Open thread

Tomorrow starts a very busy week. Read More......

Wyoming US House race, Dem almost tied with Republican now

That's how bad things have gotten for the Republicans, they're fighting to hold onto Wyoming, where Gary Trauner is fighting on behalf of the Dems. You can give Gary a little love via the link at the top of the blog. Read More......

More fall-out from Lynne Cheney losing it on Friday's CNN show

Wolf Blitzer responded today to VP wife Lynne Cheney's bizarre performance on CNN this past Friday. Cheney, who used to co-host CNN's uber-combattive show Crossfire, pretended she was just a little old southern belle on Friday and couldn't believe the big bad Wolf was asking her serious questions about the politics of the day, including questions about the lesbian sex novel she wrote called "Sisters." Oh puhleeze, Cheney is a longtime political hack and hardly some newby to national TV. Our own Joe in DC debated her on Crossfire years ago and, well, let's just say that if she weren't sitting in that chair...

ThinkProgress has Wolf's comment on l'Affaire Cheney from today's CNN show.

I'd also add, as an aside, that Cheney had the audacity to ask Wolf "do you want us to win?" the war in Iraq. A comment I find extremely troubling from a national political figure in a democracy. CNN's job isn't to help the US, or anybody else, win or lose. Their job is to report the news. Aside from reporting a story that they know, or suspect, will cause massive damage to US national security, it is not the media's job in a democracy to further some governmental agenda. Mrs. Cheney knows that, but she, like so many others now leading the Republican party, don't really believe in democracy. So it's no wonder she wants to know whose team the press is on since in her sick little world freedom is always partisan.

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Former GOP House Majority Leader Dick Armey blasts GOP

From the Washington Post:

Now spending is out of control. Rather than rolling back government, we have a new $1.2 trillion Medicare prescription drug benefit, and non-defense discretionary spending is growing twice as fast as it had in the Clinton administration. Meanwhile, Social Security is collapsing while rogue nations are going nuclear and the Middle East is more combustible than ever. Yet Republican lawmakers have taken up such issues as flag burning, Terri Schiavo and same-sex marriage.

They're fooling only themselves.

Then Armey loses his mind, and ironically pulls the same gay boogeyman out of his hat that he just criticized the GOP for pulling:

In essence, Pelosi will be forced to choose between a vocal base -- expecting immediate satisfaction on issues such as withdrawing from Iraq, legalizing same-sex marriage and the impeachment of President Bush -- or policies that are tolerable to a majority of Americans. That's quite a dilemma: appeasing a base that has been hungry for political revenge since 2000 and 2004, or alienating moderate and swing voters.

Oh puhleeze. No one, and I mean NO ONE, is calling for Congress to legalize same-sex marriage any time soon. That's just absurd. As for withdrawing from Iraq - newsflash, Mr. Armey - that would be over 60% of the country that wants us out of there. And finally, impeachment is hardly the top priority for Democrats, though it's understandable why it seems to be the top Republican fear. Breaking six years worth of laws and constitutional protections has a way of instilling fear in people who grow too proud. Read More......

GOP Rep. Barbara Cubin's slap

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Latests numbers on overall House and Senate

DailyKos has a really nice summary of many of the top pollsters and what they're currently saying about how many seats the Ds and Rs will get in the House and Senate come election day. Read More......

GOP porn scandal widens: In addition to accepting donations from gay "porn king," GOP also took money from "porn queen" Mary Carey

You'll recall that late last night Josh Marshall reported that the national Republican party has repeatedly accepted donations from one of the top gay porn producers in the country. This story is relevant since the Republicans have been hitting Democrat Harold Ford in Tennessee with ads claiming he took donations from a Hollywood porn producer.

Now, as you might imagine, the Republicans will probably say they had no idea they were taking money from a man whose living is making films such as "Fire in the Hole", "Flesh and Boners", even a "Velvet Mafia" series.

But that excuse rings hollow when you consider that the GOP had no problem tarring Harold Ford with the same charge. But far more damning is the fact that the Republican party has a history of accepting money from the porn industry. It hasn't just happened before - the GOP openly welcomed porn money.

Case in point, my girl Mary Carey, who just last year gave $5,000 to the GOP, the GOP knew who she was, and they gladly accepted her money made from screwing guys on film. (Visit Mary Carey's Web site, but be warned, this link is not work-friendly, though Lynne Cheney might disagree.)

Mary is one of the top female porn stars in America. She is the lead thespian in such movies as "Tit Happens," "Lesbian Big Boob Bangeroo" ("Eight kinky, nasty, big-titted, snatch-sucking, muff-diving, pussy-eating, horny sluts can't seem to get enough of that sweet cooch juice!"), and "Everybody Loves Big Boobies."

Mary and her boss donated $5000 last year to the National Republican Congress Committee (NRCC) - the organization that helps elect Republicans to the US House, and which is ironically headed by embattled Congressman Tom Reynolds (R-NY), who is now embroiled in the Mark Foley child sex predator scandal. Their $5k donation got them dinner with the president and a slew of top Republican congressional leaders, and even lunch with Karl Rove.

And before you say the Republicans had no idea they were taking a porn superstar's money, think again:

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Carl Forti admitted as much to the AP and said, “Their money was donated to the NRCC. The NRCC’s job is to elect Republicans. We’ll take that money and use it to elect more Republicans.”

Yes, Mr. Reynold's top staffer on the NRCC knowingly, openly, and gladly, took money from one of the top porn stars in America. And he had no qualms doing it.

Now ask yourself again if the Republican party had no knowledge that they were taking money repeatedly from the the gay porn king of America? And then ask yourself why the Republicans seem more concerned about Democrats accepting porn money than the porn-lovers in their own midst. Answer: The GOP only pretends to care about religious right values. And so long as the religious right doesn't make the GOP pay a price for taking them for granted, the GOP will continue to cavort with gay porn kings.

And they'll even continue to take the money of a porn superstar who told me last year (and I have it on tape) that she wants to have a lesbian menage-a-trois with the Bush twins:

"Oh my God, his daughters! I’d LOVE to party with his daughters. I’d love to meet them. I totally want to have sex with them. You can write it the day after I leave here."

This ain't your daddy's Republican party. Read More......

NBC: Mark Foley investigation will shortly "widen"

Watch the video on Huffington Post. Read More......

Iraqis to announce Saddam verdict 2 days before the US elections this fall

UPDATE: I'd written this hours ago, but since Blogger doesn't work anymore you're seeing it now. Anyway, there's an update - it seems the Iraqis may be getting the message that it doesn't help their image as George Bush's poodle to be seen trying to influence the US elections in favor of Bush's party.

That is simply outrageous. The Bush administration has clearly arranged this, there is no other possibility. The Iraqi government should immediately demand that the verdict be postponed 3 days until after the US elections. This is simply outrageous that the Iraqi government is conspiring with the Bush administration in order to influence the US elections. It's also rather ironic that the US puppet Prime Minister in Iraq Nouri al-Maliki spent the past week visiting his masters in Washington, DC, all the while proclaiming that he was a real boy and not a wooden toy, and now we find out that he's doing George Bush's bidding by interfering with the US elections on behalf of George Bush's party.

Is Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki his own man, or a US puppet who is more concerned with interfering with America's democracy than shoring up his own? I think we have our answer.

It's no wonder the Iraqis don't trust al-Maliki. He's nothing more than a member of the Bush administration, about as high up on the totem pole as Barney. Pathetic. Read More......

Dems ahead in Maryland Gov. and Senate races

(NOTE: Blogger is down AGAIN. We, like every other blog on Blogger, are only able to post intermittently - literally we're publishing each post a good 50 to 100 times before it shows up. We are frantically trying to launch the new blog, with a new non-Blogger server this week. And for any tech repoters out there, Blogger is lying to you. They're saying if we'd just switch to Blogger Beta everything would be fine. Well guess what - you have to be invited to join Blogger Beta, and haven't been invited, nor has anyone else I know. Not to mention, the fine print tells you that blogs of over a few thousand posts, which is every decent sized blog out there, can't use the beta yet. So basically, Blogger is melting down the week before the elections and Blogger and Google are making excuses. Nice.)

This is welcome news 10 days out. Bush is bringing down the GOP in Maryland, too:

A strong Democratic tide in Maryland threatens to swamp Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s reelection bid and bolsters the party's efforts to retain control of an important U.S. Senate seat, according to a new Washington Post poll.

Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) held a 10 percentage point lead over Ehrlich, and Democratic Senate nominee Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin had a similar advantage over Republican Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele among likely voters in the Post poll, which was conducted last Sunday through Thursday. The leads were well beyond the survey's three percentage point margin of error.

Steele has been getting buzz, but it's not translating in to support. People in Maryland know he really is a Bush Republican. Read More......

CBS's Bob Schieffer calls GOP head Ken Mehlman "lame"

Unfortunately I can't give you the video because CBS is making YouTube take down video we post there, claiming copyright infringement, so we're no longer posting CBS's video. I can however quote CBS's Bob Schieffer from this morning's Face the Nation with Ken Mehlman.

CBS'S BOB SCHIEFFER: Why is the Republican National Committee spending its money on an ad down in Tennessee, the purpose of it seems to be to suggest that the Democratic candidate Harold Ford is an African-American?

RNC CHAIRMAN KEN MEHLMAN: The ad that you're talking about is an ad that is being run independently of the Republican National Committee.

SCHIEFFER: Just a minute, let's run the end of the ad, let's hear what it say.

[Woman's voice: "The Republican National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising."]

SCHIEFFER: Yes.

MEHLMAN: The way that the law works, unfortunately it's a law that I think ought to be changed, and by the way it's a law on which people on both sides of the campaign reform think ought to be changed, is that if I talk like I do on a regular basis to candidates like Mr. [Republican Senate candidate Bob] Corker then the TV ads that are run beyond a very small limit are run independently of me. This ad is down, I'm please the ad is down, and I'm pleased that the focus of that campaign is now about questions like...

SCHIEFFER: But you paid for it.

MEHLMAN: I've talked to Senator McCain and to Senator McConnell, both of whom have been on different sides of the campaign reform issue. Both agree that a law which says the Republican National Committee pays for the ad, but it's also illegal for the Chairman of the RNC, for the political director of the RNC, or the communications director of the RNC...

SCHIEFFER: But, but Mr. Mehlman, the logic... if I think something is wrong but I take advantage of a law that allows me to take advantage of that, that's pretty lame, if I may say so.

MEHLMAN: My response to that ad is the same response Mr. Ford had from a race perspective. I would not have put the ad up. I did not think that it was necessarily a racist ad, at the same time...

SCHIEFFER: But you approved of it.

MEHLMAN: I did not approve of it.

SCHIEFFER: You said you thought it was "fair." You're on the record saying that.

MEHLMAN: Well I thought some of the issues raised in that ad, the issue of taxes, I think those are fair issues, on the other hand I personally would not have put that ad up.

SCHIEFFER: But what does that say, you talk about "values" and stuff, that you're taking advantage of an ad when you know what it says is wrong and you admit that it ought not to be that way but you're willing to take advantage of it.

Ok, so Wolf Blitzer actually demands answers from Lynne Cheney. Bob Schieffer doesn't let Ken Mehlman get away with his usual non-responsive BS. What's next, Spock with a goatee? Read More......

Republicans growing increasingly worried about our boy, Scott Kleeb

And they should be. You'll recall that Scott Kleeb was the first candidate we raised money for last week. Seems we may have been prescient.

From the Lincoln Journal Star:

In the surest sign the 3rd District congressional seat is up for grabs, the National Republican Congressional Committee may be poised to commit resources to the race....

If the GOP congressional committee enters the race in the final 10 days of the campaign, it would be confirmation that poll numbers have uncovered a tight struggle between Republican nominee Adrian Smith and Democratic nominee Scott Kleeb.

The 69-county 3rd District seat had been considered safely Republican at the beginning of the campaign.

Western and central Nebraska hasn’t elected a Democrat to the House since 1958, when Don McGinley won a single term.

Kleeb, 31, a Dunning ranch hand with two post-graduate degrees from Yale, has raised more than $700,000, far more than any previous Democratic candidate in the district.

If you can spare any more change, please help Scott out. I've met him, he's good. We've already raised $12,000 for Scott, let's see if we can make it a cool 15 or 20 by the end of Sunday (more on Scott here), and keep you contributions coming in to the other candidates (links at the top of the site). Thanks.

Scott Kleeb (NE-03) $

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Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

Here's the lineup one week out. George Allen will be on Fox News. What are the chances anyone on the GOP network will ask him about the divorce and arrest records that he won't make public? Will Scheiffer ask Mehlman about Abramoff?:

ABC's "This Week"...— House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio; actor and stem-cell research activist Michael J. Fox; actress and UNICEF ambassador Sarah Jessica Parker.

CBS' "Face the Nation"... — Reps. John Murtha, D-Pa., and Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman.

NBC's "Meet the Press"... — Democratic Rep. Ben Cardin and Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, Maryland Senate candidates.

CNN's "Late Edition"... — Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind.; Samir Sumaidaie, Iraqi ambassador to the U.S.; Reps. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.; retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton.

"Fox News Sunday"... — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif.; Sens. George Allen, R-Va., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

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Republican National Committee regularly takes contributions from gay porn "king"

Why is this relevant? Because the RNC went after Tennessee Democrat Harold Ford last week claiming he took money from Hollywood porn movie producers. Leave it to the Republicans to one up the Democrats and not just take porn money, but take GAY PORN money :-) I love Republicans. They make me smile.

More from Josh Marhsall:

RNC Chief Ken Mehlman accepted political contributions from gay porn king?.... the Republican National Committee is a regular recipient of political contributions from Nicholas T. Boyias, the owner and CEO of Marina Pacific Distributors, one of the largest producers and distributors of gay porn in the United States....

Some recent releases include "Fire in the Hole", "Flesh and Boners", even a "Velvet Mafia" series.

Maybe we can get Ken to guest blog a few reviews for us.

PS As Josh notes, I have no problem with porn, gay or otherwise. But Ken Mehlman (who will always be my king of porn) does. Or so we thought. Read More......