also found that a plurality (43%) believe such a program would be better run by private companies than by the government.
The survey was conducted shortly after Senator Hillary Clinton unveiled her health care proposal to the nation. Clinton's plan would require every American to purchase health insurance and provide financial assistance through tax breaks and other means to help keep in affordable.

More..

Palast on Clout

Palast on Clout
Originally uploaded by Greg Palast

OUR SENATORS MUST HEAR FROM YOU TODAY!

Dear Voter:

It's the eve of a national election. Your phone rings. A voice on the other end informs you that your polling place has been changed. Oh, and if you show up to vote, you'll be arrested.

If this sounds like a bad dream, think again. In 2006, this particular example of voter harassment really occurred - along with countless other acts of deception and intimidation across the country.

Now, we have a chance to STOP the injustice and protect democracy, as the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act heads to the Senate floor for a vote.

OUR SENATORS MUST HEAR FROM YOU TODAY! Help us ensure the bill's swift passage - so it's sent to President Bush's desk in time for next year's critical elections.

Click here to sign the petition urging your Senators to support fair elections!

The Deceptive Practices bill is a key step towards ensuring every eligible American voter has the opportunity to cast a meaningful ballot.

During the past few election cycles we've received countless examples - from more than 30 states - of nefarious tactics used to prevent low-income and minority voters from exercising their right to vote.

We cannot let injustices like these happen again:

Bogus flyers in Milwaukee telling people they can't vote if they didn't pay their parking tickets.
Reports of armed gunmen in Arizona intimidating, mocking and misinforming voters in heavily Latino precincts.
A poll worker in Pennsylvania pulling a Spanish-speaking voter's ballot from the machine and telling her it was his job to make sure she didn't vote.

When you sign the petition to your Senators, you make sure the Deceptive Practices bill doesn't lose momentum. In the coming weeks, Congress will be focused on Iraq - but they need to be reminded: we must protect our democracy, as well.

Don't wait to make your voice heard. Urge swift action for a fair 2008 election.

The National Campaign for Fair Elections is doing everything in our power to ensure that this bill makes it to the Senate floor - and passes. We'll continue working closely with key allies like Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) - and we'll keep you updated, every step of the way.

Thank you for your help. Together, we'll stop voter intimidation and deception - before the 2008 elections.

Sincerely,
Jonah Goldman
Director, National Campaign for Fair Elections
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

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Grand Obstructionist Party Blocks Pro-Troop Amendment

This post, written by Steve Benen, originally appeared on The Carpetbagger Report

Looking over today's posts thus far, a trend emerges -- Republican blocked a habeas corpus bill from coming to a vote. They also blocked a bill to give DC residents a voice in Congress from coming to a vote. Jim Webb's amendment to give troops equal time off for the time they spend in combat will be blocked from coming to a vote. The Senate Democratic leadership is working on a funding bill for Iraq that includes a withdrawal timeline, which Republicans will block from coming to a vote.

And that's just from news items today. Kevin Drum highlights the problem we've been watching all year.

Republicans aren't just obstructing legislation at normal rates. They're obstructing legislation at three times the usual rate. They're absolutely desperate to keep this stuff off the president's desk, where the only choice is to either sign it or else take the blame for a high-profile veto.

As things stand, though, Republicans will largely avoid blame for their tactics. After all, the first story linked above says only that the DC bill "came up short in the Senate" and the second one that the habeas bill "fell short in the Senate." You have to read with a gimlet eye to figure out how the vote actually broke down, and casual readers will come away thinking that the bills failed because of some kind of generic Washington gridlock, not GOP obstructionism. [...]

Would it really be so hard for reporters to make it clear exactly who's responsible for blocking these bills?

This isn't a new problem, but it is an unprecedented (and undemocratic) one. Indeed, senators have been taking advantage of filibusters for generations, but we've never had a Senate minority that is as reckless and obstructionist as Senate Republicans in 2007.

For years, Republicans, with a 55-seat majority, cried like young children if Dems even considered a procedural hurdle. They said voters would punish obstructionists. They said it was borderline unconstitutional. They said to stand in the way of majority rule was to undermine a basic principle of our democratic system.

And wouldn't you know it, the shameless hypocrites didn't mean a word of it.

The Republican minority has created a de facto 60-vote minimum to do anything of substance in the Senate. They'll allow routine up-or-down votes on renaming post offices, or those rare bills that enjoy near-unanimous support, but otherwise, it's filibuster time on the Senate floor. And while the number of filibusters has been going up pretty consistently for 20 years, these Republicans appear to be in a league of their own.

Their excuses are pretty pathetic.

"You can't say that all we're going to do around here in the United States Senate is have us govern by 51 votes -- otherwise we might as well be unicameral, because then we would have the Senate and the House exactly the same," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

To which Reid responds: "The problem we have is that we don't have many moderate Republicans. I don't know what we can do to create less cloture votes other than not file them, just walk away and say, 'We're not going to do anything.' That's the only alternative we have."

McCain's rationale is pretty absurd. He's effectively arguing: Water down bills or we'll bring the chamber to a halt. This from a man who used to say "elections have consequences."

If Republicans don't like a bill, they can vote against it. If it passes anyway, they can urge the president to veto it. But holding the chamber hostage just further demonstrates why the modern GOP is unwilling to govern responsibly.

Besides, this isn't about the GOP waiting for bipartisan bills; it's about obstructionism. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said a Republican colleague of his told him that a strategy has been adopted by the minority to "prevent any accomplishment" by the new Congress:

"I had a Republican colleague tell me it is the Republican strategy to try to prevent any accomplishment of the Democratic Congress. That is set in their caucus openly and directly that they don't intend to allow Democrats to have any legislative successes, and they intend to do it by repeated filibuster."

The only resolution is public outrage, which might encourage the GOP to allow the Senate to start voting on bills again, and which might happen if reporters would do their jobs.

In April, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said, "The strategy of being obstructionist can work or fail ... and so far it's working for us."

And it's failing for the rest of the country.

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In The News 09-19-07: America's Mercenary Factor

America's Mercenary Factor Robert Scheer - The Nation - Sep 19th, 2007 Please, please, I tell myself, leave Orwell out of it. Find some other way to explain why the Iraq War is dependent upon killer mercenaries ...more	Public Ain't Buying Bush's Iraq Pitch Dan Froomkin - Washington Post - Sep 19th, 2007 Last week's Petraeus-Bush razzle-dazzle seems to have worked its magic inside the Beltway. The American public is not so easily confused ...more
The FundamentaList: Televangelist Claims the Devil Made Him Beat His Wife Sarah Posner - American Prospect - Sep 19th, 2007 Weeks, who initially told his congregation the devil made him do it, now denies the beating as he faces criminal charges ...more	Bush's Last Stand Nat Hentoff - Village Voice - Sep 19th, 2007 No lame duck, Bush has big plans to push through an imperial legacy before he leaves ... making a president, dictator ...more
Iraq: None Dare Call it Genocide Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Sep 19th, 2007 But there's one thing Americans don't talk about: the lives of Iraqis, or, rather, the deaths of Iraqis ...more	The Attorney General Bush Needs Dan Froomkin- WaPo - Sep 19th, 2007 Mukasey is someone who will support the radical and unprecedented expansion of executive power that Bush has sought ...more

GOP Avoding Blacks And Hispanics Again

In the category of What Are They Thinking?: all the principal Republican presidential candidates have decided to skip a major televised debate next week on minority issues. The absentees will be noted by nameplates at empty lecterns, and some party leaders warn that the perceived disrespect will prove costly at the polls.

Ken Mehlman, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, is urging the candidates to reconsider their rejection of the debate on the PBS network and "lay out their vision," according to The Washington Post. Jack Kemp, the party's 1996 vice presidential candidate, is more blunt in his dismay: "What are we going to do, meet in a country club in the suburbs one day?"

The candidates insist that their absence next Thursday is dictated by scheduling conflicts. But it's important to note that the invitation to the debate at Morgan State University in Baltimore was sent out in February. "Baloney," said Newt Gingrich of the scheduling excuse, warning of the "enormous error" in ducking the event. The Democrats' comparable debate at Howard University in June was attended by all the major contenders.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Dan Rather Files $70M Lawsuit Against CBS

Dan Rather Files $70M Lawsuit Against CBS; Moonves, Redstone, Heyward Named In Suit

The NYTimes' Jacques Steinberg breaks news about former CBS News anchor Dan Rather. Rather "filed a $70 million lawsuit this afternoon against the network, its corporate parent and three of his former superiors."

Rather, Steinberg writes "asserts that the network violated his contract by giving him insufficient airtime on 60 Minutes after forcing him to step down as anchor of the CBS Evening News in March 2005. He also contends that the network committed fraud by commissioning a 'biased' and incomplete investigation of the flawed [National] Guard broadcast and, in the process, 'seriously damaged his reputation.'"

The suit names CBS CEO Les Moonves, Viacom head Sumner Redstone and Andrew Heyward, the former president of CBS News.

Developing...

Click continued to read The New York Times story...

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GOP representatives continue "to silently stand by condoning (their) leader's outrageous comments minimizing troops and their families' tragic loss. America's men and women in uniform and their families deserve better

Moveon.org Wars

Washington Times' Sean Lengell and Jim McElhatton: "Davis calls for probe of ad rate for MoveOn" LINK

New York Post's CHARLES HURT and CARL CAMPANILE: "POL: MAKE FEDERAL CASE OF TIMES' MOVEON DISCOUNT" LINK

ABC News' Jan Simmonds: "Ads War Escalates Between Giuliani and MoveOn.org" LINK

Mean while,

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Most corrupt members of Congress

From CREW, the 22 most corrupt members of Congress are:

Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA)
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA)
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA)
Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-LA)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
Rep. Gary G. Miller (R-CA)
Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV)
Rep. Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA)
Rep. John P. Murtha (D-PA)
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM)
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY)
Rep. David Scott (D-GA)
Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL)
Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-NM)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK

Dishonorable mentions we should watch are:

Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-ID)
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)

To learn more about how each one made it onto this list, visit here.

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In The News 09-18-07: Giuliani's Crime Reduction Claims as Fraudulent as His 9/11 Claims

In Iraq Forever Spencer Ackerman - American Prospect - Sep 18th, 2007 Last week's intense focus on whether the surge was working obscured the real Bush agenda -- a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq ...more	Be Concerned About FOX News's Owner, Rupert Murdoch Gene Kimmelman - Seattle Times - Sep 18th, 2007 Democracy depends on the ability of different voices to be heard. When one one man owns too many media outlets, democracy is endangered ...more
Common Sense, the First Casualty in Iraq Reg Henry - MetroWest Daily - Sep 18th, 2007 The very fact that we are at war in Iraq has confounded common sense from the beginning. No Iraqi attacked us on 9/11 ...more	More Gloom and Doom for Republicans EJ Dionne JR - Daytona Beach News-J - Sep 18th, 2007 The decision of former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner to run for the seat of retiring Republican Sen. John Warner is more than just bad news ...more
Mukasey Nomination an Expression of Bush's Weakness Steve Kornacki - NY Observer - Sep 18th, 2007 This is not the selection the president would have made if he had a solid approval rating and if his party still controlled the Senate ...more	Giuliani's Crime Reduction Claims as Fraudulent as His 9/11 Claims PolitiFact - Sep 18th, 2007 Violent crime in New York began falling three years before Giuliani took office in 1994, U.S. Justice Department records show ...more

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Republican prosecutor from Florida caught in child sex sting

UPDATE:
A copy of the criminal complaint against Atchison (PDF)

A federal prosecutor from Florida was ordered held in custody Monday after he appeared in U.S. District Court in Detroit on a charge that he flew to Detroit intending to have sex with a 5-year-old girl.

John David R. Atchison, 53, of Gulf Breeze, Fla., an assistant U.S. Attorney in Florida's northern district, is expected to appear again in court for a detention hearing today.

A federal prosecutor from Florida was ordered held in custody Monday after he appeared in U.S. District Court in Detroit on a charge that he flew to Detroit intending to have sex with a 5-year-old girl.

John David R. Atchison, 53, of Gulf Breeze, Fla., an assistant U.S. Attorney in Florida's northern district, is expected to appear again in court for a detention hearing on Tuesday. He was caught in an Internet child sex sting run by the Macomb County Sheriff's Department and the FBI and arrested Sunday when he flew into Detroit Metropolitan Airport from Pensacola, Fla., according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Detroit.
A sheriff's deputy posed as a mother who was interested in finding someone to have sex with her children, in a sting that has already netted a California paramedic and numerous other alleged pedophiles from around the country.
According to the complaint, Atchison reassured the sheriff's deputy who was posing as the child's mother that he would not hurt the 5-year-old because he goes "slow and easy," and "I've done it plenty."

cross posted at http://changeintallahassee.com/

The Iraq Blackwater Test

By Larry Johnson

Depending on whether the Blackwater security firm stays in Iraq will inform us whether Prime Minister Maliki has any power or is just a U.S. puppet. My money is on the puppet. Over the weekend Blackwater contractors escorting a State Department/US Embassy Baghdad convoy got into a shoot out. Spencer Ackerman at TPM reports that:

Yesterday's incident involved an insurgent attack on a State Department convoy in the Sunni neighborhood of Mansour in western Baghdad. Blackwater personnel guarding the motorcade returned fire — "to defend themselves," according to a State Department official quoted by The Washington Post. A Post reporter on the scene in Mansour witnessed Blackwater's Little Bird helicopters "firing into the streets." Almost immediately, an Interior Ministry spokesman said the company's license to operate in Iraq would be revoked.

First problem. Blackwater does not have a license to operate in Iraq and does not need one. Read the rest

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