Open Thread

Okay, this was not a slow news day.

Keep it cranking. Read the rest of this post...

Bush's approval ratings reach even new lows

The steady stream of horrible news from Iraq is a big part of the reason Bush's approval ratings continue to tank -- and we see that again in the latest Newsweek poll. Joe Lieberman and John McCain may still love Bush, but they are among the few. Americans have had enough of Bush's war:

When President George W. Bush declared earlier this month that the only way to quell sectarian violence in Iraq was to send more than 20,000 additional American troops, he probably knew the move would be unpopular. Indeed, the latest NEWSWEEK poll finds that Bush’s call for a “surge” in troops is opposed by two-thirds (68 percent) of Americans and supported by only a quarter (26 percent). Almost half of all respondents (46 percent) want to see American troops pulled out “as soon as possible.”

Bush’s Iraq plan isn’t doing anything for his personal approval rating either; it’s again stuck at its lowest point in the history of the poll (31 percent). Meanwhile, the new Democratic-controlled Congress is getting relatively high marks. And 55 percent actually trust Congressional Dems on U.S. policy in Iraq, far more than the 32 percent who trust their commander in chief.

The American people think it's time to wrap this war up. Congress needs to take bold action. Soon. Read the rest of this post...

21 US soldiers dead in Iraq today

Tonight, Reuters reports that five more soldiers were killed by Iraqi militia in Kerbala. Reuters had already reported on the deaths of 16 U.S. soldiers on Saturday:

The U.S. military announced the deaths of 16 soldiers, including 13 killed on Saturday when a helicopter went down northeast of Baghdad.

That brings today's death toll to 21.

UPDATE via Reuters:

U.S. forces had one of their costliest days in Iraq on Saturday when 21 troops were killed, including 13 in a helicopter and five in a clash in a Shi'ite holy city the U.S. military said was triggered by militiamen.

The battle at a government building in Kerbala was the bloodiest for U.S. troops in the Shi'ite south in two years and occurred as President George W. Bush presses leaders of the Shi'ite majority to crack down on militias from their community.

Hours after reporting three deaths in separate incidents and the loss of all 13 passengers and crew aboard a Blackhawk transport helicopter, the U.S. military said five soldiers were killed and three wounded in the Kerbala clash.

Read the rest of this post...

Lieberman supports escalation in Iraq, might filibuster anyone trying to rein Bush in

Many of us have been saying for a while now that Joe Lieberman is not a moderate Democrat. He's not even a moderate Republican. He's a conservative Republican when it comes to the Iraq war. He holds the same position as John McCain. And John McCain holds the same position as George Bush. They are a very small minority who believe that the Iraq war is going well, and that we need to send lots more troops into Iraq in order to escalate the war even further. Lieberman is even now talking about filibustering any Democratic attempt put a check on George Bush's never-ending, and ill-considered, attempts to make matters even worse in Iraq.

Lieberman has every right to be an out of touch extremist. Even our president is one. But when the man stakes out positions that even make most Republicans cringe, it is time to stop talking about Lieberman as a moderate in any party. Read the rest of this post...

Why is a Rush Limbaugh-loving Swift Boat-enabling "global warming" revisionist using a US govt Web site in the Senate to push his misinformation?

I seriously hope that with Barbara Boxer now having taken over the chairmanship of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, this bozo is booted - or at least his blog goes away. This is ridiculous that US government money is being us to push this kind of garbage from this king of garbage man.

Scientific American's blog gives us the goods:

#1 Was anyone else aware that the Weather Channel has an entire blog, site, and regular segment devoted to nothing but climate change? (And that it's surprisingly excellent considering the usual superficiality that qualifies as "news" these days?)

#2 ...Much less that said segment is hosted by the Amanda Congdon of climatologists, a certain Dr. Heidi Cullen, formerly of the National Center for Atmospheric Research?

#3 Or that U.S. Senators are now blogging freely on sites carrying the official seal of the United States Senate, under the auspices of climate change denier James Inhofe, who, ironically, wanted to stop actual scientists from speaking their mind just as freely as he and his buddies now do?

#4 Or that on said U.S. Senate blog, James Inhofe's "pet weasel" Marc Morano, the same guy who helped invent the Swift Boat controversy in his previous incarnation as a "journalist," has just posted a blog entry accusing Dr. Cullen of advocating "Nuremberg-Style Trials for Climate Skeptics"?

Who is Marc Morano? Sourcewatch informs us:

Marc Morano is communications director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Morano commenced work with the committe under Senator James Inhofe, who was majority chairman of the committee until January 2007. In December 2006 Morano launched a blog on the committee's website that largely promotes the views of climate change sceptics.

Morano is a former journalist with Cybercast News Service (owned by the conservative Media Research Center). CNS and Morano were the first source in May 2004 of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth claims against John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election [1] and in January 2006 of similar smears against Vietnam war veteran John Murtha.

Morano was "previously known as Rush Limbaugh's 'Man in Washington,' as reporter and producer for the Rush Limbaugh Television Show, as well as a former correspondent and producer for American Investigator, the nationally syndicated TV newsmagazine." [2]

December 2006. After the Republicans lost the election. Interesting timing. Someone should fix this. Do you really think the GOP would let us create this kind of site, with this kind of guy running it, if we started it AFTER they took over? Read the rest of this post...

Condi Rice is delusional

It's frightening that this woman is in charge of U.S. foreign policy. She is as clueless as her boss. This Washington Post analysis gives the impression that Rice is completely oblivious to reality. She's living in some surreal world that she shares with her goofball President:

Rice announced that she had arranged a three-way meeting to discuss the contours of a Palestinian state, sidestepping questions about the political weakness of the Israeli and Palestinian leaders who would make a deal. She found generally tepid support from Arab leaders in the region for Bush's proposed military buildup in Iraq. She shrugged off a request from the emir of Kuwait that the United States engage directly with Iran and Syria to prevent the Iraqi conflict from spilling over its borders.

Even so, Rice told reporters traveling with her that, despite the day-to-day headaches and setbacks, she thinks that conditions are right now for a fundamental reordering of the Middle East.

"You aren't going to be successful as a diplomat if you don't understand the strategic context in which you are actually negotiating," she said Tuesday. "It is not deal-making. It's not. There are a set of underlying relationships, underlying balance of power, leverage on different sides, and you have to recognize when you are in a position to then, on top of that, find a solution given the underlying balance."

Under Rice's formulation, the time is not ripe to deal directly with Iran and Syria, both of which are causing problems in Iraq, because they have not indicated they are ready to change their behavior. While the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government is trying to build ties to Iran, which Rice said she does not oppose, the administration is ratcheting up the pressure, sending a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf. The United States has negotiated with seemingly implacable adversaries in the past -- the Soviet Union and Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic among them -- but Rice rejects those historical analogies as irrelevant.

Condi, you aren't going to be successful as a diplomat if you don't understand the world. And, clearly, you don't. You have no relationships. You have no leverage. You and your boss have destroyed America's credibility. Read the rest of this post...

It's Presidential announcement weekend -- Hillary says "I'm In"

Big weekend in American presidential politics.

On her website, Hillary Clinton just told us "I'm in." She's creating an exploratory committee:

Today I am announcing that I will form an exploratory committee to run for president.

And I want you to join me not just for the campaign but for a conversation about the future of our country -- about the bold but practical changes we need to overcome six years of Bush administration failures.

I am going to take this conversation directly to the people of America, and I'm starting by inviting all of you to join me in a series of web chats over the next few days.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is planning to announce his intentions tomorrow:

He plans to announce on Sunday that he will soon file the papers to create a presidential exploratory committee, the officials said. The governor is scheduled to appear on ABC's "This Week."

Meanwhile, in Topeka, one of the most gay-obsessed members of Congress, Sam Brownback, is announcing that he's running for President. With McCain tanking, who knows. Brownback is a darling of the true theocrats:

"Brownback, he's a known commodity," said Carrie Gordon Earll, a senior director at the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Focus on the Family. "Some of the other people who've thrown their hat in the ring, there's debate. Have they always been pro-life? Nobody questions Sam Brownback."

Brownback's causes have included restoring a "family hour" to television, an amendment to the Constitution banning same-sex marriage and legislation to prohibit human cloning and embryonic stem-cell research.

He truly represents the GOP. He'd make a terrific nominee. Read the rest of this post...

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Two years -- two years from today we inaugurate a new President. The countdown clock is here.

How much more damage can Bush and Cheney do to America in two years? Read the rest of this post...

Developing world investing approach - Oprah, Gates or both?

The Boston Globe has an interesting article on the new Oprah school in South Africa, which was launched recently courtesy of a $40M investment that she provided. The debate centers around whether $40M makes sense for educating 150+ students and whether a school like this is creating a new elite class within society, creating a disconnect between students and their families. Also, is this just another rich foreigner (or foreign government or NGO) who wants to do it their way instead of working with the local community to build a solution that is more integrated with local communities?

First off, it's her money and she should be able to spend it however she sees fit wherever she sees fit. If this is her vision, so be it. In this specific situation, her focus on educating girls is a great idea. Girls and women in developing countries have a very tough road so building an environment where they can receive a top level education and preparing them for being leaders makes all the sense in the world.

My preference might be more in favor of the Gates Foundation approach and addressing the needs of more, but maybe some mix of the two is not such a bad idea either. Why not? Building programs that address community needs with community leaders input is understandable and makes sense but if the communities are strictly run by men, doesn't that have to change as well? Read the rest of this post...

Send Jane at Firedoglake some love

If you're a reader of theirs, this is a really nice idea. Read the rest of this post...