With no plan for the Iraq war, Bush unveils his campaign plan about Iraq

The President has no plan to solve the quagmire in Iraq. He offers rhetoric. Yet, one more time, he's most willing to lay out a political agenda about Iraq:

Analysts from both parties have called the war the biggest political liability facing the Republicans this year. Mr. Bush’s political aides have urged fellow Republicans to embrace the conflict, and Mr. Bush seemed to go a step further, suggesting that he hoped the midterm elections would be fought over rival approaches on Iraq.

“What matters is that in this campaign that we clarify the different points of view,” Mr. Bush said from the press secretary’s lectern in the White House conference center up the street from the Oval Office. “And there are a lot of people in the Democrat Party who believe that the best course of action is to leave Iraq before the job is done, period, and they’re wrong.”

Bush made it clear today that we'll never leave Iraq while he's President. Bush wants to stay the course. That's the whole plan. Nothing. But, this President does love to play politics with Iraq. So today, he launched a political attack on Democrats on Iraq.

One problem Bush has with his political strategy is that more and more Republicans are calling for a withdrawal plan like Chuck Hagel did yesterday. Another problem is, as John noted below, that the American people have had it with Bush's war.

Bush wants to stay the course. The only way to change the course is to change the Congress. Read More......

Bush says Iraq had nothing to do with September 11 - then why did we invade?

From E&P;:

Bush also tied Iraq to 9/11, and then backed off, when asked about the effects of the U.S. invasion as witnessed today.

"You know, I've heard this theory about, you know, everything was just fine until we arrived and, you know, kind of -- the 'stir up the hornet's nest' theory," Bush said. "It just doesn't hold water as far as I'm concerned. The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East."

Asked by a reporter what Iraq had to do with 9/11, Bush replied, "Nothing, except for it's part of -- and nobody's ever suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a -- Iraq -- the lesson of September the 11th is take threats before they fully materialize, Ken."

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Open Thread

Watching the Spike Lee documentary about Katrina, "When the Levees Broke."

What can Bush possibly to do to commemorate the one year anniversary of this disaster -- and his complete failure of leadership?

Quick update after Act I: This is an amazing show....Spike Lee has done a superb job. It is very powerful...and disturbing. How did this happen in America?

Remember what your President did as Katrina was destroying a chunk of America?
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Embattled Republican George Allen losing ground to Democratic challenger Jim Webb in latest poll

Racism isn't pretty. Read More......

Poll: Opposition to Iraq war at all-time high

35% of the American public is all this disaster of a war, and this disaster of a president, have left. When George Bush attacks Democrats for wanting to change the course in Iraq, he now attacks the overwhelming majority of the American public. Note to Republicans: Keep this jack-ass talking.

Opposition among Americans to the war in Iraq has reached a new high, with only about a third of respondents saying they favor it, according to a poll released Monday.

Just 35 percent of 1,033 adults polled say they favor the war in Iraq; 61 percent say they oppose it -- the highest opposition noted in any CNN poll since the conflict began more than three years ago.

I seriously hope the Republicans keep putting Bush out there up until the election this fall. Keep telling the American people that they're un-American because they realize that George Bush and the Republicans have failed us all and made America less safe.

Oh, but it gets better:

Most Americans (54 percent) don't consider him honest, most (54 percent) don't think he shares their values and most (58 percent) say he does not inspire confidence.

Wrap this jerk around the neck of the entire Republican party and twist really really hard. Define the Republican party as George Bush. He is everything the Republicans embody. His policies are everything they have ever stood for. He is them, and they have run this country into the ground with their brash arrogant incompetence.

And finally there's this:

"I'm going to do what I think is right, and if, you know, if people don't like me for it, that's just the way it is."

No, you arrogant simpleton, that isn't just the way it is. This is still a democracy, you're not a king, and we get to vote your incompetent asses out of office in a little over two months. That's the way it is. Read More......

You'll never guess who we stumbled upon during our visit to the Paris zoo yesterday

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Judge throws out terror charge in Padilla case

Another Bush "slam dunk". Read More......

There's something rotten going on in the Alabama Democratic Party

There's trouble brewing in Alabama for Patricia Todd -- and it's getting uglier by the day. Todd, who won her primary race on July 18th in a runoff for a state legislative seat, should be the first openly-gay candidate to win a legislative race in that state.

But, there's a problem. The vice chair of the Alabama Democratic Party, Joe Reed, wants to overturn the election results. His candidate lost, so he's trying to use a Democratic Party panel to overrule the choice of the voters.

The race is generating much local attention. An op-ed in Sunday's Birmingham News summed up the situation:

Joe Reed, chairman of the Alabama Democratic Conference and vice chairman of the Democratic Party, not only tried to influence the voting in a Birmingham legislative race, but also he is making sure that a challenge to the voters' choice stays alive.

Patricia Todd defeated Gaynell Hendricks in the July 18 primary runoff election by 59 votes. The people have spoken. There is no reason to believe the outcome is anything but an honest expression of the preference of voters who went to the polls. It is time to move on.

However, Hendricks and her supporters are contesting the election, trying to find some technical loophole that might allow them to win before a party committee the victory they were unable to win in the field.

Hendricks says she is paying for the contest. However, Reed did deliver a check to the Democratic Party to pay for the contest if Hendricks' check did not arrive on time, Jerome Gray, field director for the ADC, told a News reporter. The hearing on Hendricks' challenge was delayed when members of the panel failed to show up.

Close elections court contests. Candidates who believe that elections were not carried out according to the rules have a right to have the vote reviewed. The intervention of a party heavyweight, though, appears once again to pit the party hierarchy against the voters.

There's a very important fact to understand here: this effort to overturn an election victory is all happening within the confines of the Democratic Party. As the editorial notes, Mr. Reed is a major player in the Alabama state party. And, it's a Democratic Party committee that will hear the challenge to the election. This isn't a case of a Republican court deciding to steal an election -- it's all in the Democratic party.

Democrats have made it a mantra to say that Democratic primary voters matter. That's what major national Democrats are all saying about the Lamont/Lieberman race. In Alabama, the opposite could be happening. Some Democrats there think Democratic primary voters don't matter. That is the wrong message.

In Patricia Todd's race, the voters in the Democratic primary made a choice. She won. It's a stain on the Democratic Party -- from the DNC on down to the Alabama State party -- if one powerbroker can use the Democratic party process to overturn election results he doesn't like. That's not democracy and it's not the Democratic Party.

Birmingham Blues has been providing excellent local coverage on this race. There may be another hearing this week. We'll continue to monitor the shenanigans.

UPDATES: Kathy from Birmingham Blues reports that the next Democratic Party hearing on the race is scheduled for Thursday, August 24th at 2 PM.

Also, Andy at TowleRoad ("a blog with homosexual tendencies" that we love) has written a number of posts on this race -- including another one today. Read More......

Bush worried about America's "soul" and "psyche"

Watching that news conference today was painful. He's so petulant.

Bush clearly does not have a plan for Iraq. He never did. He's just looking for the best political advantage he can find from his quagmire. Bush got us in to this mess based on lies -- and he has not a clue as to how to get the U.S. out of the mess. Instead, Bush and his team are making it worse.

If we are losing our soul or straining our psyche, it's because of George W. Bush. And he has absolutely no sense of that:

President Bush said Monday the United States would lose "our soul as a nation" if it gave up on the Iraq war now, warning it would be a "disaster" if U.S. troops left before the new Iraqi government can control the country.

"We're not leaving so long as I'm president," an animated Bush said in a wide-ranging White House press conference. "That would be a huge mistake." He conceded, though that the war was "straining the psyche of our country."

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Democratic pundit Donna Brazile criticizes Lieberman

What is good, and interesting, about this is that Brazile is yet another member of the Democratic establishment turning against Joe Lieberman. Even more interesting is that Brazile was Al Gore's campaign manager for his presidential bid in 2000 when Lieberman was the VP on the ticket. Even she is turning against Joe.

Brazile said that Lieberman's decision to run as an independent when Democratic voters had chosen Lamont put the party in a predicament. She adds that many candidates could choose to run as independents if they lose the Democratic nomination, but it doesn't mean they should. "If you lose, you lose," she said.

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Press Conf. Open Thread

Bush is doing a presser which is being carried live on all the networks. If you can stomach watching him, comment away.

UPDATE: Key line on Iraq: “We’re not leaving so long as I’m the president. That would be a huge mistake.” Think Progress posted the video. Read More......

Osama is obsessed with Whitney Houston

Strange but maybe true. But more importantly, what does he think of the JonBenet arrest? Read More......

Bush Homeland Security gives accused JonBenet killer champagne and prawns

It's nice to be a child murderer with the Bush administration around.

And another thing. Someone needs to ask the Associated Press why the fact that someone is interested in a sex change is a "bombshell." I'm sensing a bit of prejudice there. Read More......

Open thread

Good morning Read More......