Select video from today's Democratic national security hearing

All via YouTube:

Major General John Batiste

Major General Paul Eaton

Col. Thomas Hannes

Major General Batiste on Troop Strength (37 Seconds)

Major Batiste on Congress (30 Seconds)

Major Batiste on Rumsfeld (51 Seconds)

Colonel Hammes on equipment for the troops (1:01)

Major General Eaton on Rumsfeld (29 Seconds)

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ABC News: US has only 7,000 to 10,000 combat troops fully trained and equipped to respond quickly to a crisis

From ABC's World News (what a dumb name change):

The reason senior Army leaders want a bigger army, they are worried about the Army's ability to fight future threats. One official tells ABC News, other than the troops now in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are only about two or three combat brigades, seven to ten thousand troops, fully trained and equipped to respond quickly to a crisis.

Like that? We went from a million and then some troops to ten thousand. Ten thousand. North Korea drops a nuke, we've got ten thousand troops fully ready and available to respond, that's it.

This is George Bush's legacy. He's made us into a third world country. But hey, Republicans love the military. To death, it would seem. Read More......

Another person comes forward and says Allen used the N-word

New York Times

Christopher Taylor, an anthropology professor at Alabama University in Birmingham, Ala., said that in the early 1980’s he heard Mr. Allen use an inflammatory epithet for African Americans. Mr. Taylor, who is white and was then a graduate student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, said the term came up in a conversation about the turtles in a pond near Mr. Allen’s property. According to Mr. Taylor, Mr. Allen said that “around here” only the African Americans — whom he referred to by the epithet — “eat ‘em.”

Check out Allen's denial:

“I don’t remember ever using that word and it is absolutely false that that was ever part of my vocabulary.”

"I don't remember" is not a denial. And the phrase "never part of my vocabulary," what exactly does that mean? Does that mean he never used the word, ever? Come on. I could actually forgive someone admitting to having used the word a few times in their life decades ago - I think a lot of adults today would be hard pressed to say "never" - but we're to believe that George Allen NEVER used it, ever?

I guess it depends on what the definition of "nigger" is. Read More......

Prof. Larry Sabato of UVA, #1 expert on Virginia politics, says George Allen did in fact use the N-word in the past, in spite of Allen's denials

Professor Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia, who is a big deal, says he doesn't believe George Allen when he says he never used the N-word. Sabata says Allen DID use the N-word, whatever he claims to the contrary. And even more interestingly, Sabato says there is "other evidence" that he won't go into on the show that proves Allen has used the N-word. Wow. According to Josh Marshall, Sabata and Allen both graduated from UVA in 1974. Does that mean Sabato knows first-hand that George Allen is a racist?

Sabato is probably the biggest, most important political observer in the state of Virginia. This is huge.

Check out the MSNBC video here. Read More......

Iraq parliament to discuss autonomous states

I'm sure Turkey will just sit quietly and accept this.

Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political leaders broke a two-week deadlock and agreed on a compromise that will allow parliament to take up Shiite-proposed draft legislation to permit creation of partly self-ruling regions.

Sunni Arabs have fought the federalism bill, fearing it will splinter the country and deny them a share of Iraq's oil, which is found in the predominantly Kurdish north and the heavily Shiite south.

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My CNN appearance yesterday

I was on Howie Kurtz's CNN show "Reliable Sources" yesterday, debating Debra Saunders, a far-right and rather nasty columnist for the SF Chronicle (I've had run-ins with her before - think Ann Coulter, but with actual clothes on). The topics were Bill Clinton's FOX appearance in which he explained how George Bush didn't do nearly enough to stop 9/11, and we also discuss newly-gay ex-Gov. McGreevey. I think it went well. It's been a few months since I've done any TV, so my hands were a bit lively as was my use of the phrase "I mean." Oh well. Ten o'clock on a Sunday will do that to you. Have a gander.

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Open Thread

Watching the Democrats hearing on the Planning & Conduct of the Iraq War. It's amazing. Iraq is a mess. No wonder the GOP won't hold hearings on Iraq.

It's live on CSPAN3 and being webcast by the Democratic Policy Committee. Read More......

Apparently "support" for troops doesn't include adequate supplies or training

I must be stupid. That's clearly the only explanation. I must be stupid, because I simply cannot understand how something can be The Most Important Thing On Earth but not be worth providing adequate resources for. I wish I could comprehend it, but I can't.

President Bush keeps telling us the Iraq is the key to the War on Terror. I happen to disagree -- I believe that the invasion of Iraq was, in fact, a dangerous and inflammatory distraction from the proper way to handle violent extremism -- but President Bush keeps telling me I'm wrong, like when he said this in a radio address he made just a few weeks ago:

The security of the civilized world depends on victory in the war on terror, and that depends on victory in Iraq

The security of the civilized world! I'd say that's pretty important, so the President must be giving our military every possible resource to accomplish its goal, right? Even if it involves calling for sacrifice, perhaps suspending tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% of America, or encouraging big business to pitch in to the war effort, or simply publicly asking Americans to join the military? Since I don't see any of that happening, I guess our troops have must everything they need. Wait . . . they don't? They don't??

The pressures that the conflict in Iraq is putting on the Army are apparent amid the towering pine trees of southeast Georgia, where the Third Infantry Division is preparing for the likelihood that it will go back to Iraq for a third tour. Col. Tom James, who commands the division’s Second Brigade, acknowledged that his unit's equipment levels had fallen so low that it now had no tanks or other armored vehicles to use in training and that his soldiers were rated as largely untrained in attack and defense.

How Secretary Rumsfeld still has his job is beyond me. How President Bush has any supporters left is beyond me. How we're supposed to succeed at the Most Important Thing Ever while denying our soldiers the training and supplies they desperately need is beyond me. But like I said, I guess I'm just stupid.

On the other hand, if I'm not stpuid, it calls into question what, exactly, President Bush and Congressional Republicans -- who control the entire apparatus of the federal government, keep in mind -- think "support" for U.S. soldiers consists of . . . and why Republicans don't seem to care that President Bush is royally screwing both our military as we know it and, according to his own words, the security of the civilized world. Read More......

ACTION ALERT: Let's call our members of Congress about the NIE

Josh Marshall says it's time to call the Hill. Josh is right. Here's what he had to say this morning on his blog:

Do yourself and your country a favor this morning.

Call up your US House member and senators -- Republican or Democrat, it doesn't matter -- and tell them you want the April National Intelligence Estimate ("Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States") released to the public. Now. Before the election. So the public can know what the White House has been keeping from them.

Bush is campaigning on his national security record. His record is one of making us all less safe. It's not just Democrats and Republican "rebels" saying this. It's Bush's own intelligence community confirming in their most comprehensive review of the war on terror (the NIE) that Bush's invasion of Iraq has increased, not decreased, the terrorist threat America faces.

George Bush and the Republicans are now claiming that when you see the complete NIE, not just the portion that was leaked, it actually somehow exonerates Bush (or something). Fine. We're game. Release the entire NIE to the public and let's see for ourselves whether the Republicans have made us more or less safe since September 11, and whether Bush and the Republicans are telling the truth about what the NIE actually says.

Let's all call our members of Congress NOW and demand that they make public the entire National Intelligence Estimate immediately. And when they tell you it's classified so they can't release it, say "really, are you telling me a National Intelligence Estimate has NEVER been declassified? Answer the question." NIE's have been declassified before. And they can even prepare a declassified executive summary if they don't want to declassify the entire thing.

Let's know the real record. Demand your member of Congress release the NIE now. Then let's report the feedback in the comments on how the calls went, what the offices say, etc. Read More......

Dems. to hold Iraq hearings today -- because GOP won't

The Republicans in Congress have never challenged Bush's failed Iraq policy. Now we know from the latest National Intelligence Estimate that the Bush/GOP Iraq policy has made the world a more dangerous place.

The Republicans won't hold oversight hearings on Iraq. But, today, the Democrats will:

Retired military officers on Monday are expected to bluntly accuse Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld of bungling the war in Iraq, saying U.S. troops were sent to fight without the best equipment and that critical facts were hidden from the public.

"I believe that Secretary Rumsfeld and others in the administration did not tell the American people the truth for fear of losing support for the war in Iraq," retired Maj. Gen. John R. S. Batiste said in remarks prepared for a hearing by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

A second witness, retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, is expected to assess Rumsfeld as "incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically ...."

"Mr. Rumsfeld and his immediate team must be replaced or we will see two more years of extraordinarily bad decision-making," said his testimony prepared for the hearing, to be held six weeks before the Nov. 7 midterm elections in which the war is a central issue.

The conflict, now in its fourth year, has claimed the lives of more than 2,600 American troops and cost more than $300 billion.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., the committee chairman, told reporters last week that he hoped the hearing would shed light on the planning and conduct of the war. He said majority Republicans had failed to conduct hearings on the issue, adding, "if they won't ... we will."

It's no wonder the GOP won't hold hearings. The Iraq war is a disaster.

The hearings will be webcast on the Democratic Policy Committee's website at 1:30 pm. The cable networks have covered just about every single one of Bush's political terror speeches lately. We now know that he's been lying about national security in all of them. Let's see if they cover any of this hearing which challenges Bush's Iraq policy. Read More......

Declassify it

Wash Post:

The conclusion of U.S. intelligence analysts that the Iraq war has increased the threat from terrorism is only "a fraction of judgments" in a newly disclosed National Intelligence Estimate, Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte said yesterday.

The NIE, completed in April, reflects the consensus view of 16 government intelligence services, including the CIA. The Washington Post, New York Times and Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that the classified document concludes that the invasion and occupation of Iraq has fueled Islamic extremism and contributed to the spread of terrorist cells.

Ok, I'm game. If the White House isn't lying, again, then let them declassify the National Intelligence Estimate and prove it. I'd love to know what else the NIE allegedly says that could make up for the established fact that the entire US intelligence community has concluded that George Bush has increased the threat of terrorism and made America less safe. Read More......

Theocrats use dirty tricks and lie in elections

The "Values Voters" met in DC for their election conference this weekend. The meeting was filled with their usual hate rhetoric. But, they gave some insight in to their tactics -- which include deception and lies:

In a workshop, Connie Marshner, a veteran organizer, distributed a step-by-step guide that recommended obtaining church directories and posing as a nonpartisan pollster to ask people how they planned to vote.

“Hello, I am with ABC polls,” a suggested script began.

Some attendees complained that the script seemed deceptive, Ms. Marshner said in an interview afterward. She said that such disguised calls were a common campaign tactic, that it was just a suggested script and that she never recommended answering a direct question with a lie.

And these are the people who pride themselves on their devout religious views. They'll do anything it takes to impose their theocratic agenda. Read More......

Monday Morning Open Thread

What a weekend. In 48 hours, Americans found out the Bush really has made us less safe. If he tries to campaign on making Americans safer, he is lying. It's that simple. Read More......

Couric delivers quality on 60 Minutes - group hug time

You know, I'm really sick and tired of journalists asking tough questions because our political leaders should not have to be subjected to tough questions that are in the interest of the public. Instead, we need more "hooray for Dear Leader" pieces so we can really compete with the likes of Soviet journalism. We shoud be fawning all over our leadership no matter how much they may have lied to the 9/11 Commission or no matter how many botched wars they have on their hands. Just because tens of thousands of Iraqis have died and the invasion has helped spread terrorism, there's no need to talk about ghastly stories like that. Instead, let's do our leaders a favor and help with their PR because by gosh, they need it.

Thanks Katie and please give us more reports like this instead of asking the tough questions. Some might say this is another Lisa Simpson moment but isn't it time we all have a group hug and forget about being held accountable? If we want to hold politicians accountable, we know that it's best to simply blame Clinton for everything and give everyone else a free pass.

If only Katie could have asked Condi to turn that frown upside down. Read More......

Cardin starts with 11 point lead for MD Senate battle

I expected the numbers to be closer but it won't surprise me to see this tighten up as election day gets closer. Maryland has been a solid Democrat state for a while so it will take something extraordinary for the GOP candidate Steele to win, especially in this climate. Certainly a contributing factor is Bush's 34% approval rating in the state along with the overwhelming support within the state for a withdrawal from Iraq. On election day, Cardin should win and hold the seat currently held by Sarbannes but this is no time to be over confident.

In the other big Maryland election, for governor, popular Baltimore mayor O'Malley is in a closer fight with incumbent governor Ehrlich, who is the first GOP governor in Maryland since disgraced Nixon VP Spiro Agnew. O'Malley now holds a 6 point lead over aspiring presidential candidate Ehrlich. Read More......

Open thread

Say goodnight, Georgie. Read More......