Lieberman becomes liberal cash cow

This is actually kind of funny. Lieberman is appearing at a fundraiser for pro-Bush GOP Senator Susan Collins of Maine. As a result, tons of money is pouring into Collins' opponent, Tom Allen. Hopefully Lieberman will attach himself to more GOP members this election cycle - he's a walking ATM for our side. Read More......

Rosie is video-blogging

The reporter is right, her videos are oddly captivating. I think having the trio of women helps. Rosie herself is shockingly unemotional - no highs or lows. It's a bit disconcerting actually. But still, another interesting use of the Net. I'm still trying to figure out whether more video blogging is something we should do here on the blog. I'm still not sure what exactly to do, were we to video blog. Me sitting in a chair talking a la Rosie, pre shower. Hmmm... Not sure I'm there yet. You can check out Rosie's video blog here. Read More......

China to improve food safety - still waiting for corporate improvements

Excellent news. It might be even more difficult to find foreign companies who step up and test the products they sell to western consumers instead of cutting corners as they have been doing. Corporate profits are fine but the current model of putting consumers on the front line of testing products should be met with very stiff repercussions instead of "let the market decide" over years, severe sickness and death.

The tone of most articles out there on this subject continue to obsess over China and of course, China plays a key role here though the role of US and other foreign companies needs closer attention as well. Consumer products are sold to, well, consumers, though this key ingredient is consistently missing in corporate decisions. Also absent is government oversight who miss the fact that the purchasing power of the US - billions of dollars of imports - does give power. Read More......

McCain campaign links Romney to Hamas & Taliban

The gloves are coming off with the under-achieving McCain campaign.

And then the county chairman for Senator John McCain's presidential campaign, Chad Workman, made an unexpected digression: He took direct aim at Mitt Romney's religion, according to four people at the meeting.

Workman questioned whether Mormons were Christians, discussed an article alleging that the Mormon Church helps fund Hamas, and likened the Mormons' treatment of women to the Taliban's, said participants, who requested anonymity to discuss the meeting freely.

One participant summed up Workman's argument this way: "The fundamental flaw of Mitt Romney . . . was that he was Mormon, not because he thinks this way or that way on one issue."

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14 US troops dead in Iraq

From AP:

The U.S. military said 14 American troops have died in multiple attacks, including five killed Thursday in a single roadside bombing in Baghdad.... The latest U.S. deaths raised to at least 3,545 the number of American troops who have died since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

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Tom Allen wants to end the war that Susan Collins and Joe Lieberman won't stop

John and I got an e-mail from Tom Allen after we put up the Act Blue page seeking donations for his run against GOP Senator Susan Collins. Please contribute. We're the third hottest page on Act Blue today.

I know it's early to be thinking about the 2008 elections, but early money matters. And, don't forget, the two Iraq war enablers, Susan Collins and Joe Lieberman, are raising money for Collins' campaign today. Meanwhile, Tom's trying to figure out ways to end the war.

I've known Tom since around 1985. He really is as genuine, sincere and smart as he comes across. He'll make a great Senator from Maine -- in the tradition of George Mitchell. Here's his e-mail:

Dear Joe and John:

Thank you for including me on your ActBlue page. The response from the netroots community since you posted yesterday is already a good indicator of the power of small donors to make a big difference. Such activism is a strong counter to pro-war factions represented by Susan Collins and Joe Lieberman, who is hosting a fundraiser in Washington, D.C. tonight for Susan's campaign. Together Susan and Joe have consistently voted in approval of Bush's failed policies on Iraq and have neglected to hold the administration accountable.

I hope you'll stop by my on line New England town hall on Iraq tonight at 7 on www.tomallen.org. I look forward to hearing what you think and sharing my ideas about bringing our troops home.

Tom

Help Tom win. Please donate here. Read More......

Cheney exempts self and staff from rules governing use of classified info same year that Scooter leaks Plame's identity

Oh, so Cheney is now his own branch of government AND he's not covered by those pesky rules that ensure that other Executive Branch offices doesn't misuse and abuse classified information. Anybody else see a connection to the Scooter Libby trial, and why Cheney wouldn't want rules governing the use of classified information to cover him and his staff?

From ABC:

Vice President Dick Cheney has asserted his office is not a part of the executive branch of the U.S. government, and therefore not bound by a presidential order governing the protection of classified information by government agencies, according to a new letter from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to Cheney.

Bill Leonard, head of the government's Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), told Waxman's staff that Cheney's office has refused to provide his staff with details regarding classified documents or submit to a routine inspection as required by presidential order, according to Waxman....

For the first two years of the George W. Bush administration, Cheney's office complied with a presidential order that requires officials to report statistics on the number of documents it classifies and declassifies.

Since 2003, however, Cheney's office has refused to submit the data to ISOO. And when ISOO inspectors tried in 2004 to schedule a routine inspection of the vice president's offices, they were rebuffed, Waxman's letter claims.

Gee, 2003 is when Cheney stopped letting the inspectors in. It's also the same year that Scooter made his famous leak. Read More......

Petraeus deluded about Iraq factors

This Times of London interview with General Petraeus is extraordinarily disturbing, both for the implications of administration goals and for how badly General Petraeus misunderstands the driving forces of the current conflicts in Iraq.

There is clearly no intention of redeploying troops, or even planning for any kind of withdrawal. When asked if he would like the "surge" to continue indefinitely, Petraeus responds, "It depends on what the sense is for the prospects of achieving Iraq’s constitution." It depends! Whether he wants the surge to continue indefinitely. And that September "deadline" you keep hearing about? Not really a policy deadline at all, according to the General. "That is a deadline for a report not a deadline for a change in policy," he said. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the September report will indicate some improvement, outline continued challenges, and recommend that we continue with the exact same ineffectual policy.

Just as worrisome from an analytical standpoint is the unrelenting -- and wholly misplaced -- focus on the so-called al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). Priority of the surge? "To disrupt al-Qaeda . . ." Timeframe of the surge? "Al-Qaeda is keenly aware of the Washington clock." Political progress? "[T]ribes changed from being on the fence or tacit support for al-Qaeda to active opposition."

The vast, vast majority of the insurgency in Iraq is driven by native Iraqis, primarily Ba'athist party members and/or sympathizers. AQI activities are almost exclusively limited to suicide bombings, which get attention because they are high-profile, mass-casualty events, but these attacks are in fact a relatively small part of the overall picture. AQI is regularly estimated at 3-5% of the overall insurgency, and its members will be quickly expelled or killed following a U.S. withdrawal. Current cooperation between AQI and the Iraqi-based insurgency is a matter of temporary convenience, not long-term ideological confluence.

Even political progress is framed by Petraeus as AQI-focused, as he cites conflict between AQI and Sunni tribes in Anbar province as an important development. That shift would happen much more quickly if our presence wasn't driving cooperation between all anti-U.S. parties. In fact, Petraeus' only nod to the national government's efforts is to cite an oil revenue distribution law that he claims (without any supporting evidence) is "very, very close."

Petraeus is generally respected by the press and by Iraq and military experts for his past efforts. He was one of the few generals, along with people like Abizaid and McKiernan, who understood things at the beginning of the war. His reputation for insight and integrity, however, only makes the current situation that much more lamentable. It's more of the same: the wrong focus, bad strategy, and mismanagement, making the U.S. less safe, damaging our military, and expanding and extending the war. Read More......

Starbucks barista or Iraqi cop? You decide

It takes almost 7 days of training to become a Starbucks barista. But add just one more day and you can become a gun-toting member of the Iraqi police. From NPR:

For now, these men get only eight days of training and at the end of it, they get to keep their gun and their uniform.

Which explains why we read the following in the Washington Post last October:

The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., predicted last week that Iraqi security forces would be able to take control of the country in 12 to 18 months. But several days spent with American units training the Iraqi police illustrated why those soldiers on the ground believe it may take decades longer than Casey's assessment....

"I wouldn't let half of them feed my dog," 1st Lt. Floyd D. Estes Jr., a former head of the police transition team, said of the Iraqi police. "I just don't trust them."....

[Jon Moore, the deputy team chief] estimated it would take 30 to 40 years before the Iraqi police could function properly, perhaps longer if the militia infiltration and corruption continue to increase. His colleagues nodded.

"It's very, very slow-moving," Estes said.

"No," said Sgt. 1st Class William T. King Jr., another member of the team. "It's moving in reverse."

30 to 40 years. That's a lot of frappuccinos. Read More......

Taliban implementing Iraq-style tactics

As Afghanistan unravels, I am reminded of how dismissive the GOP crowd was back in 2004 when Kerry talked about letting that war slip away. Where are all of those critics now? From a Taliban spokesman today:

He added that the "independence and freedom of our country" was the goal of the Taleban and that they were repeating the same tactics used by insurgents in Iraq.

"A lot of people are coming to our suicide bombing centre to volunteer," he said.

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Fourteen more U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq

Horrible news from the endless, reckless war. Just more horrible news:

The U.S. military on Thursday announced the deaths of 14 American troops, including five killed in a single roadside bombing that also killed four Iraqis in Baghdad.

Elsewhere in Iraq, a suicide truck bomber struck the Sulaiman Bek city hall in a predominantly Sunni area in northern Iraq, killing at least 13 people and wounding 70, an Iraqi commander said.

The U.S. deaths raised to at least 3,545 the number of U.S. troops who have died since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

(Had to update this post, because it got worse.) Read More......

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Summer starts today at 2:06 PM Eastern time for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Mayor Bloomberg frenzy continues. Tim Russert dramatically told us this morning that he has even talked to some of Bloomberg's people. Wow. Bloomberg's point is that people in D.C. don't talk about real issues, which is largely true among the smarty-pants crowd here. Then, they reinforce what Bloomberg says by talking about every aspect of a potential run -- except for the issues he's pushing. Classic.

So, let's get it started. Read More......

State Farm hit with RICO charges over Katrina payments

Instead of focusing on helping GOP campaign contributors win fat contracts in the devastated area, the administration should have been thinking of the individuals who were impacted. The reports about State Farm and their post-Katrina actions are sickening and should be met with a forceful response. When the GOP complains about frivolous lawsuits - and of course, that happens - they always overlook alleged situations such as this. It will be interesting to see how State Farm responds to be charged under federal racketeering laws, just like mobsters. If the shoe fits... Read More......

France renews ban on BlackBerrys

Considering what we have witnessed by compliant telecom companies hoping to please Washington, who could blame France for such a move? Granted, I don't find a need to be available 24 hours a day and like being out of reach, but between the problems with security plus the government-friendly tendencies of telcos, it's more surprising that other countries and businesses are not insisting on avoiding BlackBerrys. Read More......

Bush wants Blair to be Middle East peace envoy

If you were still wondering just how delusional Bush was these days, this says it all. The codependent war monger who has done a brilliant job of creating a complete mess in the Middle East by partnering with Bush to invade Iraq, leaving us with the downward spiraling civil war and is now tied up in the thick of a multi-billion dollar bribery arms deal to Saudi Arabia so I fail to see how he will provide any benefit. Then again, who understood sending a war architect to the World Bank?

What ever happened to Karen Hughes and her role as the super-duper, do everything, will bring peace to the Middle East and preach American values to the region? Gosh, that attempt to send another hand-picked friend who everyone else dislikes and disregards had about as much success as everything else Bush has launched in the region.

Decisions like this are exactly why Bush can't be trusted to make any more decisions in Iraq. Only a person this far removed from the real world and only understands cronyism could make such a bad suggestion. Read More......