Open thread

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Hillary and Obama tied in NH

This is actually getting fun. Who knew we'd have a real horse race? Well, ok, Joe predicted this one month ago today. From Hotline on Call:

Analysis of the CNN/WMUR poll indicates that Hillary Clinton led the field in New Hampshire since 2005 -- and by as much as 23 points in September. She can kiss that hefty advantage goodbye.

Now:

HRC 31%
Barack Obama 30%
John Edwards 16%
Bill Richardson 7%
Dennis Kucinich 3%
Joe Biden and Chris Dodd 1% each

This is critical ... just 10% of those surveyed are undecided.

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Hillary, Obama, and drugs

It ain't pretty out there.

Just a day after Hillary Clinton's communication director declared that the campaign would not raise the issue of Barack Obama's acknowledged cocaine use, her New Hampshire co-chair, Billy Shaheen, warned that Republicans will capitalize on Obama's drug history if he wins the Democratic nomination.

"The Republicans are not going to give up without a fight," Shaheen told the Washington Post, "and one of the things they're certainly going to jump on is his drug use."

In the Washington Post interview published Dec. 12, Shaheen said Obama's own willingness to discuss his past drug use would "open the door" for the GOP: "It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?'....There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks. It's hard to overcome."

Then again, Obama isn't beyond going negative either. All campaigns do it, and Obama's has been no exception. Still, Camp Hillary has to realize that there are skeletons in everybody's closet, and it's only a matter of time before Obama hits back. Then again, maybe he won't, and maybe that's what Hillary's campaign is counting on. By the time Obama gets dirty, the fight may be over (then again, judging by the polls, he may win anyway). Read More......

THIS JUST IN: Bush kills children's health insurance bill, again

Is this what Republicans really voted for? And does anyone really think the current crop of Republicans are going to be any different if they get into the White House? The GOP simply doesn't stand for anything any more. That's why a lot of us (me, Markos, Arianna), left the part long ago, and lots more are leaving today. It's the reason far more people call themselves Democrats than Republicans when polled about their political allegiances. The Republicans have become the party of nasty old men who have nothing left to stand for. And the American people know it. But just in case they don't, we have people like George Bush who are happy to constantly remind them.

More from AP:

President Bush vetoed legislation Wednesday that would have expanded government-provided health insurance for children, his second slap-down of a bipartisan effort in Congress to dramatically increase funding for the popular program....

Reid approached Bush to ask for negotiations during a ceremony for the Dalai Lama in the Capitol Rotunda in mid-October, a couple of weeks after Bush's first SCHIP veto, he said. The president told Reid, "No, I'm not moving, meet with my staff," Reid said at the time.

"The fact is that Senator Reid and Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi asked to meet with the president to discuss giving children the health care they need, and he blew them off by telling them to talk to his staff," Manley said before the veto. "Now he's going to veto it for a second time without negotiating once."

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CIA destroyed tapes despite court order

I feel like a broken record, talking about the rule of law (or lack thereof) and how our country used to be the envy of the world. Now what have we become? What do we aspire to? What do we stand for? The Republicans have made us a nation desperately afraid of our own shadow. Shouldn't we aspire to more than simply staying alive? More from AP. Read More......

Gordon Brown: "It's time to talk to the Taliban"

Uh oh. Without Blair or Howard in office, who is Bush going to turn to now? How long before the smear campaign begins? Read More......

Nigerian Christians are killing children as "witches"

Ah, Nigerian Christians. These are the same wonderful people who are trying to lecture churches in developed countries about how we should (mis)treat gay people. Yes, let's aspire to be as good of Christians as these fine folks.

Behind the smartly painted doors pastors make a living by 'deliverances' - exorcisms - for people beset by witchcraft, something seen to cause anything from divorce, disease, accidents or job losses. With so many churches it's a competitive market, but by local standards a lucrative one.

But an exploitative situation has now grown into something much more sinister as preachers are turning their attentions to children - naming them as witches. In a maddened state of terror, parents and whole villages turn on the child. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees, buried alive or simply beaten and chased off into the bush.

Some parents scrape together sums needed to pay for a deliverance - sometimes as much as three or four months' salary for the average working man - although the pastor will explain that the witch might return and a second deliverance will be needed. Even if the parent wants to keep the child, their neighbours may attack it in the street.

This is not just a few cases. This is becoming commonplace.

Hat tip to reader PM. Read More......

GOP Debate Open Thread

The final GOP debate of the year. These things are painful. Today's event is really a contest to see which candidate can be the most despicable.

The debate is sponsored by Iowa Public Television and the Des Moines Register. CNN, Fox and C-SPAN3 have it live. Democrats are up tomorrow.

I'll be watching the travesty and commenting along the way.

Ugh. It begins.

2:11 PM Hahaha...Alan Keyes appears. His extremism fits right in with this crowd.

2:13 PM Ron Paul: "We have an empire we can't afford"

2:21 PM Still talking taxes. All want tax cuts, no sacrifice needed. All keep mentioning the excessive government programs, but no real concrete ideas what programs they'd cut. And, haven't the Republicans controlled the government for most of this decade? Didn't the Republicans keep funding all those programs these guys want to cut?

2:24 PM Duncan Hunter loves his border fence. He loves it. He can't ever not talk about his border fence.

2:26 PM The Huckster always working in those biblical references. He can't part the Red Sea, but can part the red tape. Huh? So he's the Moses of Red Tape.

2:33 PM The candidates revolt: No show of hands. On a question of global climate change, no less. McCain says it's real. How un-GOP of him. Giuliani agrees that it is real. Mitt says "absolutely" it's a problem.

2:36 PM Keyes is insane. No question. Just totally insane.

2:37 PM Huckster uses the biblical terminology again with the "stewards of the earth" language. He is playing to his people.

2:38 PM Duncan Hunter is the quintessential GOP Butthead Congressman. He's right out of central casting.

2:45 PM As if on cue, Duncan Hunter's education plans are based on the movie "Stand and Deliver."

2:46 PM Mitt is a bit testy with the moderator about time limits. And all of the sudden, Mitt touts Massachusetts. He says students in Massachusetts are "my fourth graders" and "my eighth graders."

2:48 PM Alan Keyes is craaazzzy. He thinks the moderator is ignoring him. The moderator should be ignoring him. I'm not sure how he got on the stage, but he is stealing the show with his bizarre behavior.

2:55 PM This question about what these guys would do during their first year in office is irrelevant. None of them will ever be President.

2:59 PM If Thompson says he'll tell the truth and restore credibility, he must think the current President, George Bush, doesn't tell the truth and has no credibility.

3:03 PM Some real pandering to Iowans from Mitt. He's smarmy.

3:07 PM Rudy gets a question about hiding the security detail money for his mistress. But, he's going to be extremely open as President. He has an "open, transparent life."

3:09 PM Keyes takes a swipe at Mitt for flip-flopping. Harsh to have to take a swipe from Keyes. Mitt isn't sure he wants to respond, but reminds us that he used to be pro-choice. Mitt: I'm proud to be pro-life [now].

3:13 PM What's up with these videos? They're annoying.

3:14 PM Huckabee gets to deliver the biblical answer again...but this time he was specifically asked about his faith. Those passages really roll off his tongue.

3:20 PM McCain is a man of principle in his own mind.

3:21 PM New Year's Resolutions? Weak.

It is over. No one really stood out today -- except Alan Keyes. Read More......

Top US military officer: We don't have enough troops for Afghanistan because of Iraq

Yep, no cost at all to the Republicans' war of choice. None at all. Maybe John McCain and Lindsey Graham can volunteer for Afghanistan, since they think Iraq is such a great idea. Read More......

NASA scientist: "The canary has died"

Ok, this is scary. Why the Republicans feel that the possible destruction of the planet is a political issues... well, actually, I do know why. They're afraid that companies will suffer if they're forced to burn cleaner fuels, etc. And one thing we know about the Republicans, their ties to big business come before the welfare of any corporeal beings. From AP:

Just last year, two top scientists surprised their colleagues by projecting that the Arctic sea ice was melting so rapidly that it could disappear entirely by the summer of 2040.

This week, after reviewing his own new data, NASA climate scientist Jay Zwally said: "At this rate, the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at the end of summer by 2012, much faster than previous predictions."....

"The Arctic is often cited as the canary in the coal mine for climate warming," said Zwally, who as a teenager hauled coal. "Now as a sign of climate warming, the canary has died. It is time to start getting out of the coal mines."....

More than 18 scientists told the AP that they were surprised by the level of ice melt this year.

"I don't pay much attention to one year ... but this year the change is so big, particularly in the Arctic sea ice, that you've got to stop and say, 'What is going on here?' You can't look away from what's happening here," said Waleed Abdalati, NASA's chief of cyrospheric sciences. "This is going to be a watershed year."

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Bush administration trying to kill new mileage requirements

Big surprise. The Bush team is playing games to kill the new mileage requirements. Hey, why try to bring the U.S. auto industry into the 1980s when we can got to war for oil:

The White House, echoing a position taken by auto manufacturers and a coalition of industry groups, is asking that the energy legislation be changed to specify the highway safety administration as the primary enforcer of fuel efficiency standards, with the E.P.A. in only an advisory role. Democratic leaders in Congress have rejected that position as a “nonstarter” and indicated their intent to move the bill with the current language intact.

Bush is determined to be a destroyer of the earth instead of a steward of the earth. Great legacy. Read More......

Fighting terorrism by creating it

Chris just sent me this. It starts okay and then just gets better and better. Watch it. (In case the video acts up, you can watch it here.)

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Mr. Bubble on the subprime failures: I didn't do it

What a piece of work this guy is. Fortunately there are always plenty of media lapdogs who are only too happy to go along with his nonsense instead of calling him a liar or incompetent idiot to his face. He's an embarrassment and a disgrace to the country.

"The root of the current crisis, as I see it, lies back in the aftermath of the Cold War, when...market capitalism quietly, but rapidly, displaced much of the discredited central planning that was so prevalent in the Third World," Greenspan wrote.

Yes, it's all the fault of that damned Cold War. Damned Cold War! It's impressive to see such an acceptance of responsibility from Greenspan. Then again, considering that nobody in the Bush administration ever was held accountable after 9/11 why should Greenspan be any different? Read More......

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Is it me or this an unusually busy December news-wise? There's so much going on.

What do you know? Read More......