Another proud white woman for Hillary

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Christian right protests Starbucks logo

I'll bet the Starbucks logo woman doesn't have a purity ring either, because that would be more wholesome. Can someone please find them a shrink?

The Resistance, a US-based Christian group, has called for a national boycott of the coffee-selling giant.

It says the chain's new logo has a naked woman on it with her legs "spread like a prostitute... The company might as well call themselves Slutbucks".

Starbucks says the image - based on a 16th century Norse design of a mermaid with two-tails - is not inappropriate.

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The Florida and Michigan Democratic parties got what they wanted today. It's time for unity -- and the pressure is on Clinton to let Democrats unite.

The Clinton era is over. They no longer control the Democratic party. Here is what Chuck Todd just said on MSNBC:

You know, there is a big thing we should be getting out of this party tonight, and that is the Democratic National Committee is not somehow controlled by the Clintons. Not by the Clinton campaign any more. We may have started this campaign believing that the Clinton campaign controlled, but this is Barack Obama's party now. He's already been winning the outside game, he now won the inside game. Yes it's true that Harold Ickes can threaten this stuff about the credentials, but Don Fowler really did signal today by being for the Michigan compromise that, "Guys, it's over."

Today, the leaders of the Democratic parties from Michigan and Florida came to the DNC's Rules Committee with proposals to end the dispute over their state delegations.

Both state parties got what they wanted. But not without a fight. The Clinton campaign decided to fight the Democratic leaders from Michigan and Florida. Both states proposed compromises that they could live with. The Clinton campaign objected, and the Clinton campaign lost.

It's over. This was Clinton's last, best hope. Today's meeting was the way the ultimate insider should win. But, Clinton and her ace insider, Harold Ickes, lost. There probably was a time when threats and curses from Harold Ickes, like he publicly offered today, intimidated people. Not anymore.

So, the new magic number for the nomination, according to Chuck Todd, is 2118 for Obama. Our presumptive nominee will reach that benchmark in the next three or four days. Here are the projections via Jed:

Chuck Todd's quick math is that Obama is now 65 delegates away. Less the 43 Todd predicts for the next three primaries, Barack would need just 22 delegates to hit the magic number. If he gets those before Tuesday, Montana will put him over the top. I'd bet heavily in favor of him getting all the superdelegates he needs to seal the deal on Tuesday evening.

After the Rules Committee voted, the always brilliant Rachel Maddow said, "The Clinton campaign is going to try to keep this unresolved." She's right. They can try. But, it's over. Florida and Michigan have been seated to their satisfaction. Hillary no longer speaks for them. Their states have spoken. We're going to have to watch to see if Hillary Clinton can now rise to the occasion -- or whether Clinton keeps up the drama and the gutter politics.

Clearly, most members of the DNC Rules Committee -- even many Clinton supporters -- want unity. The Democratic leaders in Michigan and Florida want unity. Most Democrats want unity. And, most of us want to win in November. That's the priority now. Going back to the anecdote we heard from Howard Dean this morning, how in 2004, Al Gore told him, "This is not about you, this is about your country." Who will say that to Hillary Clinton? And, will she listen? Read More......

UPDATE: Michigan resolved

Clinton supporter Mame Reilly offered a motion to seat the Michigan delegation in full, by a margin of 69 for Clinton to 59 for Obama. The delegates will get 1/2 vote meaning Clinton will net 34.5 and Obama will gain 29.5. Clinton supporter Don Fowler supports the motion, too.

Harold Ickes is opposing the motion. It's "inexplicable." He's back on "fair reflection." (Watch this video from earlier today. Senator Levin handed Ickes his head when he said ""You want a fair resolution of a flawed process.") Ickes has taken to cursing to get his point across. Classy. Ickes doesn't want Obama to get any delegates. Big surprise. He said this isn't a good way to start down the path of party unity. Oooh...Hillary reserves her right to take this to the credentials committee. Great. Threats. Classy. Just like the whole Clinton campaign. Ickes is supposed to be the greatest delegate counter and strategist EVER. Um, not so much after all. The Clinton team is on a scorched earth path, after all.

That set off another round of chanting from the small contingent of Clinton supporters. And, it was a very small crowd considering all the hype. The hecklers were told they are dishonoring their candidate, which they should know.

Good point: This motion is supported by the Michigan Democrats. Clinton and her posse are smarter than them, of course.

The motion passed: 19 - 8. Remember, this motion was proposed by a Clinton supporter -- and the Clinton campaign opposed it. Some people really do want to do the right thing, to move on, to find unity. Harold Ickes, who speaks for Hillary Clinton, is heading down a different path. Read More......

Florida motions and debate underway is decided by the Rules Committee

First, here's some background on the members of the Rules and By-Laws Committee.

On Florida, there are going to be two motions. The first motion, offered by Clinton supporter Alice Huffman, was to give Florida its full vote and seat the delegation in full. It's pretty clear this motion won't pass. This motion failed by a vote of 15 - 12.

There are a couple people in the crowd chanting "Denver, Denver."

UPDATE 6:42 p.m.: The second motion, offered by Ralph Dawson, follows the proposal presented by DNC Member Jon Ausman: 1) all pledged delegates are restored but can only cast 1/2 vote; 2) all pledged delegates shall be allocated along this ratio: Clinton will receive 52.5, Edwards 6.5, and Obama 33.5. Unpledged delegates can cast 1/2 vote. Clinton supporter Alice Huffman supports this motion and stresses unity.

Alice shut down the hecklers. And, even, Harold Ickes is on board with this one.

And, having been at the Marriott for most of the day, there really weren't that many protesters there. It was a very small crowd considering all the hype.

This motion passed by a margin of 27 - 0. It's unanimous. Read More......

Rules Committee reconvenes. Finally.

Okay, I walked a couple blocks down Connecticut Avenue from the Marriott and am watching now from home.

The Rules Committee is back after a long lunch where hopefully some deals were cut.

According to Chuck Todd, who always seems to know these things, all of Florida's delegation will be seated, but they'll only get 1/2 votes. In Michigan, the split will be 69/59, but the delegation again gets 1/2 vote. Obama will get the two add-on superdelegates. Todd thinks the Clinton campaign will net around 20 delegates +/-2.

Todd's not sure if Florida and Michigan superdelegates will get full or half votes.

Under this scenario, the total delegates needed for the nomination would be either 2118 or 2131, depending on the determination of the superdelegate votes.

Herman said they are limiting debate to 10 minutes per motion, which is a good sign. Read More......

CNN: Obama resigns church membership

While the DNC Rules Committee continues to meet behind closed doors, there's a little breaking news coming from CNN contributor Roland Martin who reports that Senator Obama is resigning from his church in Chicago. I'll see what more info I can dig up on this development. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Martin's on a cellphone so it's tough to hear specifics, but I did manage to understand that he's waiting on a letter of some sort. From whom is unclear. Martin did mention he hasn't spoken to the church or the Obama campaign yet so we'll see what the official word is when it comes down. But the CNN punditry seems to agree that this move by Obama's campaign is an attempt to avert potential problems going into the general election. It's obviously sad for Obama and sad for Trinity, but from a political strategy perspective, it's probably safest to disengage from what's unfortunately become a hotbed of controversy before the fall.

UPDATE from Joe: MSNBC is reporting the same news. Rachel Maddow think it's good timing for Obama to announce this news now. Read More......

At the Rules Committee, Clinton surrogate Lanny Davis heckled Florida's Democratic leaders

While we're waiting for the Rules Committee to reconvene -- and they're already almost an hour late, here's a little color from today's meeting. Almost all of the Clinton spin crew was on hand at the Marriott -- including Lanny Davis.

As I mentioned in the post below, leading Florida Democrats held a press conference in the lobby outside of the meeting room to talk about a possible compromise. It was a pretty big deal -- and that's big news if there's a deal. While the Florida Democrats were talking, Lanny Davis was standing at the edge of the crowd heckling.

Not kidding. Jake Tapper saw it, too:

Clinton campaign surrogate Lanny Davis stood outside the circle and interrupted, raising his voice in protest that the Clinton campaign had agreed to anything less than a 100% seating of the delegates at 100% of their strength.

Nelson noted that he was speaking "on behalf of the voters of Florida," not on behalf of the Clinton campaign.

"They're misrepresenting our stance," Davis said repeatedly.

I was there and captured some video of Davis in action:
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Florida's Democratic Leaders expect a satisfactory resolution today -- and they're talking unity

After the Florida portion of the meeting was finished, I watched an impromptu press conference in the lobby of the Marriott that included Jon Ausman, Senator Nelson, former Senator Graham, Rep. Wexler and a couple other Florida Democrats. The theme was one of unity. Ausman said he could accept Rep. Wexler's proposal for seating the Florida superdelegates with 1/2 vote each. Generally, the theme was one of unity. The speakers gave the sense that they feel there will be a resolution from the Rules Committee today that will make satisfy most of them. Avi Zenilman has a similar report. Read More......

Liveblogging the DNC Rules Committee -- the Michigan case

2:54 p.m. Time for lunch. Finally. After lunch, the committee will reconvene at 4:15 pm and start debate.

2:16 p.m. Clinton is represented by former Michigan Governor Jim Blanchard, recently designated one of the top "hired guns" in Washington by The Hill. His first big scoop is that "in private," Hillary says she'll campaign her heart out for Obama if he gets the nomination. Clinton's campaign wants the delegates seated with 73 for her and 55 uncommitted. Note, the 55 aren't for Obama, they're uncommitted. Clinton's campaign isn't giving anything to Obama. Yeah, that's fair. (And at 2:53 p.m., Harold Ickes is shut down again.)

1:50 p.m. Former Congressman David Bonior, who chaired the campaign of John Edwards, is now speaking on behalf of the Obama campaign. Reminds everyone, once again, in Hillary Clinton's words, the primary would not count. Yes, he quoted Hillary Clinton on this. But, that quote might not count now. Obama campaign wants to split the delegates from Michigan evenly. (People are hissing again...seriously, that is so weak. Weak. And, pathetic.) Michigan had a flawed primary, only fair solution is to split delegates evenly.

1:44 p.m. Clearly, Harold Ickes does not want Obama to get any of the uncommitted delegates. He kept talking about "fair resolution." In fact, last week, Ickes has stated, in his role as Clinton spokesperson, that he did not want Obama to get any delegates. Levin smacked him down: "You want a fair resolution of a flawed process."

1:08 p.m. Senator Carl Levin: "The Democratic party needs unity." The MI Dems have found unity, asking the committee to preserve it. Claims unity from the candidates, too, for full seating of MI delegation. Levin asked the committee to not override the unity. The question is allocation, of course. Levin thinks Obama wants a 50/50 split, but that Clinton would allow 73 for her, 55 for Obama. (Not sure that's true). Michigan knows it was a flawed primary. Levin and his working group want at 69/59 allocation.

12:50 p.m. First witness is State Party Chair Mark Brewer who made the case for seating. Allocation issues are the big problem with Michigan...Brewer provided a lot of evidence for allocation. Read More......

Senator Nelson invoked the name of an activist who doesn't support Nelson's position -- and didn't do what Nelson said

Florida Senator Bill Nelson gave an impassioned defense of Florida today. He invoked a couple of Floridians to support his position, including Megan Foster. Here's the that section of his remarks:

BILL NELSON: Now, I want to give you some examples. Megan Foster, a mother of five from Tampa, frustrated by the incompetence and failures of the Bush administration, organized her own campaign. She rallied friends and family to get out the vote for her candidate. Her energy and enthusiasm was infectious and helped inspire many others to become politically involved and help get out people to vote all over the state; and then Megan was elected a delegate.

However, Megan just wrote a post on DailyKos to make clear she doesn't share the view of Senator Nelson. In fact, she did not help get out the vote in Florida. She channeled her energies in other states where she knew the votes would count:

Senator Nelson just used my name to argue a position that I do not support. Anyone who knows me or has read my diaries, knows that as a Florida grassroots organizer, I understood that Florida broke the rules. I played by the rules. I organized Tampa Bay area Obama supporters to help elect Senator Obama as our next president by fundraising, online networking and rapid response as well as phonebanking to and canvassing in other states. In fact the week before the January 29th primary, I was otherwise occupied getting out the vote in South Carolina. I also traveled to North Carolina and phonebanked to Texas, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, etc.

I ran for pledged Obama delegatge in Florida CD 9 to make sure that IF Florida's delegation is seated, Senator Obama would be represented by a loyal supporter in my district.

Those who played by the rules are the ones who are actually being punished. That's disturbing. Read More......

Live from the DNC meeting

12:24 p.m. Starting the presentations from Michigan...after a review of how this situation evolved to where it is. (I'll start a new thread for Michigan in a bit.)

12:15 p.m. Wexler is good. Very smart. Clinton's delegate guru, Harold Ickes, who is also a member of the Rules Committee, tried to trip up Wexler. That didn't work. Big time. After getting slammed, Ickes asked a second question that no one understood. It was actually a very funny exchange. Gave some insight into why the Clinton delegate process didn't work out so well. Wexler is very, very good.

11:50 a.m. Following a presentation on behalf of the Clinton campaign by Florida State Senator Arthenia Joyner, Rep. Robert Wexler is speaking to the committee on behalf of the Obama campaign. He wants to address the frustration of Florida voters so Democrats can win in November. And, he was pretty clear: Don't blame this mess on Obama. (Also, pretty clear the room is packed with Obama supporters -- and I think I heard hisses when Donna Brazile spoke. Huh?) Wexler, on behalf of the Obama campaign, supports the position of the Florida DNC member, Jon Ausman, who wants half the delegation seated. That means everyone supports that view. Wexler wants the superdelegates to get half a vote each, too. Weird...people really are hissing in this room. Is this junior high?

11:21 a.m. Senator Bill Nelson is up to defend Florida. Apparently, we're all supposed to ignore this video of one of Florida's Democratic State Senator Geller openly mocking the DNC and its rules. (Nelson called it "a movie" -- I think that was his word.) Also, check out this post from Josh Marshall today, linking to this analysis of Florida voter turnout which, according to Josh:

makes a very strong statistical case that as many as one million voters in Florida and probably more than a half million voters in Michigan did not vote who otherwise would have if they had not believed that the results would not be counted.

I do wish that Florida's Democrats would put as much time and energy into building the party down there as they are putting into this mess. They're doing a lot of complaining about how the Republicans control the state legislature. Here's an idea: work as hard to get more legislators seated in Tallahassee as you're all working to get your delegates seated in Denver.

10:37 a.m. The legalese part of the process is underway. The appeal from Florida is being presented by a Florida DNC member. He seems most interested in getting full votes for Florida's superdelegates. For a little excitement, I just got a text message from the Weather Channel that "A Tornado Watch has been issued for Washington DC."

10:22 a.m. The co-chairs of the Committee, Herman and Roosevelt, gave the history of how we got to where we are. This wasn't some arbitrary decision to punish Michigan and Florida. There is a long procedural history to this controversy -- with strict adherence to the rules (and no one does rules like the Democrats). It wasn't like Florida and Michigan weren't warned. Roosevelt explained in detail all the interactions with Florida to try to ameliorate the situation.

9:55 a.m. Howard Dean: It's been "extraordinary" that all 50 states have participated. It's true. Lest we forget, Howard Dean started the 50 state strategy, to some mocking from the smarty pants crowd. Dean's giving a good overview of how much stronger the party is at this point. He's right. "The American people are ready for change." And, love this line: "Texas is ready to turn blue." Dean provided some great perspective and told an anecdote about Al Gore. When Dean was bitter after losing, Gore said to him, "This is not about you, this is about your country."

9:48 a.m. Rules Committee co-chair Alexis Herman (former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton) called the meeting to order and the co-chair, Jim Roosevelt, called the roll. Starting a little late, or course. Two members aren't present but gave proxies to others. So it begins.

So, I'm here -- as are most of the political media. And, fortunately, some friends from the blogosphere including Jane Hamsher and Marcy Wheeler. I'm sitting in the press balcony overlooking the floor. I'll have pics and, hopefully, some video as the day unfolds. This could be a very boring process -- somewhere between a congressional hearing and a Supreme Court argument. I'll do my best to keep it interesting for as long as I can.

Walking up to the Marriott, I kept waiting to encounter the huge protest. After all, the protest organizers were predicting a crowd of 10,000 (including the McCain and Huckabee crew), but it's much, much, much smaller than - couple hundred, maybe. (And, maybe the other 9,700 protesters have arrived since I came inside the hotel.)


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A week after DNC took FL's delegates away, Michigan gov. signs law moving their primary up too

Joe is now at the Rules meeting, he just ran into FDL's Jane Hamsher. The meeting doesn't start until 930AM.

In the meantime, I was just reading my Washington Post and noticed something rather significant. The DNC sanctioned Florida on August 25, 2007 by stripping away its delegates. That made it painfully clear what would happen to any state that moved its primary up in violation of DNC rules. So what does Michigan do one week later, on September 4, 2007? Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, signs a law establishing their January 15th primary, in violation of DNC rules. Michigan knew exactly what was going to happen if they broke the rules, they just watched Florida lose its delegates one week earlier, and they did it anyway. And now they're acting all surprised.

There really are some atrocious issues underlying this entire conflict.

1. Florida and Michigan Democrats were complicit in all of this. This wasn't something the Republicans forced on them - they wanted to break the rules, and they did.

2. Florida and Michigan knew in advance that they'd lose their delegates if they moved their primaries up. They didn't care.

3. The reason we have these rules, the reason we have these sanctions, is to protect the primary process, and in particular to protect the first-in-the-nation status of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. If FL and MI are let off the hook, as Hillary is proposing, then there are no rules, and we'll have a free-for-all the next time around when every state keeps moving their primaries up and up and up until we have non-stop primaries for 4 years. Read More......

Michigan's "Soviet-like ballot" gave voters no choice, depressed turnout

UPDATE FROM JOHN: Joe just called. He's arrived at the hotel where the meeting is taking place. To quote Joe: "There aren't ten thousand people here." (That's what the protest organizers were promising.)

Heading over to the Wardman Park Marriott for the DNC Rules Committee meeting. I'll be liveblogging the proceedings (they start at 930am Eastern). C-SPAN will be covering it live, too. Leave it to the Democrats to get caught up in a contentious intra-party battle over rules just five months before the election. Maddening.

For the past months, we've had to listen to Hillary Clinton and her spinners talk about the fair result in Michigan. That would be the election where she was the only person on the ballot. Former Senator Don Riegle offered his views on the Michigan primary in the Detroit News yesterday:

The Michigan Democratic primary election offered a Soviet-like ballot -- in that Michigan voters were not given a real choice among candidates. There was no competitive Democratic primary in Michigan -- a primary where viable candidates compete to earn the support of voters. Instead, Michigan Democratic Party officials permitted an election to take place even though three of the viable candidates (Barack Obama, John Edwards and Bill Richardson) had properly removed their names from the ballot to fully comply with DNC rules. The election went forward with only one viable candidate on the ballot (Hillary Rodham Clinton) in direct violation of DNC rules and with full knowledge -- and acknowledgement -- that the Michigan delegation would not be seated at the nominating convention in Denver.

As a result, the percentage of Michigan voter turnout was lower than any other state except Utah -- a state the Republicans won in 2004 with 70 percent of the vote. It is estimated that a competitive primary would have resulted in at least 700,000 more Democratic voters in Michigan. In fact, those who might have voted actually represent a greater number than those that did vote in the rogue Democratic primary.

Given that voters were offered no real choice among candidates and that Michigan's vote would not count, voter participation as a consequence was reduced by 50 percent or more.

The results of this fake primary cannot be used as a proper basis for determining the allocation of delegates to the remaining two Presidential candidates. As there was no real competition, there is no meaningful basis for accurately measuring either candidate's level of support in Michigan.

That would also be the election that Hillary Clinton agreed would "count for nothing." At the time, Hillary's only concern about Michigan was how we would fare against Republicans in the fall - she didn't care one lick about "fairness" or "every vote being counted":

"It's clear, this election they're having is not going to count for anything," Clinton said Thursday during an interview on New Hampshire Public Radio's call-in program, "The Exchange." "But I just personally did not want to set up a situation where the Republicans are going to be campaigning between now and whenever, and then after the nomination, we have to go in and repair the damage to be ready to win Michigan in 2008."

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Perfect for summer

Picnic food and just hanging out with friends and family. Throw in a bottle of wine or whatever you like and roll out your blanket on the grass. What's your favorite summer picnic food? Read More......

Are Europeans just commies or are Americans wimps?

There's an old belief in America that if you work hard and do the right thing, you can strike it rich. Often, that's the reason given for the lack of serious action against fat cat executive comp plans. I know Americans *like* to think the country is the world leader for economic mobility but times have changed. The longer the US keeps believing the myth the longer the current system will remain. What jumps out in the debate in Europe is that executive salaries are comfortable but compared to the US, they are nothing. (Salaries in mainland Europe are generally lower than comparable jobs in the US as well.)

The point being raised by European economic ministers is perfectly valid, asking how business can ask for cutbacks for people at the lower end and then increase the executive pay. Whether their model is the right model or the wrong model is hard to say since they is only starting to gel as a pan-European movement. In the US, people complain, politicians schedule hearings and then nothing changes. Ever. Even the CEOs who lost billions for Wall Street are resting comfortably with cash made from the most recent mirage economy. Their companies are being propped up by taxpayer loans, begging for cash and the target of foreign acquisitions but they're doing just fine, thank you very much. Are we just wimps for accepting this?

Sitting overseas, it certainly looks like the US is a country stuck with too many old ideas that just fail to match the reality of today. We're not the competitive country we used to be but that we think we are. The US is not a country whose population enjoys discovery, regardless of the occasional NASA mission for ten people. We're no longer interested in the greater good and seemingly have no issue with increasingly two tiered society. The infamous boomer moto of the 1980s "greed is good" is not just on Wall Street, it's on Main Street. The GOP may have missed history class but we have been here before and we recovered to become better. Europe tends to dislike change but at the moment it is much further along on the issue of executive pay and others such climate change and science. We're drifting today whether people want to admit it or not. It's really time we get back to what the US does best, which is accepting and embracing change for the better. Read More......

Americans avoiding air travel

And for good reason. It's a complete hassle and the already poor airline quality gets worse by the day, not to mention more expensive. Whenever I can I avoid air travel and opt for the train, when I have to but that's not as much of an option in the US. As annoying as it is in Europe I find it much worse in the US. It might be easier to tolerate the hassles if there was a sense of it all going somewhere but the entire process strikes me as just another effort to continue the fear tactics that are so well loved by the Bush administration.

Surely there has to be a better way, but who really trusts Chertoff and his bumbling band of idiots to get this right? Maybe now that business is screaming and losing billions in revenue, someone might wake up and re-think the current (failed) model. Read More......

Friday Mutant Orchid Blogging

(Normal flower on left, mutant on right)

Peloric Phrag. Besseae (aka A Mutant!)

This one is kind of fun in a creepy genetic way (click the image to see a larger version). It's a flower I've shown you before, from this very plant probably, but one day it bloomed a bit funny. The plant threw up a mutant flower that had an extra pair of female organs on the petals. Very creepy. Since it did it just this once, and the other flowers were normal, it was not a permanent genetic change in the plant, but rather something that went wrong with that particular flower (probably some chemicals I treated the plant with while the flower was developing). Still, it's kind of cool. I took a great photo of a flower that did something similar a while back, I'll have to find it to post it another day - but basically, if the thing could have been calling "Help me!" it would have. Totally bizarre mix of genetic mess. Anyway, so that's our Friday night mutant orchid blogging, for something a little different. Enjoy. JOHN Read More......

Joe, Jacki and I will be at the Rules committee meeting tomorrow

Joe is going to be inside as media (AMERICAblog media), and Jacki and I are going to be enjoying the festivities outside with our cameras in tow. The fun starts at 930AM Eastern - that's when the actual meeting starts - though the loony toon protesters may be doing their shtick earlier. I need to Google them now. Anyway, check back in the morning, Joe will be updating, I won't be able to since I'll be on a sidewalk watching McCain and Huckabee supporters pretend to be Hillary supporters. Read More......

They met playing euchre

Wow. That's a new one. Bill in Portland Maine, from DKos, celebrates his 15th anniversary and reminisces a bit about the state of the gay rights movement:

Where were you on the night of May 30, 1993? I was in a Saginaw, Michigan bar called Bambi's, staring across the room at a tall, dark and handsome guy drinkin' a beer. Through luck of the draw Michael and I ended up as partners that night in a four-person card game (in Michigan it's more like a religion) called Euchre. A blink of an eye later and here we are celebrating 15 years of Wilde's "love that dare not speak its name" together.

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Obama to McCain: The lives of 20,000 troops aren't "nit-picking"

I sure hope McCain doesn't blow a gasket over this, otherwise he might try to choke another 90 year old man. Here is what Obama just said about McCain's latest weird statements about Iraq:

He's been proposing a joint trip to Iraq that's nothing more than a political stunt. He's even been using it to raise a few dollars for his campaign. But it seems like Senator McCain's a lot more interested in my travel plans than the facts, because yesterday – in his continued effort to put the best light on a failed policy – he stood up in Wisconsin and said, "We have drawn down to pre-surge levels" in Iraq.

"That's not true, and anyone running for Commander-in-Chief should know better. As the saying goes, you're entitled to your own view, but not your own facts. We've got around 150,000 troops in Iraq – 20,000 more than we had before the surge. We have plans to get down to around 140,000 later this summer – that's still more troops than we had in Iraq before the surge. And today, Senator McCain refused to correct his mistake. Just like George Bush, when he was presented with the truth, he just dug in and refused to admit his mistake. His campaign said it amounts to "nitpicking."

"Well I don't think tens of thousands of American troops amounts to nitpicking. Tell that to the young men and women who are serving bravely and brilliantly under our flag. Tell that to the families who have seen their loved ones fight tour after tour after tour of duty in a war that should've never been authorized and never been waged.

"It's time for a debate that's based on the truth, and I can't think of anything more important than how many Americans are in harm's way. It's time for a debate that's based on how we're going to end this war – not a debate that's based on raising a few dollars for John McCain's campaign.

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To paraphrase Ayn Rand: But they don't think of you, Hillary

A Washington Post reporter was asked in an online chat yesterday why the Post isnt' covering how well Hillary is doing in recent polls. Here is his priceless response:

I've spent the past several months talking to as many super-delegates as any reporter in America, I'd guess, since I cover on a day-to-day basis about 280 of them here on Capitol Hill.

I hate saying this, because all the Clinton people are going to flip out and say, You're biased, you're biased, you're biased. So go ahead and flip out if you want, but the simple basic truth is that the super-delegates stopped paying attention to the Clinton-Obama race about a couple days after the Indiana and North Carolina primaries.

They've stopped paying attention to the primary, and instead they're focused on an Obama-McCain matchup in November. That's the basic, simple, definitive reality that has happened in this race. The "undecided" super-delegates at this moment are not going to "decide" any time soon, because to them the race is over, they're just waiting for Clinton to drop out.

Then he was asked, but what about the Gallup poll showing Hillary doing better in swing states?

Again, don't yell at me because I'm only the messenger here. But the super-delegates have moved on, they're no longer looking at how Hillary Clinton fares in battleground states against McCain. This is very hard for Clinton supporters to hear, I'm sorry, but the super-delegates are not paying attention to your candidate anymore.

Misogynist. Read More......

Inflation up only 0.1% in April

Those gas prices...all imaginary. Didn't happen. Don't you feel better knowing that what you thought was a problem wasn't really a problem after all? And to think some naysayers find the US inflation reports to be complete bull.

Back in the real world, inflation is setting records not seen in years. Some say the real number is almost twice as high, possibly even higher. Read More......

Hillary apparently thinks some women don't count

Hillary Clinton, champion of the blue collar, Jack Daniels' drinking woman is now trying to unseat delegates in Texas. You see, you can't claim that the only reason you're still in the race, after you lost, is because you want to see every vote counted, and then repeatedly try to stop people from having their vote count in Texas and Nevada, for starters. That makes you a hypocrite. It makes you an opportunist. And it makes you a liar. It makes you every nasty thing that the Republicans have said about you for years. Please stop proving them right. Read More......

Getting to know McCain's economic brain, Foreclosure Phil

For those not familiar with the former Senator turned wealthy lobbyist and McCain for President co-chair, this is a must read article. Phil Gramm has played an important role in a number of failed initiatives including the S&L; failure, the energy deregulation fallout and Enron, and more recently the subprime mortgage meltdown. Remember, this is the guy who is shaping McCain economic policy. He's a highly paid lobbyist for one of the worst hit banks in the subprime crisis and yet he is still a co-chair of the McCain campaign.

Keep in mind that Phil Gramm and McCain are still unable to admit these policies were failures. Gramm says he "didn't intend this." Not the most comforting response from the architect. This is the same bullheadedness that we've experienced from Bush, who still can't admit any failures. More of the same is not what we need. Read through both links and get to know the man rumored to be McCain's choice as Treasury Secretary. Read More......

Sabbatical

I've been writing for AMERICAblog for over two years now, and during that time I have had opportunities, conversations, and interactions beyond what I could ever have dreamed when I began. I have grown as a writer, analyst, and person during that time, part of which includes my professional life. This summer in particular, I'm doing work that I'm very excited about, work that I hope will shape my personal and educational development.

Unfortunately, though, I can't do both the job and blogging. I therefore have to take some time off from the site, and wanted to let y'all know rather than just disappearing. This isn't a "goodbye cruel world" post, not in the slightest -- I will continue to closely follow politics in general and foreign policy in particular, and I hope to return to writing about these vital issues not too long from now.

As always, I appreciate our readers, and of course John and Joe, and I know this site will continue to be a place for analysis and insight that you can't find anywhere else. (Partly because, if all goes well, another foreign policy nerd will be stepping in shortly ... stay tuned.) Thanks again, and see ya around! Read More......

In all fairness to McCain, maybe English grammar was different in the 1920s

He's lost his mind. McCain's now trying to claim that he didn't tell voters yesterday that we have drawn down to pre-surge troop levels in Iraq. He's now trying to claim that he said we're DRAWING down, i.e., still in the process, not there yet. But of course, that's not what he said. It's on film. Everyone has seen it. ThinkProgress walks you through it again. It's just downright bizarre that McCain keeps denying that he said what he said. We have video. Bush and Cheney and company tried this for years, and got away with it. They constantly lied about the facts and figured no one would be the wiser. But people finally wisened up. And they don't accept blatant lies any longer. We have not gotten down to pre-surge troops levels - we're not even close. And now McCain is arguing "verb tenses" as an excuse - my, Grandpa, what Clintonian teeth you have. Whether McCain is lying or simply doesn't understand the facts in Iraq, for him to now deny that he said what he said, well, when we have the video, it's just kind of creepy and sad. Read More......

"Connect Four" is misogynist

This is the video I tried to post yesterday, it seems to be back. It's entitled "Young Hillary Clinton." :-) (It includes yummy Jerry O'Connell, who apparently helped create it.)

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According to McCain campaign, expecting McCain to know basic facts about Iraq is nitpicking

You've got to be kidding.

As John wrote below, McCain has his facts wrong about Iraq (again). We're talking very basic facts. McCain said yesterday in Wisconsin that the surge is over, all the troops are home. ("I can look you in the eye and tell you... We have drawn down to pre-surge levels.") In fact, 2/3 of the surge troops are still in Iraq (we added 30,000 troops and have removed 10,000, leaving 20,000 still in Iraq). According to Ben Smith, the McCain's campaign response to the criticism of McCain's mistake is to not only invoke "verb tense," but to charge that we're "nitpicking." Wow. 20,000 troops are "nit-picking." (As Ben notes, "[t]his verb tense thing is a novel excuse, with potentially wide future use on both sides. Hillary, for instance, could have been referring to the risk of future sniper fire.")

Remember, McCain raised the issue of Iraq this week, boasting of all his trips over there, and how that makes him so much smarter than Obama about Iraq. Well, all those trips haven't really helped McCain with the facts about Iraq. Expecting a presidential candidate to know very basic facts isn't exactly nitpicking. He thought the surge was over, when in fact it's still 2/3 going on. That's a rather huge mistake for someone who claims that this is his signature issue. The McCain campaign's overreaction to this episode is instructive. They know a pattern is emerging where the candidate's words don't match reality.

The Obama campaign weighed in again, too, via email:

"The McCain campaign still can't explain why John McCain could be so clearly and factually wrong in stating that our troops are at 'pre-surge' levels. They are not, and anyone who wants to be Commander-in-Chief should know better before launching divisive political attacks. Once again, Senator McCain has shown that he is far more interested in stubbornly making the case for continuing a failed policy in Iraq than in getting the facts right," said Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan.

The McCain campaign can't explain why McCain gets the facts wrong -- over and over and over.

John McCain is still living in the pre-Internet world -- definitely the pre-YouTube world. He thinks he can say anything and just make things up... as if there are no consequences, no one will record it, no one will fact check it. That's not the world the rest of us live in anymore.

In the wake of Scott McClellan's book, the American people are paying extra attention to the discussion of the Iraq war. We've had enough deception, propaganda and happy talk. The American people want facts, something John McCain simply doesn't have. Read More......

McCain says we're back to 'pre-surge levels' in Iraq. No we're not. 2/3 of the surge troops are still there.

UPDATE: McCain's campaign conference call for reporters is taking place as I write. And his staff is saying that McCain was actually correct about how many troops we have in Iraq because you have to take a look at his "verb tense." Seriously. They're haggling over the definition of "is," "was," and "will be."

It's kind of scary that John McCain, who keeps talking about how many trips he's made to Iraq, doesn't even know how many troops we have there. Yesterday, McCain told an audience in Wisconsin that we are back to pre-surge troop levels in Iraq.

MCCAIN: "So I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels."

Actually, Mr. Magoo, two-thirds of the surge troops are still in Iraq.

Let me walk you through this.

1. Pre-surge troops levels. That's 130,000 to 135,000 troops.

2. Bush sent 30,000 or so "surge" troops to Iraq.

3. That means at full surge we had 165,000 troops in Iraq.

4. We currently have 155,000 troops in Iraq.

5. That means we still currently have 20,000 more troops in Iraq than we had pre-surge, or 2/3 of the surge troops are still in Iraq.

We're not at pre-surge levels by a long shot. Sure, the military is talking about kind-of sort-of maybe drawing down our troops to pre-surge levels in by the end of the summer (we've heard that one before). But that's not what John McCain said. He didn't say we're planning to hopefully get down to pre-surge levels a few months, assuming we can safely do so. He said he can look you in the eye and tell you today that WE ARE AT pre-surge levels. And we're not. (Though I am kind of impressed that he can look you in the eye while getting it completely wrong.)

McCain has done this a lot with regards to Iraq (though it's not clear if he's simply lying to the American people, or if McCain is just getting too old to keep his facts straight). He keeps visiting the country, then telling us things about "happy" Iraq that aren't true. Remember his old chestnut about how our commander over there travels without security? (Not true.) Then there was the time he said he was visiting markets and it was totally safe (except that he was wearing a bullet-proof vest, had 100 troops as bodyguards, and had several attack helicopters overhead). Or the time when McCain, repeatedly, got confused between the Shia and the Sunni in Iraq and Iran. I'm not sure I want Barack Obama, or any politician, visiting Iraq if all they're coming home with is misinformation. You can watch the video of McCain from yesterday for yourself, it's short and to the point. McCain has no idea what's going on in Iraq (or anywhere else, I fear):

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Hillary's girl power

Jacki Schechner thinks a woman would make an exceptional commander in chief. Just not this one:

I think it does women a disservice to play the sexism card at this stage in the game in this particular circumstance....

Neanderthal men who think women belong in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant are not a large enough demographic to be holding Senator Clinton back from clinching this nomination, and claiming that's her downfall is both disingenuous and bad form. Save the fight for when it matters. When there is real discrimination based on sex. If anything, the press has been infinitely generous with Clinton - keeping her in this race long after the math proved Obama's delegate lead insurmountable. Again, she's not losing because she's a woman. She's losing because she got bad campaign advice and ran with it.

If you listened to my podcast commentary, I made it very clear I was excited by the idea of the first female President. I just don't think Clinton's turned out to be that female. That doesn't make me naive or a traitor to my gender. If anything, it does us some justice. One of us is going to make an exceptional Commander-in-Chief someday.

I just want my President to be someone I can look up to and be proud of as a human being. Gender aside, Clinton is not that person.

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Conservatives upset about Crist's "live and let live" attitudes

Oh is that what we're calling it now. :-) This is actually getting fun. McCain seems to be seriously considering Crist for VP. And if he does, well, let's just say history may be made. There is no way McCain will pick him with all of Crist's "live and let live" baggage. McCain is humoring Crist in order to ensure that Crist will help McCain win Florida in the general election. But on the off chance that McCain is really considering Crist, all I have to say is "you go girl." Read More......

After Tuesday, Clinton is running in the "superdelegate primary" - or not

From the L.A. Times, we learn, not surprisingly, of different camps inside Team Clinton:

Within Clinton's camp, aides are divided over how to proceed. Some want the fight to go on; others are ready for it to end.

A Clinton media spokesman, Phil Singer, said Thursday that after the final primaries next week, Clinton would remain a candidate, competing in what he called "the superdelegate primary."

But others believe the end will come sooner.

One person with ties to the Clinton campaign said the senator might drop out as soon as Wednesday because it would become fruitless to lobby superdelegates.

The so-called "superdelegate primary" has been going on for awhile. And it's not going so well for Clinton. Nor is it going to get better. Via Democratic Convention Watch as of this morning, Obama needs 41 delegates to secure the nomination. But check out these charts on superdelegates since that's the next "primary" for Clinton:

It's pretty clear to everyone that Obama will secure the nomination next week. So, maybe this thing will end next week. But don't count on it. There will be some new permutation of reality from the Clintons, as they continue their battle to ensure that John McCain wins in November. Read More......

John McCain's definition of a "quiet" day in Mosul has 30 dead from suicide bombings

All week we've been hearing about all those trips McCain has made to Iraq. We know about some of them. Like the one where he claimed he could stroll safely through a Baghdad. Or the one recently where he didn't know the difference between Sunnis and Shi'as.

Just yesterday, McCain was talking about how "quiet" Mosul is. But, Nico Pitney compared McCain's words to what was actually happening yesterday in Mosul:

Moreover, McCain's claim that Mosul is "quiet" was disproved earlier today in grim fashion. Three suicide bombings -- two in Mosul and another in a surrounding town -- left 30 Iraqis dead and more than two dozen injured, according to press reports.

Is it possible for the traditional media to grasp the fact that on Iraq, McCain really doesn't know what he's talking about? McCain gets basic facts wrong -- and he makes things up. Haven't we had enough of that on Iraq? Seriously.

UDPATE 11:24 a.m.: Someone in the traditional media gets it. Via Think Progress, CNN's Michael Ware, who is in Baghdad and has been there for awhile, had this to say about McCain and Iraq:

WARE: I’ll issue a word of caution, too. I mean Senator McCain has been here, what, more than half a dozen times. And we’ve seen him get assessments of Iraq terribly wrong. So I wouldn’t be hanging my hat on the fact that your opponent has only been here once.

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Are Clinton's staffers and superdelegates actually going along with this campaign of destruction?

For the past couple weeks, the Clinton campaign has veered in so many directions, I'm starting to wonder if anyone is in charge. Maybe, it's gotten to a point where they're just winging it. When Clinton herself is once again abetting John McCain and her supporters are teaming up with Huckabee and McCain's followers, something is desperately wrong.

You have to wonder what's going on with the staff. Most of them are very fine people, strong Democrats, committed progressives. Most of them are realists and know this is over. Same goes for most of Clinton's superdelegate supporters (although probably not Debbie Wasserman Schultz).

Yet, it seems like their candidate is still on a slash and burn campaign to destroy the Democratic nominee. Instead of healing wounds, Hillary (with help from Bill, McAuliffe, Lanny and a few other very wealthy fundraising types) seems intent on rubbing salt in wounds.

This can't be what most of the staff and superdelegates signed up for. Who wants to be tagged with helping to elect John McCain? Who wants to be burdened with knowing their work led to a Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade or the continuation of the endless war in Iraq?

We are losing time here. Obama and the Democrats need to fully engage the battle with McCain and the GOP. This drama has gone on too long. And, for all those who thought Hillary would make a graceful effort, think again. It hasn't happened -- and there is no sign it will.

So, it's legacy time. Not for Hillary and Bill. No, it's time for the Clinton staffers and the Clinton superdelegates to start thinking about their legacies. Read More......

Is McCain coordinating the attacks against Obama with the swiftboating group?

John McCain, who the traditional media still thinks is a campaign finance maverick, is actually a campaign finance criminal. So, it's no surprise that his campaign appears to be colluding with an "independent" group, which until recently was advised by McCain's buddies, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham. That group, Vets for Freedom, is trying to swiftboat Obama. McCain is parroting the group's talking points -- pretty much word for word. It's illegal for federal campaigns to coordinate with outside groups:
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Scotty McClellan dominates today's Washington Post

Sometimes, getting the paper delivered at home is really worth it. Like today.

There are not one, not two, but three major pieces on Scotty McClellan's book. There's the front page, above the fold, article titled "McClellan Says Book's Tone Evolved: Aide-Turned-Critic Tells of Growing Disillusionment With Bush Administration." On page 3, there's another article about the book titled, "For Future White House Aides, Required Reading." Then, there's Dana Milbank, who notes Scotty's ability to stay on message, a trick he learned from the Bushies he's now screwing:

Bush loyalists watching Scott McClellan kick off his media tour yesterday must have felt a revulsion akin to Dr. Frankenstein's.

McClellan's former White House colleagues had built and trained the former press secretary to parrot their talking points, monotonously if not mindlessly, no matterwhat argument or fact stood in the way. Saddam Hussein was a grave threat. The war in Iraq was going well. Scooter Libby and Karl Rove didn't leak Valerie Plame's identity.

But now the McClellan monster is back -- and he's got a new set of talking points that attack the very people he was trained to defend. He's a bit thinner around the middle, and the sideburns are comically longer, but McClellan's famous fealty to his message is as stubborn as ever.

That's today's Washington Post. Thanks again, Scott.

Also, McClellan will be doing a live Q & A with the Post at noon Eastern time today. Read More......

Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Well, we're onto the fourth day of the media frenzy surrounding Scotty McClellan's book -- and it's far from over. He'll be on "Meet the Press" on Sunday. The Bushies are freaking out. It's great. Just great.

This can't make John McCain too happy either. John McCain has to run on Bush's Iraq record and Scotty reminded us that the war was started with lies and propaganda.

John McCain is taking the day off. Apparently he has a cold. Must be one hell of a cold to knock him off the campaign trail. But, I guess at McCain's age, any cold is a hell of a cold. And, John McCain has excellent health care. He can see his doctor even if he just has a cold. Not many Americans can do that. (Please indulge the John McCain links -- and please click on them every time. We're helping an online campaign to help people find the truth about the GOP nominee.)

So, now start threading... Read More......

Bush administration siding with Libya over terrorist victims

This is incredible. Does this administration always have to be Big Oil's lapdog? Libya previously agreed to pay compensation claims for their terrorist attacks and then failed to live up to their agreements. There is no gray area here. Why is Bush and Rice siding with Libya instead of supporting the families who were victimized by terrorism? Let Big Oil do their own dirty work or let Big Oil pay the families if they want the Libyan oil contracts so badly.

Why is Bush re-negotiating a done deal with a known terrorist? Read More......

Bahrain appoints new ambassador for US

Change is good.

Bahrain's king has appointed a Jewish woman as the country's envoy to the United States.

Houda Nonoo said she was proud to serve her country "first of all as a Bahraini" and that she was not chosen for the post because of her religion.

She is believed to be the Arab world's first Jewish ambassador.

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Tony Blair is really too much

Oh please. How does invading a country and killing people in any way mesh with bringing religions together? Let's not forget he is on the payroll of Wall Street, making millions to guide those slimeballs out of their self-created problems, all on the taxpayers bill. What next? Joining hands with Phil Gramm and being a co-chair of the McCain campaign?

Former prime minister Tony Blair has promised to "spend the rest of my life" uniting the world's religions.

He said faith could be a "civilising force in globalisation", bringing people together to solve problems such as malaria and extreme poverty.

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Let's have some fun

Dan Savage is looking for some help with a gay marriage poll on a Utah news site. And I can't refuse Dan. So please visit the site, and in the bottom right corner you'll find the poll. Read More......

Myanmar junta hits a new low

It's hard to find many regimes in the world that are more despicable than the Myanmar junta. The people there are among the nicest on the planet but have the misfortune of being born under that dictatorship. The neighboring countries who could have influence are never interested in change as that might threaten their juicy business contracts. Unfortunately, the US and Europe do the same in other parts of the world. It's difficult to say how much of the aid will be skimmed off the top for the junta but let's hope enough makes it to the victims.

Commentary in the Myanma Ahlin newspaper said that while the country welcomed international aid, “Myanmar people are self-reliant and can stand on their own without foreign assistance.”

The state-run newspaper said that people in the delta could survive on “fresh vegetables that grow wild in the fields and on protein-rich fish from the rivers” if they could not get “bars of chocolate donated by the international community.”

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More on Buchenwald and Auschwitz

Not to belabor the point, but you should read this. The folks running the Web site for the 89th Infantry Division, the division that liberated one of the sub-camps of Buchenwald (whose members include Obama's uncle), issued a statement about Obama's uncle and this "work" camp.

Concerning the service of Mr. Charles Payne: C.T. Payne was a soldier in the 89th Infantry Division. He served in the 355th Infantry Regiment, Company K. The 355th Infantry Regiment was the unit to liberate Ohrdruf. Mr. Payne was there.

For those who seek to minimize the horrors of Ohrdruf since it was a 'work' camp and not a 'death' camp, we have but one word: shame. Ironically, this argument has been made to us time and time again by various Holocaust-deniers and other pro-Nazi groups. We will let the testimony of survivors and veterans speak for themselves.

"It has been recorded that in Ordruf itself the last days were a slaughterhouse. We were shot at, beaten and molested. At every turn went on the destruction of the remaining inmates. Indiscriminant criminal behavior (like the murderers of Oklahoma City some days ago). Some days before the first Americans appeared at the gates of Ordruf, the last retreating Nazi guards managed to execute with hand pistols, literally emptying their last bullets on whomever they encountered leaving them bleeding to death as testified by an American of the 37th Tank Battalion Medical section, 10 a.m. April 4, 1945.

Today I'm privileged thanks to G-d and you gallant fighting men. I'm here to reminisce, and reflect, and experience instant recollections of those moments. Those horrible scenes and that special instance when an Allied soldier outstretched his arm to help me up became my re-entrance, my being re-invited into humanity and restoring my inalienable right to a dignified existence as a human being and as a Jew. Something, which was denied me from September 1939 to the day of liberation in 1945. I had no right to live and survived, out of 80 members of my family, the infernal ordeal of Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Ordruf, and its satellite camp Crawinkle and finally Theresinstadt Ghetto-Concentration Camp."

Rabbi Murray Kohn

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Netroots Nation and Democracy for America offering conference scholarships

This is very cool.

Netroots Nation has teamed up with Democracy for America to offer scholarships to the annual conference this summer in Austin:

Whether you're an activist organizing locally to support a presidential campaign or a blogger mobilizing communities for a common cause, this is your chance to show off what you've done to move the progressive agenda forward.

Our scholarship program is a way to ensure that activists of every age, background, and economic bracket, representing numerous points of view and all 50 states, are able to attend Netroots Nation. Because the more diverse the audience, the richer our experience in Austin will be.

The scholarship program will cover the cost of registration and lodging for at least nine activists.

You can apply here.

I've been to way too many conferences over the years, but YearlyKos, now Netroots Nation, is actually very fun -- and just a great learning experience. The first one was a very low-key event in Las Vegas back in June of 2006. In Chicago, last year, the crowd was much larger and the major Democratic presidential candidates all showed up for a forum. This year's conference in Austin is shaping up to be another very powerful and positive experience for anyone interested in "changing the face of progressive politics." Read More......

Do Catholics really want a Clinton deciding what their priests can say from the pulpit?

The house guest who overstayed her welcome is at it again. This time Hillary isn't attacking some fringe pastor, she's bashing Father Michael Pflegler, a well-known Catholic priest who is, according to Joe Sudbay (who knows him personally), "an amazing activist for social justice." (Check out Fr. Pflegler's resume, it's rather incredible.)

Hillary is again upset with Obama that a man of the cloth said something Hillary didn't like. And, as usual, her attack-dog campaign manager, Howard Wolfson, is telling priests how to run their churches. That's bad enough, but this time, Hillary may have pushed her luck too far. Put aside for a moment the fact that the race is over, and in 5 days Hillary will have to concede - so she really should stop with the destructive attacks against our party's nominee. No, the bigger problem for Hillary is that this time she is demonizing for political gain a well-known and beloved progressive activist who has done a heck of a lot of good in his life - and to boot, he's a prominent Catholic priest in Chicago, well-loved in his community.

Call me crazy, but I'm going to bet most Catholics don't want Hillary Clinton deciding what their priests can and can't say from the pulpit. (Not to mention, whether it's Monica's love-life or Bobby Kennedy's assassination, I'm not sure any Clinton has the right to pull the moral high ground on anyone, let alone a priest.)

I'm not even going to reprint the details of this story, because why help Hillary in her campaign to get John McCain elected (though for you progressive women out there, you ought to be scared to death about what Hillary and her friends at EMILY's List are doing to our chances to keep Roe v. Wade the law of the land in the next administration). This time Hillary is bashing the Catholic Church, and unlike some of the more progressive Christian religions, the Catholics don't take lightly to holier-than-thou government officials telling them how to run their faith. Read More......

Bear Stearns disappears today

An amazing fall from grace. After 85 years, the Great Depression and countless recessions, Bear Stearns will no longer exist after today. The business and economic policies promoted by McCain's "economic brain" Phil Gramm has taken its toll, forcing the government to bail out what was previously one of the hottest companies on Wall Street. Still no explanation beyond "we had to in order to prevent a collapse" from anyone in Washington, as if Wall Street is the only place experiencing trouble. A once in a lifetime opportunity to leverage power for change was missed by Washington and very little remorse from Wall Street.

The entire event sickens me. It sickens me that it came to this. It sickens me that everyone turned a blind eye to the obvious failed logic that enriched so many. It sickens me to see how many lives are being ruined. It sickens me to see the chairman unloading all of his stock and profiting "only" $61 million in the middle of this collapse. It sickens me that even now, nobody in Washington addresses what is a very important event. The list goes on and none of it is good. If you have the stomach, the link above is a good overview (and interview) of that failure. It's still debatable whether those in power on Wall Street or Washington fully grasp the seriousness of this series of events. With talk of more mega-mergers, it's not clear that anyone gets it. Read More......

In NY, Obama has higher approval rating than Clinton, more think he's the stronger candidate for the general -- and a lot want her to drop out

Here's another addendum for Hillary Clinton's memo to the superdelegates. Since her document was so poll-driven, here are some numbers from those who know her best -- the people of New York:

Fifty percent (50%) of New York Democrats say it’s time for Senator Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race for the White House. Just 43% believe she should keep going. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey also found that most New York Republicans—52%--want Clinton to keep striving for the nomination. Overall, among all Empire State voters, 45% believe she should drop out while 43% disagree.

Just 16% of New York Democrats think Obama should drop out of the race.

Forty-seven percent (47%) of New York voters believe Obama is the stronger general election candidate. Forty-three percent (43%) believe Clinton would be better.

The survey also found that Obama is now viewed more favorably than Clinton in New York. Sixty-two percent (62%) of New York voters have a favorable opinion of Barack Obama while 55% give Hillary Clinton such positive reviews.

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And to think I thought this video came out too late

That was when we thought Hillary was going to be a good sport. I've posted this before, but it's worth another look. Not so funny now.

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Hillary reportedly using McCain and Huckabee supporters to beef up numbers at DNC protest this weekend

One of the "grassroots organizers" of Hillary's fake protest this weekend at the DNC rules committee meeting (the one deciding what to do with FL and MI), just sent this email out to a lot of the wrong people in DC:

We have Fantastic News!

As you know, our efforts to present a unified front this weekend on Sat, May 31 at the DNC meeting has proven to be quite successful…in fact, we have now an approximate 10,000 marchers. The marchers will be coming from across the country and they aren't just Clinton supporters. For a unified showing will be Obama, McCain, Clinton and even a few Huckabee supporters who will rally together in Washington DC.

How did a grass roots group of politically inexperienced organizers get an overwhelming response of thousands of supporters…supporters that cross partisan lines for the unified message: All Voices Heard, All Votes Matter?

Anyone still working for Hillary should be ashamed of themselves. Read More......