Republican operative's wife attacks MoveOn.org. Oh, she's also CNN's new anchor Campbell Brown

Jonathan Klein, the President of CNN, has got himself yet another biased reporter.

The wife of Dan Senor, who served as a spokesperson for Bush in Iraq, is now working for CNN. Normally, who a reporter's spouse is wouldn't and shouldn't matter. And, it wouldn't if Campbell Brown didn't show an obvious bias. Last night, in her first week on the job, she attacked MoveOn:

During the November 28 CNN special Campaign Killers: Why Do Negative Ads Work?, CNN anchor Campbell Brown said: "General David Petraeus made his reputation taking on insurgents in Iraq. But when he came to Capitol Hill in September, he was confronted by American insurgents, a liberal anti-war group called MoveOn.org."

Seriously, comparing MoveOn to insurgents is beyond the pale. That is such an obviously loaded term. Campbell Brown showed a clear bias, plain and simple.

Actually, Campbell, if you want to know what real insurgents are, ask your husband and his colleagues who let the insurgency grow in Iraq under their watch. He even still has his White House web page touting that gig. Read More......

Australians set Iraq withdrawal date

See. Setting a withdrawal timetable really isn't all that difficult. A country just needs a new leader:

About 550 Australian combat troops in Iraq should be withdrawn by about the middle of next year, Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd said on Friday, setting a broad timetable for the soldiers to return home.

Australia has about 1,500 troops in and around Iraq, but Rudd won power at the Australia's national election on November 24 with a promise to bring frontline forces home.

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Dems Denounce Bush and GOP for Stalling Troop Funds

From Speaker Pelosi:

“Earlier this month, Congress approved nearly a half trillion dollars for the Department of Defense. Just two weeks ago, House Democrats passed $50 billion in additional funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have provided every penny that is currently necessary to fund Defense Department operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world. It is President Bush and his Republican allies in the Senate who are preventing extra funds from reaching our troops.

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Rudy: Claims a "hit job" on him, but doesn't deny using taxpayer money for his affair

This is becoming a very big scandal for Rudy Giuliani at the worst possible time. ABC's Jake Tapper just did a devastating piece showing Rudy claiming a "hit job." Yet, Rudy didn't deny what happened -- he just tried to rationlize it and change the subject:

Late this afternoon Giuliani told ABC News this story was a "hit job."

"This was really done to try to focus on my personal life," Giuliani said.

He said the NYPD always reimbursed city agencies for his security details' expenses.

"They were handled openly, honestly, it was the practice that was going on since my first term and the idea was to get the bills paid quickly," Giuliani said.

Comptroller Thompson said this about the Mayor's explanation: "That's not the way that we operate these days and it would not be the preferred way of doing business," Thompson said. "In the end, it's a very convoluted way of getting things done."

"If anyone hoped that no one would notice, they were being foolish," Thompson told ABC News.

Um, Rudy, this is about your public life intersecting with your "personal life." You were having an extramarital affair. And, you were using taxpayer dollars to facilitate that affair. And, you tried to hide it. So, Rudy, that makes it an issue.

Welcome to the big leagues, Rudy. And, stop your whining. You've been busted. Read More......

Open thread

Let's try these again. Read More......

MItt and Rudy fighting over who is being meanest

These Republicans are so thin-skinned. Rudy and Mitt are escalating their intra-GOP spat. Have at it, boys:

"I thought that that was Mayor Giuliani showing his nasty side," said Romney communications director Matt Rhoades. "And it was a personal attack of a personal nature, and the audience booed him."

Giuliani aide Bill Paxon, a former Republican congressman, said it was Romney who initiated the attack on Giuliani.

"Others have tried to misrepresent his record. And I think they learned that he doesn't take it when he's attacked. He's going to come back, he's going to tell the truth, he's going to lay it out," Paxon said.

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The Hate Crimes bill is now in jeopardy

Surprise surprise surprise. What surprises me is that it took this long for the Democrats to get cold feet.

As you may recall, the hate crimes bill (adding sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and gender to the already-existing federal hate crimes law) was added on to a defense bill in the Senate (Bush threatened a veto, thus the reason it was added on to a must-pass bill that Bush would be uncomfortable vetoing), it passed the House as a free-standing bill. Well, it appears that House Republicans are now balking at adding the hate crimes legislation on to the same defense bill in the House, which would pretty much guarantee it would make its way to the president's desk, then he'd have to veto a defense bill, which would be quite interesting. The House Republicans are up in arms about attaching a gay thing to a defense bill (surprise), and the Democrats, the conservative ones at least, are siding with the House Republicans (again, big surprise there). So let me ask the following question: At what point did we not think that the Republicans were going to squawk because this was added on to a defense bill? I mean, I'm all for adding it to must-pass legislation like the defense bill in order to try to short-circuit Bush's veto - in fact, it's a very smart strategy. But it was also painfully obvious months ago that the GOP would complain that we were "polluting" a defense bill. So why is everything heading south now, as if the GOP complaint, and conservative Dem defection, is suddenly some kind of surprise we weren't prepared for?

This is looking very much like the ENDA debacle where, suddenly, everyone was surprised that adding "gender identity" (e.g., transsexuals, cross dressers) was somehow a controversial notion. Like no one thought it might be controversial before the brouhaha?

And a final PS. The bill is already passed in the House as a free-standing bill, and it's already been passed as part of the defense bill in the Senate. That means that the real issue here is whether the Dems have the courage to keep the hate crimes provisions in the House-Senate conference report (i.e., after they reconcile the House and Senate versions of the defense bill). The Dems run the House and Senate, so if it drops from the conference report, it means that senior Dems agreed to drop it. Just remember that. Read More......

40% of guys in my age group are obese in America?

My God. I had no idea it was that bad. 40%? And the article in today's Washington Post makes it sound like a good thing - the numbers are trending downwards. Al Qaeda schmaeda, our biggest threat is ourselves. Read More......

Troubled UK bank under investigation for charity claims

Northern Rock, previously one of the leading mortgage providers in the UK, took a higher international profile recently after being the first big bank to be caught in the credit crunch. This triggered a run on the bank and massive government intervention to keep the bank in business. Besides being caught up in those banking problems, The Guardian is now reporting that the bank promoted a charity fund, though the charity in question was unaware of the relationship.

And at the heart of Granite's operations is a rather peculiar fact: on paper, at least, it had been set up to benefit charities, and in particular a small organisation for children with Down's Syndrome, and their families, which was being run from a semi-detached house on the outskirts of Newcastle.

Even more peculiar, perhaps, is the fact that nobody at Northern Rock bothered to tell the children's charity that it was a beneficiary, and the charity never received a penny from Granite.

For seven years, Down's Syndrome North East (DSNE) raised small sums of money as best it could. There was £125 from a man who cycled across the United States, children at a primary school in Middlesbrough chipped in £100, and the North East Ladies' Luncheon raised £750. And the whole time, the volunteers who kept the charity running were unaware that it was supposed to be the beneficiary of a trust which had raised £71bn on the international financial markets and which enjoyed a turnover of £1.8bn last year.

After the Guardian asked Northern Rock for an explanation, the bank apologised to DSNE for what it described as an "oversight" and promised the charity that it would receive a donation in the future. The bank then told the Guardian that the charity might receive a payment - but only if its trust was wound up.

The "charity trust" set up by the bank raised £71 billion (double that and add some for dollars) though it remains to be seen if any charities were aware of this. Read More......

Worst article of the campaign cycle

This piece on Obama is just mind-bogglingly awful. Essentially, this is the summary: "There are a bunch of vicious rumors online about Obama. Obama denies them, but some random people interviewed assume they're true. Because these random people think the smears might be true, we'll tell you all about the smears, but without saying that they're all false and malicious. Plus, if they are true, it might torpedo his candidacy!"

Seriously. It's like, "Random emails say Obama is a Muslim. He says he's not. But if he is, he's screwed!" It's absurd.

On a related note, for an excellent explanation of how these types of smear emails get started and stay influential, see Chris Hayes's recent Nation article. Read More......

Bush picks new Director of National Economic Council

Wait a minute here. He actually has an economic adviser working for him? Read More......

Thursday Morning Open Thread

That GOP YouTube debate was brutal. Not one of them should ever be President. But, it was so fun watching them all beat up on each other. Watch Huckabee become the next target of their attacks.

Get it going. Read More......