08.18.10 -- 2:51PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (31)

Where To Start?

What is Mark Halperin saying exactly? A short time ago, President Obama told a reporter at an event in Ohio that he had "no regrets" about discussing the mosque issue. Here's Mark Halperin's response ...

Really??!! Another presidential comment on this sensitive matter made on the fly in response to a press question? The political and substantive damage will continue until Obama explains his position in detail and (in a dignified and uplifting way) explains why his critics are wrong. This is a classic case of a politician losing control of his public image on a key issue -- only in this instance, it has implications for the whole world.

--Josh Marshall

08.18.10 -- 2:11PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (29)

Ted Olson on Cordoba House

Some of you may know of Ted Olson as one of the lead attorneys on the Prop 8 litigation. Others Bush's lead attorney in Bush v. Gore and still others as a high-profile Republican lawyer in 1990s. But, of course, he's also a 9/11 widower. And now he's speaking out on Cordoba House. Powerful stuff. Take a look.

Quite a moment when Ted Olson, whose wife was murdered by the 9/11 hijackers, can see what's at stake here more clearly than the ADL. Actually, deeply sad.

--Josh Marshall

08.18.10 -- 1:44PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)

This Demands A Rewrite!

Two Republican House candidates in Louisiana debate the myriad ways they would take a red pen to the Constitution.

--David Kurtz

08.18.10 -- 1:24PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)

Sleazy Rick

Last we heard of Rick Lazio he was the stand-in for Rudy Giuliani who got shellacked by Hillary Clinton in the 2000 New York senate race. Now he's running what appears to be a close to hopeless race for governor against Andrew Cuomo. So now he's cracking out an anti-Mosque ad, complete with 9/11 attack imagery, dirge-like music and at least one suggestion that "certain organizations that were a part of the tragedy here on 9/11" are the ones funding the Cordoba House project.

--Josh Marshall

08.18.10 -- 1:01PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (10)

Another Mosque Poll

We all heard that number last week showing an overwhelming number of Americans opposed the Cordoba House project. What got much less attention was that fact that a large majority also believed the promoters right to build it. Another poll out today of New York State voters shows the same thing.

Late Update: As TPM Reader CR notes: "I suppose the American people are now walking back their opposition to the Coat Factory Mosque."

--Josh Marshall

08.18.10 -- 12:06PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)

Not Withdrawal But 'Thinning Out'

Spencer Ackerman interviews Gen. David Petraeus on his withdrawal plan for Afghanistan.

--David Kurtz

08.18.10 -- 11:56AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)

How's It Feel to be a Muslim Republican?

Muslim Republicans take stock in the wake of full-court GOP press against a Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan.

--Josh Marshall

08.18.10 -- 11:17AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)

Baby Fight!

Jon Stewart to Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX): "This is America, Louie. They got terror babies? Well guess what we got, m*****f*****? Hero babies!" Watch.

--David Kurtz

08.18.10 -- 9:15AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (18)

Canary in the Coal Mine Hate Fest

You know you've hit a special moment when Pat Buchanan has to tell Newt Gingrich he's gone too far pushing racism and xenophobia.

--Josh Marshall

08.18.10 -- 9:10AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (12)

Blago Just Dodged the Axe

The Blago verdict story looks different today than it did last night. It turns out 11 of the jurors were ready to convict on the key charges.

--Josh Marshall

08.18.10 -- 9:06AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)

Meet the Out-of-Towners

The pols from Alaska, Nevada, Georgia and virtually everywhere else who won't stand for a Muslim community center being built in Lower Manhattan.

--Josh Marshall

08.18.10 -- 8:26AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)

Another One Stands Up

A bit more hedging than I'd like. But credit to Kathleen Parker for standing up with a moral or more than that a constitutional stance on the mosque controversy that honors American civic values.

--Josh Marshall

08.17.10 -- 7:57PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (16)

Bush on Mosque: No Comment

Former President Bush offers 'no comment' on Cordoba House/mosque controversy.

--Josh Marshall

08.17.10 -- 7:20PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (13)

Paul on the Road to Damascus

Rand Paul has a new position on the Cordoba House Project: as a libertarian and believer in private property rights he believes it should be left to local authorities to decide. But he doesn't believe it should be built. Says the campaign: "In Dr. Paul's opinion, the Muslim community would better serve the healing process by making a donation to the memorial fund for the victims of September 11th."

--Josh Marshall

08.17.10 -- 6:35PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)

Verdict on the Verdict

Another TPM Reader from the defense bar weighs in with his own verdict on the Blago verdict: never talk to the government.

That's a lawyers' argument. No doubt. But having watched a lot of public corruption cases from start to finish over the last decade, I have to say there's a lot of truth in what he says. A lot of these public corruption charges are just really hard to make stick. There's no getting around that. Especially the ones that center on some alleged quid pro quo. And when people do get convicted of stuff, or find themselves compelled to plea out, more often than not it's on ancillary charges, often for lying to federal investigators, rather than for acts that made them crooked in the first place.

As our other TPM Reader noted earlier, it looks now that Fitzgerald just never had that strong a case on the law -- in good measure because press leaks forced his hand and made him bring the charges before the corrupt transactions had been completed. That's the paradox of this one. Before the bar of common sense, Fitzgerald had more than enough evidence to show that Blago was as crooked a pol as Chicago had produced in some time, which is saying something. But on the law, the case maybe just wasn't that solid. It will be interesting to hear what the jury has to say.

--Josh Marshall

08.17.10 -- 5:54PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (48)

Spoiled from the Git-go?

A longtime TPM Reader weighs in on the Blago verdict ...

This verdict should not be a surprise to anyone. For a long time knowledgeable observers in Chicago have looked at the government's charges and really thought that there was no there there. The fact that the Governor had not benefited at all from any of his alleged machinations played a huge role.

But looking at the case, you really see that Fitzgerald blew it. Essentially these charges were drawn up overnight after the Chicago Tribune called Fitzgerald in his office and told him that they were running a story the next day that the U.S. Attorney's Office was tapping the Governor's telephones. Not a single completed crime had occurred.

Read more »

--Josh Marshall

08.17.10 -- 5:17PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)

Tightening in KY-Sen?

Rand Paul's lead over Democrat Jack Conway in the Kentucky Senate race is just 5 points.

--David Kurtz

08.17.10 -- 5:10PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (29)

Verdict In Blago Trial

The jury has returned a verdict in the criminal trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The court is expected to announce the verdict at any time now. The consensus among observers seems to be that the jury, in its 14th day of deliberations, will not be able to return a verdict on all the counts.

--David Kurtz

08.17.10 -- 4:17PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (14)

Bobby Thomson, 1923-2010

The former New York Giant most famous for his walk-off home run to win the pennant in 1951 has died. Watch the enduring call of the "Shot Heard 'Round the World":

Read more »

--David Kurtz