Virginia Republican George Allen & Lesbian sex novelist Lynne Cheney owe the US Marine Corps an apology

Very interesting find a reader just sent me. One of Virginia Democratic Senate candidate Jim Webb's books that Republican Senator George Allen thinks is vulgar and inappropriate reading is actually on the recommended books list for the US Marine Corps. VP spouse Lynne Cheney also finds this literature inappropriate for children, which is kind of obvious considering it's literature for the Marines.

The book, Fields of Fire, is one of the three books that Allen has a problem with. I guess Mr. Allen will need to take his complaint all the way to Iraq and tell our troops that they're unfit for command since they have read, and recommend for reading, Mr. Webb's book.



Not only that, but the Commandant of the US Marine Corps put Webb's book on the Corps' "official reading list."



So George Allen thinks he the Commandant of the US Marine Corps is having our soldiers read trash? I think George Allen and Mrs. Cheney owe the Commandant, and all of our troops risking their lives in Iraq, an apology. Read More......

Karl Rove, military strategist

This may explain why the U.S. is in so much trouble in Iraq. Rove is dispensing military advice...well, to Rove and Bush the military is political:

Presidential advisor Karl Rove blasted Democrats on Friday for even suggesting the U.S. withdraw from Iraq, saying the U.S. can't leave one of the world's largest oil reserves in terrorist hands.

However, Rove also said the military must be flexible in its tactics. He did not elaborate.

"More sacrifice is going to be required," Rove, President Bush's chief political strategist, told a ballroom full of Republicans at a fundraiser for Wisconsin candidates. "We will either create a world in which our children and our grandchildren have a hope of an optimistic future or we will leave to them a world with a hateful empire centered in the Middle East."

That sacrifice of which he speaks isn't coming from Republicans. Read More......

Negative Ads - My discussion on CNN earlier today

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GAO Chief: Republicans have put US on path to financial ruin

We had a $400 billion dollar a year surplus when Bush took office. We now are suffering under a staggering deficit. Had enough? Read More......

Off to CNN, I should be on at 530pm Eastern or so...

Going to be discussing negative advertising, and the like, around 530pm or so on CNN. Read More......

Keep the donations coming for Dem candidates

Your donations over the past week are detailed below (the smaller figures, under $3,000, are for candidates who we just added yesterday). And remember what I wrote earlier, the crucial time for last-minute donations is between now and Monday. After that, yes the campaigns can use donations, but for their last-minute ad buys, it's good for them to know the cash-on-hand they will have by Monday, if possible.



Give to our new list of 13 candidates here. Or us the links at the top of the blog to give to one of premiere candidates: Jill Derby (D-NV-02), Gary Trauner (WY), Angie Paccione (CO-04), and Scott Kleeb (NE-03). Read More......

Open thread

The view today from my balcony. Coming storm or clearing skies? You decide. (Click to photo to see the larger version.) Read More......

Jim Webb blasts Bush/GOP for their failures on Iraq

Jim Webb delivered the Democratic radio address and he was tough, tough, tough. Webb's opponent, George Felix Macaca Spitter Allen, has been a staunch follower of the failed Bush "stay the course" strategy":

"Since 2003, President Bush has laid out nine different plans for victory in Iraq, none of them serious and none of them workable. And most seriously, this incompetence has hindered our ability to fight international terror," Webb said.

It marked the second time since July 1 that Webb, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran, has given the Democrats' address. Both times, his focus has been Iraq.

Webb warned in a newspaper column in 2002, the year before Bush ordered the Iraq invasion, that a war there would destabilize the oil-rich Middle East and mire U.S. forces in a bloody and protracted conflict. As of Friday, 2,810 American troops had died in Iraq.

"It gives me no great pleasure today to be saying `I told you so,'" said Webb, whose son, Jimmy, is a Marine on active duty in Iraq. "It pains me as an American that our casualties are again escalating while this president and his followers are still incapable of bringing forward an intelligent, commonsense approach to ending our involvement there."

Unlike Webb, Allen has no military experience. He just likes to pretend he's tough. Just like he pretends he's a cowboy. The image that sums up this race is their boots. Webb wears his son's combat boots. Allen wears his costume cowboy boots:

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BREAKING: George Bush endorses civil unions and legal benefits of marriage for gay couples

Okay, this isn't "breaking" news because it happened two years ago, but the mainstream media seems to have forgotten. So in an effort to remind them, and get them to do their job, here is the original ABC footage from two years ago in which George Bush specifically endorses civil unions, and the legal benefits of marriage included therein, for gay couples. This guy couldn't give a damn about "family values."

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2008 presidential contender "once spit on his wife" - George Allen asked to release his divorce records to confirm if it was him

George Allen is now obsessed with Jim Webb's fiction. It's the facts about George Allen that people want. The facts that Allen is hiding. The facts about Allen's sealed divorce records.

Josh Marshall first broached the subject Thursday night:

If Allen really wants to play rough, maybe it's time for some Democrats to start going on the shows and asking about that sealed divorce records of Allen's. All those reporters have a pretty good idea of what's in there. But Sen. Allen (R-VA) just won't agree to let them see it.

It's almost like he's spitting in their face.

Political Wire follows up:

Update: A very reputable political reporter tells me this isn't from Democratic opposition research and that it's probably coming out because many feel Allen "crossed the line" when he started talking about Jim Webb's novels.

I'm told divorce records are usually sealed for two reasons: (a) to protect kids, and (b) to protect large financial fortunes. Neither situation applies in Allen's case, so the suspicion is that it's something not very nice.

Update II: A clue might be in Ryan Lizza's recent piece on Mark Warner that cites a story that had been "making the rounds" about a 2008 presidential contender who "once spit on his wife." That rumor was also about Allen.

Allen is a renowned spitter. A former reporter posted a diary at DailyKos based on a column she wrote for a paper in Virginia:

I stepped near the governor and smiled, told him my name and that I wrote for the local newspaper. Then I asked him a softball question, what some reporters call a "set-up."

"Does Southwest Virginia need these jobs?" I asked.

He stopped and looked straight at me. He had to look down at me, because he stood so tall in those cowboy boots. I thought I spotted a twinkle in his eye, and for a moment, I suspected he might give a humorous, light-hearted answer. Then he leaned forward and looked all the way down at the pavement. I figured he was planning a perfectly crafted answer to my question. I put pen to paper, ready to take it down. His lips puckered as if he might speak.

Then, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia gathered up a glob of tobacco-laced saliva. He used his lips to squirt it out, as if he had practiced. The spit landed just at the tip of my shoe. He grinned, but didn't say a word. Then he walked into the building.

Allen is disgusting. He's quick to attack Webb for writing fiction about the military. Allen wouldn't know fact from fiction when it comes to the military. But, Allen does know the facts that are in the divorce records he won't publicize.

Allen wants to play hard ball. Well, give us the facts, George. Read More......

Nebraskans, kiss your farm subsidies goodbye if Republican Adrian Smith wins your House race

If you're from Nebraska, be very afraid. The Club for Growth is all about eliminating farm subsidies, and they just bought the Republican candidate in Nebraska's 3rd District to the tune of over 40% of all of his money raised in this campaign.

Yes, you heard that right.

40% of all the money received by Republican candidate Adrian Smith in Nebraska 03 is from ONE SOURCE - an organization devoted to eliminating farm subsidies, the lifeline of Nebraska. And the word on the street is that the Club for Growth is planning on dropping another $100,000 in Adrian Smith's lap.

Now, imagine that one guy pays over 40% of your salary. Do you think that one guy is gonna have any influence on you? You don't need to be a big Washington lobbyist to figure that one out. Vote for Smith and you'll find out fast.

Scott Kleeb is Smith's opponent. Kleeb isn't beholdened to corporate special interests, he's beholdened to regular people, regular Nebraskans.

McJoan over at DKos has more.

Scott Kleeb (NE-03) $

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Saturday Morning Open Thread

Here's some news to get you started. Chuck Todd from HOTLINE updated his top House races again yesterday:

There aren't too many shake-ups this week. Focus mainly on races ranked 17 to 36; they are among the closest contests in the country right now. The first 10 are all but gone for the majority party, and districts ranked 11 through 16 are teetering but still in play.

Check out the full list. Many of the races on our ActBlue pages are moving up. Scott Kleeb in Nebraska-03 made the list for the first time as did Peter Goldmark in Washington's Fifth CD.

The DCCC is now running ads for Nancy Boyda in Kansas:

House Democrats launched a surprise television attack against Rep. Jim Ryun of Kansas on Friday night, hoping to increase the number of competitive races in the battle for control of Congress.

Surprise television attack...because Ryun, as a Republican in Kansas, should never be challenged.

What else is happening? Read More......

Friday Orchid Blogging

I'm being a bad orchid blogger. I took this shot a few weeks ago at the orchid festival here in DC, and now can't recall what this is. It is an orchid, and I thought it was a dracula, but now don't think so. Ugh, I have friends who know, or maybe one of you do. But it is an orchid, and it's one I most certainly can't grow. But it's cool, isn't it?

Enjoy, JOHN Read More......