NYT censored Krugman poke at Bush

As I wrote the other day, the NYT can self-censor as much as it wants, the Republicans will continue to bash them anyway (and they did). This is the best never-published lede ever, from Krugman:

I’m almost never censored at the Times. However, I was told that I couldn’t use the lede I originally wrote for my column following the 2007 State of the Union address, in which Bush made ethanol the centerpiece of his energy strategy:

“Before the State of the Union address, there had been hints and hopes that President Bush would offer a serious plan to reduce our dependence on imported oil. Instead, however, he took refuge in alcohol.”

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Gray wolves removed from endangered species list

...so they can be killed by hunters at luxury hunting lodges. This is what the GOP considers to be environmental awareness. Because ranchers are too lazy and ignorant to study how to limit the impact of wolves attacking their cows, they're joined up with the lodge owners who want to book Republicans at high prices and shoot anything that moves. Hunting is a big money sport these days and the GOP loves everything about big money. These people are pathetic. Read More......

Friday Orchid Blogging

Paph. Norito Hasegawa

I'm actually quite proud of this one. We're now getting into the realm of orchids that are a bit harder to grow, and flower, than your usual run of the mill phal (the moth orchids, which I often tend to kill), though this guy has a reputation of being pretty easy (well, that's orchid easy). This guy has been growing for a few years and just recently bloomed. The flower has been open for a good couple of weeks so far. The supposedly sometimes smell like pine. Mine doesn't. But it's still pretty cool, and a good size too - about 3 3/4 inches at its widest.

It's pretty cool, I have a number of plants either flowering or getting ready to flower. I got some hideous compact fluorescent lights last winter or so, and while the set up looks like a home-grown pot garden (most of the home orchid folks get their advice on home garden lighting from the pot people, who are apparently experts at it), and I have to wear an eye mask so they don't wake me up at 6am when the lights go on, it's done wonders for the plants. Heck, that one plant I mentioned a few weeks ago, the spike (the flower stem) is getting close to 6 feet long, with about 30 flowers on it. It hasn't fully bloomed, but when it does I'll take a picture. The reason they're doing so well is that they're finally getting the light they need - a simple sunlight window isn't enough for some species of orchids. So yeah, my apartment is bright, but hey, how many people have flowering plants indoors in February, and an added bonus, at least I won't be getting that cabin fever depression they get in Alaska! Read More......

A reporter reports that Obama was right about not enough soldiers in Afghanistan -- the right wing noise machine was wrong

This is an important story because we'll be seeing a lot of this over the next nine months. The right wing noise machine will falsely and baselessly attack our candidates. We'll, of course, fight back. The question is whether the traditional media falls for it this time around -- or does its job.

The right wingers were in a frenzy over an answer Barack Obama gave at the debate last night, which once again exposed the failure of the Bush/Cheney/McCain rush to war in Iraq:

You know, I've heard from an Army captain who was the head of a rifle platoon -- supposed to have 39 men in a rifle platoon. Ended up being sent to Afghanistan with 24 because 15 of those soldiers had been sent to Iraq.

And as a consequence, they didn't have enough ammunition, they didn't have enough humvees. They were actually capturing Taliban weapons, because it was easier to get Taliban weapons than it was for them to get properly equipped by our current commander in chief. Now, that's a consequence of bad judgment.

Bad judgment is actually an understatement. So, no surprise the Bush/Cheney/McCain lovers would want to discredit that story. It's a devastating indictment of the national security abilities of the GOP. After all, Afghanistan enabled Al Qaeda -- and Al Qaeda launched the attack that killed 3,000 Americans. This incident is emblematic of the approach to national security undertaken by Bush and enabled by Congressional Republicans -- including McCain. They are failures.

So while the right wingers were in a lather over Obama's answer, Jake Tapper found out the story is true.

More after the jump...

I called the Obama campaign this morning to chat about this story, and was put in touch with the Army captain in question.

He told me his story, which I found quite credible, though for obvious reasons he asked that I not mention his name or certain identifying information.

Short answer: He backs up Obama's story.

The longer answer is worth telling, though.

The Army captain, a West Point graduate, did a tour in a hot area of eastern Afghanistan from the Summer of 2003 through Spring 2004.

Prior to deployment the Captain -- then a Lieutenant -- took command of a rifle platoon at Fort Drum. When he took command, the platoon had 39 members, but -- in ones and twos -- 15 members of the platoon were re-assigned to other units. He knows of 10 of those 15 for sure who went to Iraq, and he suspects the other five did as well.

The platoon was sent to Afghanistan with 24 men.

"We should have deployed with 39," he told me, "we should have gotten replacements. But we didn't. And that was pretty consistent across the battalion."

He adds that maybe a half-dozen of the 15 were replaced by the Fall of 2003, months after they arrived in Afghanistan, but never all 15.

Despicable way to treat our soldiers. Despicable. And, actually, Tapper (who linked to ten sites that criticized Obama on this issue) puts it best:

I might suggest those on the blogosphere upset about this story would be better suited directing their ire at those responsible for this problem, which is certainly not new. That is, if they actually care about the men and women bravely serving our country at home and abroad.

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More readers weigh in about Obama's security

I thought about whether to post this or not, security-wise, but with tens of thousands of people attending each Obama event, it's not exactly a great secret whether or not they use metal detectors or otherwise search people, assuming someone wanted to know for nefarious reasons. Still, I find this troubling enough that I'm publishing it. From our readers:

SEATTLE: There was no security check in Seattle, as well. I remember being somewhat nervous about that at the time and mentioning it to my friend. I thought at the time that it would be hard to check 18,000 people in a timely fashion...but geez, they do it all the time for basketball and baseball games...and I think Obama is a heckuva more important figure than Ichiro.

NJ: I went to an event in Newark, NJ in January and the same thing happened. Everyone in line was commenting on the lack of security as well!

ALABAMA: This has been going on for a while. Early this month my family went to see him speak in Birmingham, AL. The line to get in was 3-4 people wide and circled an entire city block. It was moving very slowly at 1st, with people stationed every 100ft or so telling you "no bags were allowed of any type, have all camera's and anything else metallic in your hands before going through security". As we got closer to the 2:00 start time the pace picked up. When we got up to the doors of Bartow Arena there was no security evident. We walked through the turned off metal detectors and it seemed at least 50% of all women had bags. We thought it was strange at the time and other people were talking about it before Obama came out and started speaking. I have quite a few pictures of the event and it's obvious that it was possible to get very close to the Senator.

MORE ALABAMA: This happened in Birmingham, AL also. It appears to be mostly because of time constraints. We waited in line for quite a long time and they stopped searching by the time I got up to the front of the line. There was only a half hour to go and the auditorium was less than half full because of the slowness of the searching.

SF: They did the same thing when I went to see him in San Francisco a few months ago. The lines were miles long and it was just taking too long to run everyone through the two metal detectors they had set up.

After the jump, Vegas, St. Louis and Boston too...

VEGAS: I went to one of the early debates, here in Las Vegas, when there was a full slate of candidates. I found it bizarre that there was basically no security at all. I suppose it's possible that there are metal detectors at the entrance to the Thomas & Mack center, I didn't see them. Nobody checked our IDs against our tickets, and when my friend's name did not appear on the list, they let him in anyway. And he's covered with scary tattoos! Heh. Still, it was disturbingly easy to get in.

ST. LOUIS: My son went to an Obama rally at our football stadium in St. Louis. He said there were NO metal detecters or searches. I was really surprised. They search purses when we go to football games.

MORE ST. LOUIS: I went to the St. Louis rally and there was reportedly 20,000 people there (I'm not sure it was that many, but close). Anyway, we were in a long line, but it was moving quickly because they were just letting people walk right in. Some of our friends that got there early said they were checked, but I guess they gave up because we were surprised to walk right in the door and onto the floor of the stadium. Even at the RAMS games they pat down everybody and check women's purses.

BOSTON: The same thing happened at an Obama campaign event in Boston last April, and it was just after he had been assigned Secret Service protection. He appeared at the new Agganis Arena at Boston University, and we went. There were no metal detectors, only a prohibition against bags. There were so many students, and lots and lots of book bags.

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Deposition contradicts McCain defense of Iseman scandal

From Newsweek:

Just hours after the Times's story was posted, the McCain campaign issued a point-by-point response that depicted the letters as routine correspondence handled by his staff—and insisted that McCain had never even spoken with anybody from Paxson or Alcalde & Fay about the matter. "No representative of Paxson or Alcalde & Fay personally asked Senator McCain to send a letter to the FCC," the campaign said in a statement e-mailed to reporters.

But that flat claim seems to be contradicted by an impeccable source: McCain himself. "I was contacted by Mr. Paxson on this issue," McCain said in the Sept. 25, 2002, deposition obtained by NEWSWEEK. "He wanted their approval very bad for purposes of his business. I believe that Mr. Paxson had a legitimate complaint."

While McCain said "I don't recall" if he ever directly spoke to the firm's lobbyist about the issue—an apparent reference to Iseman, though she is not named—"I'm sure I spoke to [Paxson]."

Lest anyone say that McCain simply said they didn't discuss a letter, read the rest of the quote that Newsweek left out:

No representative of Paxson or Alcalde and Fay discussed with Senator McCain the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proceeding regarding the transfer of Pittsburgh public television station (WQED) to Cornerstone Broadcasting and Cornerstone Broadcasting’s television station (WPCB) to Paxson. No representative of Paxson or Alcalde and Fay personally asked Senator McCain to send a letter to the FCC regarding this proceeding.

So McCain said this week that he did not discuss the matter with anyone from Iseman's firm. But in 2002 in a sworn deposition he said he did. So, perjury, liar, or just losing his memory? Read More......

Did Iseman's office ever smell something wrong with her relationship with McCain?

I find it interesting that we're not reading anything about what the office-mates of John McCain's favorite young blonde lobbyist have to say about her relationship with the Senator. You'd think it would be a pretty easy question: Did her office have the same creepy sense about their relationship that the NYT claims his office had? Yes or no. Simple question. Why isn't it being asked or answered? Read More......

A second Obama event security lapse?

In response to our earlier post about an apparent security lapse at an Obama event in Texas, a reader writes:

I took my son and a friend to the Obama private fundraiser [in Los Angeles] at the Avelon on Vine Street. Jan 31. (after the Clinton debate)

The guests lined up outside and there seemed to be security at first.

Then the lines moved very quickly, we were all urged to hurry and hustled in with no attempt to screen us.

I think this was a timing issue.

But we found the process a little creepy and commented to each other on it.

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Why would the Secret Service stop searching for weapons at Obama rally?

A very weird story out of Texas that a number of readers have sent me. I don't think that the Secret Service was hoping to harm Obama, but it's just downright bizarre that they'd say "yeah, the lines are too long to get into the Obama speech, let's just stop searching people for weapons." I mean, again, that's just bizarre. Read More......

McCain's double-speak on lobbyists

Just because John McCain says he doesn't like lobbyists, doesn't mean he doesn't like having lobbyists around him, giving him advice, running his campaign. Further evidence that like George Bush, just because John McCain says something, doesn't make it true:

For years, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has railed against lobbyists and the influence of "special interests" in Washington, touting on his campaign Web site his fight against "the 'revolving door' by which lawmakers and other influential officials leave their posts and become lobbyists for the special interests they have aided."

But when McCain huddled with his closest advisers at his rustic Arizona cabin last weekend to map out his presidential campaign, virtually every one was part of the Washington lobbying culture he has long decried. His campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T;, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways.

Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon work for firms that have lobbied for Land O' Lakes, UST Public Affairs, Dell and Fannie Mae.

McCain's relationship with lobbyists became an issue this week after it was reported that his aides asked Vicki Iseman, a telecom lobbyist, to distance herself from his 2000 presidential campaign because it would threaten McCain's reputation for independence. An angry and defiant McCain denounced the stories yesterday, declaring: "At no time have I ever done anything that would betray the public trust."

You know all those corporate lobbyists have your best interests at heart, right? And, they would never have any influence on the good saint, John McCain. Read More......

McCain stymied in his scam of public financing for his campaign

Saint McCain is disingenuously attacking Obama over campaign financing. Yet, McCain is actually trying to game the public financing system -- but, he's been busted:

The nation's top federal election official told Sen. John McCain yesterday that he cannot immediately withdraw from the presidential public financing system as he had requested, a decision that threatens to dramatically restrict his spending until the general election campaign begins in the fall.

The prospect of being financially hamstrung by the very fundraising system he helped create is the latest in a series of bitter challenges for the presumed GOP nominee, who still faces a fractured conservative coalition as he assumes the mantle of party leadership.

Bitter challenges that he brought on himself. Typical Republican.

Let's see if McCain follows the law -- or breaks it. Because, this issue has criminal implications:

Knowingly violating the spending limit is a criminal offense that could put McCain at risk of stiff fines and up to five years in prison.

And, it's not like McCain doesn't know campaign finance law. He helped write it.

There's much more after the break.

McCain is stuck. He tried to outsmart the FEC -- but, he didn't. Let's see how the champion of campaign finance reform digs out of this one:

The implications of that could be dramatic. Last year, when McCain's campaign was starved for cash, he applied to join the financing system to gain access to millions of dollars in federal matching money. He was also permitted to use his FEC certification to bypass the time-consuming process of gathering signatures to get his name on the ballot in several states, including Ohio.

By signing up for matching money, McCain agreed to adhere to strict state-by-state spending limits and an overall limit on spending of $54 million for the primary season, which lasts until the party's nominating convention in September. The general election has a separate public financing arrangement.

But after McCain won a series of early contests and the campaign found its financial footing, his lawyer wrote to the FEC requesting to back out of the program -- which is permitted for candidates who have not yet received any federal money and who have not used the promise of federal funding as collateral for borrowing money.

Mason's letter raises two issues as the basis for his position. One is that the six-member commission lacks a quorum, with four vacancies because of a Senate deadlock over President Bush's nominees for the seats. Mason said the FEC would need to vote on McCain's request to leave the system, which is not possible without a quorum. Until that can happen, the candidate will have to remain within the system, he said.

The second issue is more complicated. It involves a $1 million loan McCain obtained from a Bethesda bank in January. The bank was worried about his ability to repay the loan if he exited the federal financing program and started to lose in the primary race. McCain promised the bank that, if that happened, he would reapply for matching money and offer those as collateral for the loan. While McCain's aides have argued that the campaign was careful to make sure that they technically complied with the rules, Mason indicated that the question needs further FEC review.

If the FEC refuses McCain's request to leave the system, his campaign could be bound by a potentially debilitating spending limit until he formally accepts his party's nomination. His campaign has already spent $49 million, federal reports show. Knowingly violating the spending limit is a criminal offense that could put McCain at risk of stiff fines and up to five years in prison.

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Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

We're under a winter storm warning in DC. No snow, but it looks like freezing rain out there. DC doesn't handle winter weather well.

I am still chuckling at the line from Mrs. McCain at the press conference yesterday:

"More importantly, my children and I not only trust my husband, but know that he would never do anything to not only disappoint our family, but disappoint the people of America. He's a man of great character."

No, never. Of course not. Now, the first Mrs. McCain and her children might have a different view. But, Saint McCain would never disappoint anyone -- ever.

Have at it. Read More......

Turkish troops enter Iraq

The report says 10,000 troops have crossed the border. Read More......

Bush asks Pakistan to keep Musharraf despite election rout

And to think many find Bush's democratic ideas to be rubbish. Why bother to even hold elections if you are not prepared to live with the results? Musharraf was routed but in the Bush world, that doesn't matter.

Bush's policy of hanging on to Musharraf has caused friction between the White House and the State Department, with some career diplomats and other specialists arguing that the administration is trying to buck the political tides in Pakistan, U.S. officials said.

Officials in the White House and the intelligence community fear that the longer Pakistan remains without a new government, the deeper the gridlock, threatening the progress made in the elections toward greater stability and helping the country's Islamic extremists.

One Western diplomat said, however, that the strategy could backfire if Pakistanis feel betrayed after voting to kick Musharraf from office.

"This is dangerous," said the diplomat.

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Middle East investing in alternative energies for the future

Big Oil tries to play the green energy card but in reality, they invest very little in this non-core business. Meanwhile, smart business investors in the Middle East are re-investing their windfall profits and setting themselves up for the future. The Democrats (with the exception of Rep. Dingell) understand that change is needed but the GOP is all too willing to ignore any alternatives, because they think that any investment in alternative energies is giving in to the environmentalists. The only change they accepted was biofuels because that was a boondoggle for corporate farmers. Even the oil region millionaires get it, but the GOP can't grasp this simple point.

The next wave of oil wealth will go probably go into alternative energy, says D’Agostino. Middle East investors are comfortable with longer time frames and can weather the volatility of this sector. Specifically, solar & wind names are most likely to benefit.

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