Myanmar junta blocks food aid shipment

Disgraceful. How hard is it to "negotiation" the delivering of food aid when your people are starving?

A French government statement said navy ship Le Mistral was waiting some 13 miles outside Myanmar’s territorial waters, hoping to go in and unload its cargo of 1,000 tons of food — enough to feed 100,000 people for 15 days. The aid also includes shelters for 15,000 people, the statement said.

“The specifics of the delivery of this aid have not yet been defined,” the statement said, adding such details “will be the subject of negotiations” with Myanmar authorities, who are yet to authorize it to dock either in the delta or in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.

Read More......

Obama: Why do McCain and Bush have a problem with JFK?

Yet another story in which Hillary isn't even a player.

ABC News Sunlen Miller reports: Sen. Barack Obama went one step further today in his pushback against presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain and President Bush on appeasement, suggesting that both Republicans have a problem with presidents past who have engaged in direct diplomacy.

"If George Bush and John McCain have a problem with direct diplomacy, led by the president of the United States, then they can explain why they have a problem with John F. Kennedy because that's what he did with [Soviet leader Nikita] Khrushchev, or Ronald Reagan, 'cause that's what he did with [Soviet leader Mikhail] Gorbachev, or Richard Nixon 'cause that's what they did with [Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung]," Obama said in Roseburg, Ore. "That’s exactly the kind of diplomacy we need to keep us safe."

Read More......

Tom Allen is closing the gap with Susan Collins

Yes, I'm obsessed with the Allen-Collins race. I really think Tom can win and the latest poll shows the race is tightening:

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Maine voters shows that the state’s U.S. Senate race has gotten a little bit tighter this month. In her bid for re-election, Republican Senator Susan Collins now leads Democratic challenger Tom Allen 52% to 42%.

Collins’ lead has decreased from sixteen percentage points last month to ten points this month. But, the incumbent still earns support from 89% of Republican voters and 34% of Democrats. The candidates are tied at 44% among unaffiliated voters.

Rasmussen shows Obama leading McCain 51% - 38%. Maine is a very blue state and Susan Collins owns the Bush/McCain legacy.

The campaign changed this week when Maine news finally picked up on Susan's abysmal record on oversight of Iraq. The video clip has been getting a lot of attention in the blogosphere. We put it up as did DailyKos, Cliff Schecter, MyDD, Crooks and Liars, Senate Guru and Turn Maine Blue. It's devastating for Collins. She plays moderate in Maine, but when she's in D.C., Collins does the dirty work for George Bush. Don't forget, in 2002, Susan was one of Bush's biggest cheerleaders for the war in Iraq. It was a staple of her campaign back then. She owns the failures in Iraq -- and did nothing to stop it.

Keep an eye on this race. It's going to get really interesting. And, help Tom out at our ActBlue page. We've raised almost just over $10,000. Small contributions really matter in Maine....they'll go a long way. Read More......

DC City Councilor switches from Clinton to Obama

D.C. City Councilmember Jack Evans today announced that he is switching his support from Clinton to Obama. UPDATE: Just back from an event where Evans spoke. Turns out the earlier information wasn't accurate. Evan isn't a superdelegate, he was just a confirmed Clinton supporter. Read More......

Alright, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up

Just when you thought it was safe.


Watch the original, here. Read More......

BREAKING: Kennedy rushed to hospital, possible stroke

1:29 PM UPDATE From the Boston Globe:

Doctors believe that Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts suffered a seizure at his home in Hyannis Port this morning, then a second seizure as he was being transported by helicopter from Cape Cod Hospital to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, according to an official briefed on the situation.

His condition was unclear early this afternoon, as a special police security detail gathered at Mass. General. Kennedy family members were called this morning and told to rush to Boston, according to sources.

UPDATE: I was just told by a friend who knows such things, that if for any reason Kennedy were to step down from his post, the Democratic Governor, Deval Patrick, would appoint a replacement. So control of the Senate isn't in question here.

ABC

Sen. Edward Kennedy, a leading Democrat and patriarch of a prominent American political dynasty, was hospitalized in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with symptoms of a stroke, CNN reported on Saturday.

Kennedy, 76, was taken to the hospital early in the morning, CNN said, citing an unidentified prominent state party member.

More from CNN:

The source said the 76-year-old senator had "symptoms of a stroke."

Kennedy was taken to the hospital around 8 or 9 a.m. from the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis, according to the source. The source said the senator would be transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Read More......

Bush backpedals after Saudi rejection

How convenient and oh what a change from only one day earlier. Listening to this nonsense, you would never imagine this guy is President and is in his final year. Where the hell has he been?

President Bush said Saturday that the Saudis' modest increase in oil production is "something but it doesn't solve our problem" of soaring gas prices.

Taking note of the kingdom's recent decision to raise production by 300,000 barrels a day, the president said the United States must act, too, to ease the gasoline crisis. He mentioned steps such as developing alternate fuels, improving conservation and expanding domestic exploration.

"We've got to do more at home," the president said on a lawn of a resort overlooking the Red Sea. He spoke after a private meeting with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.

Read More......

When you fish in your own private, artificial lake on your 10-acre estate in Sedona, you're not a regular guy, John McCain.

Yesterday, McCain made a big deal out of stopping at a gun shop in West Virginia to show that he's just a regular guy -- a man of the people. He even bought some fishing gear. But, his press secretary exposed the reality that McCain is really a very wealthy elitist:

After the stop at the gun shop, Mr. McCain’s traveling press secretary, Brooke Buchanan, said that Mr. McCain would use his new fishing rod on the artificial lake at his 10-acre Arizona spread in Sedona.

Real people who fish don't have private artificial lakes on their 10-acre estates. Real people don't have lakes built for them on their estates. That's left to the elites and the modern day aristocrats. But guess who else has built their own lake to go fishing? John McCain's bff George Bush:

He also provided a thorough tour, with voluminous commentary, of the sprawling but unoccupied new dream house that he and his wife, Laura, have built beside an artificial lake, which was dug, at Mr. Bush's request, so that he could troll for bass just yards from the patio.

Now, I know the traveling press corps wouldn't ever equate McCain with being rich or elitist. That might make him mad and no one who spends time around McCain wants to evoke his out-of-control temper. And, we know the press types like getting invited to the private estate in Sedona for barbecues.

McCain and Cindy are very, very, very rich people. Very rich. When you own nine homes (or is it ten?), you're among the elite, no matter how you cut it. Really makes you wonder what is Cindy McCain hiding in her tax returns. Read More......

Bush to campaign for third term with McCain on May 27

House Republicans are running from George Bush as fast as they can. And, one of them is warning McCain about just how dangerous Bush can be politically:

[Congressman Tom] Davis was an early and enthusiastic backer of expected Republican nominee John McCain, but he said he could foresee a general election defeat if the Arizona senator does not successfully separate himself from Bush in voters’ minds. “If he is seen as Bush III, he’s a 20-point loser,” Davis declared.

But just as there is no separation between the House Republicans and George Bush, there is absolutely no separation between McCain and Bush. McCain is running for Bush's third term. And, Bush wants the legacy of that third term. This week, in Israel, Bush showed the depths to which he would sink to campaign for McCain. In a couple days, McCain will show the depths to which he's sinking. Bush is actually going to campaign in person with John McCain:

President George W. Bush will join John McCain for a fundraiser in the Arizona senator's hometown later this month, McCain's campaign confirms.

The reception, to be held in Phoenix on May 27th, will mark the first time the two have appeared together at a campaign event this year and the first time Bush has lent his fundraising skills to McCain.

It will be a two-tiered event with an early high-dollar reception followed by a general reception.

McCain must be in more trouble than we realize if he's hauling Bush out this early.

We want pictures. Lots of them. Read More......

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

It's a lovely day here in D.C. Seems like the first sunny weekend day we've had in weeks.

This week, the poet behind the poem-of-the-week blog is apparently focused on love. The poem is Shakepeare's Sonnet 116. Enjoy.

Then, back to reality.... Read More......

Goldman calling $141 oil

Even the Bush-loving boot lickers on Wall Street know that Bush will gladly roll over for the oil countries and his Big Oil friends. There's only so much inflation people in the real world can afford. Read More......