Bush teared up over Auschwitz

But he's not Hillary, so it's okay. Read the rest of this post...

Why is Europe's Internet faster and cheaper than ours?

Just another example of how under Republican rule we're no longer #1.

Meanwhile, Europe’s Internet lag is a thing of the past. The dial-up Internet of the 1990s was dominated by the United States. But as dial-up has given way to broadband, Europe has more than kept up. The number of broadband connections per 100 people in the 15 countries that were members of the European Union before it was enlarged in 2004, is slightly higher than in the U.S. — and Europe’s connections are both substantially faster and substantially cheaper than ours.

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Susan Collins: Dedicated to protecting George Bush and his many, many failures

What was Susan Collins doing all those years she chaired the Senate's Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee? Not oversight of George Bush, that's for sure.
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The enthusiasm gap, and why it matters

From the NYT:

In Iowa, Democratic attendance at the caucuses topped Republican turnout by better than 2-1, 239,000 to 118,000. In New Hampshire, where there was worry about running out of ballots, the divide was narrower but still clear — 287,000 Democrats to 238,000 Republicans.

These are hardly traditional Democratic bastions. Something is going on out there at the moment....

Look at it this way: Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire, the first-term Republican already facing a tough race against former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, could not have been happy to count nearly 50,000 more Democrats than Republicans marching to the polls in his state.

Many other Senate and House Republicans could be put in harm’s way if the enthusiasm gap persists or expands.

“I think it is obvious that the Republicans ought to be concerned about the fact that Democrats are bringing in so many new voters and turning out so many people for these early contests,” said Stuart Rothenberg, a non-partisan political analyst.

Love her or hate her, if Hillary becomes our nominee, she will help close this enthusiasm gap. Read the rest of this post...

$161 million for $15 billion in write-downs

Actually, to date the number $23 billion in write downs for Merrill Lynch and the game is hardly over. Stanley O'Neal walked away with a very healthy golden parachute, platinum perhaps, and leaves Merrill Lynch in shambles. For his troubles, he's still sitting comfortably with his $161+ million while the company searches the world for cash and keeps up the search for more write downs. Will our CEO-worship ever change? Sadly, I doubt it. Remember the higher standard that Bush was going to bring back to America in 2000? How's it all working out?

Funny times these days. Funny times. Read the rest of this post...

It's the sixth anniversary of Gitmo

Do you know where you values are? And don't forget today is the ACLU's Wear Orange to commemorate the founding of Gitmo day. Read the rest of this post...

On Huckabee and Hillary

Judith Warner, on the NYT blog, on Huckabee:

If I did not have trouble believing that there were dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark, I might follow this man – and the very pleasant Chuck Norris, of course – to the ends of the earth.

And on Hillary:

But then, as a young Hillary Rodham once put it, “Emotion without thought … is pitiful.”

I don’t for a moment begrudge Hillary her victory on Tuesday. But if victory came for the reasons we’ve been led to believe – because women voters ultimately saw in her, exhausted and near defeat, a countenance that mirrored their own – then I hate what that victory says about the state of their lives and the nature of the emotions they carry forward into this race. I hate the thought that women feel beaten down, backed into a corner, overwhelmed and near to breaking point, as Hillary appeared to be in the debate Saturday night. And I hate even more that they’ve got to see a strong, smart and savvy woman cut down to size before they can embrace her as one of their own.

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McCain and Lieberman wrong about Iraq yet again

In a just world, this WSJ op-ed by the "centrist" who'd like us to stay in Iraq for another 1,000 years (seriously) would be the end of Senator McCain's long political career. In it, he is either displaying an awe-inspiring lack of understanding about political and military affairs, or he's flat-out lying.

Let's go through this once again: The goal of the surge was political reconciliation, i.e., to provide a low-violence atmosphere in which the Iraqi government would agree on issues including oil revenue sharing, de-Baathification, federalism, and more. In the past year, none of those political objectives have been accomplished. There is a reduction in violence, thankfully, which means fewer Americans (and Iraqis) are being maimed and killed. There is not any movement on the political front.

When Lieberman and McCain say, "Political progress has been slow," that's the ballgame! That's the goal. It hasn't been met. The surge failed. Not the soldiers, not the military, not the people giving their hearts and souls (and lives) to the mission -- they have not failed; rather, they have *been failed* by a complete lack of strategy. And no one who understood counter-insurgency (or, frankly, international politics) would ever say that a reduction in violence in a war-torn country was akin to victory. It's absolutely disgraceful. Read the rest of this post...

Kucinich to force recount in NH Dem primary

Ruh roh.

Democrat Dennis Kucinich, who won less than 2 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire primary, said Thursday he wants a recount to ensure that all ballots in his party's contest were counted. The Ohio congressman cited "serious and credible reports, allegations and rumors" about the integrity of Tuesday results.

Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan said Kucinich is entitled to a statewide recount. But, under New Hampshire law, Kucinich will have to pay for it....

Candidates who lose by 3 percentage or less are entitled to a recount for a $2,000 fee. Candidates who lose by more must pay for the full cost. Kucinich's campaign said it was sending the $2,000 fee to start the recount.

I'm sorry, I'm as upset about voting irregularities as the next guy, but it's not clear to me why a recount is going to make up for any of the potential problems in NH (e.g., racism, name-order on the ballot). Having said that, it's nice to see someone on the Democratic side paying attention to the ballot-credibility issue, even if he does come across as a bit crazy. Read the rest of this post...

Does the media hate Hillary?

Joe Conason at Salon thinks so.

Everybody has a theory about the remarkable resurgence of Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire. She "cried her way" to victory. Or she had a better vote-pulling operation. Or she benefited from a "Bradley effect" of white voters reluctant to actually pull the lever for an African-American candidate. But what seems just as plausible as any other explanation is also the most ironic: that New Hampshire Democrats -- and especially Democratic women -- were sick of the corrosive hostility and naked slant of the mainstream media against her.

The polls that had showed Barack Obama well ahead of Clinton were not so much wrong as misleading -- or at least badly interpreted by journalists too eager to write Clinton's political obituary. In fact, the polls correctly measured Obama's share of the vote. What happened during the contest's last few days was that the undecided broke for Clinton, and the question is why.

Without depriving her and her campaign team of any credit they deserve for her late revival, it seems quite possible that all the cheap shots and hate bombs finally backfired on Clinton's aggressive adversaries in the media.

Hmmm... I'm not sure how you "badly interpret" a double-digit lead in the polls. Yes, the pollsters may have screwed up, but I am not going to fault the media when all of us - ALL of us - including Hillary's own team, were convinced that she was going to lose because the polls said she was going to lose by a huge margin. Read the rest of this post...

Fair and Balanced election coverage

Fox News appears to be using an actor in their focus group. Faux News strikes again.

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Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

I didn't watch the Republican debate on Fox News last night. I couldn't. Not only was it on Fox News, I think I've overdosed a bit on GOP debates. But, I do know one thing that's still true even without watching their latest debacle: Any of the Democrats will be better. And I know one other thing: The Democrats better not let the rest of the campaign get too ugly and too out-of-hand.

With that, start threading the news. Read the rest of this post...

Does Kerry help or hurt Obama?

After the 2000 election, many Democrats were furious with Gore. How could he accept the results of the election and walk away? As time progressed, Gore started to speak out and was right. Again and again and again. He said what was unpopular but spoke with passion and Democrats found him to be the only person who dared speak the truth, no matter how many times he was smeared by the White House and the GOP. When other Democrats were trying to figure out how to stand up to Bush, Gore was doing it. He won back the party and to this day, Democrats love Gore for being the voice that was otherwise missing.

Then compare that to Kerry, who ran a painfully bad campaign in 2004 and never knew when to stop opening his big mouth and sticking his foot right in it. He alienated Democrats and then delivered one misstep after another. Every time he tried to be cute, he made himself and the party look bad. He never ignited the passion of the party faithful and never offered any new ideas. Maybe he's OK for the Senate but outside of that, meh. Just how beneficial is it that Kerry is standing on stage with Obama? His team can talk all they want about his Rolodex but I fail to see where that endorsement gives Obama much of anything other than a reminder of yet another blown election and a meek candidate who couldn't call out one of the worst presidents ever. I'm not so sure a Kerry endorsement is such a big coup and how long will it take before Kerry puts his foot in his mouth again? Read the rest of this post...

GOP candidates trip over themselves to cheer on war with Iran

Despite the changing story with the "incident" in the Strait of Hormuz, the Republican candidates are all doing their best to out-macho one another with the exception of Ron Paul, who suggested caution and further review. The others are ready to throw fire and brimstone to kill 'em all and ask questions later. Great. Just what the country is demanding after WMD in Iraq and too-many-to-count "terrorism" threats in the US conveniently announced during troubled times for the Bush administration. (Think, Miami Seven, for example.)

The Guardian picked up the faltering story today and we will probably hear an update after 4PM on Friday or over the weekend to make sure the story is as buried as possible when it contradicts the war-lust of Dear Leader. Are Americans really begging for another war in the Middle East? Do the Republican candidates honestly think that's what the people are screaming for? Out of touch and out of office. Read the rest of this post...

Edmund Hillary died at 88 years old

Seen here with his friend and fellow climber, Tenzing Norgay, the two were the first to climb Mount Everest in 1953. Read the rest of this post...