Republicans are apoplectic over Craig's new plans

So Larry's thinking about sticking around the Senate. That latest development in the Craig scandal has Republicans freaking out. Sure, Larry is looking for vindication. Let's just say, this also feels like payback. The Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, publicly chastised Craig last week -- and basically forced his resignation. But, now Larry's fighting back -- and blatantly challenging McConnell and his leadership. What changed, one wonders?

Whatever the reason, Craig's latest move is causing ulcers among the GOP hierarchy tonight:

Just when Republicans thought things could not get much worse for their scandal-stained party, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig leaked word Tuesday night that he is reconsidering his abrupt plan to resign from the Senate in the wake of his arrest in a police sex sting operation.

Top Republican strategists were neither delighted nor amused by the senator's decision to rethink retirement after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct following his arrest in a Minnesota airport men's bathroom.

GOP Senate sources said Tuesday night that Craig's staff was trying to tamp down the story because Craig still intends to resign but wants to retain the option of fighting the charges with a newly assembled, high-powered legal team.

On Saturday, Craig said he would resign at the end of this month.

A senior GOP Senate strategist said Republican leaders want him gone now and will press for him to keep his promise to resign. The strategist warned Craig is "losing any goodwill built up among his colleagues," adding, "He is simply a fish out of water, floundering right now to get his last gasp of political air."

"It simply defies reality," said a Senate GOP aide. "You can't make this up even if you are heavily medicated. The American people heard from Larry Craig that he would resign and using the word 'intent' as a back door doesn't work with them."

We can just sit back and watch this one. The fun isn't over, yet. Read More......

Yeah, sure. Believe Bush this time when he says there will be a troop reduction.

By now, everyone in America, everyone in the world should know that just because Bush says something doesn't make it true:
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NLGJA panel: "Will Gays Matter in '08'"

At this year's National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association convention, reporter Karen Ocamb moderated a panel on whether gay issues will matter in 2008. The session happened to occur, ironically just a couple of hours Larry Craig resigned. Via The Bilerico Project, why the states rights issue, in particular, does matter -- there are questions that need to be answered by the candidates:

I asked Steve Elmendorf [political consultant on the Hillary Clinton national LGBT Steering Committee] if Bill Clinton advised John Kerry [in 2004] to have a "Sister Souljiah" moment with gays over the anti-gay marriage initiatives and Elmendorf said, "It absolutely did not happen."

It should be noted that Shrum and his wife Mary Louise Oates are longtime friends of David Mixner and have consistently supported gay rights. But Elmendorf's strong answer suggested that mistrust of Bill should not spill over into mistrust of Hillary.

The point here is that "states rights" is crucial to the LGBT community. "States rights" have traditionally allowed each state to determine if or how law enforcement and the court system prosecutes civil rights violations, crimes motivated by hatred, who has the right to control a person's body - the person or the state (selective sodomy laws, abortion rights, assisted suicide) - and other offenses to individual liberty.

We argue that the federal government has the duty to clarify and unify all those disparate laws, which is why we were exhilarated when the U.S. Supreme Court's overturned the sodomy laws and why we are pushing for the Employment Nondiscrimination Act and a federal Hate Crimes law.

Some of us agree with the traditionalist thinking that marriage should be left up to the majority-rule of each state. But others of us (see Evan Wolfson) believe the Constitution is supposed to protect the minority from the majority so all of us have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

These are fundamental questions, not merely issues of semantics, and it appears that it is up to bloggers and the LGBT press to pursue them.

Go read the rest. It sounded like an energizing and interesting panel.

***

And for another kind of coverage of the event...

The Peter reports on the NLGJA conference

Actually, LaBarbera sent an Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality proxy, Allyson Smith, to cover the event (that coverage is to come), but The Peter rolled the news out with unbiased reporting like this:

Approximately 500 journalists, editors, producers, travel writers, bloggers and other communications workers from homosexual and mainstream media outlets gathered August 30 - September 2 for the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) annual conference.

As at past NLGJA conferences , conservative-leaning Fox News Network was among the sponsors and recruiters.

Titled "Breaking Stories, Breaking Waves," the convention, held in downtown San Diego's Westin Horton Plaza hotel, featured a one-day LGBT media summit, six receptions, and more than 50 sessions and workshops ranging from "Covering LGBT Conservatives" (oddly, the Christian-conservative-bashing Wayne Besen was a panelist), to "Will Gays Matter in '08?" to "Sex Writing for Fun and Profit."

...The convention included plenary sessions on the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and immigration issues affecting homosexuals, as well as a general session featuring a conversation with Larry Kramer, founder of the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP), a radical, "in your face" demonstration group that made headlines in December, 1989, for disrupting a Catholic Mass and destroying a consecrated Communion host at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

He lists the participating sponsors and news organizations, ostensibly to let "Christians" know that they are associating with/supporting homos covering the news. I'd venture a guess that sponsors and career expo attendees such as Reuters, the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, GM, Toyota, Sony, the Canadian Tourism Board and even Fox don't give a rip what the Peter's fundies think of them when it comes to recruiting and hiring.

H/t Daimeon and NG. Read More......

BREAKING: Craig reconsidering decision to resign from Senate -- AP

This news just broke on CNN via AP. It's not over:

Sen. Larry Craig is reconsidering his decision to resign after his arrest in a Minnesota airport sex sting and may still fight for his Senate seat, his spokesman said Tuesday evening.

"It's not such a foregone conclusion anymore, that the only thing he could do was resign," said Sidney Smith, Craig's spokesman in Idaho's capital.

"We're still preparing as if Senator Craig will resign Sept. 30, but the outcome of the legal case in Minnesota and the ethics investigation will have an impact on whether we're able to stay in the fight - and stay in the Senate."

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"Violence remains high" and "militias are not disarmed" but Bush sees progress and success

Bush is saying "progress" and "success" about Iraq a lot these days. The NY Times reported that Bush said "success" eight times in his speech in Iraq yesterday. But, as we've seen so many times, just because Bush says something doesn't mean it's true. Actually, when Bush says something about Iraq, he's usually lying. That seems to be the case again based on the report officially released by the Government Accountability Office:

Violence is high in Iraq, with scant political progress and mixed results on security, a Congressional report said on Tuesday, a day after President George W. Bush visited Anbar province and struck an upbeat tone.

The independent Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Iraq had failed to meet 11 of 18 political and military goals set by Congress last May. Iraq met three benchmarks and partially met another four, it said.

"Violence remains high, the number of Iraqi security forces capable of conducting independent operations has declined and militias are not disarmed," the GAO report said -- despite Bush's addition of 30,000 U.S. troops to Iraq this year.

"It is unclear whether sectarian violence in Iraq has decreased," David Walker, head of the GAO, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Bush is desperate to prove his so-called surge worked. It didn't. So, he's in full spin mode as Froomkin accurately notes, "Bush is gaming the media -- and playing for time."

The big question now is whether Congress accepts the reality from Iraq or the spin from Bush. Read More......

Mark your calendars for the September 17 Value Voters debate

A cornucopia of well-known wingers and bible beaters will be gathered in Fort Lauderdale (whose mayor is the homo-obsessed $250K robopotty mayor Jim Naugle) to hold a "Values Voter Presidential Debate," moderated by WingNutDaily's Joseph Farah.

The is the forum that the Base has been looking forward to because it will be the one debate where candidates will surely get pinned down by the luminaries of the fringe-right movement on the party's hypocrisy and waffling on social issues.

Regarding the selection of WND's Farah, debate organizer Janet Folger said, "As long as I can remember I've been hearing complaints about the liberal media. I've heard about their power and undue influence. For too long the pundits have made their proclamations and people have fallen into lock step. But, not anymore."

Looking forward to the event, Farah said, "So often in presidential debates, questions are asked and answers don't address the questions. When that happens, I'm going to try to persuade the candidates to focus more precisely on what was asked."

Look at who will be coming up with the questions for the GOP candidates, it's going to be so much fun:

* Paul Weyrich, founder and president of the Free Congress Foundation
* Phyllis Schlafly, founder and president of Eagle Forum
* Don Wildmon of the American Family Association
* Judge Roy Moore, columnist at WND and head of the Foundation for Moral Law
* Rick Scarborough of Vision America
* Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel.

Oh my, get the popcorn ready. So far, only the second/third tier candidates have accepted the invitation; Ron Paul, John Cox, Duncan Hunter, Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo, and Sam Brownback. They are still "working on" getting Rudy, Mitt, McCain and fantasy candidate Fred Thompson to appear. Let's see, which is worse for these guys -- appearing and choking on their hypocrisy, or not showing up, thumbing their noses at the Base?

You can send questions in here. The debate will be broadcast live on Sky Angel (with streaming at ValuesVoterDebate.com). It will be rebroadcast on the Inspiration (INSP) Network and other outlets.

The organizers also planned a Dem debate, but that all contacted declined. I would have loved seeing Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich up there cutting those pious fundies down to size. Read More......

Hodge Podge of Greece, aka Open Thread

Just a hodge podge of photos from my trip. Heading out tomorrow. Back to Paris for a week to see Chris and his wife Joelle, now that they're back from Egypt, and then back to DC on the 13th.



The local baker in Dorio, mom's hometown. This guy was a riot. He started to show off for me, taking the fresh hot bread out of the oven, etc. He made me promise to mail him a cd of my photos and videos of him and his wife, and I will. Oh, and the bread was superb.



A yiayia (grandma) walking home from the Dorio street market. After their husbands die, Greeks (well, at least of yiayia's generation) wear all black for the rest of their lives.



I didn't get to the islands this trip, but did get a near-island experience visiting the city of Coroni, near Kalamata in the south. It's a nice city, especially if you haven't been to the islands. If you HAVE been to the islands, then Coroni is only a poor imitation. Still, as poor imitations go, as you can see, it's pretty beautiful.



Possibly the most powerful kittens in Greece. They belong to my Uncle John, the former cabinet minister.



Just a sign scrawled on a wall in Coroni. Still, it's kind of prety. Read More......

High schoolers to McCain: You're too old, too conservative

Ouch.

An unflinching John McCain was told Tuesday by New Hampshire high school students he might be too old to be president and too conservative to be respected. McCain, the Arizona senator whose presidential bid has stumbled through the summer, countered the Concord High School students with humor.

"Thanks for the question, you little jerk," McCain joked back to one student who asked the 71-year-old about his age. "You're drafted."

It didn't get much better, either. Other questions from students:

"If elected, you'd be older than Ronald Reagan, making you the oldest president. Do you ever worry you might die in office or get Alzheimer's or some other disease that might affect your judgment?" [The Tool said no and made a joke.]

...Another student pushed him on gay rights; McCain repeated his pledge to oppose discrimination but support for traditional marriage. "I came here looking to see a good leader," 16-year-old William Sleaster told McCain, earning himself boos from his classmates. "I don't."

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Bremer Refuses To Be Thrown under The Bus

To help his sagging poll numbers, George Bush has recently gone on the offensive, a "domestic surge" if you will. As part of this new strategy, he's tried to lay some of the blame on the Iraq failings on subordinates. Specifically, he's said that he did not want to disband the Iraqi Army immediately after invading, and it happened without his knowledge (as far as a defense goes, Bush claiming limited knowledge does have some credibility, no?). He was, in essence, laying the blame at the feet of Paul Bremer.

Bremer is having none of it. He produced letters to the NY Times showing he told Bush in advance. Wonder if any reporter will have the guts to ask Bush about this obvious discrepancy:

A previously undisclosed exchange of letters shows that President Bush was told in advance by his top Iraq envoy in May 2003 of a plan to “dissolve Saddam’s military and intelligence structures,” a plan that the envoy, L. Paul Bremer, said referred to dismantling the Iraqi Army.

Mr. Bremer provided the letters to The New York Times on Monday after reading that Mr. Bush was quoted in a new book as saying that American policy had been “to keep the army intact” but that it “didn’t happen.”

The dismantling of the Iraqi Army in the aftermath of the American invasion is now widely regarded as a mistake that stoked rebellion among hundreds of thousands of former Iraqi soldiers and made it more difficult to reduce sectarian bloodshed and attacks by insurgents. In releasing the letters, Mr. Bremer said he wanted to refute the suggestion in Mr. Bush’s comment that Mr. Bremer had acted to disband the army without the knowledge and concurrence of the White House.

“We must make it clear to everyone that we mean business: that Saddam and the Baathists are finished,” Mr. Bremer wrote in a letter that was drafted on May 20, 2003, and sent to the president on May 22 through Donald H. Rumsfeld, then secretary of defense.

After recounting American efforts to remove members of the Baath Party of Saddam Hussein from civilian agencies, Mr. Bremer told Mr. Bush that he would “parallel this step with an even more robust measure” to dismantle the Iraq military.

One day later, Mr. Bush wrote back a short thank you letter. “Your leadership is apparent,” the president wrote. “You have quickly made a positive and significant impact. You have my full support and confidence.”

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30 seconds is not enough time to list Rudy's mistakes

Check out Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films and its look at The Real Rudy.

At a recent debate in Iowa, Rudy Giuliani was asked, "In 30 seconds, what is a defining mistake of your life and why?" He made a joke about how he couldn't possibly list all his mistakes in 30 seconds. Ha!

There's also a poll to vote on Rudy's biggest mistake. You can choose from:
* faulty radios for firefighters
* married three times
* "open and notorious adultery"
* flip-flopping on abortion
* daughter backs Obama for president
* looking bad in drag
* annulled marriage to second cousin
* emergency command center in #1 terror target
* estranged from children
* Bernie Kerik

Media Matters has a handy slew of other mistakes as well. Read More......

Distracted by irrelevance

This current domestic tactics by the administration on Iraq is to distract and mislead. The strategic goal being served by these tactics is simply to keep as many troops on the ground as possible, with the ultimate aim of handing over the conflict to someone else, preferably someone who will also continue the occupation indefinitely. It's that simple.

To accomplish these ends, the administration must constantly move the goalposts: When one goal doesn't pan out, switch to another. Six months ago security was terrible, so the goal became political progress. Today political progress is stagnant or deteriorating, so they shift back to a rhetorical focus on security. Because security hasn't actually improved, the numbers have to be fudged, which appears to be no problem for our current leadership.

And now the reality-based community has to spend time, effort, and attention repudiating this mendacity, so the fight is over numbers instead of strategy. The key question for this month is not whether violence is up or down, not whether three or five of the eighteen benchmarks have been accomplished, not the latest casualty numbers. It's whether our national security and foreign policy is improved and advanced by our presence in Iraq.

The answer is an unequivocal, firm, resounding No. It's just that simple. Of course it's important to counter the falsehoods, and examine the facts on the ground, and check out all of those details. It's also important to remember why we fight, and this conflict does not meet the qualifications. Read More......

Bush promotes Al Anbar as success story - too bad Anbar had nothing to do with the surge

Keep repeating it, folks:

In truth, the progress in Anbar was initiated by the Iraqis themselves, a point Gates himself made, saying the Sunni tribes decided to fight and retake control from al-Qaida many months before Bush decided to send an extra 4,000 Marines to Anbar as part of his troop buildup.

The surge had nothing to do with Al Anbar province. So, if anything, Anbar shows that we don't need the surge troops in Iraq at all for "success." Read More......

Romney is worried about Thompson

Mitt is seems freaked out about Thompson. This should get good and ugly:

"We all get the chance to go on the talk shows. But it's not the sort of questions you get in the debates or the town meetings that I've had," Romney said in an Associated Press interview, alluding to Thompson's planned appearance Wednesday on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Thompson is to officially enter the race Thursday.

"The talk show circuit is fine, but the town meetings show you're willing to listen to people and take their questions," continued Romney.

While Thompson, the "Law & Order" television actor and former senator from Tennessee, will be in Los Angeles for the Leno show Romney will be among the GOP contenders at a Wednesday night debate in Durham., N.H.

"I think it will boost the ratings for Jay Leno's show, but I'd rather be doing well in New Hampshire," Romney earlier told reporters before he marched in a Labor Day parade in Milford, N.H.

Romney also took a jab as Thompson's long delayed decision to become an official candidate for the GOP nomination.

"Well, I guess the only comment I'd make to Fred Thompson would be: Why the hurry? Why not take a little longer to think this over? From my standpoint, if he wants to wait until January or February, that would be ideal."

Responded Todd Harris, a Thompson spokesman: "People often use humor to try to mask the fact that they're nervous."

Read More......

Reality in Iraq: "recent improvements are sometimes tenuous, temporary, even illusory"

No doubt, the Bush administration has been in overdrive trying to sell the success of the surge. Any Bush generated document, like the upcoming White House report, will undoubtedly find that success. The question for members of Congress is whether they continue to buy the Bush p.r. campaign. During the past five years, Bush has rarely, if ever, been honest, about Iraq. In today's Washington Post, Sudarsan Raghavan, examines the reality in Iraq. It doesn't match the Bush version of "reality":

For months, top commanders and Bush administration officials have said that sectarian violence is down, although some U.S. agencies disagree, according to a recent draft report by the Government Accountability Office. Commanders and officials say attacks are also down against U.S. troops in once-treacherous regions such as Anbar province. This year, more than 100 joint security stations and smaller combat outposts have been erected in neighborhoods and villages across the country, which generals say is an indicator that U.S. and Iraqi troops maintain control.

If there is one indisputable truth regarding the current offensive, it is this: When large numbers of U.S. troops are funneled into areas, security improves. But the numbers only partly describe the reality on the ground. Visits to key U.S. bases and neighborhoods in and around Baghdad show that recent improvements are sometimes tenuous, temporary, even illusory.

In many areas, U.S. forces are now working at cross-purposes with Iraq's elected Shiite-led government by financing onetime Sunni insurgents who say they now want to work with the Americans. The loyalties of the Iraqi military and police -- widely said to be infiltrated by Shiite militias -- remain in doubt.

Not a pretty picture. Yet, Bush and most of the GOP want to keep U.S. troops in the middle of this quagmire. Read More......

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Back to school. Back to work. And, Congress is back.

The debate about Iraq and continuing the escalation will be intense. Bush is pulling out all the stops in his p.r. campaign. Facts don't match reality, but that has never, ever been a problem for Bush and the media that covers him.

All right, let's get it started. Read More......

Where were these people before the war?

100% spot on article in The Independent today which asks where were all of the doubters who today complain and pile on Rumsfeld and the disastrous war planning? I had been told before that it's a matter of unofficial military code that you accept orders without criticism but as with just about everything, times change. I have always bristled when hearing such after-the-fact criticisms and have fallen into the "where were you when we needed you?" camp.

And why all this talk of "post-war planning"? Do those who led us into this war still cling to the notion that the war was a brilliant idea, brilliantly executed – until Mr Rumsfeld and his inept planners mangled the follow-up? Or are they just saving their skins?

The truth, though, comes ever closer. Listen to Maj-Gen Cross. "Right from the beginning," he says, "we were all very concerned about the lack of detail that had gone into the post-war plan."

I am sure they were. The many leaks to journalists from unhappy members of the defence and diplomatic establishment over those months testify eloquently to these worries. But if there was so much concern at the time – from the British head of military planning, from Britain's newly appointed chief of the general staff, among others – why in heaven's name were they not more open about it? Why did not any which one of them – dare one mention the word – resign?

It is unfair to restrict ourselves to the top brass. A few more names could be added. The Prime Minister's chief foreign policy adviser at the time, Sir Stephen Wall, said 18 months after the invasion – after he had left for a secure berth in the private sector – that in the run-up to the war "we" - note the plural - had allowed "our" judgement of the "dire consequences of inaction" to override our judgement about the legality of the war.

Absolutely. What ever happened to true leaders instead of this bunch? Read More......

What's next for Egypt?

As I jumped online this morning after barely accessing email or the internet in August while backpacking through Egypt, Jordan and Israel, I was immediately grabbed by a timely article that was often the topic of discussion during my travels and chats across Egypt. All too often we hear that the US needs to prop up Mubarak, right or wrong, because if we don't the people that hate us will win and the entire region will be thrown into turmoil. What struck me in Egypt was that there was a keen interest in moderate change. As one older man told me "in America you have Bush and as bad as he is, he will eventually be moved out of office. In the UK, Blair may be terrible, but eventually he goes away. In Egypt, we have Mubarak who will never leave and then the country will be ruled by his son, forever. Twenty-five years and then a second generation is a long time."

Person after person talked about their respect and admiration for Sadat ("he brought peace, which is what we all want") and Nasser. When they discussed Mubarak, the voices were lowered and they glanced around, familiar with the thousands of people who criticize and disappear. These were normal people who simply want change, reform and moderation. Feeding their families and searching for a bit of optimism for the future was of key concern which are hardly radical ideas. Imagine as an American an eternal Bush rule, with Halliburton and other GOP-friendly businesses cleaning up on every contract for 25+ years.

The general state of pessimism was striking and obvious to everyone. If the US wants Egypt to remain a friendly country, working with us instead of against us, it's about time we start nurturing leaders who show an interest in spreading out the wealth of the country instead of limiting it in the hands of a select few. To say that our options are black and white is absolute rubbish. Mubarak is almost 80 and in generally poor health so hopefully the US is looking into the future to see who they can partner with to bring change. Considering everything else in the last few years, I suspect our planning is much more focused on Mubarak II which probably means more of the same. Read More......